Back...

It's been a while... clean bill of health, a little time away and a renewed enthusiasm for this whole blog/podcast thing we do here. Quite the interesting summer for us fans of the Blue n Green. The new GM, departing players like Naslund and Morrison, Trev's retirement, some interesting new faces, the draft and of course the tragic death of Luc Bourdon. The latest is the Mats Sundin saga, being played out (ad nauseum...) as we await his decision a month since the free agency date of July 1st. There have been a million opinions on whether bringing in Mats Sundin is a good idea, from the press and the fans since it was first made public the Canucks were interested in bringing the former Leaf captain to Vancouver. There are some who decry the amount of the offer ($10 million a year for 2 years) while others are dragging out comparisons to Mark Messier. I suppose the thing that leaves me shaking my head (as any level-headed Canucks fan often finds themself doing) is the people who are already calling new GM Mike Gillis a failure, some because he didn't bring certain players to town, some for letting Naslund and Morrison go, some for the new talent he has acquired, and some still simply because he has no experience, so he is destined to fail. Why oh why must we have a fanbase so chock-full of morons??? For dawg's sakes people: Let the damn team he is trying to put together hit the ice and play some bloody hockey before pronouncing them D.O.A. And as for the pundits getting a jump on the myraid of predictions, placing the Canucks in last and destined to finish well out of a playoff spot, good. Keep it coming. This team will thrive as underdogs, and your press clippings will no doubt fuel them...

A bit of a buzz here in Victoria as the Tampa bay Lightning held their prospects camp in town, and it included the signing of #1 draft pick Steve Stamkos. The Lightning, with new co-owner Len Barrie have done a major overhaul, and it will be interesting to see if they've made the changes necessary to fix all the problems they had last year.

We will be updating the blog (watch for a facelift coming soon) and will be rolling out the first podcast after training camp begins. Watch for that and news on the return of Nucks Talk radio as well...