Jannik Hansen

After what seemed an eternity between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, the puck finally dropped to begin the much awaited first game of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks.

And it was a great game, at least from a Vancouver perspective.

The Vancouver Canucks had just come off an embarrassing, uninspired loss to the Nashville Predators, leaving them at a decidedly mediocre 5-6 record in their past 11 games. 

The 3-0 loss saw the hometown Canucks close out their six-game homestand in a daze, lacking the scoring punch that had vaulted them to the top of the NHL standings.

The Vancouver Canucks lost out to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night, dropping their record to 1-1-1—good for only ninth place in the West, with only three of six potential points.

So is it time to panic and jump off the bandwagon?

Well, in a word: No.

Last year, the Canucks opened up 0-3 and they still finished the season comfortably atop the Northwest Division. 

The wait is finally over. 

On Saturday October 9, the Vancouver Canucks and LA Kings will open their 2010-2011 NHL seasons at Rogers Arena.  If you can’t start your season against a divisional rival, then kicking off the season against a recent playoff opponent is the next best thing.

When we last talked about Cody Hodgson earlier this week, Canucks GM Mike Gillis was finally revealing the true injury that has crippled the prized prospect for the better part of a year.

VANCOUVER--What has been the difference in the newest version of the Vancouver Canucks compared to the same time last year?

Let us take a quick look at who's in and who's out in the bottom-six roles:

October 2009:

By now, you have all heard that Tanner Glass, Jannik Hansen, and Mason Raymond have filed for arbitration after having received qualifying offers as RFA’s.

Now, I can understand Raymond taking this to arbitration as he had a minimum qualifying offer of $700,000.

Glass and Hansen? Not so much.

Sure I can see that Glass and Hansen want one-way contracts, and the team wants two ways. But for Glass, what does he have for an arguing point?

Hey, you know, it’s never too early to be thinking about the playoffs in light of where the Nucks are this point of the season, which is close to a quarter of the way through.

They currently sit at 11th with 24 points, having played anywhere from one to three games more than most of the teams in their conference.

As I donned my coach’s hat last night and started to think of the return of Daniel Sedin to the lineup on Sunday, I began to contemplate, "who is best suited to play on that line?" There are certainly no shortage of players that have earned that right, like Mikael Samuelsson and Mason Raymond.