2 posts tagged “brent sopel”

In a wide-ranging interview with The Province on a January road trip, Bulis detailed the many complaints he had with the team and said if things didn't change he'd consider asking for a trade.

The story led to a phone call from his father. That call changed everything.

"My dad gave it to me," Bulis said. "He said, 'It's always you complaining all the time. Why is it always you complaining? Maybe it's your fault. Don't always look for someone to blame, maybe it's you.'"

Bulis started fighting with his dad on the phone, defending himself.

"Here I was fighting with him, too. But then I sat down and I really looked in the mirror," Bulis said. "I said to myself, 'Maybe it is me. Maybe I should change. Maybe I need to change.'

"That's when I said, 'Forget it, don't worry about the power play any more, don't worry about the number of offensive opportunities at all. Start worrying about defence and start worrying about playing better every game to help the team.'

"It was a very positive moment." - Phone call shows father knows best

So, what does Janny B. have to say about the prospect of returning to the Canucks? Well, he wants to stay. I never really had major complaints about him, I've always liked and tolerated him, and if we can't find a better or cheaper alternative to what he brings on the table, then I wish we'd resign him.

As for the other players...

"Being so fresh after the end of the season, I'm not going to say a whole lot today," Linden told reporters at GM Place.

"We'll kind of make those decisions as we go along here," Linden continued. "Obviously it takes some time to digest the season and, right now, I want to take some time and reflect."

Well, then, was he pondering hanging them up after 18 NHL campaigns?

"I said last year it would be a year-to-year basis and that would be the framework I would go on," he replied. "That was my statement: I wanted to come and have a good season and hopefully the team would have a good season."
 - Trevor Linden

"I hope there is a place for me here, but time will tell," said Cowan, who tore cartilage in his left knee during Game 3 of the Anaheim series. "I had a great time here, it was awesome and I'll be excited if I am back."
 - Jeff Cowan

"My family fell in love with it out here and I'd love to come back," remarked Fitzpatrick. "As you know, these things are very much out of my hands but Vancouver would be my first choice."
 - Rory Fitzpatrick

"I'll be happy to do it for one more year," said Sabourin, 26. "It's a tough job and I think I did a good job. We'll see what they're going to offer me and then I'll take the decision."
 - Dany Sabourin

"We'll see what unfolds in the next little while, but I'd like to come back," he said. "It was the best season of my career. I really enjoyed it."
 - Taylor Pyatt

"If you're talking about a million-dollar difference to stay here or play somewhere else, that's a lot of money," he noted. "Obviously it's up to Vancouver. If they want to talk, I'm all for it."
 - Brent Sopel

"Hopefully management comes to us early and we can get it out of the way sooner rather than later," said the 22-year-old centre. "I want to buy a home here and get my family settled and then just focus on having a good season. Last summer was not a very good summer."
 - Ryan Kesler

Personally, I don't want Sopel back, especially if he's unwilling to take that "million dollar" paycut. We have our Top 4 defencemen pretty much locked for the next season (and a few more seasons after that). We only need 5th/6th/7th defencemen, and I'm sure Luc Bourdon and Alex Edler might fill up 2 out of those 3 positions. There's also Lukas Krajicek and Rory Fitzpatrick to consider, both will come cheaper than Sopes, and both reliable at their designated positions. We might also be looking for a powerplay quarterback, and that might lead to looking at bring Kirill Kolstov back to North America.

As for forwards, I don't think Trevor Linden will retire just yet, and will possibly be back for another season in the NHL. The Canucks will most likely resign him, so that isn't really a huge problem.

I personally want Ryan Kesler to be signed long term by the Canucks. I'm willing to wait for his "offensive" upside to develop, but Kes is the type of player who rarely takes a day off when he plays. He's fast, he puts his body and heart on the line, and he's just hard working. I hope the Canucks, for the sake of our future players, unofficially retire the jersey number "17" though. That number is pure bad luck.

As for Taylor Pyatt... I half want him to return and half not. okay, 75% want him to return. Right now, I don't think we can do much in terms of getting better linemates for the Sedins, or getting a big guy to replace Pyatt when we have so little to spend under the cap. The best option for now is to keep him, but on the other hand, you just wish he does more with his size, be more consistent on his play and hope he does all that next year or you'd regret signing him. I think Pyatt is looking for a 3 year deal at least, so a lot of it would depend on the hope he remains consistent and continue developing to become a better "power" forward.

The others... yeah, I don't know. I want Dany Sabourin to return, obviously, I love Sabby! But I look at our farm, I look at our goaltending prospects, and ask myself, what are we going to do with all those?

I've never been so excited for the off season! I got myself interested in Canucks prospects due to the "Canucks Prospects Thread" in the forums, so I can't wait for the NHL Entry Draft. :D

Canucks acquire Smolinski from the Blackhawks and Sopel from the Kings for a conditional 2nd rounder (Smolinski) and a 2nd and 4th rounder (for Sopel).

I can't say I know enough about Bryan Smolinski as I've only seen him play (from recent memory, anyway) during the last 2 games Chicago and Vancouver played this season. Even then, I can't exactly gauge how good of a player he is, but I've been hearing that he is a solid player, good faceoff man, can work both the PP and PK and is also a veteran.

As for Brent Sopel... yeah. No comment. He had his advantages on the powerplay, where he scored a lot of his goals from the point, but I'm not so big on his defense last time he was here. Well, maybe he has improved now, and developed his defensive game better, and hopefully AV would be able to help him be better defensively.

Big advantage for Sopel is that he has played here before, and half of the teammates still remember him, so not a big problem when it comes to mixing in. He may not also be a rental player for us as he has stated that he loves Vancouver and would want to retire here, if he can. But 2nd rounder and a 4th for Sopes? Yikes.