I haven’t had a lot of time to check out the other Canucks blogs that I read very often lately, so on the eve of what I’m sure will be the continuation of the winning streak, I thought I’d take a spin around and see who’s been posting what lately.

So, without further delay….

• You may not have realized (and I count myself in that group until I read Crashing the Goalie) that Kyle Wellwood is currently leading the NHL in shooting percentage.  I also wasn’t aware that the Canucks had a league-leader in each of their first three decades of existence – the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. 
• Mike the Yankee Canuck posted over on Nucks Misconduct that Sean Avery has now cleared waivers (surprise, surprise), and is speculating on what a line of Avery, Darcy Hordichuk and Alex Burrows would be like.  God, please, no…
• Alix, the Humming Giraffe is confused after the Canucks latest victory over the Blackhawks, but she does write a great summary.
• Over at Canucks and Beyond, Alanah is writing regarding what might happen at the trading deadline, which is only 30 days away. Okay, that wasn’t really a Canucks post, but I already covered the Nucks Misconduct announcement, and I’m not really into Trevor Linden for Valentine’s Day. 

Brian at Canucks Corner posted that not getting Mats Sundin wouldn’t be the end of the world for the Canucks, and I think that he’s both right and wrong.

At this point in time, the Canucks aren’t suffering as badly in the scoring department as the whole world full of “experts” just knew they would.  That’s not to say that they couldn’t use more scoring, but if they continued at their current pace, even without Sundin, things wouldn’t be that bad.

And despite what Darcy Hordichuk said about the chemistry being just fine without bringing in a newcomer, the chemistry of a team changes regularly, as it did when Roberto Luongo went out, and Cory Schneider came in.  And it changes again after the trading deadline if a team makes a deal.  If Sundin came to Vancouver, the team would adjust, and so would Sundin.

But bringing Sundin in would definitely benefit the Canucks in other ways.  If the Canucks go deep into the playoffs this year, they’re going to run across teams like San Jose or Detroit.  And while the Canucks have seemed to have the Wings number so far, the playoffs, as everyone knows, is a completely different animal.

Despite coming from a team that’s regularly playing golf in late April, the biggest benefit that the Canucks could get from Sundin is in the playoffs, if for no other reason that he’s only going to play half a season, and won’t be as tired as everyone else if the Canucks do go deep.

So Sundin would no doubt be a great addition to the Canucks.

Just maybe not for all of the reasons that people think.

At the end of each month, we’ll be posting a recap of the month that was in the Canuck Nation – usually with links to interesting stories or posts from wherever we come across them. This one is a little abbreviated, being the pre-season and all, but here’s the first monthly recap of the Vancouver Canucks 2008-09 season.

Yes, it’s only the pre-season, but it’s hard to be disappointed with the performance of the Canucks during the month of September when they have a record of 4 – 0, with those victories coming over the Flames, Oilers, Sharks and Ducks.

Janik Hansen has to be one of the most pleasant surprises, and it’s good to hear that he’s not going to have to fight for a spot on the team. He’s starting the season with the Canucks. Darcy Hordichuk has been another surprise that may just turn out to be a real fan favourite.

And despite not passing the physical at the start of camp, Kyle Wellwood continues to impress, even getting back into shape enough to pass the physical on the second attempt. As I’ve heard Bobby say a few times in the last 10 days or so, “If he can carry the extra weight and still play well, what’s the real problem?” Indeed.

While no one would have predicted that the Canucks would be the only undefeated team left in the pre-season, it sure is good to see that the team does what they have to do to win. At least so far, the “scoring problems” that everyone has accused them having (and rightly so, to be honest) haven’t been a problem at all. Scoring has been coming from all over, and it’s also great to see Sami Salo teeing it up again, and having it pay off.

And it’s been said over and over, that it’s only the pre-season, but are you really complaining when the Canucks are able to go 6-0? Would you prefer them to be 0-6?

I didn’t think so.

So the Canucks are 2-0 in the pre-season.  It doesn’t matter.  One thing that happens a lot around Vancouver is that the Canucks have a great pre-season, and then stumble out of the gate.  If they were 0-2 right now, people would either be calling for the heads of Viggy and Mike Gillis, or saying, “It doesn’t matter, they’ll start out right in the regular season.”  But they’re undefeated, but it still doesn’t matter, because they still have as many points as every other team in the Northwest Division.  Zero.

Don’t get me wrong.  It certainly feels better that they’re 2-0, and it can help fuel the optimism, but they’re still games that don’t count.

Okay, soapbox off.  The game was a little more boring than the shootout win the night before, and the crowd certainly didn’t seem like they were in to it that much, but there were some positive signs.  Roberto Luongo played well, as did Curtis Sanford.  Darcy Hordichuk’s goal looked great, especially when they showed on the replay that he’d basically jumped over the boards, got into position, and put the puck past Roloson.  Total time seemed like about 10 seconds from bench to celebration.

Michael Grabner’s goal was good to see as well.  I’m still hoping that he gets a shot here before Hodgson does.  No offense to Hodgson, but a little more time developing wouldn’t be a bad thing.  Sure, he probably *could* play here, but why rush it?  Jannik Hansen deserves a shot at starting the season with the big club, too, as he continues to impress me.

Now that everyone’s had a chance to be showcased, I’d have to say that I’m feeling pretty good about the upcoming season.  Yeah, there’s still things that need to be addressed, like where the goals are going to come from, but I don’t get the feeling that it’s going to be one of those really long seasons where they get about 25 wins, and have a number of 6 and 7 game losing streaks.

Because they’re 2-0 in the preseason.

But it still doesn’t matter.

Thoughts from behind the bench:

• Well Hey There New Guys! – Humming Giraffe
• First Impressions – Canucks Hockey Blog (more of a summary of the players rather than the game itself)
• Thoughts on Canucks Winning AGAIN Against the Oilers – Waiting for Stanley