Issue #31 Vol. 35, September 8th, 2009
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Sports

It’s time to shed the “potential” label

By Garth McLennan

After shelling out a ton of money this summer to basically retain the same team that was clearly outmatched by the Chicago Blackhawks, Canucks GM and newly-anointed president of operations Mike Gillis has left himself little room to hit a bona fide home run with just a month and a half remaining before the start of the 2009-10 season.

So in order for Vancouver to prove that they are more than just a playoff-worthy team that won’t make it far past the first or second round, certain members of the current Canucks’ roster need to step up.

Guys like Mason Raymond, Steve Bernier and Jannik Hansen have been several years now tagged with that generic “potential” brand. You hear sportscasters talk about it all the time: “Oh, Raymond’s got a lot of upside. Bill…” or “Hansen has all the right tools…”

The fact is, we’ve been hearing how good these guys are going to be for years now. Bernier has bounced around the NHL several times but everywhere he’s gone he’s always been highly touted as a guy who is “almost there.”

Plain and simple, if the Canucks are to finally emerge as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, they need more than just two fantastic first liners and a standout goaltender. Now, second line scoring certainly isn’t Vancouver’s only problem, but solving that would be a huge help.

All three of the names listed above seem to have the right package to be successful NHLers. They’re all strong skaters, good passers and have decent enough hockey sense to be 20–30 goal scorers. The problem for all three of them is that they just can’t put the puck in the net. There is zero finish for any of those guys. Things got so bad for Bernier that the Canucks hired a skills coach for him over the summer to help him learn how to hit the net. Raymond has blazing speed and some shifty moves with the puck, but for most of the past few years he’s just been racing back and forth up the wing on the boards.

All three have been given generous amounts of playing time in the coveted spot as the winger for the Sedin twins, and all three have failed to capitalize on that.

I think that its safe to say that this is a make-or-break year for Raymond, Bernier and Hansen. Eventually, there has to be some measure of progression to let you know if you’ve got a talent or just another dime-a-dozen third/fourth liner.

Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows both stepped up into prominent roles with the club last year, while Taylor Pyatt, his personal tragedy taken into account, didn’t. The year before that it was Alex Edler who stepped up and proved himself. The year before, Edler, it was Kevin Bieksa.

The time has come for guys like Raymond to get rid of the “potential” label. That designation should now move to guys like Cody Hodgson, Cory Schneider or Michael Grabner. And a few years down the road, it will be the time for Jordan Schroeder to fill that role.

While Bernier and Hansen both took lesser amounts in contract negotiations, they, along with Raymond, are still on the bubble this year. There’s no guarantee that any of them will make the team straight out of training camp. It’s time to see what they’ve got.