Meister der Farbe » granted their officials a window to interview

PHILADELPHIA -- Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo are gone, but the goaltending position has not been forgotten by the Vancouver Canucks. With their second-round pick in Saturdays NHL draft at No. 36, the Canucks took the highest-ranked goalie on the board, Thatcher Demko, as new general manager Jim Benning begins the process of replenishing the organizations goaltending depth. "I believe youve got to have a succession of goalies coming through the system," Benning said Saturday afternoon. "Goaltending is the most important position in an organization. ... I believe to be a top, contending team in the league, you need good goaltending. You can never have enough good goalies." Benning believes Demko, who plays at Boston College, is capable of developing into a No. 1 goaltender. He immediately becomes the Canucks goaltender of the future, especially considering the uncertainty that comes with Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom. "Hopefully theres an opportunity for me," said Demko, a native of San Diego, Calif., who brushed off the idea of pressure. "I think once I get there, youll start to feel it a little bit more with the Canucks fans and how passionate they are." It was at last years draft when ex-GM Mike Gillis traded Schneider -- coincidentally also a Boston College product -- to the New Jersey Devils for the ninth pick, which Vancouver used on London Knights centre Bo Horvat. Just before the trade deadline, the Canucks sent Luongo to the Florida Panthers for Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Markstrom started just three games for the Canucks since the trade. Demko, who has the option of playing one to three more years at Boston College, isnt worried at all about the microscope that goalies are under in Vancouver. He cant wait to see what its like to play in a Canadian market. "Im going to thrive in it," he said. "Youve got to play in pressure and thats kind of just the nature of it. Youve got to thrive in those situations or youre not going to have success." Demko might get a taste of a pressure situation at the world junior championship because hes a candidate to start for the United States in the tournament that takes place in Montreal and Toronto. "Obviously you want to be the starter at world juniors, (it) is a goal," he said. "But theres a lot of other guys that could easily have that position." Part of drafting Demko was Bennings familiarity with him from living in Boston and watching him play often. The same can be said for winger Linden Vey, whom the Canucks acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday for the 50th pick. At 22, Vey has just 18 games of NHL experience and five assists in that time. But Benning watched him play with the Kings AHL affiliate in Manchester and said hell make the Canucks next season. "Hes ready to play in the NHL now," Benning said. "Hell start out as a third-line guy. I think once hes up and going, maybe it takes a year, maybe it takes a year and a half but I think hes got the skill to be a second-line centre at some point." It doesnt hurt that Vey also played for new coach Willie Desjardins with the WHLs Medicine Hat Tigers. Derek Dorsett, acquired from the New York Rangers on Friday, also was in Medicine Hat with Desjardins. That No. 50 pick wasnt the Canucks until they traded defenceman Jason Garrison to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday afternoon. The Kings used it on Victoria goalie Alec Dillon. Vancouver took six-foot-seven Russian defenceman Nikita Tryamkin 66th, Swedish defenceman Gustav Forsling 126th, Erie Otters centre Kyle Pettit 156th and Prince Albert Raiders defenceman MacKenzie Stewart 186th. Those players join the Canucks youth movement along with first-rounders Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann. But the most intriguing addition on Day 2 was Demko, who has prototypical NHL goalie size at six-foot-three. "My size is a tool, but I dont like to rely on it," Demko said. "I can use it, but I still like to react to pucks and kind of play athletic. Its something Im still working on, but its one of the biggest pieces of my game." Demko isnt just confident in himself but also in his ability to withstand the heat in Vancouver. He grew up considering Martin Brodeur a role model but ultimately might want to get some advice from Luongo. "Hopefully I can appeal to the fans up there and make them love me instead of hate me," Demko said. Will Harris Lions Jersey . Seriously. Seven years of losing has brought many different faces, players and management, to the annual pre-season get-to-know-the-team round up. Kerryon Johnson Lions Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. http://www.authenticnfllionslockroom.com...Elite-Jersey/.C. - Nick Merkley and Damon Severson each had a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets downed the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Kenny Golladay Lions Jersey . Calgarys Bo Levi Mitchell and Montreals Troy Smith will be the starting quarterbacks in a CFL season-opener for the first time in their careers. Both want to reinforce their No. 1 status. You can watch the game live in the first half of a doubleheader on TSN and TSN GO at 3:00pm et/Noon pt. Marvin Jones Jr Youth Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing.TSN Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger gathered for the latest installment of Insider Trading and the topics discussed included the Buffalo Sabres general manager search, the resurfacing of former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson, Team Canadas captain and the Edmonton Oilers asking price for Sam Gagner. Who will become the new general manager of the Buffalo Sabres? McKenzie: The very clear front-runner and Pat LaFontaines first choice is Ottawa Senators assistant general manager, Tim Murray. As of Tuesday evening, no formal offer had been made to Murray and no contract negotiations have taken place as of yet. However, it is clear LaFontaine would like Murray to be the guy. In related news, Boston Bruins assistant general manager Jim Bennings window of permission to talk to the Sabres expired Tuesday. He is now out of the picture, there are also other finalists that have been told they are no longer part of the mix. Right now it is headed toward Tim Murray, but there is no formal offer or contract negotiations taking place just yet. Who will become the GM of the Calgary Flames? McKenzie: Brian Burke is getting set to commence his search, it is likely to be a slow and deliberate pace and it could be until the draft before Burke has picked a new GM. Burke has no intention of doing the job himself long-term, but he may fill the role for the balance of this season. There are several reasons for this, he will looking at many experienced candidates such as Joe Nieuwendyk and Darcy Regier, as well as up and comers like Mike Futa from the Los Angeles Kings and Brad Treliving of the Phoenix Coyotes. Due to the length of the Buffalo search, many teams granted their officials a window to interview and are not in position where they want to grant permission again and have their guys flapping in the breeze for another search. Therefore, this could drag out for quite some time. Ron Wilson walked away from hockey after being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs, is there a chance he may resurface? Dreger: Wilson basically disappeared after the disappointment with the Leafs in 2010, 2011, 2012. There is a chance he could return, he is discreetly putting word out there that his ready, waiting and willing to coach again. For some, he may be considered a long-shot and it is relatively quiet on the coaching front but aside from his coaching record with the Maple Leafs, he is considered to be a very good coach, as his record of 1,400 games would indicate. Who will be Team Canadas captain, it seems obvious with Sidney Crosby but Jonathan Toews has two Olympics appearances, two Stanley Cups and was terrific in the 2010 Games, is there a possibly a question there? LeBrun: Toews will be in his second Olympics and there is some argument, and how could there not be after everything Toews has accomplished, but the betting money is obviously on Sidney Crosby, the best player in the world.dddddddddddd Whats interesting to me is the dynamic between Toews and Crosby, mutual admirations aside, I remember when Toews got a text from Crosby when Toews was named captain of Chicago, that meant a lot to him. I remember in September we asked top players who their top forward in the NHL was and most of them, of course, said Crosby but Toews said "and by 30 per cent its Sidney Crosby." So there is, I think, a special bond between those two guys and theyll both wear a letter in Sochi. We expect Crosby, Kunitz, Stamkos on the top line but if Stamkos isnt ready to go, do they have a list of top two replacements for him? Lebrun: They have some candidates, I think among those at the top is Claude Giroux, a big surprise omission from Team Canada, hes one of those strong candidates if he continues to play well. James Neal is another option, a great triggerman, a guy like Stamkos that could fill the net. Those are the top two guys. Is there an X-factor for Team Canada? LeBrun: Ralph Krueger, the former Switzerland national coach, talked to the Canadian national coaching staff and they cannot believe what impact hes had in his feedback for them on the big ice and international hockey. In fact, Kruger is going to meet with head coach Mike Babcock on the Detroit Red Wings upcoming western road trip. Hell update Canada again on what hes seen overseas. P.K. Subban is on Team Canada, how are his contract negotiations going with the Montreal Canadiens? McKenzie: Negotiations are ongoing, there is no real hard news to report there other than we know Dion Phaneuf signed a long-term deal with the Maple Leafs worth $7 million a year. P.K. Subbans asking price will be somewhere from $8 million to $9 million a year. I am sure the Canadiens will not be thrilled about that and I suspect its going to be tough sledding for some time to get this deal done. Dreger: We will also continue watch the speculation around the Edmonton Oilers and Sam Gagner, there is no question the Oilers would consider moving him. The expected rate of return would be a top-six forward, a top-four defenceman or a starting goalie. ' ' '