Meet the new man behind the bench[canucks]. The Vancouver Canucks did what most people thought would happen in the first place by bringing up Alain Vigneault[wiki] from the team’s AHL affiliate, Manitoba Moose. Coming off of that pretty good, first season with that team, his previous experience, in the NHL and junior hockey leagues, is respectable as well.
So what’s next? Can we all breathe a collective sigh of relief and look forward to the coming season? The draft is just days away, and I would like to think that this is a guy who is going to have a good idea of what’s going on through the majority of the Canuck’s system. I had a feeling that they would wait until the finals were over to make the announcement, so maybe with a new guy in place and free agents looking around for next season’s contender, it’ll be an interesting next couple of months.
Rebecca got us tickets for the 2006 draft coming up this weekend at GM Place. This is going to really try my knowledge about who is who in the up and coming world of hockey. And when I say world, I mean world. I barely know anyone that plays in the WHL in the immediate area, so when Europe comes into play, I’m beyond clueless. Who knows though. Maybe I’ll surprise myself at how much I do know. I’ll bring the recording gear along and see what I can capture.
And by the way, Hurricanes won the cup last night[nhl]. Good for them, great game, incredible series, and a shame the cup couldn’t belong to Canada. Have to give credit to the Carolina fans. Yes, hockey can work in Raleigh, but I hope it keeps up when their team ain’t doing so hot. With hope, these finals have brewed some lifelong hockey fans for years to come.