Canucks Training Camp Roster VII

Apparently unaware that the Sabbath is a day of rest, Alain Vigneault and his staff answered a lot of questions on Sunday about the opening night lineup. Sent to the minors were Victor Oreskovich and the Sweatt brothers (forward Billy and defenseman Lee), and Brendan Morrison was released from his player tryout. And if that wasn't enough for you on a weekend afternoon, AV went on the record, stating that the Canucks' would open the season with a fourth line consisting of Alex Bolduc between Guillaume Desbiens and Tanner Glass.

It's no surprise about the Sweatt brothers. I wold argue that both Billy and Lee have NHL talent, but neither is quite ready for regular action. Ironically, Lee the defenseman needs to work on his defensive coverage, and Billy the forward needs to work on his hands. Still, Billy's checking speed and Lee's poise and puck-moving ability are excellent assets to have down on the farm. They're sure to make that team better, as well as push one another to see which can get to the NHL level first. Here's hoping we see another brother tandem on the Canucks someday soon. We seem to have good success with brothers.

Victor Oreskovich's demotion was a disappointment, but he'll play games with the Canucks this season. Count on that. He has great skating ability and he hits like a truck, but his defensive coverage was suspect. Oreskovich is a real wild-card and could have paid off in spades, but I like that Vigneault and the coaching staff avoided the risky, sexy pick and went with big guys they were confident weren't going to get scored on.

Brendan Morrison's release is really disappointing, both for fans and for B-Mo himself. But, like Skeeter said earlier in the preseason, the only available job is one he wasn't quite cut out for. He could have brought wing depth, but so can Jannik Hansen and Jeff Tambellini, who were already Canucks property. Unlike Edmonton, Vancouver is aware you can only have so many small forwards under contract, and Morrison's lack of a contract coming into training camp made it easy not to give him one. Here's hoping he can land on his feet somewhere. As much as it pains me to say it, Calgary would be a good fit for him.

There are a few more questions, but they're all likely be resolved in exactly the way we think they will. Joel Perrault, Eddie Lack, and Cody Hodgson are more than likely headed to Manitoba. Peter Schaefer is more than likely being released. But, if Alex Burrows goes on LTI, and with Rypien hurt to start the season, the Canucks could keep 15 of the 17 forwards below. Something to think about if you're wondering, like I am, why Hodgson hasn't yet been spotted at YVR. Here are the 28 guys who remain in training camp.

Forwards (17)
Alex Bolduc, Alex Burrows, Guillaume Desbiens, Tanner Glass, Jannik Hansen, Cody Hodgson, Ryan Kesler, Manny Malhotra, Joel Perrault, Mason Raymond, Rick Rypien, Mikael Samuelsson, Peter Schaefer, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Jeff Tambellini, Raffi Torres.

Defensemen (8)
Andrew Alberts, Keith Ballard, Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler, Christian Ehrhoff, Dan Hamhuis, Aaron Rome, Sami Salo.

Goalies (3)
Eddie Lack, Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider.