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CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG

Thursday, September 13, 2007

One More Kick At The Can



Every season is an important season for any player, but for a few members of the Canucks organization, this could be a more important one. Tommy (Larscheid) and Trev and Matty (Cooke) and Markus and Mo could be playing their final games as Vancouver Canucks (Grant Kerr, Globe and Mail).

These are some of the longest-serving guys in the organization. (Matty Ohlund too but he's got one year left on his contract.) Except for a few years in the early 80's, Tommy has been broadcasting Canucks games since 1977 (wiki). Trev is entering his 16th season in a Canucks uni; Markus his 11th; Cookie his 9th; and Mo his 7th. None of them are signed past this season.

It will be the end of another era when these guys leave the organization. They formed a large part of the team's core and identity when Ronning, Courtnall, Gelinas and McLean left in the late 90's. After this season, surely another group of players will do the same, and in fact, we are already seeing guys like Willie Mitchell, Kevin Bieksa and Ryan Kesler take on more visible roles.

More importantly, if this is indeed these guys' final season, then it will also be their last opportunity to be the ones to bring the Stanley Cup to Vancouver. Part of the reason we remember the Ronnings and McLeans of the team's history so fondly is because of '94 Stanley Cup run. As good and as lovable as these guys have been, they haven't had nearly the same amount of success. Linden was of course part of the '94 run, but unfortunately for Naslund and the others, their tenure with the team may be defined by the fact that the Canucks have only won two playoff series since they came on board.

This could be their one, final chance to change that.

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posted by J.J. Guerrero, 6:05 AM

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