The Vancouver Canucks Final Grades

A season of huge over achievements has ended with the Canucks winning the Northwest Division for the fifth time in history. But before we look ahead to a hopeful long playoff run, it's time to assess this team and how each player fared in the final grades. 

Here are the final grades for this 2008-09 edition of the Vancouver Canucks in the regular season.

A+

Ryan Kesler—The team MVP was outstanding for the Canucks all year round, from his role as a shutdown centre at the start of the year, to his move on the wing with Sundin and Demitra. He was everything and more for the Canucks this season, scoring a career-high 26 goals to help take pressure off the Sedins to provide.

Alex Burrows—Nicknamed Mr. Everything this season by many Canuck pundits, Alex was exactly that, as he scored five shorthanded goals, and had a knack for scoring in the clutch. A career-high 28 goals while playing with the Sedins helped his stock rise dramatically, and makes him a real bargain of a signing at around $2 million per season for the next four years

Roberto Luongo—The Canucks netminder took a lot of heat for his play during Vancouver's slump in January, but down the stretch he was very impressive, picking up nine shutouts in a little over half a season's work. After winning 30 games yet again, he looks poised for a very nice playoff run.

Canucks coaching staff—People who were calling for Alain Vigneault's head in January need to check their heads. Vigneault, along with his staff of Rick Bowness, Ryan Walter and company, have done an outstanding job. Let's face it, on paper, the Canucks do not look spectacular, but in three years as head coach, Vigeneault has guided them to two Nothwest titles and two 100 point seasons.

How many Canucks coaches can boast that? Once again an oustanding job by Vigneault and the entire coaching staff to find good chemistry and scoring and all four lines and getting the team to buy into his system.

A-

Willie Mitchell—The defenceman of the year as voted by the fans, Port McNeil's Mitchell was a model of consistency this season. He was not great offensively, but by far was the best defeceman for the Canucks this season, posting an impressive +29 rating in all 82 games.

B+

Daniel Sedin—Once again, he led the Canucks in goals with 31, cooled off in stretches this season, but all-in-all, he was a point per game player once again. The playoffs will be a real test for him to answer the bell.

Henrik Sedin—No surprise here. Like twin brother Daniel, Henrik was also a point per game player with 82 points, just like Daniel. Henrik was also able to add some more goals to his stats with 22, but still is the provider for Daniel and Burrows.

B

Kevin Bieksa— He cooled off in the scoring departement as the season wore on, but still managed to lead all Canucks defenceman in goals with 11, and had a career high in points with 43.

Alex Edler—A good powerplay guy if he just shot the puck more, Edler was surprisingly good in his own zone. When he stepped into his one-times, good things happened for him.

B-

Jason Labarbera—He didn't win a lot of games while in goal, but was able to provide the Canucks with solid goaltending in Luongo's absence. He helped the Canucks at least stay afloat during their miserable times in January.

Canucks Management—Mike Gillis came in as GM with much controversy following the shocking firing of Dave Nonis in the offseason. Forget the fact that he had a lot of pressure and controversy over him. You can not argue with the job he and his staff have done in turning this team around.

He was patient in eventually getting Mats Sundin into the fold. While he made no major moves, he has done everything he promised when he took over. The team is dramatically changed from last year. It is a tougher, grittier team, with much more balanced scoring as is seen with five Canucks scoring 20 goals or more this season.

C+

Steve Bernier—He was brought into the squad in hopes of getting 20-plus goals and to play with the Sedins. It didn't quite work out that way for him, but over the second half of the season, he showed some much needed grit and toughness that could be invaluable in the playoffs. He led all Canucks in hits this season.

Sami Salo—He managed to stay healthy for much of the season, which was nice given his salary. Though he didn't have as much of an offensive spark, he was solid on the back end, and was a plus five in 60 games this season

Mattias Ohlund—The long-time Canuck blue-liner had more than an off-year. He struggled throughout the year with his play in his own zone and on the blue line on the powerplay. He still scored two big goals in their 4-1 win in Calgary that paved the way for the division title, became the all-time leading Canuck scorer among defeceman.

C

Pavol Demitra—He had stretched where he was very impressive, and stretches where he was really squeezing the stick. He still scored 20 goals for the 10th time in his NHL career, but really needs to pick it up in the playoffs if he wants to help the Canucks.

Darcy Hordichuk—Was brought to Vancouver to help give the team more grit and toughness, and that's exactly what he's done. With 109 penalty minutes along with Rick Rypien's return to the lineup, they have been a real handful for their opponents.

Mason Raymond—The Canuck speedster had an off-year, but has been better of late, and added some unexpected toghness and hitting to his game, which could help him stay in the lineup in the postseason.

Mats Sundin—He was the big league sigining who had the weight of Vancouver on his shoulders. It's no secret Sundin started poorly with the Canucks and was clearly out of shape when he started out, but once he found his legs, he helped bolster the powerplay and was strong in the faceoff circle, winning allmost 60 percent of his draws. He should be very determined come playoff time, as this could very well be his last shot at a Cup, and will no doubt want to answer the critics who believe he just came here for the money.

C -

Janik Hansen—The speedy Dane was in and out of the lineup late in the season, and was inconsistent a lot, which may have put him out of favour with the coaching staff. He still has some playoff experience, and is capable of providing a spark when he wants to.

Shane O'Brien—The big Canucks defenceman has provided the team with some toughness and grit, and has cut down the dumb penalties a lot, but still needs to be more responsible defensively. His imposing presence could be what the team needs in the playoffs.

Taylor Pyatt—He has maybe had a little more of a complete game, but still struggled a lot this year, and has not showed any signs of his career high 22 goals a couple years ago. His head is no doubt not in the right place right now, following the tragic death of his fiancee. A good guy despite everything...my heart goes out to him.

D

Kyle Wellwood—He led the team in powerplay goals and was good in the faceoff dot, but besides that, he was very inconsistent and didn't really get into much of a rhythm throughout the year, despite a good first quarter of the season.

Ryan Johnson—If you asked the fourth-line centre, he would probably agree he hasn't been at his best this season, with only two goals in limited action. But he has been better since Rick Rypien returned to the lineup, which may be a good sign going into the playoffs.