A few news items to get your day going:

• The Fourth Period takes a look at Vancouver's off season.
• A Detroit newspaper focuses in on Ryan Kesler and NHL 2K11.
• As mentioned yesterday, there are some changes to the Team 1040 line up that are pretty positive (especially Matt Sekeres, one of the better Vancouver insiders around).
• The KB guys look at where Pudge, Balls and Mitchell may end up.
• Head To The Net had a good birthday curfew letter posted for Shane O'Brien.
  
• Definitely check out nucksandpucks piece on "Five reasons I Love the Canucks". Mysteriously missing: Tommy Santala.
  
• Lastly, there's something about Kovalchuk, circumnavigation and the Luongo deal you may have heard about. Beantown is available for council for the low, low price of your first born child.

To piggyback off of nucksandpucks, feel free to name the top four most influential non-players in Canucks history; basically the good and the bad GMs, coaches, owners and water boys that spring to mind.

Go ahead. Be brutal.