Canucks vs Ducks Game Preview

TIME: 7:00 PST

PLACE: Rogers Arena

TV: CBC. HNIC baby, woo!

Canucks' Preseason Record: 0-3-0

Ducks' Preseason Record: 1-1-0

The Enemy: Anaheim Calling and Battle of California

Projected Canucks Roster (Canucks.com):

D Sedin - H Sedin – Tambellini: Shine Tambellini shine.

Schaefer – Morrison - Schroeder: This could be fun to watch.

Glass - Bolduc – Desbiens: Glass plus 2 guys who will likely take his place down the road.

Hordichuk – Perrault – Hansen: The last game for Hordichuk in a Canucks jersey?

Alberts – Edler

Connauton – Oberg

Ellington – Tanev

Ehrhoff – Hamhuis

Luongo

Lack

Projected Ducks Lines:

Not available at this time.

The Ducks got their first win of the preseason last night in a 5-4 win over the Sharks. Corey Perry had a hat trick. Fans, especially the male demographic, really benefited from the team scoring 5 goals: free wings at Hooters. Yeah, seriously. Gotta promote the recent Stanley Cup Champion-now slumping Ducks somehow, right? OK OK but the Ducks do remain very interactive with their fans.

Ahem! Anyways..the Canucks' 0-3 record means nothing to me. Hell, they can go 0-4 and I might raise an eyebrow. This is the separating process for Mike Gillis and Co first and foremost. The Canucks' final roster is nowhere near a sure shot at this point. Complicating things is that Cody Hodgson will not play. His time to prove himself to make the final roster is becoming a narrow window, especially when you have a guy like Brendan Morrison who has shown so much potential already. Of course, there is more than one spot available.

I primarily anticipate watching the performances of:

-Connauton, Oberg, Tanev and Ellington on D, as they are the future of the franchise. Off my radar: This could be Kevin Connauton's 3rd straight preseason game.

-Jordan Schroeder. He's running out of time to make the final roster. I think the writing is already on the wall there. He will be sent down to Manitoba.

-Roberto Luongo and Eddie Lack. The last thing we need here is for lack to outshine Lou in the 1/2 game or less that he is given. However, watching Lack so far has been a thrill. I hope he keeps up his solid play. Luongo, unfortunately, has the weight of Canucks nation on his shoulders and I hope he can step it up to ease many fans' anxieties.

Ducks News:

-The Ducks signed Jason Jaffray as a free agent this summer. However, we will not see Jaffray in a Ducks uni for some time as he suffered a torn ACL and sprained MCL during scrimmage several days ago. Tough luck for Jaffray, a player I always liked.

-Anaheim has already assigned 12 players to their AHL and junior teams. Make that 13.

-Ducks' acquisitions of note over the summer: D Toni Lydman, D Andy Sutton, D Paul Mara and F Aaron Voros. Plus Teemu Selanne decided to lace 'em up for probably his last season.

OT: I believe I found some pics of Cory Schneider as a kid:

Just kidding..geez

More updates on the Canucks and Ducks as they happen.