Brock Boesser to follow in Linden's footsteps by moving to center? It's Deja Vu all over again!

Do the Vancouver Canucks already have their future #1 center? Assuming Horvat realistically slots in at #2, is the answer to who plays #1 right under our noses?

Quick quiz for all my 'couveies!

 So, stop negotiating the sale of your lower mainland property to a giant Chinese conglomerate for just a moment, and see if you can't answer this question about your city (Before you sell-out of it lock stock and barrel)

In Vancouver B.C, what do Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, A non-impeachable Premier, And a true #1 Center all have in common?

Answer: Who cares! Go finish Seling your property!  Not your problem anymore! The next generation? Mehh...forget em' we're talking about MONEY here, money for YOU, and in Vancouver B.C, it's every man for himself, at least that's what the baby boomers who sacrificed their children's future, for a motorhome, leaky condo in Victoria and bi-yearly trips to where ever the flight are cheap (Even though you've got plenty, were still talking about MONEY here, YOUR money, and to a Vancouver baby boomer, nothing is more important than THEIR money, not their children, not their legacy NOTHING, because Vancouver has never been much of a spiritual center, the older gereration pretty much thinks that when they die, things will stop being of benifit to THEM, and therefore really don't matter...did I ever mention Vancouver has been found to be the unhappiest place in North America?

Well, let's say I asked my little riddle to a non-baby boomer trying to cut out the back door, let's try this again:

in Vancouver B.C, what do Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, A non-impeachable Premier, And a true #1 Center all have in common?
Answer: None of them can afford to live here......I KID! I KID!

Answer: They are either myths made up by evil baby boomer to lull us in a false sense of security ("Will affordable housing be in my stocking this year Mom? What? Sorry, can't hear you, the long distance connection between here and Palm Springs isn't that great...Is that a slot machine I hear? Did you win? You did....great, nope still couch surfing....ok well, have a blast, bye Mom (click) you f...") or they are something that just doesn't come around these parts.

Maybe honest Premiers don't like the rain? Maybe #1 Centers don't like dishonest Primiers? Who's to say? The point is we don't have them.

(Let me digress a moment to address the Henrik sized elephant that would be in the living room if we could afford one: Henrik is a hall of Famer and one of the greatest players of his generation, but he is/was not an Archetypical #1 center, Henrik played the Wayne Gretzky, Craig Janney, Piere Turgeon, Cliff Ronning role as a centerman: Henry was a playmaking, Power Play, O-zone-shift-starting offensive specialist type of center, and a damn fine one at that, I'll always love and apreciate Henrik's contributions to Vancouver both on and off the ice. But a REAL #1 center is something else entirely.

A REAL #1 center is relied upon to not only hang on to and distribute the puck to open teammates, a REAL #1 center is actually a third defenseman. That's right, it's the center's job to come all the way back and defend both the slot and the back of the net. It's a center iceman's job along with the ("let's start a drinking game for everytime someone says.." )puck-moving defensemen, to orchestrate and execute the breakout. traditionally, by feeding the wingers who are waiting somewhere around the points, to receive the much revered "First pass" out of the zone (Who if you listen to modern hockey commentators you would think is the only play in hockey that matters) he then needs to execute whatever play the coach has deemed most likely to get them through the neutral zone, as the winger will inevitably dish the puck before crossing the blue line after the player (Usually the center) that he passes to. The winger's job now is to get in scoring position while the center crosses the blue line into the most dangerous place on the ice, the place where big plays are made or broken, the slot, the middle THE CENTER.

Of course, now our mythical #1 center (Let's call him Honest Premier) had to contend with the OTHER teams center, who, if he's doing his job will be trying to force his nemesis out of the middle, there were other dangers too for there was a time not long ago kids, when defensemen were rated by thier homocidal insticts not thier figure skating abilities or thier ability to make that play of all plays: THE FIRST PASS ( there was a time when center crossing the blueline and cutting into the slot to make a play, had reason to fear for hs life as there was a whole class of Defensemen, whose job it was to hurt them as they moved into this position: Stephens, Konstantinov, Samuelson, Kasparitus, Marchment, Pilon, Hatcher, Chelios, Pronger, Suter, Smith, Foote, Odeline, Lowe even our own loveable loser Dana Murzyn insured thier NHL paychecks didn't bounce, by doing thier best to hurt any center ice man who DARED cut into THEIR slot...

...but yeah, now they'd probably be more likely to get a congratulatory note from the other team's defenseman ("Hey! Congratulations on gaining the zone! Beer after the game? Darts?") then an a$$-over-teakettle hip check but the point I'm trying to make is this...

Center ice is the hardest, most demanding and most important position in all of Hockey. Wingers don't come close, they don't create the game, they respond to it. When kids start playing the game, the best players are ALWAYS put at center, a center can affect a game's outcome in ways a winger can only dream of (Crosby = 3 Ovechkin = 0) and no matter what kind of team you are assembling, a smart GM knows the very first thing he needs to build a winner, is a true #1 center that will fufill ALL of the traditional center ice responsibiliteies, (BTW when you have a center like Henrik who isn't great at ALL aspects of his possition things get more complicated, you need to start icro-managing zone starts and siuatioal line changes. Henrik and Ryan Keller together equaled the best center in the league, but it took a lot of work on A.V's part to make it happen.

So, where are we at today? Bo Horvat....what more is there to say? Well, actually a lot. As good as he's been offensive with his "Miricle grow" skating regimen, last years performance at the other half of his duties were abysmal. It's funny, were told were getting a 2nd line/Elite third line (Kiss of death) center, who wasn't the best skater, but who was rock solid defensively. What we got was a freewheeling runaway train ready to rack up some offensive civilian casualties, who.....kinda sucked defensively,

I for one am not worried, Bo is smart, his dad is very involved in his guidance and I think this was all part of their plan. To establish Bo first and foremost as an offensive top 6 NHL player, defensive systems be damned! You see, in the NHL offensive producers get NOTICED, they become STARS and they get PAID, defensive greats and elite bottom sixers (Blehh!) are quite often paid lip service until it's time to cut them a check, then they are expendable.I think this was what Bo and his advisors had in mind all along, establish Bo as a star no matter what the cost to other parts of his game, and once the money was rolling, start to re-incorporate the less sexy aspects of his game, Bo will be fine.

But is that the best we can do? FINE. Bo is a top 6 NHL center. I don't know that he's the #1 center on a Stanley Cup winner.

"But wait!" I hear you wail "E.P is coming to save us!" Let me break the news to you bluntly, Elias Peterson, if he DOES play center and DOES make the team and DOES become a top 6 NHL player, will NOT be able to fill the #1 center role.

Why?

He's Henrik 2.0 the guy does not have the Jam or the size to handle 75% of what is required of a #1 center and for that reason, I hated the pick, this management group does not seem to have any foresight.

Two days have passed since my open letter to Tonya Harding, so my invitation to come kneecap some of our better players and thus slow down our winning % this season doesn't seem to be in the cards. But make no mistake about this people, we need to tank HARD this year, if this team peaks before we've assembled the necessary core pieces, you will be looking at a one and done playoff team for the next decade

This presents yet ANOTHER problem: with Joulevi looking like, well......the second coming of Lukas Krajicek, we have no leaders coming up on our blueline, believe me, I'm pulling for Poo' to start pushing for a BIG role on this team, but I don't want him to start squeezing the stick, when you play too tight, you just can't produce anything.......haha, get it? Poop joke....nice right? Anyway, anyway with Poo' stacking our blueline.....ok ok, that's it I'm done! The point is we need TOP TALENT on defense AND at center, Benning's failures at the draft table are coming home to roost as we find our best young players starting to perform, players either not acquired by Benning or fluke picks, NONE of our lottery picks are helping this team, or even close to doing it, and NONE of them will be able to fulfill the role we need to fill more than anything, especially now that Poo' has filled our......ahhhh! I can't help myself! I'm a sick man! Pity me!

So what's a displaced Vancouverite to do? There are some really nice defensive prospects in this years draft, do we pass them over to draft the center we should have drafted 4 times over by now? (And no, Gaudette isn't a #1 center, he'll probably be good, but cmon)

Well, let's see what do we need in a center? Tenacity, Talent, A complete game, Gritty (doesn't have to be a fighter but he needs to get his nose dirty) and above all playmaking, a guy who creates offense out of nothing

Wait.....hold the phone....I know a guy who fits that description!

Brock Boesser is tenacious, Brock has Talent, Brock has a complete game, Brock is gritty (if not a face-puncher, at least he'd probably be willing to GET his face punched)

And though we had been told we were getting Brett Hull, Brock is ANYTHING BUT a lazy, Goalsucking winger who refuses to cross his own blueline and coasts around trying to get open (Think Vanek)

In fact, based on what I've seen, Brock  Boesser is above all else a playmaker, a guy who makes offense happen, who creates something out of nothing.

And to be honest, I think Brock is a little wasted on the wing, the guy MAKES THINGS HAPPEN in the way a center iceman is supposed to.

So why not pull a Linden? (Back in the day the Canucks didn't have any big 200 ft. center to go head to head with the leagues toughest lines, It was decided that Trevor, who had entered the league as a winger, would move to the middle, what followed were three of the most sucessfull seasons in franchise history. Trev became a 50 assist man while wining faceoffs, battling in the slot and even geting into one or two fights a year, when we went to the finals, Linden was the guy feeding Bure the puck.) We would be sacrificing his being open to shoot, but we would be gaining his creation of offense in the middle of the ice, the potential benifits far outweogh anything we'd be giving up

A team hasn't really arrived till they have solidified their center position, I see all the qualities in Brock necessary to excel at that position, then let Petterson worry about getting open, Bo's playmaking hasn't really blown me away and though I think he's great, he looks like 2nd line all the way

Try Brock in the middle, I guarantee he will make things happen from that position, improve the team defensively and make those around him better. The team will start to take on his identity from that position because the top center sets the tone for his whole team

Trev, let's bring Brock along the path you followed to stardom.

And as people said back in your day (even though no one knew what the hell you were talking about)

Let's make this Deja Vu...........All over again!