Canucks Reassign Brown and Rypien, Recall Raymond

[Thrillhouse]

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks Senior Vice President and General Manager Dave Nonis announced today that forward Mason Raymond has been recalled from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Forwards Mike Brown and Rick Rypien have been re-assigned to the Moose.

Raymond, 22, has played 23 games with the Canucks this season recording three goals, seven assists for 10 points. Raymond scored his first career NHL goal, December 12th at Anaheim and recorded his first assist as he made his NHL debut on October 5th versus San Jose.

The 6-foot, 185 lbs. native of Calgary, Alberta, was originally drafted by the Vancouver Canucks, 51st overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

Mike Brown has been re-assigned to the Moose after playing 17 games with the Canucks, recording his first career goal and registering 51 penalty minutes. In 17 games with Manitoba, Brown has three points (2-1-3) and 69 penalty minutes.

Rick Rypien re-joins the Moose after seeing action in nine Canucks games this season, recording two points (1-1-2) and 20 penalty minutes. In 15 games with the Moose this year, Rypien has eight points (1-7-8) and 33 penalty minutes.

[BStreetBullies]

I guess the Canucks thought they could out-do themselves, and become even more weak. This sucks.. tough break for Vancouverians (sp).

[bustoff]

The canuckleheads are soft again.

[JKidd]

Well, there went most of the reason to watch a Canucks game.

Thankfully they still have Jeff Cowan and McIver....

[FitzGerald28]

Thats too bad I thought that Brown was a real sparkplug and Rypien has yet to get a real chance to play consistantly.

[canuckfan]

The Canucks have tried icing a grittier lineup the past week or so and have looked awful on the ice while doing so - the Sedins won the game in St. Louis and the game a few nights ago against the Blue Jackets was a disaster. Before that, theuy looked terrible against the Sharks and Coyotes. Mind you, it doesn't help that Luongo is looking human and letting in soft goals, and the offense has pretty much dried up.

BUT. Something is missing from Rypien's game, but he didn't impress me at all since he was recalled.

Brown hasn't done much since the scrap against Hollweg.

There's a huge logjam of forwards for the Canucks right now, and some movement had to happen. And considering Vancouver is having some serious troubles scoring goals right now, it makes sense shuffling around these grittier, tougher forwards in favour of a guy who can provide some offensive spark.

So, when you have two physical guys not doing anything to get noticed on the ice or providing much of a spark in any sense of the word, no kidding, goodbye, have fun in the minors and re-discover your work ethic.

They'll be back though, AV likes these 2 guys, and maybe they need a dose of minor pro to wake them up a little. But the bottom line is this team needs goals, and Rypien and Brown aren't going to help much in that department.

End of the night all that matters is the 2 points fellas, not the number of fighting majors. The race in the west is too tight to care about stuff like that.

[canuckfan]

Originally Posted by jkidd

Thankfully they still have Jeff Cowan and McIver....

Cowan needs to crank it up a notch - maybe some more responsibility will help - he'll have to shoulder more of the physical workload with Rypien and Brown gone - and I hope that shoulder is up to it.

McIver played last night against the Jackets and looked terrible - he was handling the puck as if it were a live grenade and made a ton of goofs...unfortunatley, he's just not ready for the NHL yet. It didn't help that he was paired with Lukas Kraijeck, the Canucks version of Martin Skoula - maybe if he was paired with someone more solid and reliable like Miller or Mitchell that would help - but as soon as Ohlund's back, McIver will be sent back down. He needs another year or two before he's ready.

[staal4pm]

I agree with everything you've said. Vancouver is an extension of Vigneault's personality and he likes the grittiness that guys like McIver, Brown, and Rypien provide. However pim's don't win games. If the experiment with Raymond works this time, I expect to see Jaffray on a plane back over the mountains soon.

Keep in mind, the Canucks can still ice one of the grittiest lineups in the league. They still have guys like Ryan Kesler, Byron Ritchie, and Alex Burrows who are as frustrating to play against as any players in this league. Also, Edler is playing well and doing great in the shootouts so any question of whether it would be him or McIver going back to Manitoba when Ohlund is ready to come back.

And I think Luongo is just jazzed about his kid coming up. He should be back to near-invincibility after the baby comes.

[Kingdog819]

From a fighting perspective this isnt good for the nucks, but like canuckfan said, the organization is more concerned with the 2 points at the end of the night then how many fights they had. So whatever they have to do to get the team in the right direction, they will do it. Even if it makes us fight fans on here die a little inside

[Odjick29]

Originally Posted by canuckfan

Cowan needs to crank it up a notch - maybe some more responsibility will help - he'll have to shoulder more of the physical workload with Rypien and Brown gone - and I hope that shoulder is up to it.

McIver played last night against the Jackets and looked terrible - he was handling the puck as if it were a live grenade and made a ton of goofs...unfortunatley, he's just not ready for the NHL yet. It didn't help that he was paired with Lukas Kraijeck, the Canucks version of Martin Skoula - maybe if he was paired with someone more solid and reliable like Miller or Mitchell that would help - but as soon as Ohlund's back, McIver will be sent back down. He needs another year or two before he's ready.

I argee, Cowan really needs to start playing his role...Mciver has looked great out there, just can't find a willing combatant but I would go and and say he's probably the best fighter the Canucks have...