The Vancouver Canucks have announced (via GM Mike Gillis on his new official Twitter account) that they are recalling center Mario Bliznak from the Manitoba Moose.
So what does this mean for the Canucks?
Well, to start, it means that the experiment of alternating Rick Rypien, Peter Schaefer and Tanner Glass as center on the fourth line is over. It was worth a shot once Alex Bolduc went down with an ankle injury, but it has been 13 games since then, and frankly it wasn't working.
Rypien, Schaefer and Glass can play their roles on the fourth line, and do a good job of it, but they are better wingers than centers at the NHL level.
Jeff Tambellini also played a few games as the fourth line center during his earlier stint with the Canucks, but he wasn't well suited to that role either.
Bliznak is a Canucks prospect who is a natural center, and he has performed admirably as a checking center at lower levels of play. He won a Memorial Cup with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL in that role, and has been playing as a checking center on the Manitoba Moose since turning pro two years ago.
He played a few games last year fo ...
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Article written by Joel Prosser
Vancouver Canucks Call Up Mario Bliznak
November 10th, 2010 by Joel Prosser Leave a reply »
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