| stuff99 | 01-07-2009 12:31 PM |
Two points. That's the difference between Jannik Hansen and Steve Bernier.
One spent Tuesday skating with Mats Sundin as the Canucks test-drove some new power-play units.
The other? That was Hansen, who was on his way back to Manitoba and the minor leagues despite having more points this season than some of the NHL's most celebrated rookies, including Steve Stamkos, Kyle Turris and Kyle Okposo.
The Canucks had an assortment of reasons. Some are legitimate, others curious. The Canucks reasoned that Hansen was pointless in eight games, had backed off a couple checks recently, and was outplayed by Alexandre Bolduc, who has played four games to his 37.
"For the last seven or eight games, we felt his play slipped a little bit," Vigneault said of Hansen, who has two fewer points than Bernier. "He's been on sort of a slump there, if you can call it that. It's part of the learning curve. Sometimes, players need a little wake-up call. With younger guys who don't need waivers, [sending him down is] one of the tools you can use."
So, even though Hansen's 17- point total is 10th among NHL rookies -- and enough to tie him with Alex Burrows for ninth in Canucks scoring -- the hard-nosed Danish winger finds himself wrestling mentally with a demotion.
"It was surprising, and we weren't expecting it," Burrows said. "It's got to be tough for him. He has to be wondering why. But thinking about it can't really help you.
"He has to forget that, go back out there and work really hard. That's all he can do. He can't complain, can't put his head down. He just has to get back to the first step, get back to the basics of his game and compete hard."
True, Hansen's game had tailed off. He was moved all over the lineup in the past month, including a stint on the top line, and his game suffered. He lost some focus and edge.
"He used to be able to stay in front of the net a little longer," Vigneault said. "He was really battling hard for puck possession and puck retrieval. That seemed to have slipped a little."
But that's common for NHL rookies. And the Canucks had other options.
Edmonton's Sam Gagner, a former Mike Gillis client, hit a wall at just about the same part of his rookie season last year. Gagner went 13 games without a point in a stretch that began in December. The Oilers chose to wake him up by cutting his minutes back and making him a healthy scratch.
He responded with a terrific second half: 33 points in his final 34 games.
This move may help Hansen in the long run, and the Canucks have to be thinking of the big picture with such a player. But furthering his development wasn't the motive behind the demotion, Vigneault said.
"If [Hansen] would have outplayed [Bolduc and Jason Jaffray], one of those other guys would have went down. It's that simple."
But having Bolduc, Jaffray, and even Mike Brown instead of Hansen does not make the Canucks better. When rolling, Hansen's two-way game dwarfs what any of those three can possibly bring.
"Everyone knows he has so much skill and so much upside," Burrows said. "I'm sure we're going to see him back really soon. He's going to be an NHL player for a long, long time."
Hansen's never been a big point producer. The most goals he's scored was in junior, when he put 24 in for Portland.
To put his 17 points in 37 games this season in perspective, it's worth looking at Burrows and Ryan Kesler.
In Burrows' first 124 NHL games, he had 21 points. In Kesler's first 130 games, he had 28. | 