The speedy young gun -- recently departed of  very speedy Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks -- who's earned a spot on the Canucks top line with the Sedins, says the Canucks are "the fastest team I've ever played on."

There's a lot of "deceptively fast" skaters on the Canucks, says Shannon.

There also appears to be consensus that the twins look decidely faster this year.

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Additionally, Markus Naslund is ready to put a few more in the net this year... yesterday he scored five goals in team power-play drills. This as an added indication to the green light offered by coach Vigneault for Naslund to shoot more and worrly less about defensive coverage. Hopefully this will translate to more goals.

Brad Isbister and Jeff Cowan will start the season on the bench. Alexander Edler is hurt and will be in the press box. In Edler's place will be the recently acquired Mike Weaver from the waiver wire earlier this week. As such the following represents the starting line-up for tomorrow's season opener versus San Jose:

1st LINE:

D. Sedin     H. Sedin     M. Raymond

2nd LINE:

M. Naslund     R. Kessler     R. Shannon

3rd LINE:

M. Cooke     B. Morrison     T. Pyatt

4th LINE:

A. Burrows     B. Ritchie    T. Linden

1st Defence UNIT:

W. Mitchell     K. Bieksa

2nd Defense UNIT:

M. Ohlund    M. Weaver

3rd Defense UNIT:

L. Kraijeck     A. Miller

GOAL:

R. Luongo

BENCH:  C. Sanford, B. Isbister, J. Cowan

Despite their better than imagined (by most) season, the Vancouver Canucks have tinkered with the line-up by replacing older players with younger speed. 

WHO'S GONE: Jan Bulis, Rory Fitzpatrick, Marc Chouinard, Bryan Smolinski, Josh Green, Tommi Santala, Brent Sopel, Dany Sabourin.

WHO'S NEW: Mason Raymond, Brad Isbister, Ryan Shannon, Byron Ritchie, Aaron Miller, Curtis Sanford.

For those counting, 8 players are gone, 6 are new in a 24 man roster. One or two additional players will be sent down in the coming weeks (barring an injury, certainly one forward and one defenseman when Sami Salo comes back from injury.

I'd like to see Trevor Linden given a chance with the Sedins as this combination worked well late in the season particularly on the power-play but Raymond and Shannon will be given chances with Pyatt sharing the spot until a leader emerges.

Vigneault is determined to give Kessler the 2nd line center job. Morrison will have to fight through his injuries to earn back the 2nd job. However, the 2nd line will likely fluctuate a lot if a dominant combination does not emerge. The 2nd and 3rd liners will likely be juggled constantly (until a winning combo appears). Besides, Vigneault has proven he's not afraid to tinker on-the-fly.

Finally, while Sanford proved worthy of a few starts, he likely won't see more than 8 or 9 unless Luongo tires or injures.

STARTING LINE-UP (ANTICIPATED):

1st LINE:

D. Sedin     H. Sedin     M. Raymond

2nd LINE:

M. Naslund     R. Kessler     R. Shannon

3rd LINE:

M. Cooke     B. Morrison     T. Pyatt

4th LINE:

J. Cowan     B. Isbister    T. Linden

1st Defence UNIT:

W. Mitchell     K. Bieksa

2nd Defense UNIT:

M. Ohlund    A. Edler

3rd Defense UNIT:

L. Kraijeck     A. Miller

GOAL:

R. Luongo

BENCH:  C. Sanford, N. MacIver, B. Ritchie, A. Burrows