322 points for Mattias Ohlund!

Awww.. so little Ohlie (Viktor, not Alex Edler) apparently keeps tabs on his dad's stats and knew about Mattias' imminent record of all-time points by a Canucks defenseman.

I knew by the way the camera kept panning to Ohlund that he'd taken the record last night and strained my ears to hear his interview but I must've missed the part about his son.

Aside: The crowd at GM place gave Ohlund a standing ovation. Awwwwwwww..

From Eliott Pap:

VANCOUVER — Mattias Ohlund had more than just the media observing his pursuit of the Vancouver Canucks’ franchise record for points by a defenceman. He was getting constant reminders from a member of his immediate family as well.

“My son is a real stats boy,” Ohlund said Sunday after his third-period assist — and 322nd Canuck point — pushed him past Jyrki Lumme and Dennis Kearns for the all-time lead. “He knows the stats better than I do. He reads the paper and was talking about it at home.”

Ohlund, 32, has been a Canuck his entire career. He was drafted in the first round in 1994, less than two weeks after Vancouver’s improbable march to the Stanley Cup final. It took him almost 11 seasons and 756 games to surpass Lumme and Kearns, who co-held the mark.

“Obviously it means I’ve played a lot of games, that’s what it means,” said the modest Swede with a smile. “At this time of year, it’s not something you think about too much. It’s just fun being a part of this group right now with the way we are playing.”

Ohlund’s record-setting point came on Vancouver’s fourth goal — a power-play tally by Alex Edler — and put away the pesky Colorado Avalanche 4-2. Ohlund finally admitted, after some prodding, that he was proud to claim a second team record. He also holds the mark for most goals by a Canuck defenceman (92).

“When you think about it, it is something nice to have, I guess,” he said.

Ohlund will have to go some to collect the record for most assists by a blueliner, held by Kearns at 290. He trails the latter by 59 and, with his contract up, likely won’t get the seasons needed to take a serious run at it.

Barry on the Sedins.. and Ohlund

Sedins staying put on trade day Jim Jamieson:

The agent for Daniel and Henrik Sedin said Monday that he doesn't believe there's much chance his clients could be moved in a pre-NHL trade-deadline deal and that negotiations with the Vancouver Canucks are hinging on a contract term both sides can agree on.

Both Daniel and Henrik are on track to become unrestricted free agents on July 1, but want to re-sign and would like to finish their careers in Vancouver. Both are completing contracts that pay $3.575 million US per season.

Calgary-based agent J.P. Barry of CAA Sports said that Wednesday afternoon trade deadline doesn't represent a pressure point for Canucks management to either have a deal done or make a trade to avoid the prospect of losing the twins to another team for nothing in the summer.

"I never really anticipated a chance of a trade, quite frankly," said Barry. "In this situation, it's more about us finding a common ground. I'm sure that will probably continue after the trade deadline.

"I get the sense from both sides that there is a willingness from both sides to make something happen. It's just a matter of taking the time to understand the landscape in front of us and come to a deal that's mutually acceptable."

Barry said he has had some discussions in recent weeks regarding the Sedins, but classified them as "basic."

"It's an ongoing dialogue about the economy, the salary cap, what the world's going to look like, what it takes to make up a team, but no progress about the actual contract negotiations," said Barry.

Barry said a successful deal with hinge on term, with the value of the contract driven by that.

"All the discussions today have been on longer-term deals, in the range of three-four-five (years)," he said. "From our end, it's more toward the five-year range. A longer term deal could equal one (salary) value (per season) and a shorter-term deal could equal another, but we haven't come to any agreement on a term yet."

Henrik said he and Daniel are seeking a deal longer than three years.

"We want to play our whole careers here and we're going to play longer than three more years," he said.

Barry said no talks were presently scheduled for the Sedins or defenceman Mattias Ohlund, also due to become an unrestricted free agent.

Barry said Canucks management wants to wait until the end of the season to see how "Mattias is playing, how the rest of the defence is playing and whether or not they make any changes" before talking further about Ohlund.

Another article on Ohlund's future on the team

This article by Iain MacIntyre made me sad.

While a brush fire raged Monday near Vancouver Canuck defenceman Shane O'Brien, who dropped napalm as reporters asked him about being a healthy scratch, across the Vancouver Canucks' dressing room the slow smoulder around Mattias Ohlund continued unnoticed.

Ohlund isn't angry, merely largely resigned to the likelihood that his decade-long stint as the backbone of the Canucks' defence is nearing an end. Any frustration Ohlund harboured about a slightly diminished role in what seems his final National Hockey League season in Vancouver, long ago dissipated. It was never expressed publicly.

In Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, everyone saw that Mats Sundin didn't get off the Canuck bench in the final minute of regulation time and overtime. Maybe you didn't notice Ohlund was sitting at the other end of it.

Ohlund's only contribution was a fragment of broken stick, snapped against the dasher when Marc-Andre Bergeron scored in OT, that skipped across the ice as the Wild celebrated.

"That was just frustration that we got scored on," Ohlund said.

When the Canucks pressed desperately for a tying goal, coach Alain Vigneault used defencemen Sami Salo and Alex Edler in the final minute. And when he changed penalty-killers in overtime, going to two defencemen from one, Vigneault left blueliner Willie Mitchell on the ice and sent Salo out to join him. Ohlund stayed on the bench.

"Without a doubt in my mind, Sami and Alex Edler were our two best Ds as far as moving the puck and trying to get their shots on net," Vigneault explained Monday. "Those two guys, at the end of the game, were our two best defencemen. That's why they were out there."

Fair enough.

It was a far more defensible position than Vigneault's decision to scratch O'Brien and winger Mason Raymond in favour of Rob Davison and Mike Brown, replacing two guys who can handle the puck with two guys who can't. Though admirably competitive, Brown and Davison combined for just 7:34 of ice time, about 221/2 minutes fewer than what Raymond and O'Brien offer.

Partly because of Davison's limitations, Ohlund logged 25:12. But that nudged the 32-year-old's season average to only 21:59, nearly two minutes less than last season and about 31/2 minutes off the Swede's career average.

Small changes, but Ohlund has noticed.

"I'm not trying to analyse it," he said. "They're going to put out whoever they think gives us the best chance to win. When I get tapped on the shoulder, I go out and play. That's all I know. I'd like to be out there. I'm sure other guys would say the same thing."

Overshadowed by the possible free agency of first-liners Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Ohlund's contractual status generated little fanfare when talks on an extension broke off last fall.

Ohlund, eight points shy of becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer on defence, is probably the first Canuck victim of the global economic crisis. He badly wants to stay in Vancouver and general manager Mike Gillis reiterated Monday he'd like to keep the defenceman who has spent his entire 11-year career with the Canucks.

But no one knows what the NHL salary cap will be next season, except that in the next two years it is likely to plummet. With the Sedins still to sign, goalie Roberto Luongo under contract next season at $7.5 million US and defencemen Kevin Bieksa, Mitchell, Salo and Edler on the books for $14 million, Gillis simply doesn't have enough money to keep Ohlund.

Not for anything close to market value ($5-6 million US over 4-5 years), anyway.

Ohlund understands this. He believes the Canucks have acted in good faith, and accepts there are consequences to the economic uncertainty. He is not bitter. Not even close.

But that doesn't make this season easier for him. It is no accident that he has never played for another team. So content was he to stay -- and willing to give a discount -- none of his previous contracts made it to the final year before Ohlund re-signed.

He lives here more than 10 months a year, spending just July and another week or two back home in Pitea. Vancouver is the only home his children, Viktor, 9, and Hannah, 7, have known. Viktor was born with one leg shorter than the other, and the Ohlunds have strong ties to staff at Children's Hospital.

"My son is pretty interested in hockey, so he knows what's going on," Ohlund said of not knowing where he'll be next season. "But they're kids. They don't think much further than the next minute.

"I'm sort of past that point [of worrying]. We've played most of the year. There were talks last summer that didn't lead anywhere. You get to the point where you're kind of reconciled to it, and then you move on. You go through times where you reflect on it, but now I'm excited about the future."

Gillis said he hasn't given up on trying to sign Ohlund after the season and praised the assistant captain for his professionalism and commitment.

"No one knows what the future is from a salary-cap situation," Ohlund said. "I know this is a business. I've been here 11 years and it has been great. But if I'm not here, I'll move on and be perfectly happy somewhere else."

Free Agency - July 1... Oh yeah, go Canada.

Hmm.. I guess we'll see what happens for tomorrow! Starting noon will be the free agent signing.

Since we haven't had one in awhile, here's a photo of a young Mattias Ohlund! The look: determined or pissed off.

A Mattias Ohlund blog posting

Here's a blog posting I found that was Mattias Ohlund related.

A man came into my dad's office today. Roughly six feet tall, squinty eyes, of Swedish descent. They shared a conversation full of sticks and shots and favors granted in the past. A few of this man's friends were visiting from overseas and they were looking for some ice time. My dad found a free rink so they could skate around, etc. and they were most grateful. So grateful, in fact, that the man came back into my dad's office when they were done and gave him a new pair of hockey gloves that he wasn't going to use. My dad brought them into the kitchen tonight when he got home and had me try them on. Now the gloves are somewhere in the basement most likely still in the plastic bag they were transported in by the generous fellow from earlier today. The man in question?
Our very own Mattias Ohlund.

Aww.. everyone loves Mattias Ohlund! and why wouldn't we?

Our Blueline is Mattias Ohlund.. literally

Well, pretty much literally. Tremblay's been called up now. Man, I also feel sorry for the Moose. Here's their scratch list, partially due to us: Wade Flaherty, Julien Ellis, Alex Edler, Nathan McIver, Marc Chouinard, Michael Grabner, Jannik Hansen, Nathan Smith, Tyler Bouck, Patrick Coulombe. So who've we got? We've got Krajicek, Sopel, Edler and Ohlund anchoring the D. Mitchell and Fitzpatrick didn't skate today. Mitchell may skate Sunday but not Fitzy. Gosh, it seems similar to last year when major injuries took down our blueline. Ohlund was left holding up the fort while everyone else fell to injuries. And what was the thanks he got for being so well conditioned that he was able to play through his injuries? Fickle fan flack for being slow and ineffective against other forwards. psha!

A closeup of Mattias Ohlund's playoff beard

Hahaha! A whole new post just for this picture! *grin*

Ohlund's Steady As He Goes: Part Deux

Well the second part of Ohlund's video special is up on the Canucks site now. No one has put up Part I and Part II on Youtube yet. Still waiting!! Anyway, it's nice to hear an interview of Mattias and not hear the usual hockey player interview spiel. His interview, along with Trevor's, made me somewhat sad. It's a good interview.

He talks about how the core group got to be good friends and how even though everyone knew things were gonna change last year that it was still hard to accept. He also talks about how he knows that he's an important cornerstone of the team but still strives to learn and knows he still has things to improve on.

Mattias is known for being the best conditioned guy on the team every year and isn't prone to injury. Heck, remember when he was crunched last year and he only missed a couple of games? Man, what a trooper. In the interview, he admitted that there are only a few days out of the season that you feel great. Most of them, you either are suffering from some minor injury or your legs are tired. But as you get older, you discover that everyone goes through the same thing too and you just accept it.

A good interview.