Of the 60 players selected in the first two rounds of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, 50 have played at least one NHL game.

Anton Rodin, drafted 53^rd overall by the Canucks that year, is set to become the 51^st to play in the big league this season, if all goes according to plan.

Then again, nothing has gone according to plan for Rodin.

The chemistry has just begun and there's already been a reaction.

The Vancouver Canucks, made up of 60 players split into three groups, began practicing at Meadow Park Sports Centre in Whistler Friday, and it was rise and shine for Group A with ice time at 8:30 a.m.

With the Young Stars classic in the rear-view mirror, the Canucks organization turns its attention to training camp, which officially began Thursday at Rogers Arena. Now that the physical testing is done, the Canucks are in Whistler about to hit the ice and begin a camp that comes with many questions throughout the line-up.

Looking at the forward group, it's clear that Henrik and Daniel Sedin will once again occupy the first line, but could see a new winger with newcomer Loui Eriksson, who is currently occupying that spot with them at the World Cup. In the mix for that spot, is incumbent Jannik Hansen, who had a career-high 22 goals alongside the Sedins last season.

It's go time.

The Vancouver Canucks officially opened training camp Thursday morning at Rogers Arena with 60 players running the gauntlet through physical and mental testing, getting headshots and of course meeting the media.

Coach Willie Desjardins and general manager Jim Benning spoke with the media to kick off the day and both expressed excitement towards the upcoming season. Desjardins was asked, frankly, if it's reasonable to expect a straight-shot back to the playoffs after missing the post-season a year ago.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Vancouver Canucks announced today their participation in Vancouver Sun's 20^th Annual Raise-a-Reader fundraising campaign beginning Thursday, September 22, 2016 in support of family literacy programs across British Columbia. Ben Hutton, Brandon Sutter, Derek Dorsett and Alex Edler are proudly lending their time and voices to the campaign.

Raise-a-Reader will consist of a new format for 2016, as the campaign transitions from a day-long celebration of literacy and fundraising, to a user-friendly online platform to collect donations from anyone with a passion for supporting family literacy programs across BC. Canucks fans are encouraged to log-on to http://www.nhl.com/canucks/community/raiseareader to donate now.

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the Canucks have signed right wing Jack Skille to a professional try-out contract. 

Skille, 29, appeared in 74 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season, registering 14 points (8-6-14) along with 11 penalty minutes. The 6-1, 216-pound forward has amassed 75 points (38-37-75) and 106 penalty minutes in 313 NHL regular season games split between Chicago, Florida, Columbus and Colorado.

Muuuuuch better.

We earned a 3-2 win over Winnipeg this afternoon and it goes without saying winning leads to much better feelings than losing. Highlight of the game for me was getting some love from the crowd after the in-game announcer called out the assists on our first goal. I just put a harmless puck on net and coach Green told us before the game to capitalize on our second and third chances, which we didn't do against Edmonton. Obviously we did against Winnipeg and it led to an assist for me.

I guess you could say my first game in a Canucks uniform was one to remember and also maybe one to forget.

It's obviously upsetting not getting the win. We played hard and got better as the game went on and you hope you can find a way to win, but we didn't get the outcome we wanted. That being said, it was still an experience I'll never forget throwing that jersey on for the first time.

I have a confession to make: this isn't my first time blogging.

As a communications major at University of North Dakota I had the chance to run a blog similar to this, giving fans insight into me and the team. It was a lot of fun and now that I'm back at it again, I'll admit I forgot how much I enjoyed it. My UND blog had something this blog doesn't, however: an incredible title. It was called Etch-a-Stech and the UND team made the epic photo below for it! Hilarious.

Vancouver, BC - The Vancouver Canucks announced today that 34 veterans will participate in the 2016 Training Camp. Players will report for physicals, medical exams and media availability at Rogers Arena on Thursday, September 22nd and take to the ice at the Meadow Park Sports Centre in Whistler from Friday, September 23rd to Monday, September 26th.