Bracketology - February 29th

South                                                                                 Midwest

1 Kansas	1 Villinova
16 Winthrop / Hampton	16 Weber State
St. Louis	St. Louis
8 USC	8 St. Joseph's
9 Monmouth	9 Wisconsin
5 Duke	5 Arizona
12  Butler / Alabama	12 Arkansas LR
Des Moines	Denver
4 Iowa	4 Kentucky
13 IFPW	13 Stony Brook
6  Colorado	6 Dayton
11 Akron	11 Florida
Oklahoma City	Des Moines
3  West Virgina	3 Iowa State
14 Hawaii	14 Stephan F. Austin
7 Wichita State	7 Indiana
10 Seton Hall	10 Vanderbilt
Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City
2 Michigan State	2 Oklahoma
15 New Mexico State	15 Yale
East	West
1 UNC	1 Virginia
16 Texas Southern /  Wagner	16 UNC Wimington
Raleigh	Raleigh
8 Texas Tech	8 South Carolina
9 Providence	9 Syracuse
5 Texas  A & M	5 Purdue
12 Temple	12 Oregon State / Cincinnati
Denver	Spokane
4 Utah	4 Texas
13 Chattanooga	13 San Diego State
6 Cal	6 Baylor
11 Uconn	11 St. Mary's
Providence	Oklahoma City
3  Xavier	3 Miami FL
14 North Florida	14 Bucknell
7 Notre Dame	7 Pitt
10 Valpo	10 VCU
Providence	Spokane
2 Maryland	2 Oregon
15 Belmont	15 UAB

Bubble Watch 

Last 4 IN 

Alabama 

Butler 

Cincinnati 

Oregon State  

First 4 Out 

Gonzaga 

Boise State 

LSU 

Tulsa  

Next 4 Out 

Michigan 

Florida State
Ohio State 

BYU

Bracketology - February 26th

South                                                                                 Midwest

1 Kansas	1 Villinova
16 Winthrop / Hampton	16 Weber State
St. Louis	St. Louis
8 USC	8 Syracuse
9 Monmouth	9 Wisconsin
5 Texas	5 Arizona
12  Butler / Vanderbilt	12 Arkansas LR
Des Moines	Denver
4 Utah	4 Kentucky
13 IFPW	13 Stony Brook
6  Colorado	6 Purdue
11 Akron	11 Seton Hall
Oklahoma City	Des Moines
3  West Virgina	3 Iowa State
14 Hawaii	14 Stephan F. Austin
7 Wichita State	7 Indiana
10 Florida	10 Uconn
Oklahoma City	Raleigh
2 Xavier	2 Virgina
15 New Mexico State	15 Yale
East	West
1 UNC	1 Oklahoma
16 Texas Southern /  Wagner	16 UNC Wimington
Raleigh	Oklahoma City
8 Texas Tech	8 South Carolina
9 St. Joseph's	9 Providence
5 Texas  A & M	5 Dayton
12 Temple	12 Oregon State / Alabama
Denver	Spokane
4 Iowa	4 Duke
13 Chattanooga	13 San Diego State
6 Notre Dame	6 Baylor
11 Vanderbilt	11 St. Mary's
Providence	Oklahoma City
3  Michigan State	3 Miami FL
14 North Florida	14 Bucknell
7 Cal	7 Pitt
10 Valpo	10 VCU
Providence	Spokane
2 Maryland	2 Oregon
15 Tennessee Tech	15 UAB

Bubble Watch 

Last 4 IN 

Alabama

Butler

Vanderbilt

Oregon State  

First 4 Out 

Cincinnati

Boise State 

LSU 

Tulsa 

Next 4 Out 

Washington 

Florida State
Gonzaga 

BYU

Granlund Trade Is Just the Start Of A Busy Week For Canucks

There has been lots of opinions surrounding the Vancouver Canucks’ trade that sent AHL All-Star winger Hunter Shinkaruk to arch rival Calgary, in exchange for gritty Flames’ forward Markus Granlund.
Initially, a handful of Canucks’ fans detested the trade, viewing Shinkaruk as a late bloomer who has the potential to evolve into a top six forward in the NHL. From the minds of the glass-half empty fans, they’re getting a border-line player that might help within Vancouver’s third line, especially if it fails to propel Vancouver into the playoffs by the near future.

Essentially, the departure of Vancouver’s young prospects is a double-edge sword. The Canucks’ fans that are favoring the move believes that Hunter Shinkaruk is a bust waiting to happen, and it’s satisfying that Vancouver will get something in return for him. Despite having a good year with the AHL’s Utica Comets, Shinkaruk has under achieved for the most part throughout his early career. His last season with the Medicine Hat Tigers, he battled a hip injury that put him out for all but 18 games. Shinkaruk was projected to come out as a lottery pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, but evidently slipped to 24th to the Canucks.

Vancouver is looking for other options outside of their former prized talent in Skinkaruk. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Anyhow, the Canucks are getting a player in Markus Granlund who can come into the lineup right away. He may be a year older than Shinkaruk, but has already produced at a high level, scoring 14 goals and dishing out another 14 assists over an 86 game span. It’s easy to like the trade because it sticks with the theme that GM Jim Benning has been trying to implement since his inception as GM in 2014. Fast, big forwards between the ages of 21-27 who are already NHL ready once they arrive. A case for this is the past two years, when the Canucks added Sven Bärtschi and Emerson Etem.

If the core that Vancouver has groomed stays intact, then this sets up well as far as depth is concerned. Not every prospect can be a 80+ point guy in Juniors and expect to land on a well-balanced professional team. But in the future, the Canucks have their sights set on handing Bo Horvat and Jared McCann big contracts as they hopefully bloom into big time scorers.

With the trade deadline fast approaching, Benning is expected to make a couple more moves before the February 29th deadline. Right Winger Radim Vrbata and defenseman Dan Hamhuis are the most notable Canucks that could be dealt with before the deadline, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Benning make a splash somewhere else before it’s all said and done.

In summary, it’s apparent why a minority of Canucks’ fans don’t like the trade, as Shinkaruk possesses a higher ceiling. However, because Shinkaruk is injury prone and has under achieved so far. It makes sense for Vancouver to go with a more polished product in Granlund.

Bracketology - February 24th

South                                                                                 Midwest

1 Kansas	1 Villinova
16 Winthrop / Hampton	16 Weber State
St. Louis	St. Louis
8 Texas Tech	8 Providence
9 Monmouth	9 Florida
5 Texas A&M	5 Arizona
12  Davidson / Oregon State	12 San Diego State
Des Moines	Denver
4 Utah	4 Kentucky
13 IFPW	13 Hawaii
6  USC	6 Baylor
11 Akron	11 Alabama
Oklahoma City	Des Moines
3  Iowa State	3 Iowa
14 Stony Brook	14 Stephan F. Austin
7 Wichita State	7 Colorado
10 Uconn	10 Indiana
Raleigh	Oklahoma City
2 Virginia	2 Xavier
15 New Mexico State	15 Yale
East	West
1 UNC	1 Oklahoma
16 Texas Southern /  Wagner	16 UNC Wimington
Raleigh	Oklahoma City
8 South Carolina	8 VCU
9 St. Joseph's	9 Syracuse
5 Texas	5 Dayton
12 Temple	12 Michigan/ Seton Hall
Denver	Spokane
4 West Virginia	4 Duke
13 Chattanooga	13 Arkansas Little-Rock
6 Purdue	6 Notre Dame
11 Vanderbilt	11 St. Mary's
Providence	Oklahoma City
3  Michigan State	3 Miami FL
14 North Florida	14 Bucknell
7 Cal	7 Pitt
10 Valpo	10 Wisconsin
Providence	Spokane
2 Maryland	2 Oregon
15 Tennessee Tech	15 UAB

Bubble Watch 

Last 4 IN 

Seton Hall 

Davidson 

Wisconsin 

Oregon State  

First 4 Out 

Florida State 

Boise State 

LSU 

Butler 

Next 4 Out 

Washington 

Cincinnati
Gonzaga 

UCLA