The Province
September 15, 1999
By Terry Bell

A meagre 16 shots. A 3-1 GM Place loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Boos at the end.

Yep, the 13,106 who showed for the Canucks' preseason home-opener weren't overly impressed with what they saw Tuesday.

You can hardly blame them, but the Canucks had five kids in the lineup who were savouring their first taste of NHL play.

"I thought they all played well," said coach Marc Crawford, referring to goalie Alfie Michaud, defencemen Ryan Bonni and Rene Vydareny and forwards Artem Chubarov, Brad Leeb and Mike Brown. Brown had played two exhibitions with Florida, but the others were making their NHL debuts.

Leeb, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Red Deer, Alta., product and Vydareny, the Canucks' third-round pick in the June draft, might have been the best of the bunch. Leeb, a fine skater who played on the national junior team last year, is on a tryout after going unpicked in three drafts.

"It was kind of frustrating," said Leeb of the snub. "But there have been guys go undrafted and still play in the NHL.

"This was exciting playing here tonight. An NHL game, against the Montreal Canadiens. It was quite a learning experience."

"Brad's a kid our scouts liked," said Crawford, who had him on a line with centre Josh Holden and left-winger Donald Brashear. "He's a really talented player."

Crawford also liked Vydareny, who grew up in Bratislava, Slovakia, and was a neighbour of ex-NHL stars Peter and Marian Stastny. "For an 18-year-old kid I liked the way he played," said Crawford. "He tried to jump into the play."

Chubarov, the 19-year-old Russian, centred a line with Peter Schaefer and Brad May. He killed penalties and was solid defensively.

Brown did what he'll eventually be paid an NHL salary to do ... he played his wing, got into a fight and didn't embarrass himself.

And Michaud, the little goalie from Maine who'll likely find himself playing regularly with Syracuse in the AHL this year, was solid. He allowed two goals but, like Leeb, chalked the evening up as a learning experience.

"I really didn't think about it," the Selkirk, Man., product said when asked if he got pumped about his first NHL night. "I felt pretty comfortable."



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