West Coast Missing the Most

I don't know about you but it really bothers me when I see good BC (and for that matter any grad of the WHL) do well elsewhere.  I'm not saying the Canucks need to give western prospects precedence over other equally talented players but it does bug me.

This whole issue was brought to light by the Canucks own arch nemesis, the Chicago Blackhawks, who have rubbed it in our faces even further by having a system stocked with talented up and coming Western leaguers and kids from BC and Alberta.

Right now after three games the Blackhawks AHL affiliate Rockford Icehogs top three scorers are all from BC, and they're all big!

Rob Klinkhammer - 6'3" 209lb. 5 points in 2 Games - Lethbridge, AB
Brandon Segal - 6'2" 209lb 3 Goals in 2 Games - Richmond, BC
Kyle Beach - 6'3" 210lb - 3 points in 2 Games - Kelowna BC

They didn't draft all of them, Klinkhammer was originally in Nashville as an undrafted signee and Segal was a fourth round pick of Nashville (on a side note the Preds have a history of drafting and developing very good BC players) and the Hawks just picked up Brett McLean of Comox, who is more of a career minor leaguer than a prospect but has played his share of games in the big league and is at a point per game pace in the AHL and more than able to handle the workload in an emergency call up situation.

It doesn't stop there, no no, on the back end this impressive western duo are sure to have the Hawks deep on D for years to come:

Dylan Olsen, 6'3" - Born 1991 - AB
Ryan Stanton, 6'2" - Born 1989 - AB

The Canucks do have a few westerners on the Wolves, but none really even in the same breath as the big young kids in Rockford.  Come to think of it it's pretty ironic that the Chicago Blackhawks AHL team is full of Westerners and the Vancouver Canucks farm team is in Chicago.

Overall comparing farm systems Chicago is impressive with names like Chris Didomenico, Brandon Pirri and Shawn Lalonde also up and coming.  Pretty sad when right now the Canucks top scorers in Rockford were both born in the decade that brought us disco, and our #2 offensive prospect is -3 with no points.

Maybe they should just pick the best available WHL player - seems like there's something to it.