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WHISTLER, B.C. - The Vancouver Canucks know a return to the playoffs will largely hinge on rediscovering their mojo with the man advantage. The club had the NHLs top power play when they went to the Stanley Cup final in 2011, but that unit with mostly the same cast plummeted all the way to 26th last season. That stinging lack of success proved fatal for a team that scored the third fewest goals in the league overall, and was a big part of why Vancouver missed the post-season for the first time in six years. However with some new faces — and more importantly new ideas — the Canucks are confident they can get that critical element of their game back on track. "In this league you win by having great special teams. If you look at the best teams on the power play, theyre the ones making the playoffs," said captain Henrik Sedin. "It was impossible for us to make the playoffs with the power play we had last year." New head coach Willie Desjardins said one key will be to have two units going instead of leaning on Daniel and Henrik Sedin, as was the case under John Tortorella last season. "I just dont like (having) guys on the ice when theyre tired. I dont think thats fair to them and I dont think they get the best results," Desjardins said. "Last year the Sedin unit had a good year, it was just that there was nothing off the other unit. For us to be good we need both units. "I think the Sedins get rested more and then when theyre out there, theyre more effective." A big part of any team success in 2014-15 for the Canucks will probably come down to how Radim Vrbata and Nick Bonino fit in on the power play. Vrbata signed with Vancouver in the off-season after recording 10 goals and 11 assists on the man advantage with the Phoenix Coyotes last season, while Bonino — who arrived from Anaheim in the Ryan Kesler trade — finished with seven goals and 13 assists playing 5-on-4 with the Ducks. Judging by how things have gone at training camp ahead of Tuesdays split-squad games against the San Jose Sharks, it looks like Vrbata will start on the first line and first power-play unit with the Sedins. "(Vrbatas) got tremendous hands, great shot, great finisher and he can make plays," said Henrik Sedin. "I just have a good feeling about our power play this year." Vancouver bottomed out on the man advantage in Tortorellas only season behind the bench, but the slide actually started in the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign when it fell to 22nd under Alain Vigneault. "We saw some clips from last year and it didnt look like a bad power play to me," said Vrbata. "Theres lots of skill and smart guys who can play." While the Canucks were abysmal playing up a man last season, the penalty kill also faded late to finish ninth after being at or near the top of the league for long stretches. "Our power play was not good enough," said Henrik Sedin. "Our PK was not good enough and we lost ourselves there in January. We couldnt get it back and that was tough." Desjardins is a big believer in players that have had success in the past, and has faith this group can find a way to break through with the man advantage in situations it couldnt last year. "The first unit for sure is good, real good," he said. "Then you have Bonino, you have (Alexandre) Burrows, thats been a scorer in the past ... you have lots of guys who have done it, so why cant they do it this year? They can put up some numbers." Henrik Sedin said with all the video in todays game that its critical for power plays to be unpredictable. "The other teams spend so many hours watching your power play and penalty kill and everything," he said. "You have to have a foundation where you start, but then need to build from there." Veteran assistant coach Perry Pearn will work with a power play that has defencemen Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis and Alexander Edler, among others, vying to man the points. Like his captain, Desjardins hopes the Canucks will be able to provide more varied setups after becoming a little too predictable in recent years. "Weve talked about a lot of different situations. Perrys had a lot of experience and is a real smart guy," he said. "Hes good with the power play, but I think there will be a couple of different looks. "At the same time, this power play has been real good in the past." Cheap Red Wings Jerseys . He wants to seize that opportunity. The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps on the road to Sochi than most. Last year, Firus had the skate of a lifetime in the short program at the Canadian championships when he landed his first triple Axel in competition and finished third in a stacked field. Cheap Red Wings Jerseys China . Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Michael Brantley also homered and the Indians beat the injury-riddled Minnesota Twins 9-4 Thursday for their first three-game winning streak this season. http://www.cheapredwingsjerseys.com/ .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenceman Joni Pitkanen from injured reserve. Wholesale Red Wings Jerseys . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . -- Arkansas didnt need a spectacular dunk to beat No.DALLAS - Tyson Chandler pumped up the crowd with three alley-oop dunks in the first quarter. All J.J. Barea had to do to get a standing ovation was enter the game off the bench.A couple of key pieces from the only championship team in Dallas franchise history were finally wearing the same uniform as Dirk Nowitzki again.Nowitzki scored 21 points and the Mavericks celebrated the return of Chandler and Barea with a 120-102 victory over the Utah Jazz in their home opener Thursday night.Yeah, I was nervous, said Barea, who scored four points. I havent been nervous in a while, so it was a great feeling that I was missing.After Dallas beat Miami for the 2011 title, owner Mark Cuban decided he couldnt keep the spiritual leader in Chandler or the unlikely NBA Finals spark in the diminutive Barea on long-term deals because he thought that would hurt the teams salary cap flexibility under the new labour agreement.Cuban talked before the game about how tough it was to break the news to Barea on the teams practice court almost three years ago. All was forgotten on Dallas opening night.I was hoping to land here so it worked out great, said Barea, who rejoined the Mavericks for the veteran minimum Wednesday after Minnesota bought out the final year of the four-year contract he signed when he left Dallas. I had to wait, had to be patient but it worked out great. Im happy to be back.Derrick Favours had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who fell behind by 30 points in the first half of a difficult back-to-back after an opening loss to Houston at home.It was tough, Favors said. Both of these teams are playoff teams and good teams. At the same time, weve got to play better defence.Chandler signed a four-year contract with the New York Knicks after the title season and was reacquired in an off-season trade. He made all five shots and had 13 points and six rebounds in his first game in front of the fans who considered him a crucial part of Dallas champiionship mix.ddddddddddddMavericks newcomer Chandler Parsons matched Nowitzki with 21 points and had seven rebounds in his home debut after a rough start in a season-opening loss at San Antonio.I definitely wanted to bounce back, said Parsons, who had five points on 2-of-10 shooting in a 101-100 loss to the Spurs. You never want to play like I did in the first game.With a new cast of quick and athletic players moving the ball around him, Nowitzki had plenty of good looks with his one-legged fadeaway and went 9 of 13 from the field.The Mavericks shot 55 per cent, thanks to a fast start that included four alley-oop dunks in the first quarter.Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke scored 16 apiece for the Jazz. Burke had a game-high seven assists.TIP-INSJazz: All five starters were in double figures. The others were Alec Burks (15) and Enes Kanter (11). ... Favours and Mavericks forward Al-Farouq Aminu were back-to-back Mr. Georgia Basketball winners in high school.Mavericks: Richard Jefferson played his former team. He spent his only season with Utah in 2013-14. The 14th-year forward faced another former team in the Spurs in the opener. ... Aminu had 16 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes.DEFENSIVE TREND?The Jazz let the Mavericks shoot 60 per cent while building the big first-half lead, and easy shots around the rim were the problem. Thats after the Rockets shot 52 per cent from 3-point range in a 104-93 win in the opener. I dont want to make any sweeping statements about trends, but yes, I am concerned if we play bad defence for one game, so two in a row is not good, coach Quin Snyder said.BALANCING ACTDallas had seven players in double figures, all within nine points of each other. Brandan Wright had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and Monta Ellis had 14 points and six assists. We have a lot of guys that are capable of playing, coach Rick Carlisle said.UP NEXTJazz: Host Phoenix on Saturday.Mavericks: Visit New Orleans on Saturday. ' ' '