Unsung Hero: Adam Cracknell
Do not underestimate the power of Adam Cracknell.
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Do you remember when you first encountered Cracknell’s name as a Vancouver Canuck? He was advertised as a depth signing that could provide leadership for the AHL Utica Comets. I recall commenting how his signing will increase the level of friendly competition in the Comets’ lineup — a good call by Benning as young guys like Brendan Gaunce, Hunter Shinkaruk, and Alex Grenier were filling up the roster.
The next encounter with him might be a rather pleasant one, on a night of Kraft Hockeyville’s preseason matchup against the San Jose Sharks. He had the overtime winner, a sniper’s shot, and gave his Prince Albert fans a terrific hockey story to enjoy for weeks to come.
Now he finds himself a regular in the Canucks lineup and was given the honour of bumping Chris Higgins out of the lineup, Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Talk about progression for the 30-year-old forward who anchored the fourth line in December that held high the Canucks’ secondary scoring torch.
Now Cracknell finds himself with three goals and five assists, a plus-four, and averaging over 12 minutes a game — all of which are career highs.
His skills are underrated, as seen in the Canucks’ Super-Skills competition. He went four-for-four on the accuracy challenge, quite impressive if you ask me, for a supposed fourth-line grinder. His value goes beyond his play — his $0.575M contract is the cheapest one of all the Canucks, and an extremely valuable one given his defensive goodness.
That assist on Sven Baertschi‘s goal? Perfect execution.
Next: Best Defenceman and Most Promising Player