VANCOUVER, BC -- It comes with the territory, but Willie Desjardins will face all kinds of difficult decisions as rookie head coach in the National Hockey League a€“ roster moves, in-game adjustments, heck, even picking the right tie to match his suit on game night. So on the rare occasion the coach is presented with an easy choice, you know hea€?ll jump at it. And that will be the case the first time Desjardins and the Canucks find themselves in a shootout to decide a game. Through seven exhibition contests and Wednesday nighta€?s 4-2 victory in Calgary in the Canucks regular season opener, Desjardins hasna€?t had to go through the process of selecting shootout shooters. But when that day arrives -- and rest assured, in todaya€?s NHL with so many hard-fought and closely-contested games on the schedule, there will be shootouts in the Canucks future a€“ the coach has an ace up his sleeve. Without a doubt, Radim Vrbata will be Desjardinsa€? easiest decision. The newcomer is fourth all-time in the NHL with 35 shootout goals to his credit. In fact, Vrbataa€?s career total matches the rest of the current roster combined and that means the Canucks will be depending on him to continue his mastery of the skills competition to help them pick up valuable points in the standings. Yes, you read that correctly. Radim Vrbata has 35 career shootout goals. The rest of the Canucks current roster combined has that same number. a€?Ita€?s just one of those things,a€? Vrbata says of his shootout success. a€?I cana€?t explain it. I just hope it continues here. When you look at it points-wise, every point you can get in a shootout is huge in the end. The last two years in Phoenix we missed the playoffs by four points and two points. Thata€?s two wins or losses. Every point you can get will be important.a€? Like Vrbataa€?s former team, his new club knows all too well the pitfalls of coming up short in shootouts. The Canucks won just five of the 12 games settled after overtime last season and of greater concern they managed just 8 goals in 50 attempts. Only the New Jersey Devils scored fewer shootout goals than the Canucks last season. And in the Western Conference where every standings point is a valuable commodity ita€?ll be one of Desjardins challenges to find guys who can rise to the challenge when games are settled in the one-on-one showdown. a€?It probably would have been good to get in some games to get some practice on it,a€? the coach says. a€?We have to be better in that area. Ita€?s something that we have to work at a little bit.a€? To that end, the coach put a hand-picked group of shooters to the test prior to a recent practice at Rogers Arena. In addition to Vrbata, he had Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Nick Bonino, Chris Higgins, Zack Kassian, Linden Vey, Brad Richardson and Alex Edler demonstrate their best moves. Higgins was one of only two Canucks to score more than a single shootout goal last season (Mike Santorelli was the other). a€?I dona€?t think it will necessarily be the same three shooters,a€? the coach says of his approach to player selection a€?It will depend on whoa€?s playing well. It will depend on a few things.a€? After Vrbata, Alex Burrows is the best of the rest when it comes to Canucks shootout shooters. The veteran is 12 of 32 in his career (37.5%) and is the only other player available to Desjardins to reach double-digits in shootout goals. In limited opportunities, Nick Bonino has had relative success scoring six times in 13 career attempts. One intriguing option for the Canucks is to give Linden Vey a chance in shootouts. A scoring machine in junior and in the minors, Vey has demonstrated an ability to make things happen wherever hea€?s played. And that scorera€?s touch has followed him to Vancouver where he had five points in five preseason appearances and added an assist in his Canucks debut against the Flames. He failed to convert in his only NHL shootout attempt, but says hea€?d welcome the chance to contribute in any way he can. a€?With the game nowdays, ita€?s key to be able to win those shootouts and we need to be sure we bear down in that aspect and thata€?s why wea€?ve been practicing it,a€? Vey says. a€?Ia€?ve got a few moves -- you always have something in mind. But I always like to read what the goalie is doing and go from there.a€? With just two games in the first 10 days of the new National Hockey League season, the Vancouver Canucks will have plenty of time to work on all aspects of their performance and that will surely include more time dedicated to shootouts. Willie Desjardins has no choice but to find guys who can make a difference for his hockey club. And shootouts are one area where there is plenty of room for improvement. VANCOUVER CANUCKS CAREER SHOOTOUT LEADERS Radim Vrbata 35/82 (42.7%) Alex Burrows 12/32 (37.5%) Nick Bonino 6/13 (46.2%) Alex Edler 6/23 (26.1%) Chris Higgins 5/21 (23.8%) Daniel Sedin 4/27 (14.3%) Bimbo Coles Jersey . The thinking at the time was Clowney could have already been promised he would be selected first overall by the Houston Texans, therefore negating any need to meet with any other teams. The plot took another twist this week. Heat Jerseys 2021 . Leave it to Matt Niskanen, the newly proclaimed Eddie Haskell of the Washington Capitals. https://www.cheapheatonline.com/477h-caron-butler-jersey-heat.html . The Toronto Argonauts running back hurt his left ankle during the teams practice Friday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Michael Beasley Jersey . In an interview with La Presse this week, the five-time Stanley Cup champion and three-time NHL scoring leader specifically took aim at wingers Thomas Vanek and Max Pacioretty, saying they cant show up in a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final and come up empty in Game 6. KZ Okpala Jersey . Among the teams moves was trading one of the teams two third round picks, no. 83 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig, a six-foot-two, 223-pound left-winger who had seven goals, seven assists, and 92 penalty minutes in 82 games last season.Defending champion Michael van Gerwen produced another dazzling performance in his semi-final victory over Peter Wright at the Grand Slam of Darts. The world no 1 recorded an average of more than 111, the sixth highest in the tournaments history, during a superb 16-10 win against Wright at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton.James Wade will face Van Gerwen in Sundays final, live on Sky Sports, after he completed a tense 16-14 win over Gary Anderson. Live Grand Slam of Darts November 20, 2016, 7:00pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Van Gerwen had won all of his 16 previous matches against Wright and immediately established a break with a 126 finish on the bull.Wright displayed his battling spirit in that quarter-final win over Phil Taylor and continued to frustrate MVG, levelling for a second time at 8-8 after picking out the bull himself. A relieved James Wade gives his reaction after beating Gary Anderson to reach the final of the Grand Slam of Darts But MVG seemed to possess the greater firepower and produced his fiirst ten-dart leg of the game to move 11-9 up, before increasing his advantage with ruthless checkouts in the next two legs.ddddddddddddWith the win almost in his grasp, Van Gerwen attempted another nine-darter only to fall short again, although a 17th 180 put him on the path to victory and he hit double four to reach the final again. Van Gerwen can retain the title in tonights final on Sky Sports Wade will stand in the way of Van Gerwen and needs to continue his nerveless finishing after edging out the world champion Anderson.At key moments in the match, Wade managed to produce a hot spell of scoring, and continued to clear up his checkouts with clinical accuracy. Watch the drama unfold in the 30th leg between James Wade and Gary Anderson at the Grand Slam of Darts Anderson tried to save himself with a late assault and even threatened a nine-darter, but his failure to hit double 20 would prove costly as Wade returned to take out double 10 for the match. Watch tonights final of the Grand Slam of Darts from 7pm on Sky Sports 1. Also See: Sky Bets darts odds On Sky TV Features Get Sky Sports ' ' '