ST. PAUL, Minn. — Radim Vrbata came to the Canucks last year for the opportunity to play with Danny and Hank Sedin and live in Vancouver. So at least he’s batting .500.
That’s more productive than Vrbata has been on the ice where his numbers are down across the board from his excellent first season after the Czech winger signed a two-year, $10 million-US contract to join the National Hockey League team.
It is never just one thing in professional sports, but we don’t need to overthink a key factor in Vrbata’s offensive decline. Last year, he played with Henrik Sedin, one of the best playmaking centres on Earth, and slick 26-year-old centre Nick Bonino.