When former Canucks general manager Jim Benning was asked about how he planned to navigate the 2021 offseason, his response included an all too familiar phrase. “Once you make the playoffs, then anything can happen,” Benning said last May. “You look at teams that have won the cup and it’s taken time to where they’ve…
As we continue our report cards for the 2021/22 Vancouver Canucks season, it’s now time to turn our attention to the defence and the goaltending of the club. Thatcher Demko: A+ When it comes to impact players, Thatcher Demko easily made the largest of any Canuck. With all due respect to J.T. Miller, the Canucks…
To call the 2021-22 Vancouver Canucks season ridiculous would somehow be an understatement. Nearly the entire team started the season ice cold during the first two months of the year, but a coaching change and front office overhaul were all it took to get Vancouver back on track. Easy, right? Some players like Thatcher Demko…
To call the 2021-22 Vancouver Canucks season ridiculous would somehow be an understatement. Nearly the entire team started the season ice cold during the first two months of the year, but a coaching change and front office overhaul were all it took to get Vancouver back on track. Easy, right? Some players like Thatcher Demko…
After 199 days and 81 games, the finish line for the 2021-22 season is finally in sight for the Vancouver Canucks. The long, winding marathon ends in the same place it began: at Rogers Place in Edmonton against the Oilers. And what an eventful journey it’s been. When this season began there was palpable hope…
Two games are all that separates the Vancouver Canucks from a playoff berth or a spring on the golf course. And both of them are playing out tonight. We already know the Canucks have to win the final battle against the cross-border rival Seattle Kraken tonight, but the other key matchup is happening down south…
In an NHL landscape where having a capable backup or 1B goalie is more important than ever, Spencer Martin’s new contract presents a bit of a risk. But if it pays off, it builds a bridge for the team’s future. Martin’s three-game stint while Thatcher Demko and Jaroslav Halak were out in mid-January was the…
We’re in the endgame now. Ten games remain on the Canucks’ schedule, and despite what the math and probabilities might tell them, Vancouver is technically still in the playoff hunt. And tonight they’ll attempt to keep their chances alive when the San Jose Sharks make their first appearance in Vancouver since January 2020. Can the…
At this time of year, every hockey game a team plays is their “biggest of the season”. For the Canucks, that feeling is even truer. As Bo Horvat simply put it yesterday, it’s “crunch time”. “Every team wants to win, every team has to fight for a playoff spot right now and I’m happy we’re…
J.T. Miller knows what it takes to make the playoffs. And he knew the effort his team had in last night’s 4-1 loss to the Blues wasn’t enough. But rather than focus on his teammates’ mistakes during postgame availability, the Canucks’ leading scorer took responsibility for his own. Specifically, Miller pointed to his lack of…
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the Canucks focus for the rest of the season can go exclusively to two places: making the playoffs and personal achievements. While the doors to the postseason are slowly closing in front of Vancouver, a few players are on the verge of making Canucks history in their…
Jaroslav Halak needed a win more than anybody. And he earned it in a big way on Wednesday night in what J.T. Miller called the Canucks’ “ballsiest effort of the season.” Halak completely stymied the President’s Trophy leading Colorado Avalanche in a 32-save performance, while his Canucks teammates gave him all the run support he…
