A couple of weeks ago, Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini gave an interview to Sportsnet 650 that was mostly notable for his misconstrued comments on the Sam Gagner demotion. Obscured by that non-controversy, however, was a statement that was probably worthy of more attention by the Canucks faithful—a suggestion that the Canucks ownership group were…
Seven games into the season, the Vancouver Canucks are off to a 4-3-0 start—nothing to write home about, but better than most were expecting. Still, over the past week ,the fanbase is aflame with controversy about the team’s culture—its heart, its soul, its guts—or lack thereof. Few Canuck rosters in history have had their character…
There’s a lot of emotion in the Vancouver Canucks fanbase right now, and it’s no mystery as to why. Rookie superstar Elias Pettersson—the saviour of the franchise—was injured last night after receiving a stiff check and a veritable bodyslam from Michael Matheson of the Florida Panthers—and nothing happened in response to it. While Canuck fans…
Alright, look. I get it. You don’t have to say it. When a writer makes their debut on CanucksArmy with an article exploring the Trade Market for Sam Gagner, and a week later Sam Gagner clears waivers, it doesn’t look great. GM Jim Benning even confirmed that he had shopped Gagner around the league and…
The 2018/19 season is off to about as optimistic a start as the Vancouver Canucks could have hoped for, but there’s every reason to believe that the good times won’t last. Most prognosticators—and fans—predict that the Canucks are in for a tough season, and that means that discussion around the team will eventually shift toward…
The Rundown After a truly magical opening night, many in the Vancouver Canucks’ fanbase were prepared for a bit of a comedown in Game 2. In fact, by the time Saturday rolled around, the optimism from earlier in the week seemed to have turned to outright dread—and not just due to the possibility of a…
Canuck fans were devastated when, in the opening days of the 2017 offseason, Nikita Tryamkin announced that he was leaving the team to return to the KHL. What seemed like a temporary sojourn to escape Willie Desjardins was soon revealed as a three-year commitment, which naturally led to fans questioning whether Tryamkin would ever return…
With his clearing of waivers on Saturday, it seems likely that Brendan Gaunce’s NHL career has more-or-less come to an end. Sitting at 114 games in the big league, the former first round pick might seem like a bust, but the numbers paint a different picture. In actuality, Gaunce is a perfectly average representation of…
Many fans and pundits have taken it upon themselves to debate whether or not the 23-year-old Bo Horvat is ready for the captaincy of the Vancouver Canucks, but the discussion has been speculative at best. The general fear is that—in naming Horvat captain too early—the team will stunt his development and hinder his ascension as…
The term “whipping boy” comes from potentially apocryphal reports of young servants being raised alongside European princes for the sole purpose of absorbing that prince’s corporal punishment. After all, the prince is meant to represent the entire country, and one can’t go around whipping entire countries. In terms of hockey, the phrase is used to…
Much has already been written about the glut of forwards on the Vancouver Canucks roster, and the potential consequences thereof. As it stands, the Canucks are essentially faced with a decision between trading a veteran forward—most likely Markus Granlund or Sam Gagner—or risking a young player like Nikolay Goldobin or Brendan Leipsic on waivers. While…
