Welcome back to Stars of the Week at CanucksArmy! Every week, we’ll be bringing you our Top Three best and brightest performers on the Vancouver Canucks that week. Disagree with our picks or have your own stars to nominate? Let us know in the comments below!
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Another week, another mixed bag of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">Vancouver Canucks</a> hockey. The 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames was a much-needed confidence booster for this group. The 5-2 home-ice loss to the Islanders? Not as much.
Fun fact, this was the first time since his January 2023 trade that Bo Horvat’s New York Islanders have beaten the Vancouver Canucks (yes, they’re his team now, you couldn’t pay me any amount of money to honour any other gentleman they have rostered that isn’t John Tavares or the fisherman in their alternate logo). Despite giving up the first goal in their following game against the Chicago Blackhawks, they ensured they didn’t dig themselves into a hole of embarrassment losing to the second-worst team in the league and took the game 4-1. Rumour has it that Connor Bedard was seen hiding in a Rogers Arena broom closet so he didn’t have to return to Chicago. He’s hoping he can just slide into morning skate next week and Tocchet won’t notice. The things you do for hometown pride.
Tonight Vancouver meets with their familiar first-rounder foes, the Nashville Predators, who have taken quite a tumble down the food chain to Nashville Prey status and currently rank dead last in league standings. Let’s take a look at the Canucks’ top performers this week, and hope they can continue that status tonight at home.
<h3>Elias Pettersson </h3>
It was only a matter of time before EP40 landed a first star of the week. Some of us never lost their faith. Mine was only somewhat rattled, thank you very much. 
It was a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canucks-call-up-defenceman-elias-pettersson">big week for Pettersson</a>, turning 26 on November 12th and notching the first star of the game that same night with a goal and an assist. While the following whooping from the Islanders wasn’t perhaps the best birthday gift to Aatu Raty on his birthday – I seriously hope they picked up his dinner tab after that – Pettersson certainly had a game against the Flames on his own special day.
Elias Pettersson drew a penalty against the Flames and, to top off his birthday cake with a candle, scored on the ensuing power play. He was right where he needed to be when he needed to be at the paint for a classic Hughes-Miller-Pettersson PP1 that almost made it feel like old times again. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨
Miller to Pettersson to the back of the net! We&#39;re all tied up! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL <a href="https://t.co/7uzkNQ3obX">pic.twitter.com/7uzkNQ3obX</a>
&mdash; CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1856550008868458727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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With this game, on just his 26th birthday, Pettersson became the 10th-all-time points leader in Vancouver Canucks history. Not too shabby.
Against Chicago, Pettersson netted his second power play goal of the week, seeing him get three points on the week and his second first star of the game on the week, as well. The crowd seemed to be rather agreeable to this progression.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🗣 &quot;LET&#39;S GO PETEY!&quot; 🗣 <a href="https://t.co/vnrvTV2PJ7">pic.twitter.com/vnrvTV2PJ7</a>
&mdash; Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1858001596590026839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He is beginning to resemble the Elias Pettersson we have come to know and love over the last six years, but still has a ways to go. He isn’t taking quite as many offensive opportunities as he used to with ease, and it is clear to me that we as the audience might not be the only ones with shaken faith. As the Bene Gesserit of Dune say, “Fear is the mind killer,” and I can definitely apply a quote that intense to what appears to be the performance anxiety of a professional hockey player.
Confidence is an underrated factor in even the most talented and experienced athletes. These players are not untouchable nor unaffected by their own struggles and the barrage of criticism they receive from it, now beamed into their faces directly every day through the blue light of our cellphones. The “Let’s go Petey” chants that rung out in Rogers Arena last night are not only a reflection of his improved performance but the encouragement that might be needed to get him back to full form. Positive reinforcement is a basic psychological concept, after all. It warms my heart to see Petey warming up again, and I sincerely hope it continues.  
<h3>Erik Brännström</h3>
In the process of selecting last week’s three stars, I mused that it was only a matter of time before Erik Brännström landed himself a star of the week. I must have telepathically communicated with the defenceman, because he went ahead and served up a stellar week on a platter.
This late-in-the-game addition is proving to be a blessing to the depth on the blue line, which was looking relatively shallow at the start of the season, if anything. Last night against Chicago, he ended up netting the go-ahead 2-1 goal for Vancouver in the third frame, which opened the floodgates to two empty-netters. Sure, it might seem as if the Canucks could easily overwhelm the Blackhawks, but the Canucks haven’t exactly been shining beacons of successful hockey against teams that are worse than them on paper this year, especially at home. In a game that lacked the kind of offensive fire one would hope from this lopsided match-up, especially in the first 20 (getting scored on by Ilya Mikheyev hurts more than looking up your ex on Facebook) Brännström stoking the fire to close out the game was welcomed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨
Erik Brannstrom puts the Canucks up 2-1! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL <a href="https://t.co/tV4XsPJAjd">pic.twitter.com/tV4XsPJAjd</a>
&mdash; CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1858013479166423482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Brännström was excellent all night – he was upping his physical game, protecting the puck with diligence, and drew a penalty in the midst of an offensive rush and net-front play. He’s been the kind of puck-moving defenceman that was needed to fill some serious lapses in either judgment or luck from the rest of the pack. His game against Calgary earlier this week was also phenomenal, tallying up a goal and an assist. Brännström has put up a three-point week and has hardly let the defence part of defenceman slide, which is what lands him second star this week. With D-Elias Pettersson <a href="https://x.com/irfgaffar/status/1858265532090474824">allegedly recalled from Abbotsford and Derek Forbort on IR</a>, Brännström is likely to see more continued responsibility with his role, and I can&#8217;t think of any reason not to welcome this. 
<h3>J.T. Miller</h3>
J.T. Miller had a quietly successful week. Despite some recent lapses like turnovers or reading a play like someone who’s forgotten their reading glasses – not what you want from a 1C, or an anyC, really – he’s had five points in three games, which is hard to overlook when you consider impact. 
He had the primary assist on Jonathan Lekkerimaki’s first regular-season goal as a Canuck, and first NHL goal overall, at that. That’s a moment he will remember forever, and it was a pretty one. Miller passed with ease on the offensive-zone rush and Lekkerimaki took the shot in a play that looked like the pair had been playing on the same line for a decade. Of course, the rest of this game would not appear on any Canucks&#8217; highlight reel, and both players would finish with a minus rating, more an indication of their deployment as the team fell behind on the scoreboard than anything else. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨
Jonathan Lekkerimäki scores his first NHL goal!! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/K1Ws2HvFl2">pic.twitter.com/K1Ws2HvFl2</a>
&mdash; CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1857260992008482959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Besides the quality of the goal, the way Miller paws at Lekkerimaki’s helmet like a particularly annoying older brother was an endearing touch. They don’t call him team Dad for no reason. At the end of the day, Miller was a points leader on the ice this week as well as a leader where it matters. The A stitched on your sweater often means as much or as little as your team dynamic dictates, and with Brock Boeser still out, it was nice to see Miller welcome the rookie onto his line to tangible results and put in the work in his own game to make up for such a major absence.
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Welcome back to Stars of the Week at CanucksArmy! Every week, we’ll be bringing you our Top Three best and brightest performers on the Vancouver Canucks that week. Disagree with our picks or have your own stars to nominate? Let us know in the comments below!
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Another week, another mixed bag of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">Vancouver Canucks</a> hockey. The 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames was a much-needed confidence booster for this group. The 5-2 home-ice loss to the Islanders? Not as much.

Fun fact, this was the first time since his January 2023 trade that Bo Horvat’s New York Islanders have beaten the Vancouver Canucks (yes, they’re his team now, you couldn’t pay me any amount of money to honour any other gentleman they have rostered that isn’t John Tavares or the fisherman in their alternate logo). Despite giving up the first goal in their following game against the Chicago Blackhawks, they ensured they didn’t dig themselves into a hole of embarrassment losing to the second-worst team in the league and took the game 4-1. Rumour has it that Connor Bedard was seen hiding in a Rogers Arena broom closet so he didn’t have to return to Chicago. He’s hoping he can just slide into morning skate next week and Tocchet won’t notice. The things you do for hometown pride.

Tonight Vancouver meets with their familiar first-rounder foes, the Nashville Predators, who have taken quite a tumble down the food chain to Nashville Prey status and currently rank dead last in league standings. Let’s take a look at the Canucks’ top performers this week, and hope they can continue that status tonight at home.
<h3>Elias Pettersson </h3>
It was only a matter of time before EP40 landed a first star of the week. Some of us never lost their faith. Mine was only somewhat rattled, thank you very much. 

It was a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canucks-call-up-defenceman-elias-pettersson">big week for Pettersson</a>, turning 26 on November 12th and notching the first star of the game that same night with a goal and an assist. While the following whooping from the Islanders wasn’t perhaps the best birthday gift to Aatu Raty on his birthday – I seriously hope they picked up his dinner tab after that – Pettersson certainly had a game against the Flames on his own special day.

Elias Pettersson drew a penalty against the Flames and, to top off his birthday cake with a candle, scored on the ensuing power play. He was right where he needed to be when he needed to be at the paint for a classic Hughes-Miller-Pettersson PP1 that almost made it feel like old times again. 

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1856550008868458727

With this game, on just his 26th birthday, Pettersson became the 10th-all-time points leader in Vancouver Canucks history. Not too shabby.

Against Chicago, Pettersson netted his second power play goal of the week, seeing him get three points on the week and his second first star of the game on the week, as well. The crowd seemed to be rather agreeable to this progression.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1858001596590026839

He is beginning to resemble the Elias Pettersson we have come to know and love over the last six years, but still has a ways to go. He isn’t taking quite as many offensive opportunities as he used to with ease, and it is clear to me that we as the audience might not be the only ones with shaken faith. As the Bene Gesserit of Dune say, “Fear is the mind killer,” and I can definitely apply a quote that intense to what appears to be the performance anxiety of a professional hockey player.

Confidence is an underrated factor in even the most talented and experienced athletes. These players are not untouchable nor unaffected by their own struggles and the barrage of criticism they receive from it, now beamed into their faces directly every day through the blue light of our cellphones. The “Let’s go Petey” chants that rung out in Rogers Arena last night are not only a reflection of his improved performance but the encouragement that might be needed to get him back to full form. Positive reinforcement is a basic psychological concept, after all. It warms my heart to see Petey warming up again, and I sincerely hope it continues.  
<h3>Erik Brännström</h3>
In the process of selecting last week’s three stars, I mused that it was only a matter of time before Erik Brännström landed himself a star of the week. I must have telepathically communicated with the defenceman, because he went ahead and served up a stellar week on a platter.

This late-in-the-game addition is proving to be a blessing to the depth on the blue line, which was looking relatively shallow at the start of the season, if anything. Last night against Chicago, he ended up netting the go-ahead 2-1 goal for Vancouver in the third frame, which opened the floodgates to two empty-netters. Sure, it might seem as if the Canucks could easily overwhelm the Blackhawks, but the Canucks haven’t exactly been shining beacons of successful hockey against teams that are worse than them on paper this year, especially at home. In a game that lacked the kind of offensive fire one would hope from this lopsided match-up, especially in the first 20 (getting scored on by Ilya Mikheyev hurts more than looking up your ex on Facebook) Brännström stoking the fire to close out the game was welcomed.

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1858013479166423482

Brännström was excellent all night – he was upping his physical game, protecting the puck with diligence, and drew a penalty in the midst of an offensive rush and net-front play. He’s been the kind of puck-moving defenceman that was needed to fill some serious lapses in either judgment or luck from the rest of the pack. His game against Calgary earlier this week was also phenomenal, tallying up a goal and an assist. Brännström has put up a three-point week and has hardly let the defence part of defenceman slide, which is what lands him second star this week. With D-Elias Pettersson <a href="https://x.com/irfgaffar/status/1858265532090474824">allegedly recalled from Abbotsford and Derek Forbort on IR</a>, Brännström is likely to see more continued responsibility with his role, and I can't think of any reason not to welcome this. 
<h3>J.T. Miller</h3>
J.T. Miller had a quietly successful week. Despite some recent lapses like turnovers or reading a play like someone who’s forgotten their reading glasses – not what you want from a 1C, or an anyC, really – he’s had five points in three games, which is hard to overlook when you consider impact. 

He had the primary assist on Jonathan Lekkerimaki’s first regular-season goal as a Canuck, and first NHL goal overall, at that. That’s a moment he will remember forever, and it was a pretty one. Miller passed with ease on the offensive-zone rush and Lekkerimaki took the shot in a play that looked like the pair had been playing on the same line for a decade. Of course, the rest of this game would not appear on any Canucks' highlight reel, and both players would finish with a minus rating, more an indication of their deployment as the team fell behind on the scoreboard than anything else. 

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1857260992008482959

Besides the quality of the goal, the way Miller paws at Lekkerimaki’s helmet like a particularly annoying older brother was an endearing touch. They don’t call him team Dad for no reason. At the end of the day, Miller was a points leader on the ice this week as well as a leader where it matters. The A stitched on your sweater often means as much or as little as your team dynamic dictates, and with Brock Boeser still out, it was nice to see Miller welcome the rookie onto his line to tangible results and put in the work in his own game to make up for such a major absence.

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3 Canucks Stars of the Week: Big week for Erik Brännström

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