Welcome back to Stars of the Week here 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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Did you know almost a quarter of those who make New Year’s Resolutions quit within the first week of January?
It’s 2025 for the Vancouver Canucks, and for the life of me, I could not tell you what, if any, resolutions this team set in the last week. If it were to guess, it might be to try and survive without both Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson for the first time in years. Certain defensive pairings on the team look like someone put chrome rims on a rustbucket moments away from engine failure, Brock Boeser is attempting to uphold some kind of points pace while scoring in losing games on a struggling line, and Thatcher Demko is, understandably so, still marked as fragile.
In this first month of the year, those who make resolutions are categorized as quitters, or as quitters who don’t yet know they’re quitters. May the Canucks avoid becoming either.
<blockquote>Kevin Lankinen</blockquote>
I am of the opinion that every time a goaltender puts up an excellent performance only to be let down tremendously by their team, the rest of the group should write a group apology via Instagram stories and buy them an opulent steak dinner. Maybe that’s just me, I guess. 
Lankinen jumped into net against the Kraken after Thatcher Demko <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/could-day-two-vancouver-canucks-tocchet-says-demko-exited-vs-kraken-due-back-spasms">exited the game with back spasms</a>. Lankinen entered the game <a href="https://x.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1875044225500528811">seemingly without the warmup shots newly allowed to him</a> under a recent rule change. Lankinen might have gone in cold, but at least he ended up hot. 
On the surface level, Lankinen did not have a fantastic game, but he wasn’t given much help. Before his departure, Demko saved 11 out of 12 shots, and Lankinen an overall 13 on 15 shots. The Canucks seemingly held a comfortable lead, but two late-game goals were once again their enemy. It’s not like Lankinen was phoning it in – that is something not in his hockey lexicon whatsoever. Take this save earlier in the game, for example. No part of Kevin Lankinen phones it in, not even his pinky toes. It’s better for Luke Evangelista to end up in the Canucks net than the puck, right?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Kevin Lankinen makes a remarkable toe save! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Smashville?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Smashville</a> <a href="https://t.co/b3kCag6dzn">pic.twitter.com/b3kCag6dzn</a>
&mdash; CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1875410790209278273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Lankinen would still go on to save three critical rounds in the shootout, allowing the Canucks to skirt by with a shootout win, something neither they nor us are particularly used to. 
Lankinen’s next start, an underwhelming 3-0, might be cause for pause. That is until you realize he saved a phenomenal 16 on 17 total shots, putting up a .917 SV% against his former team. Was the extra skater in the dying minutes of the game worth it?
So, about that steak dinner, guys…
<blockquote>Conor Garland</blockquote>
Conor Garland put together a nice week, despite two losses and a skin-of-their-teeth shootout win against the Seattle Kraken. At a time when the top line is showing little chemistry, J.T. Miller looks lost at sea, Elias Pettersson is nursing injury and the top defensive pairing is sidelined, it does not leave much grown-up supervision to keep these kids on track. Garland may not officially be a member of Vancouver’s consistent leadership group, but he is a core part of this team’s engine that’s been stalling intermittently. Sometimes, it’s more than a letter.
Garland scored against the Kraken this week, his first since his two-goal three-point outing against the Buffalo Sabres on November 29. It was a quieter December for Garland, going 12 games without a goal, though putting up six assists in this time frame. Unfortunately, Garland’s return to the goal column was overshadowed by Demko almost immediately leaving the game, making it difficult to bask in much joy as the game continued. 
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Had him beat. 
Conor Garland with the go-ahead goal! <a href="https://t.co/1WwNKFgFGQ">pic.twitter.com/1WwNKFgFGQ</a>
&mdash; Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1875034376872116580?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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It’s simple, it’s clean, it&#8217;s a deke from a gentleman in a neck guard that makes him look like a French New Wave film director from 1965. It brings a tear to the eye. He has a bit to go to work up to the – perhaps unsustainable – pace he was on earlier this season, but it was a boost I think we all greatly needed this week.
<blockquote>Vincent Desharnais </blockquote>
For the record, I did not see this one coming either.
Third pairing Vincent Desharnais, alongside Derek Forbort – yes, that Vinny Desharnais – was remarkable this week. In the absence of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, I was legitimately impressed with Desharnais’ drive. I, along with everyone from your neighbour to your grandma, was likely shocked to see Desharnais take the ice to play in overtime against the Kraken. Not only play, but play well. Maybe it’s time to rip up the blueprints and predict absolutely nothing about this injury-riddled, persevering, confusing team. Nothing is off the table. Tyler Myers is going to try his hand at goalie next.
Desharnais (as well as Forbort) saw special teams deployment against the Nashville Predators, on both the power play and the penalty kill. This bodes well for the current game of both these players, less so for the state of this team when you’re reaching threat-level Vinny circumstances.
Special teams aren’t the sole focus of this game, however, because the Desharnis-Forbort pairing dominated at… 5 on 5 play? Wow. Desharnais alone led the team with a 79.41 CF% against the formidable big names that stack Nashville’s top six and looked offensively sharp at every turn despite the 3-0 shutout suffered as a collective.
Desharnais earning a star of the week is a surprise, but a welcome one. It’s as if the nice intern at work somehow rapidly rose the ranks to become your boss. You didn’t see it coming, but you can’t help but root for the guy. You, too, can start in the mailroom and make it up to a corner office. 
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Welcome back to Stars of the Week here 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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Did you know almost a quarter of those who make New Year’s Resolutions quit within the first week of January?

It’s 2025 for the Vancouver Canucks, and for the life of me, I could not tell you what, if any, resolutions this team set in the last week. If it were to guess, it might be to try and survive without both Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson for the first time in years. Certain defensive pairings on the team look like someone put chrome rims on a rustbucket moments away from engine failure, Brock Boeser is attempting to uphold some kind of points pace while scoring in losing games on a struggling line, and Thatcher Demko is, understandably so, still marked as fragile.

In this first month of the year, those who make resolutions are categorized as quitters, or as quitters who don’t yet know they’re quitters. May the Canucks avoid becoming either.
<blockquote>Kevin Lankinen</blockquote>
I am of the opinion that every time a goaltender puts up an excellent performance only to be let down tremendously by their team, the rest of the group should write a group apology via Instagram stories and buy them an opulent steak dinner. Maybe that’s just me, I guess. 

Lankinen jumped into net against the Kraken after Thatcher Demko <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/could-day-two-vancouver-canucks-tocchet-says-demko-exited-vs-kraken-due-back-spasms">exited the game with back spasms</a>. Lankinen entered the game <a href="https://x.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1875044225500528811">seemingly without the warmup shots newly allowed to him</a> under a recent rule change. Lankinen might have gone in cold, but at least he ended up hot. 

On the surface level, Lankinen did not have a fantastic game, but he wasn’t given much help. Before his departure, Demko saved 11 out of 12 shots, and Lankinen an overall 13 on 15 shots. The Canucks seemingly held a comfortable lead, but two late-game goals were once again their enemy. It’s not like Lankinen was phoning it in – that is something not in his hockey lexicon whatsoever. Take this save earlier in the game, for example. No part of Kevin Lankinen phones it in, not even his pinky toes. It’s better for Luke Evangelista to end up in the Canucks net than the puck, right?

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1875410790209278273

Lankinen would still go on to save three critical rounds in the shootout, allowing the Canucks to skirt by with a shootout win, something neither they nor us are particularly used to. 

Lankinen’s next start, an underwhelming 3-0, might be cause for pause. That is until you realize he saved a phenomenal 16 on 17 total shots, putting up a .917 SV% against his former team. Was the extra skater in the dying minutes of the game worth it?

So, about that steak dinner, guys…
<blockquote>Conor Garland</blockquote>
Conor Garland put together a nice week, despite two losses and a skin-of-their-teeth shootout win against the Seattle Kraken. At a time when the top line is showing little chemistry, J.T. Miller looks lost at sea, Elias Pettersson is nursing injury and the top defensive pairing is sidelined, it does not leave much grown-up supervision to keep these kids on track. Garland may not officially be a member of Vancouver’s consistent leadership group, but he is a core part of this team’s engine that’s been stalling intermittently. Sometimes, it’s more than a letter.

Garland scored against the Kraken this week, his first since his two-goal three-point outing against the Buffalo Sabres on November 29. It was a quieter December for Garland, going 12 games without a goal, though putting up six assists in this time frame. Unfortunately, Garland’s return to the goal column was overshadowed by Demko almost immediately leaving the game, making it difficult to bask in much joy as the game continued. 

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1875034376872116580

It’s simple, it’s clean, it's a deke from a gentleman in a neck guard that makes him look like a French New Wave film director from 1965. It brings a tear to the eye. He has a bit to go to work up to the – perhaps unsustainable – pace he was on earlier this season, but it was a boost I think we all greatly needed this week.
<blockquote>Vincent Desharnais </blockquote>
For the record, I did not see this one coming either.

Third pairing Vincent Desharnais, alongside Derek Forbort – yes, that Vinny Desharnais – was remarkable this week. In the absence of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, I was legitimately impressed with Desharnais’ drive. I, along with everyone from your neighbour to your grandma, was likely shocked to see Desharnais take the ice to play in overtime against the Kraken. Not only play, but play well. Maybe it’s time to rip up the blueprints and predict absolutely nothing about this injury-riddled, persevering, confusing team. Nothing is off the table. Tyler Myers is going to try his hand at goalie next.

Desharnais (as well as Forbort) saw special teams deployment against the Nashville Predators, on both the power play and the penalty kill. This bodes well for the current game of both these players, less so for the state of this team when you’re reaching threat-level Vinny circumstances.

Special teams aren’t the sole focus of this game, however, because the Desharnis-Forbort pairing dominated at… 5 on 5 play? Wow. Desharnais alone led the team with a 79.41 CF% against the formidable big names that stack Nashville’s top six and looked offensively sharp at every turn despite the 3-0 shutout suffered as a collective.

Desharnais earning a star of the week is a surprise, but a welcome one. It’s as if the nice intern at work somehow rapidly rose the ranks to become your boss. You didn’t see it coming, but you can’t help but root for the guy. You, too, can start in the mailroom and make it up to a corner office. 

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