The fever dream that was the 2024-25 <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> season has finally come to an end.
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There were undoubtedly things from this season that you won&#8217;t soon forget. The <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/jim-rutherford-elias-pettersson-jt-miller-rift-no-good-solution-keep-vancouver-canucks-core-together">Elias Pettersson-JT Miller drama reaching a boiling point</a> and ending with <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-officially-announce-jt-miller-trade-new-york-rangers">Miller being dealt to the New York Rangers</a>. The <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-thatcher-demko-speaks-rare-injury">Thatcher Demko injury concerns</a> right from training camp. We could go on, but we won&#8217;t.
Instead, we&#8217;re focusing on the things you may have forgotten took place this season.
<blockquote>Daniel Sprong scored the first goal of the season </blockquote>
You may have forgotten that Daniel Sprong was even a Canuck, let alone that he scored the first goal of the season. Sprong opened the scoring on opening night as the second unit power play capitalized with just a second to spare.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🚨Canucks Goal🚨
Daniel Sprong shows off his incredible shot as he picks a corner on Dan Vladar! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL <a href="https://t.co/yHRGhFIUXu">pic.twitter.com/yHRGhFIUXu</a>
&mdash; CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1844205488159748399?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Picking up an assist on that goal? Danton Heinen.
Sprong played in just nine games with the Canucks &#8212; with some healthy scratches along the way &#8212; before being dealt to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for future considerations. That goal on opening night was the only goal Sprong scored as a member of the Canucks. Sprong played 10 games with the Kraken, scoring a single goal there as well. The Kraken flipped him to the New Jersey Devils for a 7th round pick, and Sprong&#8217;s 2024-25 season ends with just two goals through 29 NHL games, with some time spent in the AHL as well.
<blockquote>Arturs Silovs began the season as the Canucks&#8217; number one goaltender </blockquote>
More recently, Arturs Silovs couldn&#8217;t be trusted to start games against any team aside from the Chicago Blackhawks, but before that, he was the Canucks&#8217; starter on opening night. The same opening night, of course, when the Canucks blew a three goal lead in a 6-5 loss to the Calgary Flames.
It didn&#8217;t take long for the Canucks to realize that Kevin Lankinen was going to be the better goaltender for them this season, as the Canucks&#8217; 1A-1B situation with Lankinen and Silovs lasted for just two Silovs starts before the Canucks turned to Lankinen as their clear number one.
Speaking of goaltenders&#8230;
<blockquote>The Jiri Patera waiver wire war</blockquote>
You haven&#8217;t heard much about Jiri Patera this season, and that&#8217;s for a few reasons. The first being that he and Arturs Silovs looking shaky in training camp was part of the reason the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-sign-kevin-lankinen-one-year-deal-887000">Canucks signed Kevin Lankinen on day three of camp</a>.
The other reason is that upon going down to the AHL, Patera suffered an injury that held him to just seven AHL games this season. But before all of that, the Canucks lost Patera on waivers while trying to assign him to Abbotsford. The good news for them was that the Boston Bruins later placed Patera on waivers themselves, meaning the Canucks were the only team eligible to reclaim him and assign him right to the minors. And that&#8217;s what they did, as they reclaimed Patera less than a week after losing him.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-142911" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-16-at-11.39.15-AM.png" alt="" width="1074" height="174" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-16-at-11.39.15-AM.png 1074w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-16-at-11.39.15-AM-300x49.png 300w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-16-at-11.39.15-AM-1024x166.png 1024w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-16-at-11.39.15-AM-768x124.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1074px) 100vw, 1074px" />
What a whirlwind.
<blockquote>The Canucks used 36 skaters and 14 defencemen this season</blockquote>
Can you name all 14 of the defencemen the Canucks used this season? Do your best.
Now scroll a bit more for the full list.
Here is the full list:
Quinn Hughes 
Tyler Myers 
Filip Hronek 
Derek Forbort 
Marcus Pettersson 
Elias Pettersson 
Carson Soucy 
Erik Brannstrom 
Victor Mancini 
Vincent Desharnais 
Kirill Kudryavtsev 
Noah Juulsen 
Mark Friedman 
Guillaume Brisebois
<blockquote>Vincent Desharnais played a shift in overtime</blockquote>
With both Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek out of the lineup for the Canucks&#8217; January 2nd game against the Seattle Kraken, the Canucks had to get creative in overtime, and that somehow meant putting big Vinny out there for 3-on-3 OT.
<a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/3-vancouver-canucks-stars-week-vincent-desharnais-starts-new-year-high-note">Rick Tocchet had some fun with it post game</a>, and in both he and Adam Foote&#8217;s defence, this OT shift came during the best stretch of hockey Desharnais played in a Canucks uniform. Sure, that&#8217;s a low bar to clear, but the Canucks also went on to win the game in a shootout, and isn&#8217;t that what matters at the end of the day?
<blockquote>Aatu Räty was in the opening night lineup and made the team out of camp</blockquote>
Aatu Räty turned in a strong effort at training camp, and knocked down the door to earn himself a spot not only on the roster, but in the Canucks&#8217; opening night lineup.
Now, that was partly because Pius Suter was injured for the Canucks&#8217; home opener against the Flames, and Räty was eventually returned to Abbotsford before being recalled a few times and finishing the season on a high note at the NHL level <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/3-vancouver-canucks-stars-week-aatu-raty-jonathan-lekkerimaki-shine-nhl-appearances">(which you obviously remember)</a>.
<blockquote>The Canucks were in a playoff spot at American Thanksgiving, and on a 100+ point pace as late as December 6th</blockquote>
American Thanksgiving is typically an indicator of which teams will make the playoffs.
Or so that&#8217;s what people say.
For the Canucks, they held down the second wild card spot, but were third in the Pacific Division by points percentage on American Thanksgiving. After winning some more games, the team was 14-7-4 on December 6th, which put them one point behind the LA Kings for second in the Pacific, and on pace to finish the season with 105 points. Obviously, <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/larger-fall-how-vancouver-canucks-blew-season-goodwill-returned-mushy-middle">you know how this story ends</a>.
<blockquote>The Oilers released a statement about Connor McDavid getting suspended </blockquote>
Remember this?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Connor McDavid’s the best player in the world. If the refs aren’t going to stop this from happening I’m fine with how 97 reacted. 
100% fine with it. <a href="https://t.co/TJ6j1ytlIs">pic.twitter.com/TJ6j1ytlIs</a>
&mdash; Sid Seixeiro (@Sid_Seixeiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sid_Seixeiro/status/1880978782116544626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Do you remember this?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid has been suspended for three games for cross-checking Vancouver’s Conor Garland. <a href="https://t.co/hxR9X8Z2Ml">https://t.co/hxR9X8Z2Ml</a>
&mdash; NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLPlayerSafety/status/1881486953981583753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
How about the subsequent statement from the Oilers?
<blockquote>&#8220;The Oilers organization is disappointed and we share in our fans&#8217; frustration over the three-game suspension of our captain Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans look forward to having him back in the lineup vs. Seattle next week.&#8221;</blockquote>
It was hilarious then, and it&#8217;s hilarious now. I hope this is the one thing in this article you looked and said &#8220;there&#8217;s no way I&#8217;ll ever forget that.&#8221;
Just in case, here is your reminder.
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section below!
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&nbsp;

The fever dream that was the 2024-25 <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> season has finally come to an end.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;

There were undoubtedly things from this season that you won't soon forget. The <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/jim-rutherford-elias-pettersson-jt-miller-rift-no-good-solution-keep-vancouver-canucks-core-together">Elias Pettersson-JT Miller drama reaching a boiling point</a> and ending with <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-officially-announce-jt-miller-trade-new-york-rangers">Miller being dealt to the New York Rangers</a>. The <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-thatcher-demko-speaks-rare-injury">Thatcher Demko injury concerns</a> right from training camp. We could go on, but we won't.

Instead, we're focusing on the things you may have forgotten took place this season.
<blockquote>Daniel Sprong scored the first goal of the season </blockquote>
You may have forgotten that Daniel Sprong was even a Canuck, let alone that he scored the first goal of the season. Sprong opened the scoring on opening night as the second unit power play capitalized with just a second to spare.

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1844205488159748399

Picking up an assist on that goal? Danton Heinen.

Sprong played in just nine games with the Canucks -- with some healthy scratches along the way -- before being dealt to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for future considerations. That goal on opening night was the only goal Sprong scored as a member of the Canucks. Sprong played 10 games with the Kraken, scoring a single goal there as well. The Kraken flipped him to the New Jersey Devils for a 7th round pick, and Sprong's 2024-25 season ends with just two goals through 29 NHL games, with some time spent in the AHL as well.
<blockquote>Arturs Silovs began the season as the Canucks' number one goaltender </blockquote>
More recently, Arturs Silovs couldn't be trusted to start games against any team aside from the Chicago Blackhawks, but before that, he was the Canucks' starter on opening night. The same opening night, of course, when the Canucks blew a three goal lead in a 6-5 loss to the Calgary Flames.

It didn't take long for the Canucks to realize that Kevin Lankinen was going to be the better goaltender for them this season, as the Canucks' 1A-1B situation with Lankinen and Silovs lasted for just two Silovs starts before the Canucks turned to Lankinen as their clear number one.

Speaking of goaltenders...
<blockquote>The Jiri Patera waiver wire war</blockquote>
You haven't heard much about Jiri Patera this season, and that's for a few reasons. The first being that he and Arturs Silovs looking shaky in training camp was part of the reason the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-sign-kevin-lankinen-one-year-deal-887000">Canucks signed Kevin Lankinen on day three of camp</a>.

The other reason is that upon going down to the AHL, Patera suffered an injury that held him to just seven AHL games this season. But before all of that, the Canucks lost Patera on waivers while trying to assign him to Abbotsford. The good news for them was that the Boston Bruins later placed Patera on waivers themselves, meaning the Canucks were the only team eligible to reclaim him and assign him right to the minors. And that's what they did, as they reclaimed Patera less than a week after losing him.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-142911" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-16-at-11.39.15-AM.png" alt="" width="1074" height="174" />

What a whirlwind.
<blockquote>The Canucks used 36 skaters and 14 defencemen this season</blockquote>
Can you name all 14 of the defencemen the Canucks used this season? Do your best.

Now scroll a bit more for the full list.

Here is the full list:

Quinn Hughes
Tyler Myers
Filip Hronek
Derek Forbort
Marcus Pettersson
Elias Pettersson
Carson Soucy
Erik Brannstrom
Victor Mancini
Vincent Desharnais
Kirill Kudryavtsev
Noah Juulsen
Mark Friedman
Guillaume Brisebois
<blockquote>Vincent Desharnais played a shift in overtime</blockquote>
With both Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek out of the lineup for the Canucks' January 2nd game against the Seattle Kraken, the Canucks had to get creative in overtime, and that somehow meant putting big Vinny out there for 3-on-3 OT.

<a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/3-vancouver-canucks-stars-week-vincent-desharnais-starts-new-year-high-note">Rick Tocchet had some fun with it post game</a>, and in both he and Adam Foote's defence, this OT shift came during the best stretch of hockey Desharnais played in a Canucks uniform. Sure, that's a low bar to clear, but the Canucks also went on to win the game in a shootout, and isn't that what matters at the end of the day?
<blockquote>Aatu Räty was in the opening night lineup and made the team out of camp</blockquote>
Aatu Räty turned in a strong effort at training camp, and knocked down the door to earn himself a spot not only on the roster, but in the Canucks' opening night lineup.

Now, that was partly because Pius Suter was injured for the Canucks' home opener against the Flames, and Räty was eventually returned to Abbotsford before being recalled a few times and finishing the season on a high note at the NHL level <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/3-vancouver-canucks-stars-week-aatu-raty-jonathan-lekkerimaki-shine-nhl-appearances">(which you obviously remember)</a>.
<blockquote>The Canucks were in a playoff spot at American Thanksgiving, and on a 100+ point pace as late as December 6th</blockquote>
American Thanksgiving is typically an indicator of which teams will make the playoffs.

Or so that's what people say.

For the Canucks, they held down the second wild card spot, but were third in the Pacific Division by points percentage on American Thanksgiving. After winning some more games, the team was 14-7-4 on December 6th, which put them one point behind the LA Kings for second in the Pacific, and on pace to finish the season with 105 points. Obviously, <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/larger-fall-how-vancouver-canucks-blew-season-goodwill-returned-mushy-middle">you know how this story ends</a>.
<blockquote>The Oilers released a statement about Connor McDavid getting suspended </blockquote>
Remember this?

https://twitter.com/Sid_Seixeiro/status/1880978782116544626

Do you remember this?

https://twitter.com/NHLPlayerSafety/status/1881486953981583753

How about the subsequent statement from the Oilers?
<blockquote>"The Oilers organization is disappointed and we share in our fans' frustration over the three-game suspension of our captain Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans look forward to having him back in the lineup vs. Seattle next week."</blockquote>
It was hilarious then, and it's hilarious now. I hope this is the one thing in this article you looked and said "there's no way I'll ever forget that."

Just in case, here is your reminder.

What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section below!

Sponsored by bet365
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