Canucks Army Game Day 1 – Canucks vs. Flames (The Beginning)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
Welcome to another exciting season of Canucks hockey! There won’t be a lot of wins this year and if you’re reading this you already know that but you came here for the good stuff. Tonight, the Canucks host the Flames in the season opener. It’s the debut for a handful of rookies and a few new names on both teams.
If the preseason is any indication, Dillon Dube of the Flames is about to have himself a night at the Canucks expense. Thankfully, Vancouver is rolling out their own new toy in Elias Petterson (pronounced Pettersson). Tonight, the points are for keeps, the stats matter and with the announcement of the USMECA, tons of Nissan Qasquai commercials instead of the good American ones will show up every time ou… wait, that’s just for the Super Bowl. Nevermind.
Let’s Do this!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Brock Boeser is back on the top line ready to unleash havoc on opponents one shift at a time. Not to be outdone, Elias Pettersson will make his proper NHL debut with anchor Loui Eriksson and the crafty Russian Nikolay Goldobin. Jay Beagle and Tim Schaller both make their official Canucks debuts and Erik Gudbranson will try and make good on a contract both sides had no business signing off on.
Jacob Markstrom will start this evening.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 SVEN BAERTSCHI Rating: 73.6#43 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 74.4#51 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 77.3#17 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 75.11#25 FL1 |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 70.0#111 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 73.9#43 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 71.96#28 FL2 |
 TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.0#136 LW |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 72.8#79 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.3#83 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.70#28 FL3 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 68.9#130 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 68.7#181 C |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 71.2#88 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.57#27 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 74.0#28 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.5#69 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 72.79#26 DL1 |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO Rating: 71.9#70 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 71.7#68 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 71.77#24 DL2 |
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 70.5#104 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 69.7#94 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.10#29 DL3 |
The Flames have a few lines that can run and gun now with the addition of James Neal on the third line and rookie Dillon Dube on the other wing. Sam Bennett has found his way to the back of the bus on the fourth line which has to be embarrassing. Noah Hanifin still has a red jersey on but at least he knows his new team won’t be moved out of town on a Mayflower transport in the middle of the night.
Mike Smith and his shenanigans will occupy the pipes tonight.
Flames lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 JOHNNY GAUDREAU Rating: 77.7#15 LW |  SEAN MONAHAN Rating: 78.6#22 C |  ELIAS LINDHOLM Rating: 73.1#70 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.48#21 FL1 |
 MATTHEW TKACHUK Rating: 77.3#17 LW |  MIKAEL BACKLUND Rating: 73.6#64 C |  MICHAEL FROLIK Rating: 71.8#78 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.23#17 FL2 |
 DILLON DUBE |  DEREK RYAN Rating: 74.1#56 C |  JAMES NEAL Rating: 74.3#38 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 74.19#4 FL3 |
 SAM BENNETT Rating: 70.9#95 LW |  MARK JANKOWSKI Rating: 70.8#140 C |  AUSTIN CZARNIK Rating: 71.7#117 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.15#9 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MARK GIORDANO Rating: 78.8#4 LD |  T.J. BRODIE Rating: 77.6#9 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 78.19#2 DL1 |
 NOAH HANIFIN Rating: 73.7#32 LD |  TRAVIS HAMONIC Rating: 71.5#72 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.58#18 DL2 |
 JUUSO VALIMAKI |  MICHAEL STONE Rating: 70.4#86 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.39#26 DL3 |
INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW AND A FEW THINGS YOU DON’T
- The Canucks decided not to name a captain this season and opted for the 4A treatment. Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter, Alex Eder and Chris Tanev will all wear the “A” this season and now all the rumours and theories can stop for the time being. There’s no captain, people! Move along. But what if this is a big ruse and they’ve pulled a quick one on us all? Maybe Horvat will get the “C” after all and it was a big setup to shut everyone up for a day. No, probably not.
- Brock Boeser had a heck of a season last year before being shut down due to a back injury. His dominance in Da Beauty League was promising and even though a terrible preseason held Boeser to a measly two assists in five games, he was healthy and the addition of Pettersson on the PP could make those two a lethal combination as early as this evening.
- Erik Gudbranson started to live up to his billing this preseason. There were a handful of hits each game that made us take notice and if he can do just enough of those types of things, he might even fly under the radar once the Corsi machine gets filled up at the gas station and he’s exposed for the horrific train wreck of a stat line that he is. See beyond the stats even if it’s one game at a time. This may need to be edited by the third period tonight so bear with me.
- It’s been said a million times this off season but it doesn’t hurt to say it again, that the Canucks defense is the same as it was last season and that spells trouble almost immediately. Quinn Hughes is still a season away and there are no signs of a white knight coming from Utica or a trade on the horizon. The Canucks will need to be a defensively sound unit on all four lines as well as the back end and that doesn’t exclude goaltending. Even the team Roberto Luongo backstopped to 47 wins bought in albeit with a better blue line but they won as a team. The 2018/19 will have to win as a team and they’ll have to lose as a team. The goals will come but they need to make sure the puck isn’t going in their own net to start every game.
- Jake Virtanen is my prediction for the unsung hero of the Canucks this season. If there is going to be change, it has to happen this year. Jake did a lot with very little a season ago. He sat for 10 games and set a career-high with 20 points. There is a transformation happening with Virtanen and by embracing a third line role he may just advance accidentally. The time to finish this project is now. Prove the critics wrong and step up. Yes, Jake doesn’t read CA but it has to be his time to make a difference. We’ve all waited to see it happen.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH… MY 94 CENTS
There aren’t many games where I am optimistic but tonight is a special night. The Canucks won’t be a great team this season but there are areas where they will shine and having Pettersson as the favourite to win the Calder Trophy and Brock Boeser flirting with a 30-40 goal season, Canucks fans will have a reason to tune in every night.
They pull it off somehow and the power play goes H.A.M. as well.
I’m rarely wrong.
THE FINAL WORD
I’ve never played this, any good?
Seriously, what’s the big deal?
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