The Canucks can Make History on the Sedins’ Jersey Retirement Night

The Canucks are returning home for “Sedin Week” with a chance to make history on Henrik and Daniel’s big night.

The Canucks are currently on a nine-game winning streak on home ice. That is the second-longest single-season winning streak at home in franchise history.

The record for home victories in a row is 11, achieved by the 2008-09 Canucks, during a twin season for Henrik and Daniel when each of them put up 82 points in 82 games.

The Canucks now return for a much-needed two weeks at home with their family and friends after a five-game road trip that saw them rattle off a couple of wins before losing three straight against the Hurricanes, Bruins, and Wild. The parents will get a chance to spend some time with the kids, while the dog dads will get back home to see their fur babies.

If one thing has becomes clear this season, it’s that home cooking is always better. The Canucks are proving that this year with one of the best home records in the entire NHL.

 

What better way for the Canucks to prove that they are a contender than to surpass the franchise’s home winning streak on the night that the Canucks retire number 33 and 22.

This would be the ultimate passing of the torch for Canucks fans. Daniel and Henrik Sedin see their numbers get raised to the rafters, then Bo Horvat leads his team to a 12th win in a row on home ice. A storybook moment like that would be enough for the Canucks to claim to the league that they are on the path to becoming a perennial playoff team.

Then Daniel and Henrik come out of retirement and lead this Canucks team to a Stanley cup as a hybrid, retired number fourth line. See you later Beagle and Sutter!

Okay, maybe that’s a little far-fetched, but you get the idea.

The Canucks have been excellent at home this season. They are 14-1-0 when they score the first goal, 10-0-1 when they are leading after two periods and somehow have a 12-0-0 record when they are out-shot at home. They have a tremendous goal differential at home this season, scoring 91 and only allowing 63. That’s a +28 goal differential in only 25 games.

The Canucks are feeding off of their fans and Rogers Arena appears to be going through a rebuild of its own, not in a literal sense, mind you, but in an emotional one. For those of you that are living under a rock and haven’t seen Elias Pettersson go bar down or Quinn Hughes splash the boards with snow on a spin move, the Canucks are finally fun to watch again.

You can even feel that energy emanating from the broadcast. Sportsnet has done a great job this season, whether it was doing a feature on the Larscheiders, having Harman Dayal on the panel, or even including a story about my GoFundMe to get rid of Jake Virtanen’s pencil stache. The broadcast has always been great, and fans are lucky to have Murph and the Johns.

The sound at the arena is even noticeable through the television. The fans are engaged as you can hear when Loui Eriksson beats out an icing or gets the puck with an empty net in front of him.

The Canucks have a chance to make history on the night that the Sedins see their jerseys go up into the rafters on a night where they will fittingly play the Chicago Blackhawks. Before they get a chance to break the record, however, they’ll have to match it.

Saturday night they play the Calgary Flames, who are hot on their heels in the standings and are playing inspired hockey after the battle of Alberta took over the NHL for a week. After Calgary they will play the Nashville Predators, who have been pretty good on the road this season.

If they win those two games, they will tie the record for home wins in a row. From there, breaking the record should be as easy as a tap-in from a Henrik Sedin pass. The Canucks will be fired up with all the Sedin week celebrations and should put a hurting on the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Canucks could break a franchise record on the night that two of their greatest players of all time are recognized for their hall of fame careers. I can’t wait for the ceremony, the memories to come back and to hear Henrik and Daniel talk about what the city of Vancouver and the fans around this team have meant to them. These two changed the game, were consummate professionals, and even better humans off the ice.

They deserve to have their jerseys up in the rafters and this Canucks team deserves to have a chance to break a franchise record on their special night.