Vancouver Canucks trainer Brian “Red” Hamilton’s ultimately successful search for the woman who saved his life was the most retweeted hockey-related tweet of 2022, according to a new report by Conor Clarance.
The Canucks consistently dominated the conversation on Hockey Twitter, with #Canucks being the second-most used hockey hashtag on the social media platform.
The most Retweeted Tweet by Canadians from that conversation over the last year was when the @Canucks Assistant Equipment Manager used Twitter to find & thank Nadia Popovici who helped him diagnose a cancerous mole from her seat behind the visiting team bench. pic.twitter.com/HmFYfBGAKW
— Conor Clarance (@FirstNameConor) October 27, 2022
By now, the story of Red Hamilton’s connection with Nadia Popovici is well-known.
Popovici informed Hamilton of a cancerous mole on the back of his neck during a Canucks/Kraken pre-season game. Two subsequently met and the Canucks and Kraken presented Popovici with a $10,000 medical school scholarship, with the Sedins later presenting Popovici with a customized Canucks jersey.
To cap it all off, Hamilton and Popovici presented Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews with the Hart Trophy at the 2022 NHL Awards.
During a Canucks-Kraken game this season, Seattle fan Nadia Popovici let Vancouver equipment manager Brian Hamilton know that a mole on the back of his neck may be cancerous. She was right.
Tonight, Brian and Nadia announced this year's Hart Memorial Trophy winner. pic.twitter.com/iIXbcTAcoS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 22, 2022
Per Clarence’s report, the five most popular people on Hockey Twitter over the past year were Elliotte Friedman, Matthews, Connor McDavid, Marc Methot, and Rick Westhead.
The five top hashtags? #LeafsForever, #Canucks, #GoHabsGo, #LetsGoOilers, and #NHL.
Hockey is the most talked about sport on Twitter in Canada, just barely surpassing soccer, football, basketball, and baseball. Right now, much of Hockey Twitter is abuzz about the Canucks, but for the wrong reasons — they’re the NHL’s last remaining winless team.
