The Vancouver Canucks might be starting to get into a bit of a groove here.
Sure, it was a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, a team comprised of Connor Bedard and a bunch of hastily assembled, lesser-known Avengers who couldn’t quite make it into the movies, but the wins over the teams you’re supposed to beat count just as much as any others.
Besides, before Rick Tocchet, this would have been the perfect chance for the Canucks to drop a 7-5 loss, complete with Bedard’s first four-goal game in the NHL. Travis Green would have sagely advised you that this is a tough league to win in and that they’ve got a great team over there. Tyler Myers would have earnestly broken down each goal after the game, and JT Miller would have trailed off and stared into the distance for a few moments before composing himself in the media scrum.
But this is the Tocchet Era we live in, so it should be no surprise that the Canucks head coach has the team starting to showcase the form that won them the Pacific Division last season.
Was it a perfect win? I don’t know if there is such a thing for Rick. The Canucks could win 5-0, and he’d probably be a little miffed about them being too flashy going after that fifth goal.
But in terms of rounding into form, the Canucks clearly put on their best offensive effort of the season. We’re at the point where the thought of adding Dakota Joshua presents you with delightful champagne problems of how to stack your lineup.
Defensively, well, if this were a website in the 90s, it would have several “Under Construction” gifs as well as a spirited debate about the merits of Angelfire vs Geocities.
The good news for fans of the ice having a working stomach, the Canucks defence of the guts of the ice continues to get better and better. We’re at the point now where the Canucks are applying constant pressure and causing turnovers as a result of their efforts.
If there is one weakness on display for Vancouver, it would still be their defensive zone coverage, most notably, their defensive pairings.
Quinn Hughes is the defending Norris Trophy winner for a reason, so talking about the Canucks relying heavily on him kind of comes with the territory. It’s akin to when we used to say the Canucks relied too much on Thatcher Demko, and some people would respond “Well, the goalie is part of the team; what’s the problem here?”, the idea being that these elite players are doing exactly what’s asked of them, so how much of a weakness is it, really. The team blueprint was “Go win us games, king” so who are we to dare question it?
I guess for me, it’s that the Canucks defence after Quinn Hughes seems far weaker than last season’s depth. Sure, if Hughes gets injured, then any Canucks roster is going to struggle significantly. But if you’re a team that is banking on a healthy Hughes to give you a run in the playoffs, you still have to find a way to build up your defensive depth. Because as it stands now, Kevin Lankinen is keeping some of those depth warts at bay, but if he falters, we might have to have a serious discussion at the end of the night about where we see this relationship going. If Tyler Myers and Carson Soucy continue to struggle, I don’t know how much you can ask of Vincent Desharnais and Erik Brännström.
That being said, those are sad intrusive thoughts, and who wants that on a night when the Canucks beat up the Blackhawks? Let’s talk about positive things, like Chicago leaning on their goal horn for far too long when their team scored to make it only a three-goal deficit. That’s the kind of loser energy we are absolutely here for.
Let’s gif it up!
Best first name basis Kevin
Kevin ended the night with 31 saves on 34 shots and a pedestrian .912%. Guy can’t even get it up to .930, what are we even doing here.
I’m just kidding. I can do that because that’s what you do with people with laid-back names like Kevin. Arnold Palmer, you’re strictly stuck talking about girth. But Kevin? We can have a laugh.
That being said, it was another fantastic game from Kev. K-Dawg kept the Canucks in control anytime Chicago attempted any sort of comeback. 3-1, 4-2, 6-3, whenever Chicago tried to get back into the game, Special K was rock solid and shut down even the high danger chances like it was no big deal.
But that’s just sort of how Kevlar lives his life. He makes the big save without any hoopla. He isn’t in it for the fame; he’s in it because he is morally opposed to aggressive rubber.
Early season and all that, but Big Kev might be one of the Canucks most important off-season additions.
Best score me like one of your French girls
Yes, already:
Teddy Blueger, Danton Heinen, and Kiefer Sherwood might be a thing.
Kiefer Sherwood is a demon who hits anything that moves and just tries to constantly funnel the puck on net, all while giving you “maybe I don’t want to be on the Skytrain with this lunatic” energy.
Blueger is the guy who isn’t amazing at one thing but is good at all of them. He might not have any idea how to fix a garburator but damn it; he’s going to YouTube how to do it and give it a shot.
Danton Heinen is a dude from Langley who just wants to go for a rip and get a couple goals top cheddar so he can shotgun a beer with his buds after the game.
You put those three together, and that’s a pretty solid combo.
Now, I have to apologize to Heinen because I was not familiar with his game, that delay on the shot was the kind of thing that makes me sit up in my chair and take notice. He doesn’t just blast away at the puck, instead he outwaits Mrazek and pops the puck in the empty net. Absolutely beautiful.
But not every goal will be as pretty as this one. Hell, it’s very possible they are peaking in high school as we speak. But if this line can continue to be bothersome and create turnovers and get shots on net, then the Canucks suddenly look like their forward depth is looking pretty strong.
Best Hög-ging the puck
Elias Pettersson deserved more points in this game. Probably a goal as well.
But that’s the nature of being stuck in the spotlight like this. When you aren’t producing on the score sheets, people are going to wonder about your physical and mental state, trying to analyze you like an episode of House.
And while we don’t know if he is dealing with a physical ailment, or is simply too riled up because Dave182371 thinks he needs to shoot more and thinks his toque usage is foppish, we at least know two things:
  • It’s not Lupus
  • He is at least playing better defensively, and his playmaking is still top-level
I do agree that we aren’t seeing much power in his shot, nor are we seeing him being particularly agile on the ice. We also aren’t seeing him try to deke past people like he used to. If it feels like a passive game that’s because that’s exactly how it looks.
But in terms of passing the puck and going to the right parts of the ice and generally being a smarter hockey player than I could ever dream of? He is trending in the right direction.
So while he might not be power skating out there, he’s still managing to find the open man with slick passes, like this one in the slot directly to the pig man:
And while his follow-up shot was nothing special, the fact he’s in the right spots is good for his confidence, if nothing else.
Physical, mental, whatever it is, it feels like we’re only a few ovations away from getting a really weird 25-minute documentary being made about his turnaround on Netflix.
Best never sleep on Kevlar
You’ll be shocked to know that this was the end of an extended shift that happened after Tyler Myers tried a drop pass to nobody beside his net:
Chicago ends up cycling the puck until the Canucks coverage breaks down enough to free up an open look right in the slot. Those are the kinds of breakdowns we’re still seeing an awful lot of from Vancouver this season, and something Rick Tocchet had done his best to take out of the Canucks game last year.
That being said, teams are going to score goals against Vancouver, and a lot of goals happen due to defensive miscues or coverage issues or Dan Cloutier’s weak spot being 200 feet.
But there will be goals that Tocchet won’t like nearly as much as others, as all goals against are not created equally. And, say it with me now, you gotta protect the guts of the ice for Rick.
Fun fact: Tyler Myers and Carson Soucy were the worst defensive pair for the Canucks. Bottom in Corsi, bottom in the eye test, there is just something not clicking with these two yet.
Best cautious optimism
First off, I like that the first instinct for many long-suffering Canucks fans is to tell everyone to relax because nothing is certain in life except misery and not winning a Cup. It’s the kind of leadership our kids need so they know that hockey is a cruel mistress at the best of times.
But you know what? Sometimes life goes your way. Like it did for JT Miller, who ended with three points on the night, including the Canucks second goal on the power play:
JT Miller is currently dealing with “something.” We don’t know what it is; we just know it exists. We know he cannot take face-offs, and we haven’t seen him throw many hits.
Even without that side of his game, however, he’s still able to casually rack up a multiple-point night; such is the power of Rip Wheeler’s alpha male energy. He almost looked disappointed at times that Chicago made him have to get so many points in this game.
Best pressure test
Desharnais and Brannstrom had a very good game against the Flyers, but we need to see consistency from them before we can update their status to “in a committed defensive partnership.”
And against the Blackhawks, they had pretty solid results. They had a few “uh oh” moments in this one, including almost watching Patrick Maroon tap in this feed from Bedard:
But overall? It left you wanting to see them in a few more games. For me, it’s mostly Brännström I want to see more of because his puck-moving skill set is so tantalizing to a team that could very much use another efficient puck mover on the back end. It’s just a question of whether he can rise above the Andrei Kuzmenko defensive level and secure a stable spot in Tocchet’s lineup.
I’m not sure how high the ceiling is for Desharnais, but I respect the fact he is tall and could easily have stepped in and been one of Undertaker’s WrestleMania opponents in the early years.
Best walkingonsushi was right
Chicago would make it a one-goal game after every Canuck player tried their best to chip in and make a defensive coverage mistake, in what I assume was an effort at team unity:
If one of us fails, we all fail, I can almost hear them chanting it now.
It started out with a kiss dump in, how did it end up like this, you ask? It starts with Spicy flinging the puck around the boards past Tyler Myers, who isn’t there for an outlet. It’s not helped by Brock Boeser not sealing the wall, so he loses the race for the puck along the boards. Then Miller and DeBrusk’s coverage in the slot is more of a vague metaphor of defence, which allows Ryan Donato to slide into open ice and rip home a very nice one-handed pass from former Canuck Jason Dickinson.
Which, we really have to give credit to Dickinson on that pass; sometimes players make incredible plays. Breakdowns happen, but good players happen as well.
And sometimes players get traded for Riley Stillman and go on to have a 43-point season with their new team.
Life is weird like that.
Best Danton Abby
The Canucks Danton/Kiefer/Teddy line struck again to make it 3-1, leading us to a very important question: What is their nickname going to be?
The Be-Sharps? The Pin Pals? The Flying Hellfish? Thrillho? We’ll figure it out.
There is nothing fancy about this goal; it’s all affordable breakfasts at Denny’s (toast and eggs, none of this Grand Slam business) and hard work. Move the puck around the boards, crash the net, get the puck on net. It’s basically the goal I draw up for myself in beer league hockey every time. Sure, you could unleash a rocket of a shot, OR I could just stand near the net while you bank it in off of me.
We should also note that Sherwood almost put himself offside on the zone entry, to the point where Chicago actually challenged the goal. But as John Shorthouse was adamantly pointing out, Kiefer never touched the puck offside:
He taps the puck toward the blueline while in an offside position but takes his stick off at the perfect moment before tagging up and going back in onside.
That’s the sort of execution I would expect from the Flying Hellfish. And Thrillho.
Thrillho is still in the running.
Best welcome Thrillho
Tyler Myers lives by the chaotic sword and dies by the chaotic sword:
It’s clearly some bad luck for the puck to bounce like that on him. I also respect his confidence that he was skating out of the zone with that puck; there was not a single second where he didn’t believe with every inch of his soul that he could power skate at that puck and leave with possession of it.
But the chaos giraffe is chaotic for a reason, so Chicago was able to turn that miscue into a goal.
And again, there is clearly bad luck at play for Myers on this one. But on a night in which he struggled, it just ends up being another highlight where you start worrying a bit about that second pairing. You can’t tell me some of you didn’t text a friend or group chat and wonder if maybe they should try splitting that pair up.
Don’t you dare lie to me.
Best Corolla reliability
That’s the t-shirt slogan right there. Garland IS just so f****n solid:
I really like Elias playing with the Energize Bunnies. Sure, it helps that anytime Quinn Hughes steps on the ice, it’s like you gain an advanced UAV and precision air strike, but Garland, EP40 and the Pig Man are starting to showcase some solid chemistry. They just move the puck so well, and even if Elias isn’t getting off rockets of a shot, it’s at least producing a line that is creating dangerous looks at the net.
And if Elias doesn’t go hard to the net on this rebound, then this doesn’t end up a goal, and we don’t end up with Corolla giving us a delightful “pew pew pew” finger gun goal celebration:
Garland is very good at zone entries, which takes some of the heat off Elias to be the main guy to drag his line into the offensive zone. Instead, Elias can sort of snake around, looking for the soft parts of the ice. Having Garland and the pig man being smart and skilled enough to make use of Elias’ playmaking ability also shows how to better support their struggling superstar instead of asking him to go out there and drag Ilya Mikheyev’s cinderblock hands around for 20 minutes a night.
Essentially, we’re now in the “when Elias scores” era and not the “will Elias score” era if this line keeps playing like this.
Best oh well
Good.
Best feeding the pig man
If you are a fan of players screaming “F***!” then this was probably a banner game for you.
You know what else was a banner game? Fil Hronek having his best game of the season. He looked engaged, he was making elite passes, and he was generally looking like a high-priced defenceman and not just that guy who passes the puck right back to Quinn Hughes.
The best play of the game from Fil the Thrill? Hitting the spin-o-rama button and then dragging the puck down low to open up a passing lane right in front to Nearly Nils:
Hronek only ended up with one point on the night, but this was clearly his best game of the season.
Best KEVIN!
Kevin only has to worry about two things in life:
  • Fuller not going easy on the Pepsi
  • Players not moving their legs
In this case, Vinny D has a 70/30 puck race in front of him. Rather than err on the side of caution, he sort of cautiously approaches the puck and then ends up throwing an attempted hit along the boards. Although we can all agree that is very much an “oh sh*t, what have I done” moment in action:
It ends up being a 2 on 1 against him, and these are the kinds of mistakes that will drive Rick crazy. That could very well have ended up being a 4-3 game were it not for Kevin boobytrapping the dreams of Chicago.
Sometimes, you also have to have a sobering talk with yourself about your top-end speed and realize that sitting back a little bit isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Best it was in you all along
Garland is always Garland, but Höglander stepping up his game and improving has really gifted Elias with two very good linemates:
The play ends with Spicy sending in a pass down low to Elias for the tap-in, which just barely misses, followed up by Garland attempting to stuff in a mini-stick hockey goal near the post.
It was a great night from this line; it really was. I know people will be frustrated by EP40’s game this season, but this line was fantastic on the night.
Best Kevin being Kevin
Welcome to the Kevin show:
Now, Kevin didn’t make contact on the puck when he twirled around with his glove. He got enough of the initial shot to push the puck wide. But the fact he still went for it is why Kevin is such a Kevin. The dude is out here trying to make Roberto Luongo saves on an Eddie Lack salary.
Even on the powerplay, Kevin was a brick wall. Here he is robbing Tyler Bertuzzi twice, followed up by stoning Bedard:
You want to run the bumper play on Vancouver? That’s an insult to the memory of Bo Horvat. Kevin denies your request:
You know your goaltending is good when you find yourself WANTING more shots on the goalie. It’s almost like you’re insulted by the fact the team thinks they can score.
“Oh, you think you’re gonna get a goal? OK, here, have the puck. Here’s another shot. Come on, let’s see what you got All-Star.”
Best give it time
Pettersson is going to break out soon based on his playmaking alone. He was constantly finding teammates open in front of Mrazek on the night:
That delay on the pass until he could find the open seam to Hronek? Chefs kiss.
If Fil doesn’t get greedy there by trying to drag the puck to his backhand, that’s an apple for EP40.
Best under the hood
This is the chicken or the egg argument of our time. Is Quinn Hughes being elite a problem or the solution?
Best shave those sideburns
I don’t know how short the leash is for Erik, but I do know if Daniel Sprong tried this pass, he’d be in trouble:
I respect that this pass had high hopes. But there is one man on the team allowed to try and thread a pass between two defenders, and that man is named Quinn Hughes and/or Josh Allen, should he ever take up the game of hockey.
But that’s also sort of Erik’s deal; he’s a puck mover, so you do need him to lean on that to an extent.
It just has to be above the Kuzmenko Defensive Level.
Best you can’t spell glove without love
Oh is Kevin starting Saturday? I don’t know, let’s ask this save:
That’s his net. We’re at the point where when Thatcher Demko comes back and asks for the keys to the net, Kevin hands it over, but he holds onto the keys for a second too long, just long enough so you know he felt he shouldn’t have to. Rock vs Austin Wrestlemania 17 vibes. Demko toasts a beer a little too hard. Kevin talks about how he NEEDS to be the starter. Demko maybe throws a stunner while Limp Bizkit plays in the background. These things can happen, I swear.
Best QB spy
Those guts of the ice? The Canucks were hammering them in the third period.
Chicago wanted to move the puck out of their zone; they just couldn’t find a way past Vancouver’s forecheck:
Kiefer intercepts the puck, gets it in deep, and that’s another extended shift in the Chicago zone that eats up 30 seconds off the clock.
EP40 was in his bag defensively, so he made the next big snag right after that Kiefer shift:
Höglander pursues the puck with pace, which causes a hurried pass, which Elias picks off. And look at that: EP40 attempts a deke that works, except he gets taken down and draws a penalty.
This leads to Brock Boeser, making it 5-2 Canucks on the ensuing powerplay:
Just an absolutely lethal finish from the Canucks on that powerplay. Quick puck movement, firm shot on net, Boeser merely guiding the puck on net, and that’s basically game over.
All because the Canucks put the pressure on the Blackhawks, and they couldn’t handle it.
That is as Rick Tocchet hockey as it gets.
It’s also another reminder that even though EP40 had one assist on the night, he was instrumental in their fifth goal.
Best pew pew pew
A mere moment later, Pius Suter made it 6-2 Vancouver:
Chicago was broken mentally at this point, so there was only token resistance offered up against Suter. I would break the goal down more, but it would mostly be along the lines of “Man, Chicago just looks really sad at this point.”
But credit Vancouver for stomping Chicago into a mudhole because you can’t just play Chelsea Dagger every year and expect opponents to let up on you.
Best pay it forward
With Chicago down four goals, and a potential missed call earlier on the Canucks fourth goal, the NHL does what it does best, and they handed out a complimentary penalty, this time in the form of a “slash”:
Teuvo Teravainen literally just drops his stick and somehow gets the call. Even worse, he shrugs his hands as if he thought he SHOULD get the call, which is more insulting than the call itself.
Gifted with the 5-on-3 advantage, Bertuzzi finally scores on Kevin:
This goal doesn’t deserve much of a breakdown as it was a 5-on-3, and Kevin doesn’t deserve any fault for it.
Chicago, in fact, had a minute remaining on their next powerplay, but Sherwood ended up having the best chance from either team:
Kiefer is my favourite penalty killer to watch this year because he truly never relents. His motor is always going, and when you have his fellow Flying Hellfish member Teddy Blueger out there beside him, they can create scoring chances while down a man. They basically bullied the puck out of the zone and forced Chicago into having to make some tough life choices, resulting in a 2-on-1 rush for Vancouver.
Best beat down
A lot went right in this game for Vancouver, and there are a lot of positives to talk about with the team (Kevin, you know I see you), but I think the main takeaway from this game for me was the play of Kiefer Sherwood. He has been everything as advertised and more for the Canucks so far. He works hard, he’s smart defensively, he’s generating shots, and he seems to really piss off the other team. He’s an online troll come to life for Vancouver, and not only does he lead the league in hits, he’s also putting up some points as well.
Luke Schenn was the standard for hit volume with this team in the last decade, and Kiefer has already tied his game-high in just his sixth game played. It’s pretty clear that if the Canucks go on a playoff run, Sherwood is going to be a very good asset for this team moving forward.