“It’s just the first game.”
That was the response from the Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet after his team blew a 4-1 lead and had to watch as the Calgary Flames celebrated a 6-5 win in overtime on Rogers Arena Ice.
In fact, it was something he hammered home many times as the post-game presser wore on, making sure we knew that only one game has occurred in this new NHL season.
And he’s not wrong. If the Canucks had rolled over the Flames and gotten an easy win, Rick would be the first to tell you, “hey, it’s just the first game.”
If Brock Boeser had scored 13 goals in the first game, Rick would right there, looking you right in the eyes, telling you calmly it’s just the first game. Maybe he’d go on to give you tips on how to make spaghetti afterwards, but he’d make sure you knew that it was just, one, game.
It’s that even-keeled approach that the Canucks utilized all last season, and it appears to be the same direction they are taking after the loss to the Flames.
That’s not to say the players were waving this result away, of course. To a man, each player looked slightly disgusted with themselves after the loss, giving off the kind of aura you normally get after blowing the last circle in Warzone and losing the game for your friends.
In fact, at one point, Daniel Wagner asked Conor Garland a question about something that occurred on his goal, to which Garland simply shook his head and repeated, “It don’t matter” three times as if trying to banish a genie back to its realm.
And despite making sure we all signed the waiver indicating we in fact knew that was the Canucks first game of the season, Rick did show his cards slightly by acknowledging the summer hockey vibes his team gave off against the Flames. Missed assignments, getting out-worked by Calgary, not wanting it enough, well, for an organization that has had compete in their nature, it was anything but.
Rick also talked about the balance to be had about chasing more offense at the expense of defence. For all the good fun everyone had in the first period, it was special teams play that masked a lot of 5-on-5 concerns.
All of this, and we haven’t even gotten into what will surely be the top-selling costume for Halloween in Vancouver: a point shot on Arturs Silovs.
All in all, the Canucks were lucky to escape with a single point. If it weren’t for late heroics from JT Miller, this game would have had an even darker ending.
But as it stands now, rumour has it that was the Canucks first game of the season.
Which means we don’t need to panic, nor plan the parade.
All we have to do is make sweet, sweet GIF money together.

Best setting the lines

Batch started the season off strong, setting lines I would let my daughter marry.
My one concern? That third-line defensive pairing gives me the kind of uneasy feeling normally reserved for buying that slice of pizza from Fresh Slice that has clearly been sitting under a heating lamp for at least eight hours.

Best let’s get this party started

Here’s the thing: you sign Tyler Myers for these moments. The Chaos Giraffe isn’t here to play “defence” or “win hockey games,” he’s here to rip shit up and leave you questioning your sanity.
This is why, mere moments into the game, when CG57 tumbled to the ice, I truly knew hockey was back:
Now, here’s where things truly get chaotic. During his next shift, Tyler Myers battled the net front, as one does, and at first glance, appeared to be stacking the pads in the crease, as one does.
But upon closer look, Tyler Myers’ skate blade had actually fallen out:
At the end of the clip, you can see him struggle to get up only to fall back to the ice, to which I clapped and audibly said out loud, “Oh you.”
Now, here is what those at home didn’t see. After Myers fell to the ice, he had to do that awkward shuffle to the bench where you just sort of flail your arms at the ice and wonder why your life has led to this moment.
For some strange reason, one of the officials ran over to help push Myers to the bench. Tyler was at the faceoff circle, so this wasn’t a gentle last push; this was an official running over like someone’s truck got stuck in the mud, and he was just doing the right thing by helping out.
Whilst doing this, the official, who I can only assume grossly misjudged his own strength, toppled over to the ice as well in his attempts to push the fallen Giraffe.
All of which is to say this chaos literally resulted in a breakaway for Conor Garland:
Corolla Garland blocks the shot, then moves in for the breakaway, but is denied by Dan Vladar.
Daniel Sprong then followed this up moments later with a breakaway of his own, only to be denied by Vladar, who apparently was dead set on only stopping breakaways in the first period:
So the next time you question Tyler Myers, just remember, life, uh, uh, uh, finds a way.

Best picking your spots

The first period wasn’t even half over before a scary collision between JT Miller and Kevin Rooney took place:
It’s a clean hit that is slightly flirting with a predatory hit from across the bar, but it never crosses the line. Its marriage is still intact but is probably going to couples therapy.
It honestly looks like Rooney is coming in to get the puck or throw a hit, so JT Miller goes full Rip Wheeler, ignores the puck and makes the choice for him. I don’t know if Rooney was fully expecting JT to abandon the puck like that, as he looks like he’s reaching for the puck, but the initial collision itself was fine. It was Rooney falling to the ice and hitting his head into the boards that led to the scary few moments where it looked like he was out cold.
Oddly enough it was after Rooney had been lying on the ice for several minutes where some fans decided that was the time to chant JT Miller? Which was super weird? It would be like seeing a car accident, and then someone beside you just starts chanting “Tesla, Tesla, Tesla!” over and over again. Which I feel like Elon Musk would probably do, but normal people wouldn’t.
Look, we used to be a society. And in that society, you wait until you know the player is ok, then you can go back to booing them and mocking them online.
But when a player gets seriously hurt like that and has to leave the game due to injury, that is not the time to chant the name of the player who took him out. Like what is JT Miller supposed to do there? Stand up and acknowledge the crowd? Tell them to shhh? Don’t put him in that position. Don’t make him go full Gladiator.
Now you have to remember the first period was the only period of joy for the Canucks, so really drink these highlights in, such as when Quinn Hughes invented a fun new way to gain a zone entry with JT Miller:
The Canucks power play did not end up in a good place last season, so for people looking for silver linings on the night, their play with the extra man looked creative and efficient, ending the night going 2 for 4.
It felt fresh because it wasn’t just drop pass after drop pass to get zone entries, leading you to wistfully explain to your nephew about the king of drop passes, Alex Edler, hollowed by his name.
Instead, it was bank passes off the end boards or plays like the one above, where Hughes drove the defence back to give room to a winger coming in with speed, that created zone entries.
Remember, zone entries on the powerplay are better than anything I get to talk about in the second period.
Savour this, damn it. Savour it.

Best Sprong has sprung

If you’re wondering, “how could Wyatt turn this Daniel Sprong goal into something celebrating Conor Garland,” just you wait:
Look, Daniel Sprong has offence. That we know. Defensively, well, he does some things that you just know will drive Rick Tocchet crazy.
But offensively, you can see the allure of watching him play hockey with Elias Pettersson, giving him a player who can think the game offensively close to his level, compared to say, Ilya Mikheyev, who would skate in a straight line and then just sort of stare into the crowd as if questioning his desire for playing the game of hockey anymore.
Back to this play, though. The Corolla Garland effect is on full display when you watch the zone entry. See, zone entries are all we have, I god damn told you.
Garland passes the puck to himself off the boards, breaks through two Calgary defenders, and then gets the puck back along the boards, which eventually results in the puck circling around the ice over to Sprong for the goal. That’s Corolla hockey, baby.
It’s also important to note this feels like the first goal the second unit powerplay has scored since 1985, which also feels neat.

Best I think he just Blued himself

Hahaha, they certainly did look lethal for 20 minutes. Oh, to go back to that time.
Anyways, here is Teddy Blueger getting a breakaway, only to run into Vladar’s weird power of stopping only breakaways:
The first period from the Canucks truly felt like that brave new world Rick Tocchet spoke of. One in which the Canucks could run free and score goals, they could nuke a team in transition, and really tear into a fallen opponent. They would generate a lot more offence while still being a team that was hard to play against.
Instead, they lost 6-5, and we ended up with Rick wistfully talking about how maybe he didn’t run enough defensive zone coverage drills during pre-season.
Live and learn.

Best my client Brock Boeser

Remember how I said the Canucks were having fun with zone entries? How about this Hank Sedin dump pass into the corner that leads to a JT Miller shot on net:
Call me crazy, but JT Miller should just drop slapshots on those plays.
That shot led to a faceoff, which led to Brock Boeser scoring his first of two goals on the night:
Like I said, the Canucks powerplay was at Ravishing Rick Rude levels of swagger. They were moving the puck well, getting shots off on net, and scoring goals.
It’s just that whole defending part of the game that wasn’t so great?

Best investing in Corollas

If ever you wanted the full Conor Garland experience, it would be on a goal where he gets absolutely trucked to the ice, only to pop up and wave off his teammate from fighting on his behalf, so he can go down to the other side of the ice and score a goal:
It’s incredible. In a sport ruled by The Code, Garland waves it off and instead simply decides to murder his opponent on the scoreboard.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good Code fight as much as anyone, but there is something so Garland about the Lannister approach he took on this play.

Best should we be worried?

It was just one sloppy goal; what’s the worst that could happen:
Part of the JT Miller experience is knowing he can win games all by himself, but mixed amongst that is some of the most baffling pass attempts you’ll ever see.
I just assume it’s his natural confidence in himself that helps him score 100 points in a season, so you just kind of accept it when he boots a pass right to Anthony Mantha in front of a flat-footed Quinn Hughes.

Best stonks rising

Brock Boeser’s chase for 50 goals and 100 million dollars started off strong on Wednesday night, as he quickly scored his second goal of the night to restore the three-goal lead:
The powerplay had JUST ended, so for all intents and purposes, or intensive purposes for those of you with an SFU education, the Canucks went 3 for 4 on the night. Truly, if there was ever anything to celebrate, it was the Canucks special teams play.

Best running for mayor

In case you wanted to know who carries that 1998 Stone Cold Steve Austin energy in Vancouver right now, that would be one Jimothy Timothy Miller:
The Code was answered, and justice was served:
It was at this point that the Canucks felt invincible. They felt like they were in a different league from Calgary. JT Miller was singlehandedly kicking the shit out of all of the Flames, all of them.
Hell, the Oilers getting their asses whooped by Winnipeg? Proof positive the Canucks were on track to win the West before losing in the Finals to Colin Campbell’s grandson or something.
But summer hockey is a vibe, not a game plan, as the Canucks quickly found out.

Best one last glimmer of fun

I will say the power of Quinn Hughes is enjoyable to take in.
Watch as Anthony Mantha sees Quinn Hughes has the puck, so he just goes into business for himself and takes a line change. Chasing after that fast shifty guy? No thank you, I think I’ll go sit on the bench:
The best part is how quickly Hughes takes this all in, resulting in him pushing the puck into the Flames zone and getting a chance on net the second he realizes Mantha is nope-ing out of frame.
That is elite-level hockey right there.

Best get ready for the murmurs

Elias Pettersson gets paid a lot of money to play hockey in Vancouver. He also faded down the stretch last year and was a non-factor in the playoffs.
All of which means the weight of expectations is ON HIM right now. So as Rick told us, it was just the first game, but if Elias keeps passing up these prime opportunities, those murmurs are going to turn into audible groans:
You can see the offensive chemistry on display between Jake DeBrusk and Daniel Sprong. You can see the West Coast Express vibes they are trying on this play.
But when Daniel Sprong taps a pass to you directly into the slot, you have to take that shot.
Do I want to see what dance moves Jake DeBrusk has in store for us after a goal? Of course I do, I’m only human.
But you know what happens when you pass on a shot in the slot like that? You get people screaming angrily in the third period when you fumble the puck on the boards and let the puck slowly slide out of the zone.
There’s been one person in the entire history of the franchise who has been allowed to not shoot in the slot like that, and it was Henrik Sedin, and even that took around 13 years before people finally relented and accepted it.
Elias Pettersson burst into the NHL with a rocket of a shot, and it feels like we haven’t seen much of that in a long time.

Best going home early

This is the part of the story where Calgary just keeps scoring goals:
As Rick pointed out after the game, it was a lot of instances of the Canucks just not being where they were supposed to be.
In this case, Daniel Sprong isn’t where he should be. You can see Elias Pettersson initially tries to point out to him to guard the wing, which, to his credit, he does. But in his enthusiasm, he chases down his guy and gives up the “guts of the ice,” as Rick is so fond of saying, and instead of staying in his proper spot, he ends up near the blue line with a confused and slightly scared Jake DeBrusk, who really just wants to dance and have a good time at this point.
All of which allows Rasmus Andersson to skate straight down Burrard Street and go top shelf where Mom keeps the resume she never submitted to Quizno’s out of a fierce loyalty to Subway.

Best first rule of Don’t Touch Quinn Hughes Club

Don’t touch Quinn Hughes.
Also, Jeff was right. Damn it, Jeff.

Best positive Drance effect

You know things went off the rails when even Drance was out here championing the Canucks as playing like a top-level team, only to watch them lose.

Best falling apart

The Flames third goal came off what looked like a pretty innocuous sequence of events, with the Flames pushing the puck around and the Canucks kind of chasing the puck a bit. Nothing too wild, and in most cases, it would have ended in nothing, but Artus Silovs and point shots are not on the best of terms right now:
You’ve heard a lot about Silovs issues tracking the puck, and it isn’t going away anytime soon if games like this keep occuring.
Yes, the Canucks played poorly on the night, we can never take that away from them.
But Silovs was also an issue on the night. I haven’t grimaced in pain at point shots like this since the days of Dan Cloutier.
Look, the Arty Party was a great time. Truly, it was very fun.
But his NHL career is so young and so new that we still have no idea what the Canucks have in them.
Again, first game of the season Rick, I hear you. This performance could end up being a small blip on the map by seasons end from Silovs. But in a game in which it felt like they just needed that one Grant Fuhr save so they could forget the five other goals, the Canucks just couldn’t seem to get it.

Best those were the days my friend

The Flames would then go on to tie the game up on a power play on a, you guessed it, harmless looking point shot:
I do admit that was a well-placed shot. You have to give MacKenzie Weegar credit for that, as he went top shelf where Mom keeps the never-opened DVD copy of Jersey Shore Season Two.
And yes, Andrei Kuzmenko randomly flailing and throwing his stick 20 feet into the air did not go unnoticed.
But man, Silovs has to find a way to stop some point shots. I don’t want visions of Felix Potvin, Canucks Edition to dance through my head when watching a game of hockey. Don’t make me go back to that.

Best welcome home, Jennifer

Calgary would then make it 5-4 when the Canucks decided that letting two Flames set up shop in their crease was an effective late-game strategy:
Why does Tyler Myers slide over to double down in the corner with Kiefer Sherwood? I’d honestly love to tell you. I’m not sure — something about bird migration flight patterns.
Why does Silovs not anchor his foot against the post? Why is his leg dangling outside his net, taking away his ability to push off and at least give him a chance to slide across his crease? Again, not sure. Something about hydrogen in the atmosphere.
All I know is the Canucks played sloppy hockey, so they won sloppy prizes. Which sounds sexy, but it’s not.
It’s not.

Best one last moment of fun

The good news is JT Miller took my advice and just decided “screw it” and hammered home a goal to tie the game up:
You know a goal is good when I give you two gifs of it:
Quinn Hughes stopping an empty net goal and turning it into a huge goal the other way? That had 2024 Canuck playoff vibes written all over it. For a brief few moments in Rogers Arena, everyone felt invincible again. The sins of the blown lead? Gone. All that mattered was that the Canucks found a way to tie the game up.
I mean, look at that dapper clapper slapper. That’s the kind of goal that orders Moons Over My-Hammy at Denny’s and asks if smoking is allowed inside. JT Miller just wills that goal into existence. Geoff Courtnall called and he wants his big slapshot goal swagger back.
So yes, the good news is this team can score goals!
The problem is, yeah…defence and goaltending might be a little shaky.

Best he’s not wrong

As we know, with 3 on 3 overtime, possession is king, and the Flames held the puck the entire time until they scored:
The worst part is that Brock Boeser tries so hard to skate back into the play. He’s not a great skater; we know that. But he hustles his ass off and makes sure he’s in the right spot defensively. He gets there, he shuts his man down, all is good. You want to reach through the screen to ruffle his hair and tell him good job, sport, you skated your ass off.
Except Filip Hronek gets absolutely walked by Connor Zary, to the point that I feel bad publishing the highlight of it. Game over. All that Brock effort for nothing.
We also see Silovs committing hard to one side of the net and once again being unable to slide over to offer a chance at a save.
And hey, look, overtime can be a coin toss, I get that. But when you have a 4-1 lead, you only put in a 20-minute effort? These are the results you run the risk of getting.
The good news is the Canucks play again Friday, so we will get to see real quick if this was just a case of the Octobers or if the Canucks might be coming back down to earth a little bit from last season.

Best jersey Botch

To be fair, the second I saw the Alex Biega jersey, I knew the Canucks were in trouble.