Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet to consistently preside over a court of controversy.

Speaking of courting controversy, that was probably inevitable when the good folks at CanucksArmy set out to fill in the summer months with our Top 50 Canucks of All Time series. By now, you’ve read at least the Top 40 or so, and your responses have been colourful and varied.

This is evidence of at least three things. First, all such lists are subjective and will always lead to some disagreement. Second, fans of the Vancouver Canucks are particularly passionate about their team and their history.

And thirdly, there’s a real need to let you all sound off on your opinions on this subject in a more formal setting.

Well, what more formal a setting to sound off in than the weekly WDYTT?

Obviously, we don’t have the space to give everyone their own Top 50. But we can give you 10% of that!

A top five feels about right for our purposes, too. When it comes to naming the top-five Canucks of all time, the vast majority of us are going to have the same three players on the list – two Swedish twins and a Russian Rocket.

But the other two spots are decidedly more up for grabs. And so, too, is the exact order of placement within that top five.

PS: If this isn’t enough of a sound-off on our Top 50 list for you, worry not. We’ve got plans to ask you about the most underrated and overrated Canucks of all time in future editions, so you’ll have the opportunity to share all your related opinions eventually.

For now, this week, we’re asking:

Let it be known in the comment section.

You answered below!

That April 8th game against Dallas this season was pretty awesome, especially for those of us that didn’t change the channel…

It likely wasn’t their “best” game, but it sure was fun to watch the night that Luongo was honored in Vancouver. Thatcher took the reins and recorded a shutout with the Canucks spanking the defending Cup champ Panthers 4-0.

For me, it has to be a game that actually mattered which rules out the comeback against Dallas last season.

April 28, 2024 the Canucks performed a comeback against Nashville in the playoffs. They were behind 3-1 early in the third period and then Brock Boeser popped of with two goals in the final three minutes for the tie and to secure a hat trick. Lindholm got the winner in OT and JT Miller had three points for the game and Silovs got his first playoff win.

That was a great game, especially after Demko going down early in the series and DeGoalie not being able to play, it seemed the Canucks were cooked.

Noteworthy was that on the other team, Sherwood had five hits against Canuck players.

For me, there can be only one answer. The best game of the past five years was on April 21st, 2024, when the team made their return to the playoffs for Game 1 against Nashville. To be sure, it was an incredible game, with a quick two-goal burst from Suter and Joshua in the third period, powering a thrilling comeback victory for the home team. But the reason it tops the list is the cathartic feeling of watching playoff hockey at GM Place again, with actual fans in the stands, pushing the decibels to levels not seen in almost a decade, and seeing the players respond with a heartfelt effort in victory. After a seemingly interminable era when being a Canucks fan was broadly depressing without much relief, we needed that.

Outside of the obvious games that everyone else will bring up, I’m gonna mention the Panthers. For some reason, those couple games in the last two seasons I believe ended up with the Canucks having two shutouts. Highly entertaining games surprisingly, from what I remembered. They don’t face them that much of course, but we’ve kinda had their number since the Panthers have been on their run.

West Coaster:
Got to be that 8-1 game against the Oilers two years ago on opening night, but this team is a lot different now…

I’m out on this one, they had the odd game in 2023/24 that had a playoff feel, they even beat LA Kings … once, and there were a couple of good games with “Bruce, there he goes …” but can’t think of a single “team retool” game in the last five years that stands out as worth remembering.

The Nashville series had a couple really good games, but I’m going off the board when the Canucks played the Rangers about a quarter way through the regular season in 23/24. No idea what the date was, and I’m pretty sure they lost, but I remember it was one of the best games I’ve seen the Canucks play.

I’m going to go with Game 6 in the 2020 bubble playoffs against Vegas. They shut out the Knights and tied the series with a 4 – 0 win. They scored three third period goals. It was peak bubble Demko. Miller, Hughes, and Horvat scored and it seemed like the young team was really going to do something special. Pettersson was scoring. Even Virtanen scored in the playoffs. We all know what happened next. But I like the feeling of promise. Almost like Spring. It’s very different from the cold, dark days we normally experience as Canucks’ fans.

I will go with the two games I remember.

Like when Dallas allowed Vancouver to score three goals in the final minute of play to tie the game, and then lost it to the Canucks in overtime, 6-5.

Like when Nashville allowed Vancouver to score two goals in the final minute, to tie the game and then win it in overtime 4-3 in the playoffs. It was a devastating loss to Nashville and paved the way for the Canucks to advance to the next round.

8-1 game against the Oilers two years ago. That was awesome.

Most favorite shift of the decade:

Six years ago tied 2-2 with LA.

Boeser and Pettersson on the ice and Hughes steps over the boards for his first OT in the NHL. Although Boeser didn’t score on the one timer, the young Canucks were peppering LA goalie for that shift. Super exciting.

I am going off the board on this one and say the first game of the 2023/2024 season vs Edmonton. Tocchet coaching after having a solid pr season and training camp. Coming off the debacle of the previous season, the Canucks came out flying against the consensus pick to win the Cup. Gave Edmonton the beat down they deserved, but also showed what coaching and a plan could do. Canucks went on to win 8-1 with four goals by Boeser and then win 12 of the next 16 games. That game set the tone for the season and finally we could enjoy spring hockey after standing on the wall for years waiting for Winter.