Yes, we get it. “The Vancouver Canucks” and “dramatic” have gone hand-in-hand for the past fifty-plus years. The 2024-25 season has been no exception, but it’s the most recent one, and they’re going out in classic Canucks fashion.
Canucks Dramatic Finish Matches Dramatic Start
Let’s start at the end. Or the end-ish, depending on what the Minnesota Wild do in their remaining games. And the Calgary Flames . The St. Louis Blues have already done their thing, so it’s down to the final wild card spot.
Speaking of which, the Wild and Flames play each other once more before the season ends. That game is the one in which Minnesota can get a point and still leave Vancouver a route to the playoffs. If the Wild gets two points, the “chase” is over. The Wild game against the San Jose Sharks has significance in the last week of play. Who’d have thought that in September? Or that the Canucks would be drop far enough that their survival relied on that game?
Sure, the Wild also play against Vancouver on Saturday, but the odds of that game mattering are remote. But just in case, it’s going to be a fun watch. Or should be, anyway, because the Canucks have decided that scoring is their new vibe.
What They’re Doing
Did we mention scoring? The Canucks had a wildly dramatic finish to their game against the Dallas Stars , setting an NHL record as they went. They needed six goals to do it, but somehow they did. Given head coach Rick Tocchet ‘s predilection for low-even play, that should be a surprise.
But it ain’t. In the past month, the Canucks have scored six goals in a game five times. They scored six goals once and five goals five times in the previous 65 games this season. They still lost one of those six-goal games, but that doesn’t change how strange the scoring surge has been.
Don’t get us wrong, though, the Canucks are full value for their position. They haven’t played well enough to get a playoff spot this year, however close they happen to be. But it was still fun to watch, because who doesn’t like goals Goalies, obviously. The Canucks have given up 45 goals against in 13 games, which hasn’t helped. Scoring 48 is nice, but that barely kept them at .500 with a 6-5-2 record. That isn’t winning anyone a playoff spot, nor should it.
Vancouver isn’t winning a playoff spot this season, and for the fans, that hurts. But that doesn’t mean this has been a grim march to the end.
This is…Fun?
With seven losses, it hasn’t been goodness and light. That’s St. Louis, apparently. There was a very frustrating loss to the New York Rangers and an outright bad game against the Kraken . And a very silly collapse against Columbus , but who can get mad at Columbus?
As with any sport, when you know “your team” is out, you need to look for some kind of entertainment. It can either be hopeful (a good rookie) or hilarious (“will we ever score again?”) or possibly both (Hello, Tankathon !). It’s not like the Canucks being dramatic is lost on long-time fans. Heck, we literally have a tag here that’s “Canucks Drama” and yeah, it gets used a LOT. So, the ability to find fun stuff amid chaos is an essential, if underrated, skill.
So, what is good news? Lots of the AHL Canucks are getting ice time, and that’s been a positive watch. Not all of them will contribute next season beyond the occasional game, but seeing the skills that got them signed is a nice change.
For instance, having Max Sasson on a line with Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Linus Karlsson is an All-AHL line that’s worked. They’re good scorers in the minors, but Karlsson and Sasson more likely have a bottom-six destiny in the Big Leagues. Aatu Räty , and his disturbingly effective faceoff abilities, looks like he’s ready for a one-way deal. Starting the year in Vancouver would be no surprise. Nils Åman can learn in the NHL next year on the bottom line. The issue isn’t just having players, though. It’s having players who can play higher in the lineup, and there is a dearth of them among Vancouver’s prospects.
Oh, Yeah, Him.
Then there’s Pius Suter . As nice as it is to see Nils Höglander get his feet back under him and Kiefer Sherwood go 3-6-9 in his last seven games, Suter is the challenge. He is one of the most productive Canucks amid all the dramatic soap opera threads running this season. Signed, eventually, as a steady, reliable, middle-six player at centre or wing, he’s become so much more.
With the team missing two of their top centres, the veteran is suddenly Vancouver’s most important centre. He used to join the top-six on the wing, but now he’s the Canucks’ Mister Everything. And he’s pulling it off with aplomb. He has four goals and eleven points in his last nine games, playing hero in their Dallas comeback. From being the guy a team puts out in the last minute to protect a lead to the guy a team turns to when down late is quite the change. For a team desperate to add skill to the middle, he might suddenly be out of their price range .
The Canucks Being Dramatic is Their Charm
The team has four games left to play. Adding a bit of drama that isn’t off the ice is a nice change from everything else this season. Young guys are showing their skills. Experimental pairings are happening on defence, like Victor Mancini with Quinn Hughes while Tyler Myers is out. How Thatcher Demko comes back from injury is still a big question, and allowing five goals isn’t a great answer. But he’s not done yet, and every game he doesn’t re-injure himself is a good one.
More to the point, while the players might not stick, what the team shows could. Not quitting is always a good sign. Playing through what is otherwise a very “quitable” game is to be looked for. Even if mistakes happen, are they mistakes of effort or its lack? Coaches and management are going to be watching the next four games very closely. Surprisingly, we have reason to as well.
Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The post The Vancouver Canucks Guilty of Being Dramatic Again appeared first on Last Word On Hockey .