2021 was a pretty crummy year for the Vancouver Canucks.
To be fair, it was a crummy year for a lot of people — the Canucks certainly aren’t unique in that regard. For the Canucks, at least, what made it so much worse is that they came into the year with such high expectations.
The Canucks had finally made the playoffs in 2020 and came one game away from the Conference Finals. Looking to take the next step in 2021, the Canucks instead fell flat on their face.
I was going to do a full recap of the year in this space but it was all too depressing: long losing streaks, a vengeful Tyler Toffoli, a brutal COVID-19 outbreak, an awful scandal, a season-ending injury to Elias Pettersson, and an aggressive offseason that gave fans just enough hope to make the seemingly-inevitable crushing of that hope all the more painful.
Fortunately, the Canucks ended the year on a high note — apart from more COVID-19 cases and postponed games. The clearing out of the Canucks’ front office and coaching staff and the hiring of Bruce Boudreau and Jim Rutherford has led to a stunning reversal in the team’s fortunes and they finished off the year with a 7-0-1 run.
The finish to 2021 should give fans reason to believe that 2022 can be a better year and the Canucks kicked off the year in fine fashion, cruising to a 5-2 win over their prospective geographical rivals, the Seattle Kraken.
I want to believe that 2022 will be better, not just for the Canucks but for all of us. Unlike the Canucks ending the year on a high note, I ended the year with a two-week-long brutal cold that apparently isn’t COVID-19, so I’m not even getting any of those sweet, sweet antibodies.
Enough of 2021. What a bust of a year. Here’s to a better 2022. I watched this game.
- The feel-good story of 2022 has already happened on the very first day of the year, though it started in October, when Seattle hockey fan Nadia Popovici, sitting behind the Canucks’ bench at the Kraken’s home opener, got the attention of Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton. Popovici, who will soon be starting medical school, spotted a mole on Red’s neck that showed the telltale signs of melanoma, a form of skin cancer. She typed a quick message on her phone, showed it to Red through the glass, and it was enough for him to get it checked, confirmed as cancer, and removed.
- “She extended my life,” said Red. “The words out of the doctor’s mouth were if I ignored that for four to five years, I wouldn’t be here.”
- The full story is well worth the read. Popovici was recognized during a TV timeout at Saturday’s game as well as on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. The Canucks and Kraken will be giving her $10,000 towards her medical school tuition.
- On to the game!
- The Canucks were dominant in the opening 20 minutes, out-shooting the Kraken 14-to-6 and quickly jumping out to a two-goal lead. It seemed pretty clear that the Canucks were dissatisfied with their lacklustre performance against the Los Angeles Kings and they came out like a bat out of hell: fast-paced, epic, and sung by Meat Loaf.
- “I don’t think we’ve had our best starts maybe the last few, especially there in L.A.,” said Tyler Motte. “It was definitely a focus for our group, especially the first five minutes — sometimes that will just carry on through the first period and into the second and you keep pushing from there.”
- “It was the best first period I think we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Boudreau. “It makes life a lot easier when you can get a lead on a team that hasn’t come back too often.”
- It was also a physical first period, with big hits on both sides but none better than the huge hit by Kraken defenceman Carson Soucy on Conor Garland. It was shoulder-to-shoulder — or perhaps forearm to shoulder given the height difference — but Tanner Pearson took exception and dropped the gloves with Soucy, all of which raised the temperature a bit on a rivalry that has yet to fully develop.
- As much as the Canucks dominated the first, the Kraken could have opened the scoring if not for an alert stick by Bo Horvat to break up a pass to Ryan Donato that could have been a tap-in goal. Horvat had a fantastic game, playing over 20 minutes in ice time, with the Canucks out-shooting the Kraken 9-to-3 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.
- Less than a minute later, the Canucks had the opening goal. Kraken rookie Will Borgen, under pressure fromo Nils Höglander, gave the puck away to Vasily Podkolzin, who ripped a wristshot into the net without any hesitation. Borgen, who was evidently named by the Swedish Chef, had his elbow shoved by Höglander right as he tried to pass, causing the turnover, but alas, no assist for Höglander.
- Not to worry — Höglander got a goal on the power play a few minutes later. Brad Hunt, who did double-duty as a forward and a defenceman in this game with Jason Dickinson in COVID protocol, sent the puck into the slot for Höglander to tip on net that Philipp Grubauer stopped. But Höglander, like a hog searching for truffles, dug out the rebound and, like a chef adding truffles, elevated it.
- I’ve been hard on Tyler Myers at times but he’s been superb under Bruce Boudreau. I think it’s because Boudreau’s high-pressure system plays to Myers’ strengths and away from one of his biggest weaknesses — in-zone defence. This play in the second period stands out: Myers aggressively closes the gap in the neutral zone and uses his reach to break up the play, then uses his above-average hands for a defenceman to evade pressure and immediately start the Canucks back into the offensive zone.
- Podkolzin and Höglander had a really good game but they were also responsible for the icing that led to the Kraken’s first goal, as the two misread each other and Podkolzin’s pass went the length of the ice at the end of a long shift. On the ensuing faceoff, Calle Jarnkrok snuck a shot past a screened Thatcher Demko to narrow the lead.
- There was a theme of depth scoring with Podkolzin and Höglander tallying goals and it got even deeper with a goal from Tyler Motte. Juho Lammikko created a turnover with a hard forecheck on Borgen and Matthew Highmore found Motte in front. Motte didn’t try to one-time the puck but waited and changed the angle before snapping a quick shot five-hole. Those are the goalscoring instincts of a guy who once put up 32 goals in 38 games for the University of Michigan.
- “I like scoring goals as much as the next guy although it might not happen as much as some other guys,” said Motte wryly after the game.
- Borgen had a pretty ugly game for the Kraken with the two turnovers but he also got his first career NHL goal to make it 3-2, so that’s nice for him. With Myers battling Donato in front of him, Demko never saw Borgen’s shot and it sailed past him unassailed.
- Conor Garland snuffed the comeback less than a minute later with his own slapshot past a screen. Jamie Oleksiak and Mark Giordano, under forechecking pressure from Tanner Pearson, got their wires crossed and coughed up the puck behind the Kraken net. Pearson poked it free to Garland, who played catch with Quinn Hughes before hammering the puck past Grubauer to make it 4-2 with Pearson screening in front.
- It was a nice little game for Pearson, who was also involved in Höglander’s goal, battling in front of the net, and flashed some nice moves on another third-period chance that forced a nifty right pad save from Grubauer. Pearson finished off the Gordie Howe Hattrick with an empty-net goal to make it 5-2 in the final minutes.
- “Starting my career off, I probably would have put more money on myself to get a hattrick before a Gordie Howe Hattrick,” said Pearson, who has yet to score three goals in a game in his career. “But at the end of the day, to say you did it is pretty cool.”
- Finally, one last note: Quinn Hughes is very, very good at hockey. It is such a treat to watch him play.
