RINK WIDE POST-GAME: Vancouver Canucks at Dallas Stars | Game #4 – Oct. 16, 2025

RINK WIDE POST-GAME: Vancouver Canucks at Dallas Stars | Game #4 – Oct. 16, 2025

The Vancouver Conucks were down, but they were not out. They opened the road trip with a 52 comeback win in Dallas. Lots to talk about. Let’s get into it. This is Rinkwide Vancouver. [Music] [Applause] [Music] We welcome you inside the Pacific Toyota dealer studio in downtown Vancouver. Shop Toyota visit shop toyota.ca or your local Pacific Toyota dealers today. I’m Jeff. He’s Irf. This is Rinkwide Vancouver. It’s presentation in part of Bet 365. Whatever your bet, it’s never ordinary at Bet 365. And well, this hockey game was certainly out of the ordinary for the Vancouver Conucks. looked a lot like the first couple of games, at least the last two, uh, with the start to this one, but uh, hey uh, everybody just take a step back and a deep breath. The Vancouver Conucks are two and two through four hockey games after rallying to defeat the Dallas Stars by a score of 5-2. Yeah, rallying to defeat the Dallas Stars, I think, was the your biggest point of emphasis there, Jeff. Uh, the team in early stages down like you mentioned in the open there, but not out and plenty to get into. Lots of really, really, really good performances from the Vancouver Conucks side. And yeah, how handing Dallas his first loss of the season. Uh, all of our usual features. We’ll have the three stars. We’ll have our stat that stands out. We’ll have our line of the night as well. And we want your contributions and participation. So, hit us up with a super chat. Start us off with a super chat. Get that ball rolling. Super chat charity partner this season. Once again, the BC Mental Health Foundation. changing the face of mental health and addiction by supporting breakthroughs in care, public understanding, research, and knowledge exchange. Or if you may have heard, there was a pretty dramatic comeback. The last time the Vancouver Canucks were down in Dallas, this one a little different. Obviously, then back in April, they were down uh three with 60 seconds to play, and we all know how that one worked. And Kefir Sherwood scored in overtime. uh they didn’t need the dramatics at least up against the clock but when you spot a team like the Dallas Stars that can score in bunches and has scored in bunches in the early going a two nothing lead it gets dicey uh for the Vancouver Conucks and so uh we’ll come back we’ll look at the first period but I I think for me I point to a sequence early in the second period again it’s two nothing Dallas the puck gets to the goal line Casey to Smith in back pulls it back across his own goal line. Uh EP40 had a chance digging at it. He couldn’t jam it across the line. Puck stays out. Play continues. Goes up ice. Conor Garland takes a slashing penalty. And all of a sudden, Dallas is now on a power play, having scored the two nothing goal with a man advantage and a chance to go up three nothing and probably put this thing away. And the Vancouver Conucks killed that one off. Thatcher Demco rose to the challenge. He stood tall. guys in front of him uh stood tall as well. And it was right after the Dallas power play that Philip Heedle showing the handles all of a sudden here. And two of his three goals have looked awfully similar getting in behind the defense uh to the forehand and makes no mistake as he snapped it past Casey to Smith. Got the Conucks on the board gave them some life and little did we know at the time but that was going to start this furious comeback for the hockey club. So what might have been wasn’t and then the Canucks able to turn the tide and roll away with a 5-2 victory. I mean that sequence was ridiculous. Connor Garland was in and around the area of the net in the crease all night in this hockey game. I mean it was there was only bound it was only going to be a second before he scored. At some point it felt as if watching this hockey game. Um so good for him. Great play there. The feed from Iander Kane on that Heedle goal. Little lob pass up in the air. Got a fortunate bounce. I thought Heedle tipped it to himself, but it ended up bouncing over the stick of Harley. But yeah, you you’re right on the finish there. I think that’s one of the things that we didn’t really know about, I think, Philip Heedle’s game too much was able his pure just finish. I mean, he scored a couple of goals like that now. Um, confident with the puck on his stick, especially one-on-one with the goalie. So, you love to see that if you are the Vancouver Conucks, and hopefully more of that. But the biggest thing for me, I think, in this hockey game, you mentioned the sequence in that second period. It was the second period in totality. It was obviously they scoring the four goals, you know, a great output offensively, but going down two nothing into the into the break and then coming out and not breaking like that could that in years past could have easily broken this Vancouver Kanak hockey team. And credit to them, credit to Adam Foot, whatever speech he had, whatever vibes he had going at the in the end of the first intermission clearly worked. Well, let’s back it up to the first period because it looked so much like the game against St. and the one against Edmonton before then uh the first minute the connect start Elias Person and his new linemates and Quinn Hughes and Philip Heronic and they’re just buried in their own end uh for a minute and 15 seconds barely touch the puck shots were eight to one for the Stars at one point and you’re thinking come on this can’t continue a good game but they got to get out there and play a good game and then and maybe it was the kids the Abbottzford line uh I thought they sort of settled things down they had a shift that they spent and in the offensive zone and that was a bit of a theme for the night. Little foreshadowing to our stat that stands out. Whatever the case, uh the Conucks at least found the pace of the game. I thought now they didn’t get out of the first period unscathed because Miko Ranton does what Miko Ranton does. Put him in a position to shoot and the guy doesn’t he doesn’t miss and he didn’t miss going stickside on the power play. It was a power play well off the rush. I don’t see that that often. But if we talk about that first period as well, you know, here’s this fan base that is just screaming for Elias Person to make some sort of statement and what does he do? Puts the puck in his own net. Now, it was unfortunate uh Maverick Bourke, you know, those things happen. But just right now, given where Pety’s game is, to have the first goal of the hockey game go in off his stick in a defensive posture, not the start he was looking for, but like his teammates, he clawed his way out as the night went along, and we’ll talk more about that, but uh a tough start obviously for for him and the hockey club. Can’t lose the draw there. Not really out of position. Stick was out of position. Little bit of no man’s land. And yeah, I mean, you could tell he it just sucked. And that was crushing for the Vancouver Conucks. And it did. And look, you and I looked at each other and said, “Man, is this going to be one of those other postgame shows that this that this is kind of going to be a talking talking point?” Yes, we’re going to have to talk about it because it happened in the game, but you know what? The Canucks won. So, we can, you know, talk about it and you know that he’s going to be upset about it, but it’s just one of those things that can happen. Um, if if you are Elias Person, I didn’t like the draw. He wasn’t really good in the faceoff circle. 10 10 faceoff wins, 15 losses, only 40% in the dot there. And that’s kind of been the way things have been going for a little bit for him here in the late st or in the early stages of the season where when it comes to faceoffs. But other than that, man, 20 minutes and 33 seconds of ice time. I did like that. I like the fact that he played. I like the fact that he played a lot. You know, we what was it? 18 minutes last game. You just can’t have that. If he’s your guy and your team and you and he’s going to be your guy, you got to play him. You got to let him play through his mistakes and got to let him play and feel his way through a game. So I thought after that he played a decent hockey game and you know the rest is the rest of the Conucks end up with the two points at the end of it. Right. And we Heedle with his third of the year. Uh and so that led the Canucks in goals for exactly 2 minutes and 10 seconds cuz then Brock Besser got his third of the year as well. Besser with the tip in front. Quinn Hughes dealing out of the point. Elias Patterson gets the second assist. So found his way onto the score sheet there. But then the ball was starting to roll and Max Assassin promoted after they sent Braden Cuts back to Seattle. Sassin steps in there. This guy, he’s got the mightest touch right now. He scored in both games including the overtime winner for Abbottzford on the weekend. Uh gets his first look in the NHL this season. And what does he do? Breaks in from the right side. Some similarities to the Philip Heedle goal. I don’t know if that was the book on Casey to Smith. Whatever the case, Mad Max made no mistake there and gave the Conucks their first lead of the night. Wouldn’t look back. 10:06 of that second period and so three goals in just over three minutes and yeah I mean look it can be a crazy game and this was certainly you know a stunning turn of events because the Stars have been scoring at will but they have been giving up a bunch and this was Smith’s first start of the season. They gave Jay Goter the night off. Uh whatever the case, Kucks capitalized and Max Sassin off to the races and uh he scores. Uh and just a thoroughly professional effort from Sassin, from Baines, from Carlson, the Abbeby guys reunited, the chemistry on display there. They didn’t play a ton, but uh they made the most of their minutes. It’s like they played together before. It’s almost like they played together before. Yes. Um but I like the finish. And Sassin doesn’t want to be in the minors. He believes he’s NHLER. We know the waiver situation. That’s why he went down. But uh this will do a world of good for his confidence. And I I made the point online and I want to be totally clear here and we said it uh well the last time we did this we thought Braden Cooch was going on a flight to to Dallas uh the next day at practice. They send him down to Seattle and it’s the right call and it remains such a good news story that the Conucks had an 18-year-old that had the chops to make this team. I know it speaks to the weakness down the middle, but it was pretty clear after three games that Braden Coos wasn’t ready for the NHL. Guess what? Max Assassin at 25 with some experience and NHL games under his belt, he gave them shifts. He scored them a goal that Braden Coots hadn’t in the first three games. And that’s not a knock on Coots. It just speaks to where these two guys are in the revolution. And I had somebody push back on Twitter and say, “Yeah, but guess what? in 5 years, uh, Braden Cut is going to be given those shifts, and we won’t remember Max Sassin. I don’t know about that part of it. Uh, but in the here and now, Max Assassin got an opportunity, the one that he was looking for, and he made the most of it. I love that. That’s what I love about sports. This guy stepped up, came through for the Vancouver Conucks, and propels them to a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Well, the other point I wanted to make about Max Sassin is he gives them a completely different look there. There’s not that many players that do what Max Sassin does. You saw the scoring off the rush there, being able to have the touch, coming in with speed on the wing. Like he can do that at an elite level. And if he’s able to do that more and more and play well defensively, I know you’ve got a stat later about, you know, the Abbottzford Conucks line, but man, if he’s able to do that and they can, you know, provide some minutes and and just give the team some minutes in in these games, that’s a pretty good look fourth line if you’re the Vancouver Conucks. a line that you don’t have to worry about. If you’re, you know, you’re Adam foot, you know, you’re going to play them maybe nine to 10 minutes a night, but those minutes, you know, they’re going to be hard minutes and you can put Mass Max Assassin up and down the lineup anywhere you want. All right, jot it down. I can’t believe you didn’t call at me on it. We’ve been at this for 10 minutes here. Uh, so giddy about the Vancouver Conucks starting this road trip with a win. I I’ve said 52 a couple of times. Uh, forgot that Wyatt Johnson scored a goal in there for the Dallas Stars on a late power play. Uh, it goes into the books as a 53 victory. uh score ultimately won’t matter to the Canucks. They outscored the Dallas Stars and Quinn Hugh seals it into an empty net. 5-3 uh is the final. If I had just looked at the screen, I guess I would have seen that there was five there for Vancouver. I’ll get the hang of this thing. Uh bear with us. It’s still early uh in this season, but uh a big win early in the season to level the record at two and two. All right, we got a super chat this one. Uh it says, “Thank me later.” It’s my guy Jesse. Oh, okay. I didn’t have a name there. Uh, congrats Heedel on your promotion to number one center for the Vancouver Conucks. Sassin also approves while he should have been in the opening night lineup. Yeah, again, Waivers, the politics of Waivers, all that kind of stuff. We’re not going to revisit that. As Sassin’s here and I don’t Teddy Bluger is on this trip and probably ready to go and you would have thought, okay, well, maybe Assassin’s comes out. I don’t know. After this game, Teddy may have to wait another game as the Conucks turn around and go into Chicago tomorrow. Uh and we’ll see uh what happens as far as the lineup is concerned. Uh uh this one comes from Free Pey. EP40 looked good. Crisp passes, some blocks, needs some shots. That Kane minor penalty on the EP line going to click. Is that what it that Kane penalty that says minor pen? I I don’t I’m not sure what Free Py’s getting at there, but uh we thank you for the contribution. Got to spell it out. We’re not the smartest guys. Can’t read your minds. if you’re going to submit, give us a fighting chance here. Um, let’s carry on here. Uh, because the Sassin goal gave the Conucks the lead that they were looking for. And then Connor Garland after a dreadful giveaway by Colin Blackwell on the side of the boards in the final minute or a minute and six seconds to go. Those are those plays that you have to put the hammer down. You get a guy coughing the puck up the way that he did. Spins away from Leas Patterson. He’s trying to play it in front to Petrovic and Connor Garland is Connor on the spot there. Uh makes Petrovic look a little foolish. Goes to the backhand, tips it in. And I love the uh little celebration from Connor Garland. Why not? As you said, like it would have been a crime if he didn’t get a goal in this hockey game. He got the puck to the goal line on three other occasions in that second period and couldn’t get it across, but made no mistake that time. And that his first goal of the year, a big one for the Vancouver Conucks. Just going to the areas that only Connor Garland at his, you know, little frame likes to go to and and it’s where he does his dirty work and it’s where good things tend to happen for Connor Garland. And, you know, the move and the patience to outweigh Petravvic there and just slide it past Casey Desmith obviously, you know, speaks to his maturity and and and and his game. I’m not calling him a young guy, not definitely not calling him an old guy, but he’s someone that’s obviously evolving with time as well. So good for him to be able to get on that score sheet as we like you just mentioned thought it would be a crime if he didn’t score but if he gets going I think you know it gives more confidence to the rest of his line like Elias Patterson can kind of feel good a little bit where someone is scoring on that line and someone is doing good things where it doesn’t necessarily always all need to be on him. So Connor Garland scoring hopefully can affect him as well. All right well let’s use that then as our segue into the three stars of this hockey game. They’re brought to you by Greta Barar YVR. Great place to catch all the games. Walking distance from the rink in the stadium. Or if you’re looking for a place to watch games on TV, Greta’s got you covered there. All kinds of big screens for all of the action. Plus the great street food menu that we tell you about all the time. I had the Smashburger there at the watch party the other night. Uh still full. It was that good. They’ve got weekly drink specials. They’ve got game night specials as well. All the arcade games that add to the fun. If you haven’t checked it out, uh do it. Get there. Do yourself a favor. for Gretavar the place to be. 50 West Cordova Gretavar let the games begin. Three stars in the building is selected by Mike Hikah, longtime beatriter for the Dallas Stars with Thatron Demco as the first star. Queen Hughes as the second star and Miko Ranton as star number three. The three stars here on Rink a little different. I’m surprised that Connor Garland didn’t make it into the stars there in the building somehow someway. The disrespect. Um but here’s the big prize. Connor Garland’s the first star in Rquide Vancouver. So yeah. Uh and he was uh he was just uh wheeling all night long. Best forward on this team through four games I think start to finish. Keer Sherwood obviously had the big night the other night against against St. Louis, but Connor Garland has been buzzing since day one. And so uh first star honors for him. And there’s Med Max Assassin. Three shots on goal. Makes the one of them count and it turns out to be the game winner. So good on Max second star. And Jason Robertson doing what he does, firing the pucks, rang one off the uh post in the third period there when it was four to two. Could have made it a onegoal game. Uh one of his well he had five shots on goal. Uh that one doesn’t count as an attempt because it didn’t register but you look at his night five shots on goal on eight attempts and uh he was dealing as well. So Garland Sassin Robertson the three stars here on Ringwide Vancouver a presentation of Gretabar YVR. Five different goal scorers for the Vancouver Conucks and that’s good. Uh you get Sassin with his first, Garland with his first. Quinn Hughes it’s an empty netter but uh relieves the pressure. Don’t have to play to the final buzzer and uh celebrated his birthday the other day. Quinn had a goal and an assist in the hockey game. 25 minutes and 21 seconds of ice time. Four shots on 10 attempts. So he was firing the puck from all over the place as well. and just to get all these guys going and you know we don’t have to ask this question of when are they gonna get their first goals of the season. You know it relieves a little pressure. You don’t want to go too deep into the season. Certainly didn’t want to get too deep onto this road trip uh without finding ways to contribute. So good to get a bunch of guys into the mix and really good to see Brock Besser with three in four games. That’s a great start for him. And obviously Phil Heedle who scored just two goals as a member of the Vancouver Conucks after the trade. He’s already at three. A careerhigh for Philip Heedle as a member of the Vancouver Conucks. There we go. Love that. Three stars. Love him. Uh, honorable mention to Thatcher Demco. Yes. Thought that he, you know, kept him kept the team in it when he needed to. Um, you and I, we did have him in the three stars. We got the little bump at the end though, but honorable mention to the Conucks goalkeep goalender. And what did you make of Dr. Demco’s game tonight? I I thought he was sensational after uh at two nothing. this is why he believes and a lot of people believe that he is one of the best in the game. Uh you know hard to fault him on either of the goals. We talked about uh Pety tipping the first one in and then Ratnon again Miko Ranton’s made NHL goalies look foolish for us on everybody. Yeah. Yeah. So neither one of those is a bad goal. There’s they got in and then as we talked about that sequence on the power play Stars had already scored on the power play. had a chance there to go up three nothing. Demco was dialed. The guys in front of them were dialed. Um Brock Besser and Jake De Brk talked about the fact that they were going to get some penalty killing duty and they did in this hockey game and they got the job done. But on the night Dallas scores three times on 31 shots. So Thatcher Demco uh you know two on the power play and and just one at even strength and the one at even strength goes in off his own uh teammate. I I just think to start the third period with a 4-2 lead and having a dialed Thatcher Demco, like what a confidence boost for the Vancouver Conucks knowing that you’ve got your main man there. He’s off to a really nice start to the season. And yeah, the Stars got one and got within one and that’s as close as they got. and he made a couple of stops there on third period power plays where guys had good looks directly in front of the net like definite high danger chances and Thatcher Demco filling up that net making it happen for the Vancouver Conucks. So yeah, uh he gets honorable mention but he was for a while there uh in our three star selection, but we thought in a game where the Stars got three goals that we would slide one of their players into our three star mix. But I just think that the Conucks want to believe that they’re going to have an edging goal on a lot of nights this season. Yep. And it’s their strongest position. Not a knock on Casey to Smith, but he’s the Stars backup. He’s clearly their number two. The Canucks role with their number one rested. Hadn’t played since last Saturday in Edmonton when he was lights out good. And he turns out to be a differencemaker for the Vancouver Conucks. And that’s what they want to count on when That Demco’s between the pipes. This team is 500 at two and two, but their number one goalender is two and one. He’s delivered victories in two of his three starts. It’s like that’s what they want to believe he’s going to do on the regular. He’ll get the night off. They’ll come back with Lanken and obviously in the back to backs and the travel, but then you keep Demco ready to go again on Sunday morning our time when they’re in Washington to take on the Capitals. Nine one and one against the Stars in his career. That’s another thing like for whatever and think about the last five years like the Dallas All Stars have been knocking on the door as a Stanley Cup contender and through that period of time Thatcher Demco uh has absolutely owned them. So good on him and good on them. 5-3 victory uh and Demco standing tall in goal for the Vancouver Conucks. All right, let’s get to the stat that stands out because uh this one’s a good one. I I like this one. I think the Ganox certainly will be pleased with it as well. The stat that stands out is delivered by Uber Eats. And Uber Eats is enabling fans to maximize their fandom all season long with exclusive game day deals on the app. And they’ve got home game day deals. Now the Conucks are out on the road for five here. But every time the Conucks are playing at home, you can get a buy 1 get one six- piece Chicken McNuggets from McDonald’s in Vancouver only on Uber Eats. From game day eats to paper plates and napkins. If you’re hosting to all the ingredients you need to make your favorite game day dip before, during, or after the game, Uber Eatats is assisting every hockey fans experience all season long. # crave the stats. And look at that one in big bold numbers. 92.3%. The Abbottzford line, Sassin, Baines, Carlson. They didn’t play that much, but the shot attempts at five on five, forget about it. 12 to one. Like, they had the puck in the Dallas end all night long. I talked about a first period shift that jumped out of me. I made note of it. Uh, and they were just kind of getting into their groove and and hitting their stride. And so, uh, whether it was chemistry forged in the miners, whether it’s guys that have been hungry here through camp to make the team and in Sassin’s case get called up, uh, they look like they want to be in the NHL. And tonight, they look like they belong in the NHL. And as you said, uh, if that’s the kind of fourth line shifts that these guys can deliver for the Vancouver Conucks, then keep the kids together and find a different spot for Teddy Bluger when he’s ready to get back into this lineup. You almost have to, especially with the amount of ice time that they had, Jeff, right? You look at 723 of ice time for Baines. Max Assassin had, you know, 917. Like, that’s not a lot of ice time for those guys. Nope. And able to make the most of it and and controlling 92.3% 12 to1 in shots in 7 minutes of ice time. Like, that’s that’s pretty efficient hockey. Yeah. And that’s what I say like I think these guys all believe they belong in the National Hockey League where in the past the callups they’re happy to be in the NHL. They want to prove that they deserve to be here. But uh they didn’t look as confident as they have uh really through training camp and and you have to think that that Abbottzford run of 24 additional high leverage games uh culminating with getting their hands on the trophy, the Calder Cup, like they’ve been able to carry the confidence and the chemistry that they built there over that run in the American Hockey League playoffs. And boy, they all looked really good tonight. So, uh, you know, there’s not a lot of nights over the course of the season where you want to shut out the fourth line for getting it done, but, uh, they did just that, uh, for the Vancouver Conucks in this 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars. We talked about the fact that Besser scored on power play, first power play goal, and it was a matter of time, right? Like, they weren’t going to go deep into the schedule without scoring with the man advantage. Now, there was some good work done there. I thought the second power play of the night, Vander Kane drew the penalty on Harley midway through the third. Earthf, that’s as good as I’ve seen the Conucks power play maybe in a couple of seasons without scoring. Like they were the power play won for a minute and 40 seconds absolutely pin the Dallas Stars. And I know they didn’t score, but like that to me is encouraging that it’s there. Like people have been wondering like where is this sort of you know puck movement but player movement. Uh they were assertive. Um retrievalss were good. We’ve had the discussion about hey Jonathan Lucker Mackey deserves to be on PP1. Uh he wasn’t even in the lineup tonight and we can talk about that. But Connor Garland they’ve cycled through Kane and Heedles had a couple of chances on PP1. They went back to their old favorite. But why not? The way that Garland was playing tonight like that I have no issues with. I don’t know if he’s the long-term answer there, but I think it was a bit of a reward for the way that he was going. And his role is to retrieve pucks, keep plays alive. He had that onetime from the side that Heiskin and basically pitchfork the puck. It was a wide open net. Now maybe Lacer Mackey just blows it right through Heiskin and stick there and quite possibly. Uh but I’m not going to hold that against Connor Garland, but that does strengthen the argument for a guy who can shoot the puck like Lacer Mackey. on this night. Uh they didn’t need Jonathan Leer Mackey. The guys in uniform got the job done. But I just I really liked what I saw from the power play. They do that with the man advantage. They’re going to convert. Hear me out when I say this. PP four guys plus one. And you the plus one on the Canucks is a rotation because depending on who your opponent is and how a guy is going like Connor Gar was going this game earned earned that spot on PP1. Jonathan Leracki if he’s going in a game earned the spot there on PP1. Evander Kane if he’s going that game he he was going pretty good here against in this game as well plus three finished plus three on the night was going like there’s that opportunity because they don’t have anyone that’s really cemented themsself in that spot and maybe credit to the video coaches a little bit knowing what the other team’s power play or penalty kill is doing so you have a guy that gives you a different element and a different look. Now, I know that we always watch games and teams are so um aware of this and and they want to stick with their guys. You know, a lot of power plays in the league have their five guys and it’s set. I’m okay with four and switching the one the one spot out, whether it’s a bumper spot or someone on that half wall. I’m okay with that. I like it. Getting creative here on Vancouver. We got all the answers uh four games into the season. Gourd McDow says, “Team USA probably sending Demco an apology and a fruit basket after being added to the long list uh after being omitted from that summer orientation camp. Brock Besser also in that mix and and Lane Hudson as well. Um who knows if any of them will make the Olympic team, but it’s an indication that Team USA is looking and Besser off to the start that he is with three goals in in four games. He’s in tough. I I don’t think many people would have Brock Besser pencled in on their Olympic team, but that Demco absolutely can play his way in. Now, it would have been fun had it been a duel between Auter and Demco. Um it wasn’t. They went with Casey to Smith. Auter is not going to play every game for the Dallas Stars, but it doesn’t matter to Demco. Uh as he’s said many times, like he’s not playing the guy at the other end. He just has to outplay the guy at the other end. And uh he certainly did tonight. By the way, that’s it for the Conucks into Dallas this year. They got that trip out of the way. Uh the Stars will be in Vancouver on two other occasions. Uh we talked about the market and the expectations and just sort of the angst that had built after back-to-back losses to Edmonton and and to St. Louis and and rightly so. The weren’t very good in those games and they didn’t have the puck and didn’t do a lot to go get it. And I think that’s what I liked about the second period was whatever was said in the intermission, they looked like a different team. They looked like they upped the pace of the game here. They started to skate. Uh they got pucks back, ended up out shooting Dallas by a two to1 margin in that second period, 12 to six, and scored uh those four goals. So really like the second period. Hopefully they can bottle that and take it with them because this isn’t just the start of a five-game road trip, five games in eight nights. when they come back off the road, they get Montreal and Edmonton backto back. It is seven games in 11 nights. And we’ve heard Adam Foot talk about condensed schedule a lot. Well, bingo. There’s exhibit A. Seven games in 11. Like, I get tired just talking about it. Uh they won’t play in the same city until they get back off this road trip and play back-to-back games uh against the Habs and against the Oilers. And those aren’t easy teams. So, uh, I mean, it just sort of underscores the importance of getting this win tonight, getting the good juju going, getting the good vibes in that locker room back because the last thing they wanted was a 2 and a half hour flight to Chicago, licking their wounds at 1 and three, and running into a Blackhawks team that lit up St. Louis, a team that just beat the Vancouver Conucks. And the Hawks are lying in weight here. So, uh, it’s not going to be easy on Friday. Nothing is going to come easy to the Vancouver Conucks, but they can feel a lot better about themselves barging into United Center on the heels of a 5-3 win over a good Dallas Stars hockey club. I just got you saying Juju, it’s great. You’re rubbing up on me. There we go. That’s what happens when you work together long enough. Uh, you change a lineup aside from the goalender. Maybe uh Pierre Olivier Joseph was activated off IR. So, he took the pregame warm-up. That tells me that they won’t have a morning skate. I do wonder. And when you’ve got these young guys, DPD and Mancini, uh I think you could take Mancini out and give Joseph his season debut. Um and that’s not a knock of Mancini. I think these guys all have to understand that there is a glut of defenseman now that all want to play and I’m sure the Conucks want to see what Pio Joseph could do and some fresh legs. Uh so it wouldn’t surprise me there. Teddy Bluger’s the interesting one to me and maybe it’s as simple as bringing Atu Ratu out. Yeah. Who had a rough night and took a penalty in the third period that uh again put the Conucks in a bit of a predicament. And that’s not to write off Atu Ratu and his time as uh one of their four centers. It’s just it’s backtoback. It’s early in the season condensed schedule. Um but Ratu got absolutely caved by the underlying numbers. The shot attempts were 14-2 for the Dallas Stars when he was on the ice. The actual shots on goal were 8-2. Now, he did manage to push in the goals department. There were no goals scored at five on five when he was out there, but coming off a rough night, maybe sit him down for the first time. If Teddy Bluger is ready now, practiced in the non-cont jersey the other day, didn’t take the pregame warm-up, but again, they won’t have a morning skate, so it’s probably going to be closer to game time to know what Adam Foot is thinking. But you’ve got bodies. It’s a long road trip in a short period of time. If you have healthy options, I just don’t even though it was a good team victory. I I still think you’re probably looking at a couple of changes uh for Friday night in Chicago. Yeah, I think so, too. Not entirely sure if Jonathan Leer Macki gets back in, right? Yeah, I think there. Yeah. And then, you know, I have some people in the chat asking about when Hoglender comes back. It’s a Well, we can have that discussion in a long time from now kind of what happens and you can start asking on December 1st. I think I I think he’s out until December 1st. He’s out for a while. But yeah, no, I I understand you. I feel you there. But um yeah, I I think that the forward group probably remains the same. Maybe Ratu is the only one if Bler’s ready. But I I don’t know. NHL coaches don’t seem to like to change things when teams win. um other than you know the goalie if if things are going and I mentioned the word again juju’s good vibes are good the team just came off a big win you know just try and roll that in you don’t have too much time to think about it you’re playing basically you land you go to sleep you wake up you play like that’s kind of the day tomorrow um so I think that if a if you see a similar lineup minus the goalender don’t be too shocked yeah it was a tough night by the numbers for Victor Mancini and he didn’t even get to 10 minutes of ice time so I could see them taking him out and putting Pio Joseph But, uh, we’ll all wait and we’ll find out on Friday. Uh, again, probably in the hours leading up to game time. I just want to take a moment here, let you know that this segment of Rinkquad Vancouver is presented by your Pacific Toyota dealers and the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid. It’s a no compromise approach to electric vehicles that offers the best of both worlds. There’s no sacrifices when it comes to horsepower or style with it sleek, low, and wide exterior and sophisticated interior. It’s loaded with tech that’s actually easy to use. You can plug in to recharge at home or at one of over 2,000 public charging stations in British Columbia alone. And right now, you can lease a 2025 Prius plug-in hybrid SE from 99 bucks weekly at 3.49% APR. That’s for 64 months with 3600 down. And it includes a $3,000 discount. Uh, for more details, visit shoptoyota.ca or your local Pacific Toyota dealer today. Uh, I want to get back to the chat here. Matt’s asking us, “Sassin played great.” Perfect. He’s telling us Sassin played a perfect game for a callup, earned that next game. I think we’re in agreement there. Super chat from Free Pey again. And this this is a good question. Where does Drew O’ Conor fit when Hoglander is back? Now, I’ll take the last part there. Forget the Hoglander part. just watching this team and guys that are going, where does Drew O’ Connor fit in this whole mix? It’s anybody’s question, right? I think that I’m just going to take a look at the line combinations here for the Vancouver Conucks. Um, right now, you know, top line, Leas Patterson and Connor Garland. Don’t think he fits there. Don’t think you’re going to break up Jake De Brush, Filipino, and Brock Besser. No. So, that’s an no. Vanderane, Atu, and Kefir Sherwood. If Bluger is back, you assume that’s the position of where Teddy Bluger is going to be and then the kid line the Halfford line. Like do you break that up? So I don’t want to say does he fit in the press box, but someone needs to come back into the lineup and if it’s Hoglander in December, we talk about compressed schedule and healthy bodies, but that’s wild if he goes from the promotion to playing alongside Alias Peterson and Conor Garland coming right out of the lineup. Look, Drew Oconor’s night tonight, 13 minutes and 22 seconds of ice time and two minutes of that was short-handed penalty killing. No shots on goal. He did have three attempts. Uh lost the only faceoff that he took. And on the rant and power play goal off the rush, he’s sort of the high forward up ice penalty killing and then gets beaten up ice. And guy that’s supposed to be, you know, skating is one of his strong suits here. uh he got caught and so yeah this was not it was an opportunity but it didn’t turn out to be a banner night for Drew O’ Conor getting that chance to play with Patterson and Garland no and a bigger body no hits like and then because of that I mean it’s no I know it’s not a big statistic but you’re in on that line you’re probably in because they want you to for check they want you to be hard on pucks and want you to go and try and retrieve pucks down low if you can for leas and Connor Garland you look at Joe Connor zero hits and you have look at you look at Connor Garland I mean he had one but still he was always around the So it it’s an interesting one. It’s a good problem to have if you’re the Canucks because you have you want healthy bodies, condensed schedule, there’s a lot of games in a short period of time and healthy bodies is obviously important one. So if he’s healthy and he’s playing and he’s available, that’s probably the best case scenario for them. He’s part of their penalty kill. So that strengthens his case to stay in. Again, I I I’m quite curious now what Adam Foot’s going to do with these options. And again, we don’t know for certain that Teddy Bluger is a healthy option. uh he wasn’t ready to go in this one. It’s 24 hours later with some travel. Do you save him for the third game in 4 days in Washington? Maybe that’s the place that he makes his debut. Like maybe he’s not in this equation uh at all. So, we’ll find out. But you don’t want I I don’t want Leer Mackey sitting long in isolation. Look, they win the hockey game. He’s a young guy. He hadn’t done a whole lot the last couple of games. I didn’t have a huge problem with him coming out and I think the result justifies the decision here. But in the same breath, I want to see John Leri play. If he’s in the NHL and on this roster, I want him in the lineup. And I know you want him on power play one. So, um, for one night, fine. But two games back to back early in the season, find a way to get him in. But, uh, your guess is as good as mine is who would have to come out to make that happen. I think that young players aren’t serve obviously aren’t served best sitting for a long period of time. Like you don’t want him sitting for three games. You don’t want him sitting for probably three or four games. So I think that got a guy that’s been around for a while. If it is Drew Orcon or if it’s someone else, you can kind of rotate in and out and in and out. I know you don’t want to mess with your lineup too too much, especially if you’re winning. But I think for younger players, if you’re not going to play them at the NHL level in three or four games, you’re way better. are way better fitted for want to play down in Absort at least getting minutes there. Uh shout out to Philip Pronic. I see the Conucks uh posting the fact that uh pair of assists for and sort of a quiet pair of assists for Philip Peronic. We don’t think of him as generating a ton of offense. Although playing alongside Quinn Hughes, he’s going to pick up his points. 200 assists for his career. Another super chat. Yes, supporting the BC Mental Health Foundation. And again, we thank you all for your submissions and those contributions. This one’s from Justice 16. Bad start, but what a finish. That’s what we need. Uh, spoken like a true Canucks fan. So, uh, absolutely. It’s what the doctor ordered. Uh, again, uh, this had the potential to get away from the Vancouver Conucks. But in saying that, that’s why you play the games. And the outcome is not determined at the drop of the puck. It’s a 60-minute game, sometimes longer than that. And yeah, it took the Canucks a little while to get going. Still don’t love the starts. I’m not sure that I would say they’ve had a good start in any of their four games. So, that’s definitely an area that they can chip away at and get better. But it isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish. And uh end of the night, they outscore the Dallas Stars 5-3. They win it and can feel good about themselves as they head for Chicago. You answered my question for you, Jeeoff. I I was I was going to ask you what we’re that much in sync now. What did you feel in your answering your questions before you ask them out? Stick around. Um, no. I think that, look, I I can obviously tell that you didn’t like the start and it wasn’t good enough as our listeners obviously say and that you can attest to if you watch the game, but specifically about them coming back, what did you like? Was it was it the the power play got going? Obviously, that was good. I know we talked about that last game that you wanted to see the power play work. So, what what was one of the things that you kind of liked? I guess the fact that they just they dug in. Like I I’d love to know, and maybe we’ll find out, maybe we won’t. What was said? Was anything needed to be said or was it sort of professional pride that kicked in after 20 minutes because they looked night and day. There was a totally different team that came out for the second period. We talked about that sequence early on that kept it at two nothing and once they got rolling, look out. So, uh, you mentioned the power play. Yeah, I’m glad that you know we’re not doing a fourth show here wondering when they’re going to get their first power play goal. Uh, I like the fact that Brock Besser got it in that net front and, you know, he’ll get a bunch more there. So, uh, once I I like that they harnessed the momentum. This was something that, uh, Adam Foot had lamented the Edmonton game against the run of the play. They made it two to one and really didn’t do anything once they were close there. The short-handed goal the other night by Kefir Sherwood made it a 3-2 hockey game. Mhm. Didn’t do anything with it. So, I like the fact that they weren’t complacent tying this game at two. They were like, “Let’s feast. Like, it’s go time here.” Uh, and they just kept piling on. And so, I liked a lot about that. and the fact that they spread their scoring cuz I just think individually, I know it’s a team game, but I think individually early in the season, you want everybody feeling like they are contributing. And I think on a night like tonight, I know we pointed out some of the guys that uh struggle a little bit, but I think everybody can feel good about the end result here uh for the Vancouver Conucks. One guy that we haven’t talked about, but boy, the chat certainly has and social media was and he’s been a talking point after every game and maybe it’s just going to go that way. Uh, Aander Kane. You knew I was going there. Yep. Uh, there’s only there’s only one or two ways you could go when talking about a player that we always talk about, but it was a mixed bag. Yeah. For Aander Kane because on that line with Ratu and Sherwood, like disgusting underlying numbers in the first period, barely touched the puck. Um, and we’re just getting crushed. And then Adam Foot started to move him around a little bit. Got some shifts with Elias Patterson. Uh, and I think that was in an effort to get Person more rice time and we talked about that. Uh, Evander Kane draws the penalty in the third, although uh, reputation clearly following like he thought he was the one getting the penalty the way he looked at the referee, but turned out that he had drawn, uh, the hooking penalty there. So, you know, gets an assist on the Heedle goal, chipped the puck ahead and Heedle able to finish there. Uh, 17 minutes and 41 seconds. So, they continue to play him a lot. two shots on goal, three hits, and he’s on the ice for three goals for the Vancouver Conucks. Like at the end of the night, first period was ugly for him, but you know, hard to argue with him being on the right side of the ledger for three of the goals that the Canucks score. So, um, and he was on the ice at the end defending the lead with the extra attacker, which was a little surprising to me. But, you know, I I look at the underlying numbers and natural static. one connect that was on the ice for three goals tonight and it was Evander Kane. So, go figure. His night did not get off to a great start, but like his team, he got better as the night rolled along and um you know, it kind of feels like he’s lost that spot on the first unit power play. The didn’t have a ton of power play time. Uh ended up with three on the night, but they scored on two of them. So, two of the power plays were abbreviated for the right reasons. And uh we’ll see if uh he can up his level of performance to work his way back onto the first unit or if he’s going to have to settle for being a second unit power play guy. They’ve moved him around. He two of the guys that he’s spent the most time with aren’t even in the lineup in the talking game. So, uh you know, that’s got to be a little confusing for him. I know he’s a veteran guy, but still you take the kids away from him, you put them in a different spot. Uh but the line with R and you know it’s funnier if on paper this idea of Ratu with Sherwood on one side Kane on the other you got two physical wingers got a big body in Ratu like that line to me made sense on paper and yet uh on the ice I’m not sure that I need to see a whole lot more of it or at least not anytime soon. No. And you know who I’d really like to see him with is with Hedo. I think that both those guys have maybe Vander slowed down a little bit but both those guys have the ability to have that type of speed where you know you put a line together it’s pretty quick. I mean the guy that’s currently on that line that’s Jake De Brusk relatively quiet night for for Jake De Brusk. I mean they do end up with the win. So it’s totally fine and Jake will get his I’m sure he will at some point this season but relatively quiet line. I just like to see how that dynamic might be able to work with Evander Kane and Philip. You know it’s funny you bring that up. U there was lots of talking points. Jake De Brusk in almost 19 minutes of ice time didn’t have a shot on goal and is still looking for his first and he didn’t have a point in this hockey game. So uh we singled him out for some penalty killing duty and that’s something that uh we haven’t seen him do or do much of uh in his time as Vancouver Canucks. So we’ll see if that continues to build for him. He and Bess were together out there early in the third period doing a pretty decent job. But you know it’s four games. It was nine games last year for Nebrask. And I’m sure he’s aware of that and he knows everybody talks about him being a streaky guy. Uh so we’ll see what happens. But uh yeah, on a night when a bunch of guys got in on the scoring, uh not even a shot on goal for Jake De Brusk. All right, busy night around the National Hockey League. I know you’re keeping an eye on what’s going on there, but also uh what’s to come in the nights ahead. So let’s get to our Bet 365 line of the night. What do you have your eye on? Absolutely. I’m going to go right See, I’m going to go right into the app on my phone. going to go right into it. Uh, tomorrow night, Friday night, let’s go with gonna go look at the Vancouver Conucks and Chicago Blackhawks game. Let’s go with the Conucks minus 140 there. And we’ll go with I like the Red Wings at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning. So, you put both of those together, the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings plus 294. That’s some pretty good odds on bet 365 there. So, whatever you bet, it’s never ordinary, Jeff. on Bet365. Download the app. Get in on the game today. Like I just did. I use the app. Use the code Nation. Bet 365 must be 19 or older. Please play responsibly. Uh Conucks are one of four teams in the Western Conference with a two-2 record tied with St. Louis, Utah, and Minnesota. Four points. Doesn’t get you above the playoff bar, so they got some work to do. Uh Chicago holding down that second and final wild card spot. I get it. We’re a weekend of the season. too early to be looking at the standings, but I mention it because the Blackhawks coming off a really impressive victory in St. Louis. I’m not sure I saw them score an eight against the Blues or maybe against anybody, but uh yeah, Ilia MV got the party started. He’s got three on the season. Lucas Reichel, who not that long ago wanted out, maybe he still does and trying to show the rest of the National Hockey League that he can get it done at this level. He had two goals and an assist. Conor Bedard had three helpers. So he’s uh got a share of the team lead with six points and um Frank Frank Nazar is good at hockey. Frank Nazar he and Bard kind of finding that bond. Uh yeah I mean on paper you’d say hey uh if you have to have a backtoback you know Chicago well two and a half hour flight so that in itself is going to present challenges. And then you got the Blackhawks who are going to be feeling good about themselves. They’re sitting at 22 and one but they’ve won backto back now. So they they started the season with three one-goal losses. They were in all those games, couldn’t get it done. Now they found a way to win the last couple and so I don’t know that this is going to be as easy as maybe connect fans uh had been hoping. Didn’t they spot six on the Blackhawks last year there? I think they did early. I think it was one of the teams that they did get six on. Yeah, in fact, they may have done it twice. Uh Jason Dickinson, by the way, is playing. He had been injured a little bit, but uh and I mentioned that uh not that this team is out for blood, but of course it was his high hard hit from behind uh that finished Philip Heedle last year on March the 15th. And um I don’t know if there will be any sort of payback. Uh again, Evander Kane wasn’t part of the mix then, so I don’t think he can look to a guy to settle scores uh when he wasn’t even part of the organization. But uh we’ll see. We’ll see how that plays out. That’s a much lower level subplot to what might come on Friday night. Kevin Lankin will go back in goal. Again, we said after the game against St. Louis, couldn’t really fault him on the goals, but uh you know, he wants to fight and battle for net time and that crease and he sees what that is doing. So, some internal competition here and he doesn’t want to go too long. Last year, one of the stories he won his first 10 road games of the season. Uh we’ll see what happens here in his first road start of the 202526 campaign and again tired team perhaps in front of him. So does that factor into it? Whatever the case, curious to see what Kevin Lankin does between the pipes for the Vancouver Conucks. Yeah, and you know, I think one of the best things you said here on the show, you said a lot of great things, but this team doesn’t have to worry about its goalending. It’s like one of the things that no matter who you put in the net, like you’re breathing a sigh of relief. you don’t you’re not, you know, scratching your head or, you know, clenching your fist worried about your backup goalender have to play a little bit better. Like the team in front of them can play freely as they want because they don’t have to worry about who’s back there. They always say the team plays a little bit better if it’s your backup. If it’s a guy that’s, you know, hasn’t really played too much, but Lankin played a lot last year. He he could be a starter on some teams of the National Hockey League. Unfortunately, he’s not here, but they have two good goalies. So, um, for him, you know, just go in and business as usual, and you hope the team in front of you can pot a couple goals early and kind of get that get through that game. And further to that point, it was just last year that the head coach had zero confidence in the backup goalender and his only wins in the NHL last year came against the Chicago Blackhawks. So really night and day. And this is where I go back to that point that I think the Conucks want to believe that almost every night out if it’s one of their two guys that they’re going to have an edge or at least their goalending is going to match up against the guy at the other end of the ice. I would imagine Spencer Knight gets the starting goal for the Blackhawks. He got their first one of the season the other night against Utah. Had the night off. It was Arvid Solderblum in goal in St. Louis, but arrested Spencer Knight. We’ll see what happens. Uh but I I think we’re pretty certain that it’s going to be uh Kevin Lankin and it has to be Lincoln. This is where the Conucks say they can’t do anything silly with that Demco. This is absolutely a hundred times out of a hundred a Kevin Lankan and start even if they’re coming off a good win with Demco in goal in Dallas. If we find out at some point it’s going to be Demco the first thing I ask you tomorrow as soon as we start cry soon as we get these lights going or so. What’ you make of the goalending decision? No. No. This one’s blanking and I’m putting it in indelible ink. Writing, forget penciling it. And I’m writing that one in with a Sharpie. All right. The Vancouver Conucks rally from a two nothing deficit. They defeat the Dallas Stars by a score of five to three. I got it right. Finally, at the end of the show, Philip Pedle and Brock Basser, each of them have three on the season. Assassin, Garland, and Hughes uh with their firsts of the year. And we talked about the night getting off to a tough start for Leas Patterson, but shout out for the shot block with about four and a half minutes to go. Uh took it in the back of the legs. You could tell that it hurt, but people want him digging in and pulling the rope and doing some of those things. Um, you know, impossible to say that he didn’t contribute along with his teammates to the victory down in Dallas. Still looking for his first goal of the season, but uh does get another point here. So, uh that’s two. Long way to go offensively, but uh step in the right direction certainly for the Vancouver Conucks uh on this night. So, uh that’s going to do it for us here at Ring Quiet. Before we go though, a reminder to uh make sure that you are following us on all the social channels. We’ve been reminding you as well, subscribe to the Rink Rinkwide YouTube channel. Uh we’ve always just been a postgame live stream and podcast for some, but we have branched out a little. We’re posting more practice and game day content from the rink. We had a another one of uh the JPAT I didn’t come up with the name, but uh somebody behind the scenes, the JPAT practice report. Make sure you watch those. They’re great. They’re informative. You’ll learn something if you watch the lighting from the second one to the the first. It got to look better. Her spotted me a little portable light. I don’t know if everybody wants to see my face, but you could at least you had the option in the second one. So, yeah. Look, content is king and we’re trying to produce as much as we can here uh at Ringwide and Kucks Army as well. And and shout out to the guys at Kucks Army. If you’re not following there and checking out instant reaction and stansies and the stats he’s after every game, you’re missing out. So, add that to your daily routine. And if you’re looking for the latest uh in the Kucks, any news uh editorials as well, uh you’re going to find it at Kucks Army one-stop shop uh for all things Vancouver Conucks. Vancouver Conucks defeat the Dallas Stars by a score of 5 to three. I had Jacob Fraser working behind the scenes here tonight. We appreciate his help for Earth. I’m Jeff. So much fun. We’re going to do it again on Friday night as the Canucks take on the Chicago Blackhawks. Thanks so much for checking out this episode of Ringwide Vancouver. [Music]

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