Welcome to the new Vancouver Canucks season as they get started with a stellar 5-1 win. Here we’ll highlight some of the news that drops every day about the Canucks. Come back throughout the day as we update with all the news. If you haven’t done so already, sign up for our Canucks Report to get our stories delivered to your inbox every day.
Practice news
It’s lunchtime and the Canucks are on their way to the airport. They’re in Edmonton tomorrow night.
The Canucks worked on zone entries and working the puck off the boards. One interesting wrinkle: did you notice what Elias Pettersson did with his stick after his little off-load pass to Brock Boeser on Thursday night? He gave the stick of Calgary defenceman Brayden Pachal’s a little poke, which Pachal reacted to with a forceful swipe back. It create a little bit of extra space for Boeser to skate into.
Well, would you believe that the Canucks were working on doing exactly that during Friday’s practice? Little disruptions happen all over the ice and leave no doubt, it’s all intentional.
Still no Blueger
Teddy Blueger’s knee injury doesn’t seem too serious: saw him in the press box last night and he was walking around very well. General manager Patrik Allvin said earlier this week he figured the veteran centre would be out about a week, so there’s still time for him to get back on ice ahead of next week’s road trip.
But will he play in either Dallas (next Thursday) or Chicago (Friday)? With only one practice between now and then — scheduled for Sunday upon the return from Edmonton and ahead of Monday’s matinee at Rogers vs. St. Louis — there’s a pretty narrow window for him if he’s going to get a skate in before making his return to game action.
Who will be goalie?
Adam Foote is facing an interesting choice on Saturday: who does he start in goal? There were no clues in practice, with the forwards and defence splitting into their separate groups.
Thatcher Demko was fantastic, calm, vs. Calgary on Thursday. Obviously the Oilers on Saturday present a bigger test; Demko would relish it. But keeping second goalie Kevin Lankinen fresh will also be on his mind; Lankinen has not played since the huge 8-1 win in exhibition play Oct. 1 in Calgary.
More Cootes
The Canucks have an extra healthy forward on the roster in Linus Karlsson, but if he’s going to get in the lineup on Saturday it won’t be at the expense of Braeden Cootes. The rookie is going to play on Saturday, Foote confirmed.
Cootes had seven or eight family members in the stands on Thursday night for his NHL debut, and expects to have a whole lot more in the stands on Saturday night tin Edmonton.
He met with his family after the game Thursday and Evander Kane was also around greeting friends and family so the veteran took time to speak with Cootes’ group as well, no doubt a thrill for a family that was until this summer passionate Oilers fans.
Blue Jay buzz?
There are five Canadians on the Canucks’ roster but none are passionate Blue Jays fans. Tyler Myers says he watches the playoffs and so will have game 1 of the American League Championship Series on on Sunday, “but I also don’t really know any of the players!”
Jake DeBrusk is probably the biggest baseball fan among the Canadians but admitted his time in Boston means he still knows Red Sox players better than the Blue Jays; that said, he’s rooting for the Jays.
“They’re our Canadian team after all!”
Braeden Cootes played a little ball when he was a kid, but outside of hockey his main sports growing up were basketball and golf. Playing junior hockey in Seattle, you might think he’d have a soft spot for the Mariners but he said he just never really had time to focus on Seattle’s MLB team.
Arshdeep Bains just smiled and shook his head: “I don’t really follow baseball.”
The injured P-O Joseph isn’t around the team right now so his input couldn’t be gathered.
Good morning!
Well, what a start that was. The outcome of the game was never in doubt (thanks Demko!) and the Canucks get the season off to a perfect start.
Ben Kuzma recaps the game and runs the rule over the players with a report card on their performance last night.
And Ben has a fresh look this morning on what a great debut it was for Braeden Cootes, the No. 1 pick from last year’s NHL draft who forced his way into the team with a great camp and pre-season.
If you missed it yesterday, Steve Ewen wrote about one of the Canucks top prospects and what he could mean to the team this season.
As is the case with most hockey fans, it seems both sides were moaning about the officiating.
“There were two moments in Thursday’s game that will likely have fans on both sides of the Calgary-Vancouver rivalry seething.
“The first came early in the second period when MacKenzie Weegar hit Canucks centre Elias Pettersson into the boards. Pettersson fell awkwardly and Weegar was assessed a five-minute major for boarding that was quickly reduced to a two-minute minor after being reviewed.
“Later, Canucks blueliner Elias Pettersson drove Connor Zary into the boards at mid-ice. Again, he was sent to the box for five minutes before a review determined he only needed to serve two.”
“Vancouver’s penalty kill was stellar despite Teddy Blueger’s absence, but on the flip side, it may not be long before the club is forced to make a change on the first unit power play. The Canucks’ top unit not only failed to score but also struggled to generate meaningful chances and momentum.
“I don’t think anyone on that unit played particularly well, but (Evander) Kane struggled the most by far. Kane single-handedly had four to five turnovers on the power play, including one that led to Coleman’s short-handed breakaway in the second period. The 34-year-old has an above-average shot that could be dangerous from the flank, but his passing and lack of poise were a problem.”
Next up for the Canucks, something that should send shivers down your spine, a Saturday night date in Edmonton. Not because of the two-time Western Conference Oilers, but have you ever been to Edmonton on a Saturday night? Not pretty.
In Edmonton talk was about the struggle in goal which was the talk of town after they lost their opener to the same team the Canucks just spanked.
“Who got it right in reacting to Stuart Skinner’s ugly mistake in Game 1 against the Calgary Flames? Skinner, Knoblauch or critics inside and outside the media, fans and commentators alike? The Oilers had dominated the game, but the Flames came back due to two somewhat fluky goals, an own goal deflection off the skate of Edmonton centre Noah Philp and an iffy, borderline batted-down goal by the Flames.”
Comeback throughout the day for more Canucks updates as we comb the NHL media world and will update with all the Canucks news you need to know.