Photo credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Dakota Joshua gave Craig Berube the edge he wanted, even if it came against an old friend in Luke Schenn.
The scene grabbed attention right away because this wasn’t just any scrap.
Joshua and Schenn were teammates in Vancouver, and both built their names there by playing hard, straight-line hockey.
That’s why the moment carried a different feel.
Two former Canucks dropped the gloves and then traded words afterward, turning a routine NHL flashpoint into something fans instantly recognized as personal but not hostile.
Joshua made that clear after the game. He said it was tough, called Schenn a friend, admitted it felt weird, and added they were still good after it.
“It’s tough. We’re still friends, but it’s weird. But, at the end of the day, we’re here to do a job & he’s a very respectable guy & we’re still good after that.”
That part matters. A lot.
This wasn’t a feud spilling over. It was two players handling business in a game that demanded pushback, then making it obvious there was still respect once the temperature dropped.
Why this hit so hard for Canucks fans
Vancouver fans know exactly what they were watching.
Joshua and Schenn were both wired for that hard-nosed identity, the kind of shift-to-shift presence that changes a bench even when they’re not touching the scoresheet.
Now they’re wearing different sweaters, and the split only adds weight to the image. Joshua is in Berube’s room with Toronto, while Schenn is skating under Scott Arniel in Winnipeg.
That makes the fight more than a random clip. It shows how quickly old chemistry gets parked once the puck drops, especially in March, when every game starts to feel tighter and every hit carries more purpose.
Joshua’s value lands in a similar lane. Berube leans on players who can drag a game into the trenches, and this was one of those sequences that fit that identity to the letter.
The words after the fight may have been the most telling part. No grand drama, no fake outrage, just two former teammates acknowledging the weirdness and moving on.
That’s why this moment stuck. It had the emotion of old history, the bite of a real NHL game, and the kind of respect players never need to fake.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
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Dakota Joshua fights former Canucks teammate Luke Schenn
Did Dakota Joshua do exactly what Toronto needs in games like this ?