I'd have to say that the highlight of my weekend was taking in Sportsnet's Watch Party on YouTube for Game 7 of the 2011 series between the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks.
I started out with the game on my TV as well, but bailed on that before long. The video was running on a large-enough window on the YouTube feed — and the commentators were respectfully silent during most of the big moments. That being said, it was nice to see the *real* game feed from CBC. I'd forgotten that the first time Sportsnet hastily broadcast this game early in the coronavirus shutdown, they went with the U.S. feed which omitted some key moments, like Alex Burrows' missed penalty shot.
Here's the full broadcast:
I enjoyed seeing hosts David Amber, Caroline Cameron and Steve Dangle learning the nuances of this game and this series that we all know so well, courtesy of guests Jim Hughson, Chris Higgins, Michael Buble, Kevin Bieksa and Dan Murphy.
Buble was fantastic. As a life-long Canucks fan, he was a proxy for all of us as he took the hosts through all his emotions surrounding this game — which he said he watched in the middle of the night while he was on tour in Italy.
Also — his enunciation is impeccable. A side-effect, I imagine, of his singing style. I remember him doing colour on a radio broadcast once a few years ago, and being pretty decent. I bet he'd be even better now.
And what an amazing treat to have Higgins and Bieksa, who both played in the game, on hand for extended periods to talk about what was actually happening on the bench, on the ice and in the room.
Bieksa's sharp wit and savvy game analysis has become well known this season — and he got to banter back and forth with Dan Murphy, to make things even better. Higgins' perspectives were fascinating because they were fresh — talking about how it felt to join that juggernaut Canucks team at the 2011 trade deadline and start learning how things went down in the Western Conference, where he had only played a handful of games with Calgary as an impending UFA in 2010.
Higgins' on-ice career in Vancouver ending somewhat inauspiciously — bought out of the last year of his contract during the summer of 2016 after splitting his last year of play between the Canucks and the Utica Comets. But he stayed in Vancouver after retirement and re-joined the Canucks as the assistant director of player development last September.
That's a nice segue into the first regular-season game of the 2019-20 season, which was rebroadcast on Sunday night on Sportsnet.
I think the broadcast was intended more for the Edmonton audience — a 3-2 win for the Oilers that featured a dominating performance by Leon Draisaitl — named first star with a goal and two assists as he staked an early claim on the top spot in the NHL scoring race. When the league was paused in March, he had already hit a new career high with 110 points in just 71 games, and had a 13-point lead over his teammate Connor McDavid in his quest for his first Art Ross Trophy.
Nevertheless, I found plenty of Canucks content to chew on.
Off the top, Dave Randorf had the hype machine turned up to 11 for Elias Pettersson, fresh off his Calder Trophy win. I'd forgotten that, to start the season, Petey was matched up with Brock Boeser and Micheal Ferland, while J.T. Miller played with Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson.
Ferland played 17:36 in his Canucks debut, which turned out to be his season high for ice time. Just three nights later in Calgary, he was already down to 12:41. Of course, Ferland was out of action by the end of October after suffering a concussion in his fight with Kyle Clifford. His attempted comeback with the Canucks in December lasted just two games, and he barely made it a period during his attempted conditioning stint in Utica in February.
Like many players, Ferland has been able to use the downtime since the NHL season paused to get healthy. His agent told Rick Dhaliwal in late April that Ferland should be good to go if/when the NHL season resumes.
Agent Jason Davidson says Micheal Ferland is feeling good and optimistic he can play if the #Canucks resume play this summer.
• 11 shots on goal from Tanner Pearson — out of a team total of 33. Wow — he came in with guns blazing. Pearson also picked up his first point on his way to a career high of 45 in 69 games when he tipped Tyler Myers' point shot past Mike Smith to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead over the Oilers midway through the third period.
• J.T. Miller's faceoff prowess was still just being discovered. He only took six draws against Edmonton, but won five of them. By the time the season was paused, he had taken 718 draws — well below league leader Ryan O'Reilly's 1,556 or even Bo Horvat's 1,483. But Miller sat second in the league with a win percentage of 59.2, behind only Sean Couturier of Philadelphia. Jay Beagle sat third, winning 59.1 percent of his 678 draws, and Horvat was tied with Jonathan Toews for seventh overall at 57.3 percent.
• One pairing that Travis Green locked into right away was Quinn Hughes with Chris Tanev. They started that first game together — and for the most part, they spent the entire season as a tandem. Hughes got 3:38 of power-play time in that first game, but it took a few games before he moved up to replace Alex Edler on the first unit. But there was a Vancouver puck-possession sequence at the end of the first period where the Canucks didn't score, but teased some of the offensive magic that fans would get to see from Hughes and his teammates as the season wore on.
Great pressure to end the 1st. 💪 Let's start the 2nd with that same effort. 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/cnkNaofudP
I feel like most of us went through this exercise a few months ago, leading into the 50th season celebrations. The one thing that has changed over the course of the year is that I think Petey & Quinn have moved themselves closer to contention. I don't think either of them has done enough just yet to dethrone any of the players at their positions who have come before them, but things could look very different in just a few years.
If Jacob Markstrom sticks around, he could eventually have a chance to dethrone Kirk McLean, too — especially if the Canucks can manage to go on a meaningful playoff run with him in net.
As far as the state of affairs around the league and what might happen going forward — there's really nothing new to report as we start off a new week.
Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan of ESPN continue to do a great job of putting together a weekly roundup of all the bits and pieces, and talking to key decision makers along the way. You can get caught up here:
Here's the latest on the NHL's paused season. When team facilities might open, an update on playoff format, and what's going on with the draft https://t.co/mPNBoS2x8t
My theme for this week is self care. I've been spending way too much time playing out scenarios and worrying about things I can't control, so I'm pledging to start making much greater use of my Calm app and trying to get my brain back to a more serene state. If I can pull that off, I'm pretty sure my body will also thank me.
I'll let you know if I stumble across any other useful tools along the way!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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