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Kevin Bieksa returns to retire as a Canuck. Spencer Martin starts vs. Ducks |
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Tuesday November 1 - New Jersey Devils 5 - Vancouver Canucks 2
Thursday November 3 - Anaheim Ducks at Vancouver Canucks
Thursday is the night of Kevin Bieksa's official retirement from hockey, as the two teams he squared off against go head-to-head at Rogers Arena.
Bieksa told the media on Thursday morning that he has two suites allocated for all his special guests, to celebrate the occasion.
And just to stoke my desire for him to tear up the one-day contract and sign a real deal that would allow him to come back on the right side of the Canucks' third pairing against the Ducks, he teased me with a brief spin around the ice at Rogers Arena during Thursday's pre-game skate.
Alas, it is not to be. But after the defense pairs got burned pretty badly in Tuesday's loss to the Devils, Bruce Boudreau has mixed them up in preparation for the Ducks on Thursday night.
Same six guys: I see other pleas for Jack Rathbone to get into the lineup so I'll keep advocating for Kyle Burroughs and his size, toughness and willingness to stand up for his teammates.
Let's see how new guy Riley Stillman fares with Tyler Myers, and Ethan Bear with Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
There are also some changes up front. New guy Jack Studnicka gets shifted to the wing while Sheldon Dries draws back into the middle, and Nils Hoglander is scratched.
Boudreau is choosing not to share what he has discussed with Hoglander, who is being pulled from the lineup for the third time this year. He has played less than 12 minutes in all four games since drawing back in against Carolina on Oct. 24, and has just one point for the year, an assist.
Boudreau did praise Dries, who got into 11 games for the Canucks last year and the two wins against Seattle and Pittsburgh last week. Given that those are the only two wins of this season, I do see the logic in giving him another spin.
Brock Boeser did not take the morning skate. Boudreau said that Boeser hasn't had a setback, but is still waiting for official clearance from the team's doctors before he can get back into the lineup.
As for the Ducks, they're coming into Thursday's game on a two-game winning streak, following a grim 1-6-1 start to the year.
They started turning the ship around on Sunday, when they erased a two-goal deficit to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on home ice. Then, on Tuesday, you never would have guessed that the two lowest-scoring teams in the league were squaring off when the Ducks went into San Jose and took down the Sharks 6-5 in a shootout, with World Juniors hero Troy Terry scoring the winning goal.
For the second year in a row, Terry is leading the Ducks in scoring in regular game action as well. He has 12 points in 10 games so far, followed closely by Trevor Zegras.
And while we've heard quite a bit of talk about how the Ducks weren't "intending" to be bad this year, perhaps we're seeing that it has just taken a minute for the group to gel after a fairly significant roster turnover since Pat Verbeek took over as general manager midway through last season.
The new additions include Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano and World Juniors hero Mason McTavish up front — and at 19, McTavish has just played his 10th game, so he'll be staying for the year. He has been used mostly on the wing so far, and has four assists.
Anaheim's revamped blue line includes free-agent signing John Klingberg as well as Dmitry Kulikov. The Ducks also signed one-time Canuck Olli Juolevi during the offseason, and he has been playing with the San Diego Gulls, where he has been productive with four points in five games.
Anthony Stolarz earned the win for Anaheim in San Jose on Tuesday night, so it's expected that John Gibson will draw back in against Vancouver. He's typically very good against Vancouver, with a 13-2-2 career record and .935 save percentage.
For Vancouver, Spencer Martin will make his third start of the year on Thursday night. He's 1-0-1 so far this season, with a 2.43 GAA and .926 save percentage — not quite on par with his ridiculous 1.74 and .950 from last season, but still strong enough to suggest that last year wasn't a fluke, and the Canucks have themselves a very reliable backup once again.
Martin's fun stat at this point — knock on wood — is that he still doesn't have an outright loss with the Canucks since joining the organization in the summer of 2021. His career numbers with Vancouver are now 4-0-4 with a 1.91 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.
Boudreau said that Thursday's game was a scheduled start for Martin. But it's hard not to sense how badly the coach wants his team to get some more points on the board.
During his media availability, Bieksa said that he did go into the dressing room on Thursday morning and talk to the Canucks players — trying not to preach or coach, but talking a bit about the special culture that existed during his time in Vancouver, how the players from his era were ultra-competitive and always pushed each other, and how he always made being a good teammate one of his top priorities as a player — standing up for guys, but also keeping it light.
I wonder if there's someone in the room today who has the ability to cut the tension the way that Bieksa could — and still can, even in his broadcasting role with Hockey Night in Canada? I can't think of anyone off the top of my head, and while I'm not saying that a team needs to specifically go out and fine a dressing-room guy who can play that role, it seems like someone who could cut tension and help guys squeeze their sticks a little less might be sorely needed right now. Kuzmenko has that kind of personality but is still too new, with too much to prove.
For now, we'll see if Bieksa's larger-than-life personality is enough to put the players in a better headspace on Thursday night. He seems genuinely honored to be back and to have the opportunity to close out his playing career in this way, so hopefully it'll be a fun night.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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