Thursday April 5 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Arizona Coyotes - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650
Special pregame show starts at 6:30 on Sportsnet
Vancouver Canucks: 80 GP, 30-40-10, 70 pts, 27th overall
Arizona Coyotes: 80 GP, 29-40-11, 69 pts, 28th overall
In my previous eight years of covering the Canucks from Rogers Arena, the last home game of the season divided into two types.
Early on, it was a chance for the twins to pad their individual stats as the team prepared for a playoff run. In 2010, Daniel had a goal and three assists and Henrik had four assists as the Canucks beat Calgary 7-3. Those points pushed Henrik three points past two guys named Crosby and Ovechkin for the Art Ross trophy with 29-83-112. Limited to 63 games, Daniel finished the year with 29-56-85.
Yeah, that was peak Sedins right there. I often tell the story about how my first two games in the press box in January of 2010 were Alex Burrows' back-to-back hat tricks. Those would never have happened without his linemates being in top form.
In 2011, the last home game of the year was the second-last game, a 5-0 shutout of Minnesota. Ryan Kesler had the hat trick in that game; Daniel had two assists and Henrik had one and Daniel finished out the season with 41-63-104, earning his Art Ross by a five-point margin over Martin St. Louis.
Both those times, and three more times after that, the end of the regular season was just a breathing point before more games—and home-ice advantage meant the wait was never very long.
More recently, the no-playoffs writing has been on the wall long enough to create a last-day-of-school vibe at the rink: saying our goodbyes, talking about summer plans and staring into the chasm of the long offseason ahead. I've been fortunate to have World Championships come into my life as a coping mechanism that extends my hockey season to Victoria Day and I'll be using that tool again this year. There have been whispers that Travis Green and Bo Horvat could be among the Canucks team members who will be joining me in Denmark.
This year, even though we know it's the end, the grim thud of another non-playoff year has been transformed by the Sedins' retirement announcement. Tuesday's game was a celebration of who they are and everything they've done. Since tonight still isn't the *very last* game of the year, I'm hopeful that we'll have more cheers than tears again this evening.
The twins have said that they have every intention of suiting up in Edmonton on Saturday, so that's a practical reason why this "retire their jerseys at the end of the game" chatter doesn't quite make sense. More importantly, in my mind—why do it all at once? Let's savour that retirement ceremony when we welcome them back to the rink next season, once we've all had a chance to process our emotions. I'm sure the Canucks' game presentation and media staff has had more than enough on their plate just getting ready for tonight.
As always, it's also Fan Appreciation Night. Here's everything you need to know about what's on tap for this evening:
I believe award voting ended before the Sedins' retirement announcement on Monday, otherwise they might have won everything, including best defenseman.
Here are my choices for this year. Who ya got?
Most Valuable Player: Brock Boeser
Best Defenceman: Alex Edler
Most Exciting Player: Brock Boeser
Unsung Hero: I guess Ashton Sautner's body of work isn't quite big enough yet, huh? I'll go with Jacob Markstrom, for his accountability and how his late-season play steadied a ship that looked like it was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean after Boeser was injured. If he can work on stopping those first shots over the summer, he could take another step forward next year!
Elliotte Friedman opened his
31 Thoughts column this week with a big scoop of Sedin content—including the fact that some people had known about the decision for awhile, but the story stayed locked down. The way it all unfolded, with the bobblehead nights and all, I figured the team had an idea but it's interesting that Daniel and Henrik let some of their old teammates like Dan Hamhuis know as well.
The other side effect of this announcement has been a shift in focus away from the #TeamTank narrative. As much as the No. 1 pick and Rasmus Dahlin would still be a great thing to have, the Canucks now have another tool in their arsenal to help their team improve this summer: a truckload of cap space.
The idea of wooing John Tavares has rippled across the country but Friedman's suggestion aligns with what a lot of folks in this town have been advocating for awhile: don't just use the cap space to sign more free agents—use it as a tool to help collect other valuable assets.
Elliotte mentions Bobby Ryan's contract and Marian Hossa's cap hit as liabilities that other teams are looking to unload. Even if Hossa stays on LTIR, it takes more maneuvering for a team that's close to the cap ceiling to handle an injured reserve contract than if they just had the unfettered cap space. Would Stan Bowman give up one of his many young assets for more flexibility? Or could Jim Benning pry a defensive prospect out of Ottawa in exchange for taking on Ryan's deal? His previous deal with Pierre Dorion, swapping Alex Burrows for Jonathan Dahlen, is believed to be one of his best.
It'll be sad to see the Sedins off tonight but in many ways, this is yet another unselfish move by players who have been known for their consideration throughout their careers. They've pushed the rebuild into high gear, saving us all a summer of wringing our hands about what they'd be worth and how much ice time they'd get, and putting Vancouver right into the thick of the offseason action—always an interesting place to be!
As far as Jonathan Dahlen goes, his Timra club did pull out a Game 6 win on Wednesday over Karlkrona by a score of 4-3, so Game 7 will go Friday.
But it sounds like Ashton Sautner could be the odd man out on the left side tonight, as Ben Hutton draws in.
No matter what the future holds for Hutton, this is a cool move by Travis, getting him into a meaningful game tonight.
To wrap up, a quick peek at Utica, where Kole Lind made his pro debut in the Comets' 3-2 overtime loss to the Toronto Marlies in an early game on Thursday. Lukas Jasek continues to tear up the AHL, with two more assists. He's now up to 1-4-5 in two games since coming over on an ATO from the Czech Republic. Sign him immediately!
Remember when we thought he was small after he was drafted? He's now listed at 6'1" and 184 pounds. He'd look like the Incredible Hulk standing next to Elias Pettersson.
I'll leave it there for now. There's Sedin content all over the web for you to consume between now and puck drop if you so desire.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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