Judging from the poll in my last blog on Sunday, I'm in the minority among Canucks fans with my "bring it on" attitude toward the Vegas Golden Knights.
No matter which side you're on, we can all agree that Game 1 was a barn-burning thrill-ride though, right?
So many goals! So many lead changes! And then Vegas' fourth line taking charge to deliver the win in the third period.
Best of all, I think we've got a series. If this is the kind of hockey that a Capitals/Golden Knights final serves up, I hope we'll get six or seven games out of it.
As well as drawing record-setting ratings in both Vegas and Washington, the game also attracted plenty of attention in other U.S. NHL markets.
And what a show it was! My favourite part of the pre-game ceremony was Michael Buffer's player introductions.
I hope the team in Washington goes all-out between now and Game 3 on Saturday to see what they can bring. Their fanbase is also pretty pumped up.
One of the things I enjoy about the World Championship is the spectacle, with a new original song and mascot each year and all the hard-core fans supporting their national teams. Last night was a solid NHL version of those same principles.
I embrace the idea of sports as entertainment, which is one of the reasons I'm so pleased with what Vegas has brought to the NHL mix. More, please!
Now, turning back to our Canucks—more contract news came out on Monday.
When you think of Petrus Palmu, think Marty St. Louis. He's short, but he has legs like tree trunks.
Palmu had no trouble holding his own as a 20-year-old in the Finnish league last season. His 17 goals tied for second on his team, TPS Turku, which finished second overall in the regular-season standings.
Palmu is also well-connected in Canuck circles. Olli Juolevi was his teammate on with Turku this past season, and he played junior with fellow 2017 draft pick Jonah Gadjovich.
The Canucks' 2017 draft class, which looked promising from the outset, is quickly moving closer to bearing fruit. Here's the status of all the picks:
5. Elias Pettersson - signed on May 25
33. Kole Lind - signed on March 1
55. Jonah Gadjovich - signed on October 16, 2017
64. Michael DiPietro - talks currently in progress
95. Jack Rathbone - not signed - Rathbone captained his prep-school team for a second-straight year in 2017-18 and is headed to Harvard in the fall
135. Kristoffer Gunnarsson - not signed - Gunnarsson went pointless in 46 regular-season and 6 playoff games with Frolunda of the Swedish League this year
181. Petrus Palmu - signed on May 28
189. Matt Brassard - not signed - Brassard wore an "A" with the Oshawa Generals this season, where he was their top-scoring defenseman
From the 2016 draft class, Juolevi is the only player the Canucks have signed. From 2015, they've now inked four players: Brock Boeser (23rd), Guillaume Brisebois (66th), Adam Gaudette (149th) and Lukas Jasek (174th).
In other news from the weekend, Daniel and Henrik Sedin continue to live their lives in lockstep, finishing two seconds apart in the Iron Knee trail race on the North Shore on Saturday.
Iron Knee is no joke. The 25k race stretches from Cleveland Dam to Deep Cove.
Click here to check out the elevation profile. The race features two huge climbs—from about 150m to 500m near the beginning, then a steeper one from about 75m to 450m at the 15k mark.
For reference, the elevation gain on the Grouse Grind is about 850m, so each of those climbs is more than half a Grind. I guess the twins' long-term dedication to Mother Nature's Stairmaster paid off for them!
Click here to check out the full race results. The twins finished about a half hour behind the winner, and just a few minutes behind the top two women.
Also great to see their bib numbers.
The longest trail run I ever did was about 15k. I looked like a shattered wreck at the end. Not surprisingly, Hank and Danny look like they could do it all again.
If they can knock out 25k on trails, they'll have no trouble with a marathon. Expect to see that up next on their to-do list.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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