After a back-and-forth series where the Canucks showed their worth against a start-of-season Stanley Cup favourite, the Canucks came up short in game seven. The 3-2 scoreline was closer than the play in the game, but a bounce here or a bounce there was what separated these two teams in the end. So ends the 2023-24 season for the Vancouver Canucks, but it was a marked improvement and magical run for the boys they should be proud of. If you want to watch the highlights:
It was an uphill battle from the drop of the puck. Already without Vezina-nominee goalie Thatcher Demko, the Canucks lost All Star Brock Boeser after game six due to blood clotting. They were depleted up front, and as the first two periods unfolded were depleted on the ice. The Oilers took it to the Canucks and the boys didn’t really have any answers. At one point they were outshot 22-4, and recorded no shots on a four minute power play. Despite making a valiant effort to come back in the last eight minutes of the, they came up short: like the rest of the other 94 games up until last night, they never gave up. I’m sure emotions are running deep right now, nobody in the room likes losing, but the turnaround they made in one season was massive and their campaign was something they can hang their hat on.
“I've been here a year and a half, (and) just the buy-in and the way they want to play,” Tocchet said. “Listen, they put respect back into this city and this jersey. The fans have got something to be proud about. And it's all because of the players.
“I mean, there's no quit in this team. The third period, parts of the second, there was no quit. Really proud of the guys. Unreal. Millsy, if that shot gets through Z, that's in the net. Made a huge push there. I'm really proud of them.”
Miller echoed the sentiment. They didn’t play great out of the gates, but they were agonizingly close at the end.
“Hard-fought game,” he said. “Hard-fought series. We were a bounce away. Right now, it sucks to be that close. We had four minutes to tie it up and we have balls here. The way the game ended is a good representation of the culture we’re trying to build here.”
Right now it’s going to burn for a while.
“We were never going to go quietly,” Garland explained. “We were one game away from the conference final. I'll be thinking about this for a while. It just sucks. As a group, we fought to the end. I never, never doubted that we would.
“I lost games in junior that I still stay up at night and think about, so this will hurt for a long time.”
After being mainly injury-free all season, they took their toll on the Canucks in this game and series. Demko and Boeser might have been enough to tip the scales just barely enough. But, what Silovs did for the team can’t be understated. He was a rock through the playoffs, and kept the Canucks afloat with a few robberies in the first period.
“’Artie’ played his (butt) off,” Tocchet said of his rookie goaltender. “What a playoff for that kid. That’s going to be huge for his growth.”
Even Nuge recognized what an impact he had on the series.
"[Silovs is] so quick that you have to put it in a corner or else he's just simply going to get it," Nugent-Hopkins said. "He doesn't let those through. So, yeah, we respect the hell out of that guy. He battled all series and made it tough on us."
But yes, the season is over. It will do the team well in the long run, especially with so many playoff newbies, but it’s gonna hurt for a while. The emotions are at the surface, and hopefully that will fuel the team to be ever better next year.
“You've got to go through this (to learn about the playoffs),” Miller said. “I think so many players, so many of our core players, learned a lot, what it takes — the emotion of the building and how it can swing so quickly. And I'm sure, even right now, their hunger to get back here already is going to be there. I think we have a good thing going on here, and I just believe that we're going to be a good hockey team and we're going to have another opportunity.”
“A lot of learning points for me,” admitted Pettersson. “I’ll use it as fuel when I get back to training this summer and I’d like to be back in this position again. We showed what we’ve been trying to build all year and I truly believe we’ll be back here (playoffs). I’m really proud of the guys.”
And of course, what a ride it’s been for the city and fans of Vancouver. From a projected bubble team to division champs, to being written off in the playoffs to winning a round and taking the powerhouse Oilers to game seven… the city loved the team, and they showed up in the playoffs. People write off the fans in this city, but like they showed in this run, they’ve fanatics for a reason. The building was loud, rocking, and even after the loss the crowd was serenading the team. The boys noticed it all.
“It's hard not be emotional at the end there,” Garland said of the fans’ embrace. “They are the best. It's too bad we came up short. But we'll be better for this. This past month, it's been a blast.”
“I tell you what, it hit me emotionally at the end of the game when they're cheering for us,” Miller said. “When you see that, you know you're in a good place, in a good market. And it's just the beginning, hopefully, of really good things here in the future.”
“Special place to play," Hughes added. "That’s part due to the city and the passion that the people have here but also to this group and what we accomplished the entire year."
Not sure how the blogging will shake down now, but will try to put things out sporadically as we get into the offseason. Looking forward to see how Allvin and Rutherford take this team to the next level over the summer!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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