Please insert coin for moral victory

There isn’t much to play for at this point in the season. Both Calgary and Vancouver are playing out the season like a contractually obligated boy band that has two more albums to produce when it’s clear the one-hit-wonder barely stood the test of time. Most of us had the last game written off until the Canucks staged a spectacular comeback. They lost but it was chaos for just long enough that we all smiled.

Today (at 1 PM!), both teams will begrudgingly come to the rink and play three periods of ice hockey. Hopefully, by the second period, it won’t feel like there’s a four-hour marathon still on the horizon. It really is bad hockey, isn’t it?

We can only hope that Alex Edler gets his 100th career goal and that Matthew Highmore has a game for the ages. OK, OK, one of the two would be fine.

Let’s Do This!

Homestretch

It’s the last home game for the Canucks but there aren’t any fans in attendance and the game is on during the second half of the Steve Wilkos Show and The Young and the Restless so viewership will be down. The kids should continue to get played and Edler will get an unhealthy amount of minutes to try and lock up #100.

There will be no criticism of the power play or the PK or even how many shifts Jimmy Vesey seems to be getting, they just want to play things out.

Looking off Boeser, so long Loui, Rathbone is ready, and no decision yet

Alex Edler may have scored that goal on his own last game but isn’t it curious that Brock Boeser is the one that tipped it? Edler looked off Boeser for a few months before he finally started passing Brock the puck on the PP and the goals started to come. Maybe there’s something to this and it was payback for the heartbreak he caused. Stephan Roget will like this take. He must.
I don’t think anyone was prepared to not see Loui Eriksson play another game for the Canucks. It’s been two months since Loui was in the lineup and it’s been three months since he’s had an official shot on goal. At the time of his signing, Eriksson had enough on his resume to suggest it was a decent signing, not amazing, but decent and it came off the rails. His legacy is sure confusing but the stories are timeless. What will his future look like? We’d sure like to know.
Jack Rathbone sat last game to allow a few others to get back in the lineup, mainly Olli Juolevi. Rathbone likely draws back in and his last game against Edmonton had him with five shots and some fancy leg work. He doesn’t look out of place and he may have in fact, taken a job away from a guy like Juolevi.
There has been a lot read into these final games, from the blowouts to the nailbiters, and all the drama in between. If you step out of the vacuum for a second, how do the Canucks assess their future? Does Edler come back, what is Vasili Podkolzin going to be, and is there a coaching staff that can turn this thing around? There are so many more things that need to be settled but step away from the crazy for a second and see what needs to happen. What did I even say there?
There hasn’t been any news on the leadership side of things since we last met. No coach contract, no vote of confidence from the owner, and the skate jersey haven’t been announced as a full-time alternate. We’ve been told Travis Green may have a new deal within 72 hours but I wouldn’t hold my breath. As for Geoff Courtnall, there has to be someone else that could steer this team in the right direction.

PowerGlove Player of the Game

Nils Höglander has been humming along lately and he’s running out of time to score “the goal”. Even if he doesn’t put that one away, it would be nice to see him make the highlight reel.