VANCOUVER – Nearly a generation ago, former Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford appeared for his Halloween-day media availability wearing a Dr. Evil mask. He put his pinky finger to the corner of his mouth and told reporters in a diabolical tone: “The Sedins are going to make one million dollars.”
Scary but true – except for the earning power of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who were then rookies but eventually grossed $140 million between them. They’re going into the Hockey Hall of Fame in two weeks.
Except for goalies, no one was wearing a mask after the Canucks practised on Halloween Monday for Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils. Fortunately, they all had nameplates.
In the Blue Line neighbourhood of Vancouver’s dressing room, there are nine locker stalls for defencemen and these are not enough.
Including the injured, there are 10 nameplates for defencemen in the circular chamber. There were 11, but Guillaume Brisebois was returned Monday to the American Hockey League after three games of pretty exceptional relief work amid the Canucks’ injury crisis on defence.
Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils, newcomer Ethan Bear will become the 11th defenceman to log NHL minutes for the Canucks this season. Importantly, the team is also getting back from injury its No. 1 defenceman, Quinn Hughes. This is the 10th game for Vancouver.
“We have a lot of guys,” coach Bruce Boudreau, maskless but really not needing one, told reporters when asked about the crowd on defence. “When you count the injured guys, this morning we had 11. It makes for a competition. You want to play… you want to be accountable for your actions? You’ve got to play good.”
But, ironically, the turnover on the blue line is accelerating after the Canucks played easily their best game this season, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Friday night to double both their winning streak and total victories this season (two).
Brisebois, a career minor-leaguer to this point despite being one of the longest-tenured players in the organization, logged 18:41 of ice time and was plus-two against the Penguins. The 25-year-old returns to the Abbotsford Canucks after building an expected-goals-for percentage of 63.2 in his three games, which coincides with what may be the turning point of Vancouver’s dreadful start.
A far more glamorous Canuck prospect, fleet-skating Jack Rathbone, is also likely coming out of the lineup on Tuesday after playing the last four games. And with Riley Stillman practising in a top-six spot on Monday, after missing four games with what appeared to be a concussion, heart-and-soul blue liner Kyle Burroughs could also be a healthy scratch.
You need to squint to see these moves as “good news” for the Canucks following their crisis-quelling win against the Penguins a few days ago, but this sudden crunch on the blue line represents progress and a potential pathway up the standings.
Hughes is the best defenceman in franchise history and one of the best puck movers/transporters on Earth. And Bear, 25, acquired at clearance prices in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, is only 2½ years removed from a stellar rookie season with the Edmonton Oilers and is eager to move on from his misadventures in the east.
“I’m just hungry to play again,” Bear said. “Like, it just feels like it’s been forever. The game seems really easy from the press box, right? It’s definitely a lot faster when you actually get out there, but that’s the fun part — just being around the guys in the grind and when you actually pull off a win, how hard it actually is (to win) in this league. I’m just excited to work for that feeling again.
“Excited is an understatement. Honestly, I can’t wait to play.”
Bear has yet to play a game this season. He struggled in Carolina after getting COVID last November, and by the playoffs was a regular healthy scratch. He was scratched from every game this month while the Hurricanes waited for a good trade to percolate, eventually giving up and accepting a fifth-round pick from the Canucks – while retaining $400,000 of the defenceman’s $2.2-million salary.
“I asked for a trade after last season; I just needed a fresh start,” Bear said. “I had a good start to the season last year and then after COVID, I just never got that opportunity to earn my spot back. So I said, ‘Well, I’ll just go somewhere else and try to fight for a spot.’ They said they’d sign and trade me. But once we signed, everything just seemed to slow right down. I don’t know what their plan was, but I don’t see why they would have had to wait so long to get a fifth-round pick for me. I’m happy to be here now.
“I think it’s a fast, competitive team. I think everyone gets along well in here and obviously, they’ve won two games. It’s good to come into a happy environment right now.”
Good thing he wasn’t here a week ago.
The return of Hughes should add to the sudden outbreak of happiness. He suffered a lower-body injury late in the pre-season, then gutted his way through the first five games, gathering five assists while averaging 27:14 of ice time that is second in the NHL behind only Los Angeles King Drew Doughty’s 27:36.
One way or another, the defence always seems to be an issue on the Canucks. But without Hughes and his elite skating and play-making, the team has little chance of long-term success. He returns in time to face his little brother, Jack, with the Devils.
“Yeah, it’s a big relief,” Hughes said. “No one likes being injured and to be down with it for the majority of the season so far, it’s frustrating. You’re playing games and you’re worried about (your injury) and if it’s going to hold up and how you’re going to feel.
“It’s not fun being injured. I’m excited to come back, so it should be fun, especially against the Devils. My parents are in town, brother’s in town. I don’t think we really enjoy playing each other too much, but it’s always fun seeing him.”
• Canuck winger Brock Boeser, who has missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury, practised on Monday but did not skate on any of the top four lines or work on the power play. . . Centre Jack Studnicka, acquired from the Boston Bruins on Thursday, practised between wingers Tanner Pearson and Nils Hoglander and will make his Canuck debut against the Devils.
