NHL Entry Draft - May 5, 2026

Are you ready for #3?

Join our almost live coverage of another draft where the Nucks almost pick first!

Your or their Vancouver Canucks pick:

Leave your snarky comments below...

As designed, Canucks pick 3rd. NHL lotto luck goes to CoTU and SJ. Because... reasons.

The most Canuckian Canuck ever to speak in colourful words has died, suddenly.

He was the most beloved Nucks broadcaster - in this century. While the Canucks have been mediocre to terrible the past couple decades, we could take comfort that each miserable game would be covered by the best tandem in TV broadcasting, John Shorthouse and John Garrett.

Our NM contributors try to pay tribute to Cheech - we don't have enough ketchup.

jimmi:

Cheech brought so much fun to every Nucks game. Funny, thoughtful and above all, a kind and humble Canucks fan. It was a blow when he stopped regular season Canucks coverage. This is worse.

How can we pay tribute to the man who made watching the Canucks lose on TV, better than watching the Canucks live and losing in the rink? What a career - other than the goalie part. A wonderful person. A Canucks legend! Even the goalie part. Thanks, Cheech!

Thursday:

The radio is my favourite medium for Canucks games, and we've been blessed with some of the best to ever do it. John Shorthouse had a hard act to follow when Jim Robson retired from broadcasting the Canucks in 1999. Robson carried the position with dignity and warmth, and his voice was beloved through good times and bad. Shorty's articulate descriptions are different, but have carried the day well ever since.

Tom Larscheid, on the other hand, was a straight-up force of chaos. A colour man who was just as wildly hued as anyone on the ice - or field, when he broadcast the BC Lions. He was a great counter to Robson, but to my ears, despite their decade together, he never worked as well with Shorthouse as he did with Robson.

By the time John Garrett took the colour role, first with Jim Hughson, then Shorthouse, he was a veteran broadcaster. He had a dozen years pro experience on the ice with the WHA and NHL, but it felt like he had a century's worth of stories.

"Cheech" - yes, he got the nickname because someone thought he looked like one of the world's most famous stoners - would add the weirdest tales to any pauses in the game. At any moment, you could hear about the value of ketchup, eating hot dogs on the bench during a game, and dinners in every city across the league.

He was comfortable with fans, outraged with bad refereeing, and an unrepentant homer in the worst seasons. He was always one of us, and so clearly loved the team, loved his job, and loved needling Shorty with wild digressions between plays. He is missed.

Westy:

I moved out of Canada back in 2001 and for the first few years in Latin America I forgot all about hockey. It was probably due to the fact that you couldn't get a game on the t.v. anywhere and the internet was not as available. It wasn't until 2009 that I was able to stream NHL.com and could finally watch the Canucks again. What a time to rejoin the fandom. the Canucks-Hawks rivalry was at a fever pitch and the Sedins had hit their stride. I knew John Shorthouse from his babyface days on Sportspage (Ch 13) in Vancouver and John Garrett was already spinning yarns on the broadcast. People like to talk about how hometown broadcasters are homers and since I had the ability to watch any NHL online, I got to see a lot of different broadcasters in different cities, and I can say that Shorty and Cheech are definitely homers for the Canucks. But Cheech was honest when it came to players screwing the pooch. He called plays like he saw it and while he never put a player down, he would question "What the heck was he thinking?" at least once a game. I always enjoyed when Cheech would talk about food on the road and his love of ketchup and Kraft Mac and Cheese. I never meet Cheech in person, but every story I hear reinforces the idea of him in my head. A kind, funny, hard-working man, who loved his family and his job and had time for anyone that asked. We need more John Garretts in this world.

Kent:

What, you didn't think I would come back for this?

In a season that felt like watching this team was akin to getting hit repeatedly in the face with a shovel, we've had to deal with a lot as a collective fan base. Having to come to terms, in a rather short period of time, that Quinn Hughes was not actually going to be part of the future, was not easy. The loss of the original voice of the Canucks, the one and only Jim Robson, was a cruel blow to fans who were already struggling with all this. And now, the sudden loss of someone who was universally loved and admired, who was the quintessential Canuck. Cruel doesn't even begin to describe it. Talk about kicking us when we're down.

John Garrett was a damn good goaltender in an era where genuinely good goalies were rare. His transition from player to broadcaster should be studied by those who follow in his footsteps, though so much of it was simply his massive personality. Along with John Shorthouse, they made it feel like you were watching a game with friends. Their personal interactions, glimpses into their personas away from the rink, and willingness to take fun pokes at each other helped us through some rough nights watching the Canucks, and they were even more entertaining when the team was playing well. While it's been awesome having Ray Ferraro part time, and Dave Tomlinson continues to get better, the absence of Cheech from Canucks broadcasts was felt immediately. And knowing we'll never get one more night of the best play by play duo in the biz is a genuinely sad thing. We were absolutely blessed to have him as part of this organization. I hope he knew how much we loved him.

DATELINE: NOON PACIFIC MARCH 10, 2024

Trader JR and Trader PA have shocked us once again.

If this was January.

Zav and Lindy are Canucks!

Soucy traded from BC Ferries!

Pete re-signed for 8 years!

That's it.

As the clock ticked down to noon on Davies, the Nucks crazy traders were already at home watching the league madmen overspend for dubious gains.

Are JR/PA and Taco confident in this roster?

Seems like.

What about NM? Let's find out.

BREAKING UPDATE:

Toffee coming to the ROG for Saturday's game! In a Jets jersey.