10 p.m. ET; SNP, NBCSCA
I won't lie, it's hard to get pumped up for any game after being eliminated. It's hard to be happy about anything from this season. It's seems that the expectations for the team for 2023-24 were fulfilled this year. Almost a playoff team....but just not enough to get there. There are four levels of blame that any of us could focus on:
I don't want to speak for Kent......but I think we both would like to put Francesco on a Space X flight, with no scheduled return. The longer this management group gets to do their job, gives us pause to think about the job they are doing. There have been misses with some of the signings from the past summer, plus the handling of Petey/Miller....plus not talking to Brock about a contract....and so many more examples. You could argue that the owner is setting the tone for management and join us in pushing Frannie on to the ship.
You could also ask, what the happened to the high scoring Canucks of last year? What did Coach Taco do to this team? Boring is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit with this team. If boring was winning more games, there would be less cringing when I hear about Taco getting the highest contract ever for a Canucks coach.
There were some bright spots for this team, like Kevin Lankinen, who is the number one goalie....I said it. Kiefer Sherwood has been the type of player I would have loved to have three of. Conor Garland is my spirit animal. Quinn Hughes is the team.
It would be great if the Canucks won these last two games and finished tied with Calgary for 4th place in the division, as they both miss the playoffs. Fuck Calgary.
GAME DAY LINEUPS
Sharks projected lineup
Nikolai Kovalenko -- Macklin Celebrini -- Will Smith
William Eklund -- Alexander Wennberg -- Tyler Toffoli
Noah Gregor -- Ty Dellandrea -- Barclay Goodrow
Carl Grundstrom -- Cam Lund -- Danil Gushchin
Henry Thrun -- Timothy Liljegren
Lucas Carlsson -- Jimmy Schuldt
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Luca Cagnoni
Alexandar Georgiev
Georgi Romanov
Scratched: None
Injured: Thomas Bordeleau (upper body), Jan Rutta (lower body), Zack Ostapchuk (lower body), Jack Thompson (upper body), Klim Kostin (lower body), Vincent Desharnais (upper body), Mario Ferraro (lower body), Shakir Mukhamadullin (upper body)
Canucks projected lineup
Nils Hoglander -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland
Jake DeBrusk -- Ty Mueller -- Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood
Drew O'Connor -- Teddy Blueger -- Linus Karlsson
Quinn Hughes -- Elias Nils Pettersson
Marcus Pettersson -- Filip Hronek
Kirill Kudryavtsev -- Victor Mancini
Nikita Tolopilo
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: None
Injured: Derek Forbort (orbital bone), Thatcher Demko (illness), Max Sasson (undisclosed), Tyler Myers (undisclosed), Filip Chytil (concussion), Noah Juulsen (lower body), Elias Pettersson (upper body), Nils Aman (upper body)
Status report
Georgiev will start after Romanov made 25 saves in a 5-2 loss at the Calgary Flames on Sunday, when San Jose lost four players to injury; forwards Ostapchuk and Bordeleau, and defensemen Rutta and Thompson are each considered day to day, according to coach Ryan Warsofsky. The Sharks recalled Gushchin, Cagnoni and Schuldt from San Jose of the American Hockey League on Monday and they are expected to arrive in time for the game. Lund returns after missing the game Sunday with an illness. … Tolopilo will make his NHL debut because Demko, a goalie, will not play again this season. … Kudryavtsev also will make his NHL debut after being recalled from Abbotsford of the AHL on an emergency basis after Forbort, a defenseman, was injured during a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
GAME DAY CHATTER
“It’s fun to see these guys. See how they go in a NHL environment.”
🗣 Head Coach Rick Tocchet speaks on Kudryavtsev and Tolopilo making their debut tonight.#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/FZV4VZFU1U
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 14, 2025
“I always have something to prove every night, every practice, every morning skate.”
🗣 Ahead of making his NHL debut, Kirill Kudryavtsev speaks on his excitement, playing more consistently, and the win streak with Abbotsford.#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/gDdm8Pl6wV
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 14, 2025
"I heard some rumours that maybe he wasn't even going to play in Abbotsford this year.."@FriedgeHNIC on Tom Willander not being signed yet by the #Canucks
Full interview..https://t.co/8g7YdZWwhx pic.twitter.com/0s6xDrL4zf
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) April 14, 2025
Yeah, that news doesn't sound good. Usually players wouldn't want to play in the NHL as early as they can.
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
As a Canucks fan, never having a championship team to cheer for has been....rough. But there is something to be said for a loyal group of people, who believe that their team can win it all.
We just have to wait until next year.
Go Canucks Go!
