Sights and sounds from the Canucks first home win of the season

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On Tuesday night, I attended my first Canucks game since February of 2020. You might be thinking that isn’t very long Braeden, I’ve never watched a game live, or I haven’t seen one in five years and so now. But for me, it is a long time. I usually get to watch at least one game a season which is a privilege. This one was special, though; this was the first heavily attended event I will have attended since the pandemic began. I was curious to see if there would be a lot of fans. Would the vibe be the same?

It didn’t have the same attendance as normal or as much as a weekend game, but it was still a lot more than I have experienced since February 2020. The vibe pregame, apart from the nervous and anxious was about the same; I still felt the excitement, maybe because there were probably many people in the same boat as myself.

I will say that if you are going to attend a Canucks, Lions, or Whitecaps game or a concert. Arrive early because the line and wait for the vaccine passport is quite long and time-consuming. Like double what the wait for ticket scanning is. During the game, however, the vibe changed.

It was dead silent throughout the first period, and it was a disappointment since the Canucks had lots of shots but no goals. Then, three minutes into the second, the feeling was even worse after the Rangers got a 1-0 lead. You could hear a pin drop in Rogers Arena after the 2-0 goal. Media members tweeted that “boos” and some chants about firing the coach and/or GM were starting but not gaining traction. Meanwhile, the only chant I heard in my section was buddy in the bar yelling “Messier sucks” every two minutes.

Thankfully, early in the third period, J.T. Miller scored, and we had something to cheer about. Then, almost exactly four minutes later, rookie Vasily Podkolzin ripped a one-timer past the Rangers, and it’s 2-2. Finally, the crowd is awake, and it feels like a hockey game, and then.

This was by far the craziest sequence I have ever witnessed in a hockey game live, in my entire life, either as a spectator or player. I have seen goalies make saves without a stick, blocker, or glove, for that matter, but I’ve never seen one like this before. I will build up the moment for you.

The Canucks go 0-for-6 on the powerplay, which is never a good sign for any team. It means you aren’t generating anything nor being effective when given the advantage. But this also means there are going to be some “make-up” calls coming your way. This means the officials think we need to even out the penalties because one team has gotten too many. Yes, this really is a thing in hockey, yes, it is idiotic and shouldn’t be a thing, but that’s for another day. This leads to questionable or “soft calls” being made against a team.

The Canucks experienced that with Nils Hoglander getting called for holding even though he had both hands on his stick and Rangers’ defenceman Adam Fox draped around him. Then with thirty-six seconds remaining in Hoglander’s penalty, Oliver Ekman-Larsson gets called for hooking on what was essentially a stick-lift. The penalty is giving the Rangers a 5-on-3 powerplay with under 5 minutes left in the game.

The call creates an outburst from the generous count of 18,257 fans in attendance, and the “boos” are showering down onto the ice. The Rangers take the thirty-second timeout to regroup and rest their top powerplay group. In the meantime, all 18,257 fans begin the loudest “ref you suck” chant I’ve ever heard in my life. And I’ve been to Canada vs Russia World Junior games, in which those chants happen often). It lasted the entire thirty-second timeout right up until the puck dropped on the ensuing faceoff.

Alright, let’s fast-forward a little. Hoglander’s penalty has been killed off; it is now a 5-on-4. Much maligned Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers gets the puck on his stick; if he clears it, boom, twenty seconds killed off the 1:10 left on the penalty. Nope, weak backhand attempt, and the Rangers keep it in the Canucks’ zone. Ryan Strome passes to Artemi Panarin, who whiffs but gets it to Chris Kreider with a wide-open net. Tucker Poolman laying out to block the pass, sprawls out (like a prime Martin Brodeur) and blocks the Kreider shot with his arm!

The puck goes into the corner. Kreider passes across to Panarin, who is on the other side with a wide-open net and Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko with his back to him, waits… shoots… Demko turns quickly and stacks the pads (like Captain Kirk McLean) without his blocker! In the chaos earlier, J.T. Miller dives into him, taking off his blocker and stick, now both stuck in the net.

Panarin gets the rebound and shoots again with nothing in the way but Demko on his stomach and Miller making his best street hockey goalie impression. Demko gets a piece of the puck as he throws his right leg in the air! Demko looked exactly like the Ridiculousness logo. The puck rings around the boards, and the Rangers get it back. Meanwhile, Demko is yelling and waving his bare blocker-less right hand at the ref to blow the whistle. But the Rangers tee Panarin up with a one-timer that Demko kicks aside with ease, and finally, the ref blows the whistle to stop play, and Demko can get re-equipped.

All 18,257 and the entire Canucks bench erupt onto their feet, cheering and applauding. For what was probably the most chaotic and amazing thirty-second sequence of hockey they’ve ever seen.

The craziness didn’t stop there, though. The third period ends tied at two apiece; we’re going to sudden death 3-on-3 overtime. About halfway through the five-minute overtime, after the Rangers almost scored on an odd-man rush broken up by Elias Pettersson.

Instead, J.T. Miller gets sprung on a breakaway on a pass from Quinn Hughes. Miller all alone tries a forehand to backhand deke but gets stopped by Igor Shesterkin, who loses sight of the rebound. However, Miller picks up the rebound for a classic wraparound and buries the puck in the corner of the net, and the Canucks finally get their first home win of the 2021 season!

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