Author Archives: Sean Chesman

Bring ’em to VanCity: Six potential trade deadline acquisitions for the Vancouver Canucks

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“Jeez, Sean. It’s January 14 and you’re already talking about the trade deadline?”

Listen, the Canucks haven’t had the proper ‘buyer’ status in so, so long (2020 doesn’t count). Let me be excited about this!

We are officially past the halfway point of this Canucks season and it’s felt like a dream. Everything is going right. The stars are shining, the team’s defence is legit, and Thatcher Demko might as well be Ben Bishop’s Team of the Year card in NHL 14. It’s a lot of fun right now in Vancouver.

You know where it’s not as fun? The rest of the NHL. The Vancouver Canucks sit at the apex of the league with the Winnipeg Jets being the only team ahead of them in points percentage.

The Canucks and Jets dominating the NHL at the halfway mark of the season. Just as we all predicted.

With all of that being said, the Canucks are far from a perfect team. I would still like to see them create more scoring chances at 5v5 and for their power play to get going again; but everything else has been fantastic. The aforementioned team defence has especially been a standout; but hey, there is always room for improvement.

The trade deadline is just under two months away and I’m already getting giddy at the idea of the Canucks being legitimate buyers by the time March 8 rolls around. Last year’s deadline was filled with fireworks and explosions and with how wide open the league is this season, I wouldn’t be shocked to see something of a similar vain this year.

Quick side note, I will provide a mock trade for each potential acquisition. I don’t want to get into the cap gymnastics; so let’s just assume that Allvin and co will be able to clear space to make these moves (this is all purely hypothetical).

On that note, let’s have some fun.

Adam Henrique (C, Anaheim Ducks)

Like clockwork, the Anaheim Ducks will be sellers at this year’s deadline to the surprise of absolutely no one.

Henrique would probably be the cheapest player to acquire on this list solely in terms of the potential acquisition cost. The soon to be 34 year-old centreman has been a consistent player throughout his lengthy NHL career and is no stranger to coming up big when you need him the most.

I would prefer the Canucks to chase a bigger name, but if all else fails, Henrique would be a pretty solid pickup for a team that needs a 2C. With 22 points in 41 games and a history of strong underlying metrics, I would be totally satisfied with the Canucks acquiring the veteran forward.

On the flip side, I’d be pretty disappointed if he was all we got; but I wouldn’t worry about it too much because of Allvin and Rutherford’s track records of being aggressive as all hell.

MOCK TRADE

To VAN: Adam Henrique (50% salary retention)

To ANA: 2024 2nd round pick

Chris Tanev (RD, Calgary Flames)

I just know you smiled reading that.

This is maybe the one that most Canucks fans are hoping for. The return of “Dad!”

If you’re not aware, Chris Tanev was a Canuck from 2011-2020 and was beloved by the fans and his teammates.

Known as a warrior who would devour pucks on a nightly basis in Vancouver, Tanev has somehow gotten better with age. He has re-modeled his game to become maybe the best defensive defenceman in the sport, whilst preventing critical injuries.

He doesn’t provide a ton of production; but he doesn’t need to. Tanev affects the game by simply preventing the other team from scoring, leading to his underlying numbers being consistently great since arriving in Calgary.

Canucks brass apparently really likes Tanev, whilst the player holds the city of Vancouver in high regard, making for a likely free agent signing come July 1.

He’s friends with some of the guys in the room, helped Quinn Hughes during his rookie season, and scored the most memorable Canucks goal of the past ten years. I think this one would be a slam dunk.

Bring Dad home!

MOCK TRADE

To VAN: Chris Tanev

To CGY: Mark Friedman, 2024 2nd round pick. 

Sean Walker & Travis Konecny (RD & RW, Philadelphia Flyers)

Hey! We got ourselves a package deal!

Now we’re getting into the REALLY fun mockups. Sean Walker and Travis Konecny have been instrumental to a Flyers team that has found way more success than I think anyone could’ve imagined them having this season.

Oh yeah, the Flyers are actually pretty good. So why am I suggesting they’ll trade key pieces away?

In all honesty, I’m not sold on the Flyers. I think they have been legitimately good this season, don’t get me wrong; but they are one of those teams that I can see regressing in the season’s latter half. I’m not saying that it will happen; but it’s in the realm of possibility considering what we’ve seen from them over the past few seasons.

Walker would be just as good a fit as Tanev. He has strong underlying numbers and is a great skater. Konecny is a force, and has become one of my favourite wingers over the last two seasons. His strong forechecking and offensive punch would fit like a glove in Tocchet’s system.

This is where the sticker shock may set in if you’re a Canucks fan. Just remember that in order to get good players, you have to give up good assets.

MOCK TRADE

To VAN: Sean Walker, Travis Konecny, 2025 6th round pick

To PHI: Hunter Brzustewicz, Vasily Podkolzin, 2024 1st round pick, 2024 2nd round pick

Jake Guentzel (LW, Pittsburgh Penguins)

It’s been said that Guentzel could potentially be on the move if the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t start figuring things out before the deadline. This should be a no-brainer for Vancouver if he’s able to shake loose.

The front office obviously knows Guentzel well, as Allvin and Rutherford were a part of the 2017 Penguins squad that featured the player in his rookie year. He along with Sidney Crosby were instrumental to the Pens winning their second Stanley Cup in as many years.

Guentzel is one of the better offensive play drivers in the entire league and has reached the 40-goal mark twice in his career. The downside is that he is a pure winger, meaning the Canucks would have to split up the Lotto Line; but Guentzel could be a great fit alongside Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller.

Guentzel would probably be a rental as he turns 30 this year; but if this team is serious about winning a Stanley Cup, this would be a home run.

MOCK TRADE

To VAN: Jake Guentzel

To PIT: Nils Höglander, 2024 1st round pick

Trevor Zegras (C/LW, Anaheim Ducks)

I can’t believe that this is even remotely possible. There have been multiple reports that Anaheim is willing to move on from the 23 year-old centreman.

SIGN ME UP.

I have already started the Twitter campaign to bring him to Vancouver, and although many Canucks fans have publicly bashed the idea of it, let me try to sell this to you the best I can.

The Canucks need a long-term fit at 2C and another top-six piece that can drive a line and dictate the pace of play. Trevor Zegras fills both of those needs. The raw talent is well documented with him being one of the few players in the league to score the ever controversial Michigan goal.

He is so, so sick. From an entertainment value perspective, Pettersson and Zegras on the same team would cause fireworks every night. How, as a Canucks fan, could you possibly pass that up?

I don’t care what you may perceive of Zegras. He is a wildly impressive player who has the makings to become a potential star in this league. If the Canucks were able to acquire him, it would be one of the sharpest bets the organization has made in a very long time.

Bring me the chaos!

MOCK TRADE

To VAN: Trevor Zegras

To ANA: Hunter Brzustewicz, Vasily Podkolzin, 2024 1st round pick, 2025 2nd round pick. 

As for who I want to see brought in of these six? Tanev and Zegras would be the dream combo. For now, let’s just hope that the Canucks keep winning and the front office makes moves that will enhance this team’s window and cup aspirations for years to come.

Demko stands tall as Vancouver eeks outs fifth straight win in Buffalo

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They just keep on winning, eh?

The Vancouver Canucks are rolling, picking up their fifth straight win on this seven-game road swing against the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 1-0.

Yep, a game with two pretty good offensive teams ended in a 1-0 score line. Hilarious.

The Canucks had just come off of an emotional win in Pittsburgh, beating them in overtime in large part thanks to Elias Pettersson, who had a four-point performance which included the game winning goal in overtime. The vibes were sky high going into this matinee affair with Buffalo.

The Sabres are a young team with a lot of promising pieces. The likes of Tage Thompson, Owen Power, and Rasmus Dahlin have proven to be high-level contributors in their relatively young NHL careers. They’re top end talent is undeniable, and players like Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, and Jeff Skinner add on to an already intriguing core of players.

Expectations were relatively high for the up and coming team going into the 2023-24 campaign. It was playoffs or bust.

Unfortunately, this season has been nothing short of a disaster for them.

Why, though? I just said they had some really promising pieces, but that’s not nearly enough to get you into the playoffs. The team’s depth has not been up to snuff at all and most of their free agent signings have not worked out. Depth at every position is crucial in today’s NHL and the Sabres don’t have enough quality in the bottom of their lineup.

I wouldn’t let this bum you out *too much* if you’re a Sabres fan. They still have some players coming down the pipe who should make an impact for years to come (I really don’t love how they’ve rushed Zach Benson, though).

Alright. Enough about our long suffering brothers in the state of New York, let’s get into the good stuff.

The Lotto Line got to work early by generating a few good looks early in the game’s opening frame, but to no avail. Filip Hronek then had a rather impressive sequence in the defensive zone, including a great shot block off the stick of Alex Tuch.

Just a few minutes in, the Sabres took the first penalty of the game.

Here’s a little segment I like to call “What Sean didn’t like about the game.” Luckily, it’s a pretty short list for today.

What Sean didn’t like about the game #1 – The power play

It’s been a tough stretch for the Canucks power play. They just haven’t been generating at the level we saw earlier in the season. The quick puck movement, the array of weaponry at their disposal, none of it is there right now. I wouldn’t be *too* concerned about it since we’ve seen it go through hot and cold stretches in the past, but this one feels pretty lengthy.

I don’t know, maybe a certain American center/left winger that plays in Orange County could really help the struggling man advantage unit, right Patrik?

If we’re being totally honest, though, the Canucks are still managing to win games despite the power play struggling mightily. Their 5v5 offence has taken massive strides since the Lotto Line was reunited and that’s the main thing I wanted to see, anyway.

The Sabres took over possession after the power play, but the Canucks were able to severely limit their chances. That’s kind of been the Canucks blueprint for this season. Late in the frame, the Canucks were able to get some offence going thanks to the third line. The trio of Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, and Conor Garland have been incredible for a few months now, and they had another excellent showing in this one.

Both teams exit the first period unscathed. It wasn’t the most entertaining period of hockey, but that was going to change in rather short order.

Brock Boeser FINALLY opens the scoring early in the second period. He receives a cross-ice feed from Elias Pettersson and makes no mistake on the finish, firing it low blocker on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Say it with me. Cha…

Oh great, J.T. Miller was offside on the entry. Fun.

Miller and Pettersson were pretty much joined at the hip on the zone entry, and Miller couldn’t drag his foot to keep the play onside, leading to the goal being overturned after review.

This would actually matter if Sam Lafferty didn’t score immediately after.

Nikita Zadorov fires a wrist shot from the point which hits Lafferty in front of the net, who then cashes in on the rebound to give the Canucks the ice breaker.

Side note, and this is totally unrelated to the goal, but am I the only one who thinks that Sam Lafferty and J.T. Miller share a similar appearance? Like, put Miller’s hair on Lafferty and I swear to god that they’re the same person.

Speaking of Miller, he got involved again after a big hit on Rasmus Dahlin.

What Sean didn’t like about the game #2 – The officiating (both sides)

The officials decided that tonight they were gonna pick and choose what to call. I would be surprised, but that seems to be the blueprint for a league that doesn’t know how to market… anything, to be honest.

Maybe instead of protecting the officials, you protect the players. I don’t know, just a thought.

Dahlin was shaken up on the play (which sucks) but I don’t think this was a malicious or dirty hit by Miller. Regardless, Miller gets called for an elbowing minor after they reviewed the hit for a five-minute major penalty (which would have been a horrendous call, by the way).

On the 4-on-4, Ilya Mikheyev nearly made it 2-0 after he hit the left post on a partial breakaway.

Once Miller was out of the box, Sabres defender Erik Johnson wanted to scrap and Miller answered the bell. It was a spirited scrap with both players trading blows, but Miller would eventually drop Johnson.

Don’t mess with Killer Miller.

What Sean didn’t like about the game #3 – Quinn Hughes had a target on his back

Buffalo were REALLY beginning to target the star defenceman, but there’s just one pretty important detail that made it hard for them to hurt him.

You literally can’t catch the guy.

Quinn Hughes is one of the slipperiest players in the history of the sport. It doesn’t matter if he has the puck or not, you simply can’t hit this guy because it’s way too easy for him to just simply evade a check. Alex Tuch and Jordan Greenway took runs at him, with Tuch being the equivalent of a heat seeking missile whenever Hughes touched the puck.

The Canucks would hold the lead going into the third.

The third period was typical Canucks. Limit the opponents, be opportunistic, and hold on. The Garland line had another dynamite period with some dominant shifts, and Andrei Kuzmenko made a beautiful between-the-legs move while driving the net, to no avail.

But alas, the clampin’ Canucks did the thing again.

Five. Straight. Wins.

What was supposed to be the toughest road trip of the season has turned into a statement from this team. They’ve been able to win in a variety of ways, and although this one was a grind, it was still a pretty entertaining one.

Thatcher Demko notches his fourth shutout of the season and the seventh of his career, meaning he has more shutouts this season than he did in his first four combined. What world are we living in right now?

It wasn’t a thriller, but it didn’t have to be. They’ll take the two points and run, and the Blue Jackets are next up on Monday at… 10:00 AM?

Whatever. See you then, Canucks nation.

Powerball: The ‘Lotto Line’ have given the Canucks another gear

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Ladies, gentleman, or however else you may identify, the Vancouver Canucks have arrived.

The team started off their current seven-game road trip in St. Louis with a rather lackluster performance, dropping the match 2-1. The Canucks weren’t bad, but this was against a Blues team that frankly doesn’t have much of an identity this season, and it was especially disappointing considering the opponents they were about to face.

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet made a crucial change before their Saturday night battle vs the New Jersey Devils that would change everything for this team.

One of the best lines in hockey was reunited.

‘The Lotto Line’ consists of Brock Boeser (#6), Elias Pettersson (#40), and J.T. Miller (#9). In the 2019-20 season, then Canucks head coach Travis Green put the trio together in the team’s home opener, following back-to-back losses in Alberta.

They weren’t just the Canucks’ best line, they carried the team (along with Jakob Markstrom and Quinn Hughes). When you tuned in to watch a Vancouver Canucks game that season, you were tuning in to see these three.

The line has been separated for the majority of the last three seasons, but they were finally given another shot against an injury riddled Devils squad.

Oh, New Jersey. You poor, poor souls.

The main worry going into the game was if the rest of the lineup (maybe not including the Joshua-Blueger-Garland line) would’ve been able to hold their heads above water. Not only did they hold their heads above water, they controlled play, and the Lotto Line absolutely destroyed any chance of the Devils winning that game.

All you need to know about this chart is that it was a WILDLY impressive performance from the Canucks, as they took this one by a score of 6-4, with each member of the Lotto Line having a multi-point outing. It was maybe the best two-way performance the team has had in over a decade.

Just two days later, the boys in blue and green set their sights on the Big Apple to take on the New York Rangers. This was a big test as the Rangers, like the Canucks, are one of the league’s premier teams this season.

The Canucks surrendered an early power play goal against, but J.T. Miller put his scanned his ticket and cashed out the winnings, tying the game at one-goal apiece.

The Lotto Line strikes again.

Nils Höglander would add to the tally later in the frame, and then it was the Lotto Line once again with just seconds to spare. Elias Pettersson enters the zone, finds Boeser streaking in, who pulls the puck to his backhand and extends the lead to 3-1.

The Rangers would pull within one off the stick of Artemi Panarin midway through the second period, but it was Elias Pettersson with one of the best goals a Canuck has scored all season.

Pettersson receives a pass, pulls the puck into the middle past a sprawling Rangers defender, collects his own rebound after his initial shot and tucks it in whilst dodging a stick check.

No need to dream to the max on that goal. It was just another example of the Lotto Line exuding confidence. A stellar, stellar goal that will be difficult to one-up…

NILS! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

How Swede it is.

While the Lotto Line were dreaming on the bench about adding a vineyard in their front lawns, Nils Höglander had a contender for the greatest goal I have ever seen a Vancouver Canuck score in my lifetime.

You could call this goal yucky, gross, disgusting, vile, however you want to phrase it, but I prefer to call it stupid. I’m sorry, but that goal was so stupid, and I love everything about it. Pius Suter makes a great pass to a streaking Höglander who dangles Adam Fox and slides it five-hole on Igor Shesterkin.

It was simple, it was stupid, but it was as clean as a Stevie Ray Vaughn solo run.

The Canucks would walk out of NYC with a statement, 6-3 win, but had to play another game the very next night on Long Island.

Let me get this out of the way now. Yes, the Lotto Line scored in this one. But the impressive thing about this game was the offensive outburst from multiple defenceman, with Filip Hronek, Quinn Hughes, and Tyler Myers all scoring big goals in this one.

It wasn’t just the production however, as the entire team played some of the most boring defensive hockey we’ve seen them play all season.

And it was nothing short of spectacular.

The Islanders aren’t the team we’ve known them as over the last several years. Instead of preventing chances, they’re one of the better teams in the league at creating chances, yet were barely able to muster up a shot on net in the third period.

This game was a defensive clinic from Vancouver and they were rewarded with a 5-2 win. Maybe the greatest back-to-back I have ever seen from this team.

So, the vibes in the city are absolutely top notch after this three-game swing and how could they not be? This is the best iteration of the Vancouver Canucks since 2010-11 and could very well go on a deep run once playoff time arrives.

I was ecstatic in the lead up to Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Two red-hot teams with a lot of connections between the two both on and off the ice.

If only I was able to watch it.

The city of Vancouver never knows what to do once it snows, and that lead to nightmare fuel-level traffic throughout the Lower Mainland, and I just so happened to be on a bus that would normally take 30-40 minutes to get from BCIT to my bus stop.

The good news? It took 30 minutes. The bad news? I’m lying. Try two and a half hours.

I set a recording for the game so I did eventually watch it, and it didn’t take long for the Canucks to cook. Seriously, if you blinked you would have missed the first two goals. Brock Boeser scored his 26th and 27th goals of the season in short order and the Canucks jumped to an early 2-0 lead.

Once again, cha-ching.

The rest of the first period was Pettersson mania, with Penguins defender Marcus Pettersson tallying his first of the season to bring the game within one. Fans of the ‘Pettersson’ name had their cake and ate it too because Elias Pettersson quickly responded with a goal of his own, tipping a point shot from Filip Hronek to restore Vancouver’s two-goal lead.

Oh, that was already his third point of the night. He doesn’t need to dream of winning the lottery ’cause of the paycheque the Canucks are going to hand him this summer… right?

Patrik? You’re gonna pay the man, right?

Sidney Crosby did Sidney Crosby things and the Penguins came back to tie the game at three, forcing overtime. Each team had their chances, but Filip Hronek made a terrific defensive play on a 3-on-1, launched the puck up ice to…

Nah. No way. He did it again. He actually did it again.

Oh, so *this* is what happens when you put this guy with actually capable top-line talent.

Elias Pettersson caps off a stellar outing with the overtime winner and his fourth straight game winning goal on the road, an NHL record. Dollar signs, everywhere. You can see ’em in his eyes.

The Lotto Line as a whole has been incredible, but Pettersson has lead the charge with 12 points in his last four games. Superstar stuff from a superstar player.

This road trip isn’t even over yet, with two matinee games coming in hot. Stay tuned, as I’ll have you covered for both.

Just enjoy this. And while you’re currently freezing your tail off in the negative degree weather we are currently experiencing, stay inside, grab some hot chocolate, and revel in the success the team is currently having, lead by Prince Charming, a grizzled dad, and a Sedin replica.

Cha. Ching.

The trajectory of Quinn Hughes becoming the greatest defender in Canucks history

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Let me take you back to June 22, 2018.

The stage was set for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and the Vancouver Canucks had the seventh overall selection.

Then Canucks General Manager Jim Benning drafted eventual franchise centreman Elias Pettersson just one year prior, leading to the team having a prospect pool that was primarily forward-heavy. It may as well have been one of the league’s worst ‘kept secrets that the Canucks were targeting a defenceman with the seventh pick, and they had options.

The 2018 draft ended up being a defence-heavy class, and it started with the Buffalo Sabres selecting Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick. Like I said, the Canucks had options at pick seven, and it seemed all but confirmed that they’d take one of Evan Bouchard or Noah Dobson.

But there was an interesting development from picks 2-6, with all of the players selected being forwards.

The Canucks had a gift from the hockey gods fall right in their lap, as Michigan Wolverines defender Quinn Hughes fell to pick seven. Hughes was projected to go a few picks before, but with the likes of Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Barrett Hayton being selected earlier than expected, the Canucks were left with no other choice.

I think we need to celebrate June 22 as a city-wide holiday for the man that doesn’t consider himself “someone that knows what’s going on.”

Many thought this pick was a no doubter for Vancouver. Getting a potential franchise caliber defenceman at pick seven was crazy value. Those who believed in the player would soon be vindicated.

After a successful sophomore season in the NCAA, Hughes was signed to an entry-level contract with Vancouver, where he would eventually play the first game of his NHL career against the Los Angeles Kings on March 28, 2019.

It didn’t take long for him to make an impact.

https://twitter.com/JDylanBurke/status/1111470735577370624

Hughes made an incredibly play behind the Kings net, leading to a scoring chance that was stopped by Jonathan Quick, but it was Brock Boeser who made no mistake on the rebound.

The game would eventually head to overtime, where Canucks faithful got an early glimpse of the future. Hughes, Boeser, and Pettersson stepped on to the Rogers Arena ice and dictated play for a good 45-60 seconds. While they weren’t rewarded on the scoresheet, they might as well have been the Harlem Globetrotters out there. It was pure electricity, with the Rogers Arena crowd oohing and aahing throughout the sequence.

Hughes was now a fixture of this Canucks roster and was expected to take the leap as a full-time NHLer by the following season.

He wasn’t just great, he was electric.

In just the third game of the season, Hughes scored the first goal of his NHL career in the team’s home opener against, funny enough, the Los Angeles Kings.

The goal proved to be the catalyst of a monstrous 8-2 victory, with Hughes adding an assist on Chris Tanev’s tally in the third period. Hughes and Tanev ended up gelling and became a formidable top pair for the Canucks that season.

Hughes finished the season with 53 points in 68 games, good enough to lead all rookies in points, but would unfortunately fall *just* short of the Calder Trophy, losing the honour to Cale Makar.

Yes, I’m still bitter about it (Makar was fully deserving of it, though).

The Canucks were sitting just outside of a playoff spot by the time COVID-19 altered the world in the Spring of 2020. The NHL later announced a 24-team playoff format that would begin in August, and the Canucks were a part of that group.

Vancouver faced the Minnesota Wild in a best of five qualifier series, where Hughes played a vital role in helping the Canucks defeat the Wild in four games. With one goal and five assists, Hughes lead the Canucks in scoring… as a rookie defenceman.

After knocking off the St. Louis Blues in the first round of playoff action, the Canucks would eventually fall to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, but hope was abound in the Lower Mainland.

The next season was a disaster for basically everyone involved, including Hughes.

The underlying numbers plummeted, the +/- (plus/minus) cratered, but the production was still relatively high end. He was barely keeping his head above water on a pair with Travis Hamonic, both being asked to do way too much.

But again, the production was still there.

After the sophomore slump, Hughes bounced back with two-straight seasons of high-level production, but was still not able to break into the top tier of NHL defencemen (don’t tell Thomas Drance I said that).

It was rather simple. If Hughes was able to dictate games in the offensive zone without fully relying on his insane transitional play, he could very well be in the apex of NHL defencemen.

Heading into the current season, the Canucks had moderately high expectations, as Patrik Allvin and company rounded out the team’s depth, adding more speed and defensively reliability. It was playoffs or bust for the Canucks.

In another move to sway Canucks fans into fully buying in, and with the departure of former captain Bo Horvat, the organization anointed their 15th captain in team history, and it was a player that was determined to take the next step into becoming one of the league’s top players.

On September 11, 2023, Quinn Hughes was named captain.

This obviously proved to be a terrible move as the Canucks are finally a good team again, when they *obviously* should have been rebuilding.

Crow has never tasted so good.

There are so many reasons as to why the Canucks are having this borderline unfathomable amount of success. Elias Pettersson is a world beater, J.T. Miller continues to be one of the most efficient point producers in the league, Brock Boeser has had the mother of all bounce back seasons, and Thatcher Demko has been a Vezina caliber goaltender throughout the duration of this season.

Add depth scoring and an almost unbreakable defensive structure and you got yourself a pretty good team!

But that’s not what the Canucks are. They’re a really good team, and Quinn Hughes has been the MVP all season.

Hughes has never been one to score a ton of goals, with him only reaching 8 goals in a season twice. He made it a point to work on his shot over the off-season and it has paid off and then some, as Hughes has already amassed 11 goals through 41 games this season.

It’s just been constant fireworks with this guy. He’s dictating the pace of play and does so with a level of dynamism and fluency that is so, so rare. He makes plays that only skilled wingers typically make.

Like, come on. That’s just stupid. But that’s how he drives play. He relies on his human highlight reel abilities to dictate the game.

While someone like Adam Fox has been a dominant, productive two-way force for many years, he doesn’t have the natural game breaking ability that Hughes has (albeit Fox is able to do it in a more subtle way).

This isn’t me downplaying how good Fox is. He is near the absolute peak when talking about the best defenders in hockey, but I think Hughes has surpassed him this season.

Maybe Drance was right all along?

On top of the fact that his defensive game has taken significant strides this season, Hughes has emerged as one of the best players in the entire NHL. And whilst I always believed that he wasn’t far off from that status, it’s still amazing to see just how much he’s leveled up this season.

No defenceman in Canucks history has ever been nearly at the level that Hughes is at right now. We really are witnessing one of the greatest talent’s the organization has ever seen, and I can’t wait to marvel at his ability for the next several years.

Why Jeff Rosenstock’s ‘HELLMODE’ was the best album of 2023

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2023 was one of the best years of my life. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it was probably the most productive year I’ve had in quite some time.

Even with the productivity, accomplishments, and lessons learned, there were obviously tough stretches, which is normal for just about everyone over the course of 365 days.  When I’m in a tough spot, I sometimes use music as an avenue to let my emotions out, hence why I am a fan of some heavier subgenres of alternative rock.

And man, I have been starving for some quality punk music. I was on an 80’s punk/post-punk binge, with bands like The Replacements dominating my Spotify Wrapped by the end of the calendar year. But it was in the dog days of summer when one of punk’s best artists released his 7th full-length record.

Jeff Rosenstock released HELLMODE to the masses on August 31, 2023 to mass acclaim from critics and fans.

Oh wow, Jeff Rosenstock put out a record that received mass acclaim from the punk scene. Shocker!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwnJuBZrXtA/?img_index=1

As I usually do, I put off listening to this one for a couple of weeks. But let me take you back to one, faithful night in the midst of September.

I was mentally preparing myself for a date I had the very next night, when I decided to open up Spotify to… I assume listen to the same old stuff I had been listening to for the previous ~2 months?

It was around this time where the TikTokification of Spotify was in full force, as they had recently introduced a feature where you can scroll through little tidbits of music videos and songs. It’s a feature that I don’t think I have used since.

I clicked on a crazy animation that just so happened to be a preview of the final track on HELLMODE, ‘3 SUMMERS.’ That snippet was all I needed. I was hooked. I went to the album, clicked play, and…

I mean, you already know how I feel about this record if you read the title.

HELLMODE is potentially the best punk release of the last ten years, and man, the latter half of the 2010’s especially had some extraordinary punk records. IDLES were on a roll dropping one quality record after the other, whilst Canadian pop-punk quartet, PUP, released maybe the best punk record of the decade with Morbid Stuff in 2019. So for this record to surpass all of that is wildly impressive.

Rosenstock accumulates a lot of different influences throughout punk, as it almost feels like an homage to punk’s past whilst incorporating more modern production and songwriting. This isn’t some derivative throwback record, it’s a modern day rager.

The theme of the album varies, with themes of self care, trauma, and trying to process the current state of the world. It seems to be a classic Jeff record in the sense of him basically treating these songs like journal entries. He’s such a restless thinker and always has something to share, making for an incredibly thoughtful record.

“Jeff very much sounds like he’s in a place right now where he is able to put a lot of what he’s going through in a more mature and poetic fashion.” – Anthony Fantano

‘WILL U STILL U’ doesn’t just kick the door down to open up the record, no, Jeff might as well have chucked TNT into the house and blown the place to smithereens ’cause this is one of the most explosive album openers I’ve ever heard. It’s rare to have a song that sets the tone for a record as well as this one.

There are BLAST BEATS in this song! He’s ripping material from the death metal playbook!

OH WAIT, YOU THOUGHT HE WAS DONE THERE? HOW ABOUT A SEEMLESS TRANSITION INTO ‘HEAD.’

The shouty, quick vocal delivery in the versus is contrasted perfectly by an absolute earworm of a chorus that will be sure to stick in your ‘HEAD’ like glue.

‘LIKED U BETTER’ was the first single for the record, and while it isn’t one of my absolute favourites on the record, it’s still a perfectly great thumpin’ punk rock jam.

‘DOUBT’ and ‘FUTURE IS DUMB’ is maybe the best back-to-back on the record.

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The former’s lyrics seem like a reminder that sometimes you just need to let your emotions take over (in a healthy matter, of course) and to, as he puts it, “kill all of the doubt.” It’s a slower tune that eventually builds into a chaotic frenzy by the end of the track, which then transitions into ‘FUTURE IS DUMB.’

This one is maybe my favourite on the entire record. A nuanced pop-punk banger with Jeff questioning a lot about the future of the world and his own personal life.

‘HEALMODE’ is another standout, and is a drastically different song compared to just about everything else on the album. It’s an acoustic ballad filled with heartfelt, empathetic lyricism, making for one of the best ballads I’ve ever heard.

Yeah, this album is pretty much flawless throughout. And although I wish I could talk more at length about these tracks, there’s one that requires some special attention.

Remember how I mentioned that the first song that I heard from this record was the closer? Well, that ended up being my *actual* favourite song from HELLMODE.

Sorry, ‘FUTURE IS DUMB.’

‘3 SUMMERS’ for me, is one of the greatest alternative rock songs of all time.

The beautiful thing about art is it can usually be interpreted in many different ways. The ways in which I interpret this song may be different from yours, or even Jeff’s, but just bare with me here.

The album’s grand finale is a 7-minute, mid-tempo opus which concludes this record flawlessly. But it’s so much more than that to me. ‘3 SUMMERS’ feels like a coming of age story rather than a pop-punk song. This isn’t a joke, but I once told a friend that this song is like music’s equivalent to ‘Good Will Hunting.’ Bold claim, I know.

The song always feels like a reminder that there are moments in life that are rewarding. Moments that should motivate us to keep living. It’s a reminder to be with the people you love and to have fun.

And man, when I hear that opening riff kick in, I visibly smile every single time. There are *very* few songs that have that type of effect on me. I think I may have honestly just found this song at the right time.

‘3 SUMMERS’ is an absolute triumph. A perfect closer. Full stop.

As for HELLMODE as a whole? It’s incredible. The emotional potency, raw performances, and quality songwriting combine for an adventurous journey. The album feels way shorter than it’s run time and it’s a blast throughout its duration.

I have only given nine records a score of 10/10, but that’s all about to change.

FINAL SCORE: 10/10

This has catapulted itself into my personal top ten favourite records of all time. I just keep going back to it. There hasn’t been a single song I’ve gotten even remotely tired of, whilst also providing me with one of my favourite songs… ever!

It’s consistent, it’s loud, it’s an emotional powerhouse, and it’s my favourite record that 2023 had to offer.

Take a bow, Jeff.

It might be time to accept the fact that the Vancouver Canucks are legit.

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Here we are in the sunrise of 2024, with little to no actual sunrise since the weather here in Vancouver is as dreary as Paul Westerberg’s album closers in his Replacements tenure.

January is always a pretty brutal month. The aforementioned weather being dreadful, seasonal depression is beginning to kick in for a certain writer on the Evolution 1079 website, and the post-holiday blues are in full effect for most.

So isn’t it great that Canucks hockey actually feels like an escape again? Yup, you read that right, the Canucks are a good hockey team again.

The organization’s President of Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford, stated at the start of the season that they could be a playoff team “if everything went right.” Not a particularly hot take or anything, but a brutally honest piece of analysis from one of the team’s top executives, which is something the organization has been missing for the last decade.

Everything has indeed gone right for this team, and the results have matched that. As I am writing this piece, the Canucks are currently sitting at 2nd in the overall standings, only trailing the Winnipeg Jets, and are at the top of the Pacific Division.

I warned Canucks fans earlier in the season that regression may be due, but it sure hasn’t hit, yet! I think the call for cautious optimism is officially over. This team is real good and it’s time for the rest of the league to accept that fact.

There are multiple factors as to why this team has drastically improved over the course of one season. So if you’re still only cautiously optimistic (totally justified) I want to give you reason to be more than that. Here’s why the Vancouver Canucks have been way better than anyone could have expected.

Effective shooters at the top of the lineup

The main source of concern for outsiders is the fact that the Canucks have had one of the most ridiculous goal-scoring seasons in league history. In fact, they have the highest PDO after a team’s first 40 games in NHL history. If you don’t know what PDO is, it’s the combination of both shooting and save percentage.

The Canucks have also scored roughly 25 goals above expected, meaning they’re scoring *WAY* more goals compared to the amount of offence they’re generating.

The top of the lineup hasn’t driven play at a top level by this point of the season, that’s not a secret. But what the Canucks’ top-six consists of is a bunch of players who are stupidly efficient shooters.

Brock Boeser has 25 goals through his first 40 games, and although he isn’t the man driving the offence, he is one of the best players in the league at finding open space for himself. J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson are each on pace for roughly 40 goals apiece, and this is all being done with Andrei Kuzmenko not playing at the apex of his abilities.

Add on Ilya Mikheyev as a very effective player at 5v5 and you have a pretty formidable top-six in terms of scoring.

It still needs more ammo, though, and the organization is well aware of that with rumours swirling about the team wanting to acquire another top-six caliber forward. If they can get a 2C that can effectively control play at even-strength, the Canucks could end up with one of the best top-six forward groups in the entire NHL.

Contributions from the bottom of the lineup

You want to talk about efficient shooters? Look no further than Nils Höglander. With 12 goals and 17 points through 38 games, Höglander has been one of the most effective bottom-six forwards this team has had in a very long time.

Also, he’s capable of scoring goals like this…

A bottom-six forward who can occasionally pull off game breaking stunts? Sign me up.

Pius Suter was a great get and has provided incredible value at 5v5 and the penalty kill. A legitimately capable third-line centreman who can chip in on offence with good defensive metrics. The best part about Pius Suter? He hasn’t even been the 3C for the majority of the season. That role has been filled by Teddy Blueger.

Suter was projected to be the 3C going into the season, but the Canucks current third line of Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, and Conor Garland have been one of the best bottom-six lines in the entire NHL.

Heck, they’ve been one of the best lines in the NHL.

Add in the fact that Sam Lafferty has quickly become a fan favourite by providing a mix of speed, snarl, and finishing ability, and you’ve got yourself a bottom six that can hang with just about any other.

Goaltending has been elite all season

Thatcher Demko has always been considered a top goalie in the NHL ever since his breakout performance in the 2020 playoffs. He may as well have been Tom Hanks in Cast Away ’cause he was practically on an island, consistently dragging his team into the fight.

He also scarred then Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer, so that’s fun.

The Californian netminder has always had the status, whilst having stretches of elite form, but had never played a full season at the peak of his powers. We’re only 40 games into the current season, but he’s looking real good!

When taking workload into account, Demko may just be the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy this season, and would be the first Canucks goalie to ever win the award.

Another problem the Canucks have had in recent years is not being able to find a backup goalie who can take some of the load off of Demko. And while Demko has still played the majority of the games, Casey DeSmith has been more than formidable as a backup.

It can’t be overstated just how crucial the goaltending has been to this team’s success. It’s the best goalie tandem the team has seen since the Luongo/Schneider days and I don’t think they’re going to slow down. Both goalies are performing extremely well, and are each near the top of the league in save percentage.

No goalie controversy to be seen here. Just two excellent players who are excelling in their current roles.

TEAM. DEFENCE. IS. LEGIT.

The Canucks have, on paper, the best defensive core they’ve had in over a decade. Sure, I’d still say it’s roughly league average, but having a Supernova-level talent in Quinn Hughes helps.

Hughes has legitimately leveled up this year and has safely slotted himself in the top tier of NHL defenders, alongside the likes of Adam Fox and Cale Makar. Not only has he amassed 10 goals and 50 points through 40 games, but he’s also taken significant strides in terms of driving play. He activates off the rush considerably more than he used to and is being rewarded as such.

The rest of the defence has done their part. Filip Hronek, while prone to the occasional gaffe, has remained productive and effective, and even Tyler Myers has had his most productive season as a Canuck so far.

Ian Cole, Nikita Zadorov, Carson Soucy, and Noah Juulsen have all provided value in the defensive zone (especially on the PK for the likes of Soucy and Juulsen).

But it’s not just the actual defenceman, but the forwards as well. The bottom six has a plethora of defensively reliable players. Suter, Joshua, and Blueger have stood out in particular. Ilya Mikheyev is probably this squad’s best defensive winger and is a consistent play driver at 5v5.

If you’re still waiting for this team to fall off, that’s okay, I get it. Being a Canucks fan is everlasting pain and your mind is going to automatically assume the worst is yet to come, but I think it’s time to buy in.

They still need one more, legitimate top-six caliber centreman before I tout them as Stanley Cup contenders, but for now, I’m just enjoying watching a great hockey team doing their thing.

Hockey is finally fun again in Vancouver.

Four albums (and one EP) that prove 2023 wasn’t a “mid year” for music

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I don’t think that 2023 was a “mid year” for music. However, it had some massive shoes to fill as 2022 gave hardcore music fans one of the most memorable years in recent memory. Look no further than the fact that I have only ever give nine records a score of 10/10 and two of those were from 2022.

It was just one critically acclaimed record after another, making for a fun year. So should we write off 2023 as a rather mediocre year for music? Personally, I don’t think that’s fair.

Sure, it maybe didn’t give us the borderline unfathomable level of quality that its predecessor gave us, but this past year had some memorable contributions, especially in the alt-rock sphere.

Let’s get into the good stuff. Here are four albums (and one EP) that made 2023 a pretty good year for music fans.

Invent Animate – Heavener

Metalcore is a genre that I have loved for years, but has slowly appealed to me less and less as time passes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for pulsating chug riffs and gnarly breakdowns, but I have tuned out a lot of bands that I had once previously loved.

So good on Invent Animate for releasing a metalcore record that didn’t make me audibly groan.

It’s pretty hilarious to me that this band encapsulates a lot of the clichés I don’t care for in the genre. The squeaky clean choruses, djent-like riffs and breakdowns, and ambient prog passages aren’t enough to sway me from the quality songwriting throughout the record’s duration.

The singles for Heavener created a lot of buzz, with the eventual release of the record on March 17, 2023 being met with praise and wide-spread acclaim. It even garnered some praise from critics who either didn’t like, or weren’t familiar with the group’s previous work.

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I can safely say that this is the best album that Invent Animate has ever released. They have finally fully broken out as all-stars in the scene with this one.

As I stated previously, the four singles that were released prior to the album were all great and garnered a lot of attention from returning fans and newcomers alike. ‘Shade Astray’ and ‘Elysium’ were great ways to set the tone, but it was the final two, ‘Immolation of Night’ and ‘Without A Whisper’ that had everyone in a frenzy.

Deep cuts like ‘Absence Persistent’ and ‘Labyrinthe’ are great, but the crown jewel of this record is ‘False Meridian.’ This is the deep cut to dethrone all deep cuts. An ambient, crushing track that showcases every member’s versatility.

The track list can be a little inconsistent, but Heavener is a great metalcore record and one of the best the genre has given us over the past couple of years.

Maruja – Knocknarea

Maruja are an up and coming post-rock group from England and have often been compared to bands like Black Country, New Road and Godspeed You, Black Emperor. Knocknarea is the UK quartet’s first non-single release, and is probably as good of a first impression as one could dream of.

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Funny enough, this was an EP that caught my eye via a TikTok that I watched over the summer. I wish I had the fella’s username, but he basically touted this as one of the best EP’s he had ever heard.

I immediately went to Spotify, turned my headphones on, and waited for the music to guide me- OH MY GOD THIS OPENING TRACK IS INSANE!

 

‘Thunder’ is a roaring start to the EP. The dark, sinister guitar and bass combine seamlessly with the quick drum patterns and shouty, spoken word vocals. The chaotic nature of this track is executed to a tee, but the track proves to be incredibly dynamic in the second half which features a stunning saxophone solo, backed up by stellar ambient passages.

This is one of the best opening tracks ever. Yeah, it’s that good.

The rest of the EP is no slouch either. ‘Blind Spot’ is a great follow up and ‘The Tinker’ is a luscious instrumental track which is carried by its luscious saxophone passages. ‘Kakistocracy’ finishes the EP with a slow build and a rewarding payoff.

Knocknarea is a fantastic stepping stone for a relatively new band. If you’re into underground rock, give this one a spin.

Holding Absence – The Noble Art of Self Destruction

If you know me, you know that this is one of my favourite records of the year.

I have sung the praises of Holding Absence on this site many times before, and that trend continues as they provided us with one of the best post-hardcore records in quite some time.

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This record had the tall order of following up ‘The Greatest Mistake of My Life’ which was one of my favourite records from 2021. A great record, no doubt, but I think it bit off more than it could chew in some aspects.

‘The Noble Art of Self Destruction’ is a lot more direct. It still has the airy, silky sweet ballads that the previous records had, but there seemed to be more of a focus on providing the listener with banger after banger.

All four singles were great, with ‘False Dawn’ being my personal favourite, but the record’s deep cuts and lyrical themes of personal growth, maturing, and overcoming adversity helps this one stand out from anything else the band has put out thus far.

‘Head Prison Blues’ kicks the door down and lets you know that this is going to be a fun ride. It’s a fairly standard post-hardcore banger with great lyrics about questioning your own worth whilst trying to process trauma.

‘Her Wings’ and ‘Honey Moon’ are great love songs, with the former being maybe the best post-hardcore moment on the entire album. The album then concludes with ‘The Angel In the Marble.’ A perfect, melodramatic closer with many lyrical standouts.

Holding Absence are a band that I still think deserves more of our respect, ’cause they keep churning out quality material every time they drop.

Sampha – Lahai

Alright, let’s take a break from alt-rock.

Sampha is someone who I had never even heard of prior to the release of his second full-length LP, Lahai.

Oh man, was I missing out or what?

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This record in one word: gorgeous.

Lahai was requested to me from one of my classmates whilst writing an article back in October, and it ended up being my soundtrack for finals season.

‘Stereo Colour Cloud (Shaman’s Dream)’ is an angelic start to the record and a perfect tone setter, yet is followed up with a ‘song of the year’ candidate in ‘Spirit 2.0.’ The track has a vocal hook that’s a total earworm and one of my personal favourite outros… ever.

‘Dancing Circles’ is a stunning ballad that just feels so genuine. I don’t know how else to describe it, but the track just makes me feel cozy. It feels like a big warm hug, and that’s about the nicest complement I can give to a song.

The record stays consistent with other standouts like ‘Suspended,’ ‘Jonathan L. Seagull,’ and ‘Only.’

This record has so many incredible tracks and I wish I could highlight all of them, but there’s just one more album that outdid it. But man, this is a triumph. A neo-soul masterpiece of the highest regard.

Jeff Rosenstock – HELLMODE

This is my album of the year, full stop, no questions asked.

And yes, I know Anthony Fantano also touted this as his number one record of 2023, but that was after I already made the call, dammit!

Rosenstock is a veteran of the scene and has consistently put out great material, but he’s peaked with HELLMODE. 

Being the restless thinker that he is, Rosenstock is questioning just about everything on this record, with nods to mental health, love, accepting morality, and the looming threat of climate change.

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I can’t do this record justice in just a few hundred words. I will be reviewing this record in due time, but for now, I just want you to know that this record is a punk rock masterpiece.

HELLMODE is one of the best records of the decade so far, and definitely my pick for the number one record of 2023.

Stay tuned for a full-length review coming soon…

Game recap: Are the Canucks… good?

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Before we get started, I would just like to get something off my chest…

GET HYPED, VANCOUVER!

The Canucks needed a good start to this season. For most teams, the purpose of a good start is to get ahead of the pack and make up some ground, but not for the Canucks. Nope, this team absolutely needed this start purely for the vibes.

Talk to anyone about the Vancouver Canucks right now. Seriously. Whether they’re a fan or not, they’re the talk of the town right now. The vibes in VanCity are immaculate.

The city is buzzing and the team is absolutely humming.

After a dominant 10-1 thrashing over the San Jose Sharks, the Vancouver Canucks displayed what was probably the most complete game that they have played all season. An absolute Picasso from beginning to end.

The Canucks were back in Vancouver for the first of a two-game homestand, where they faced arguably their toughest opponent yet, the Dallas Stars.

The Dallas Stars are touted to be one of the NHL’s best teams for this season, and with all of the doubt still within a good chunk of the Canucks fanbase, this was their most important test of the season so far.

The Canucks not only passed this test, they aced it.

I genuinely believe that Vancouver’s defensive performance in this game was one of the best I’ve seen from the team in about a decade. It was as clean a performance one could ask for (except for a power play opportunity for Dallas just minutes into the game.)

Yeah, the Canucks took a penalty just over five minutes into the game. Luckily, the team was fine and killed it off…

But it was all thanks to the man between the pipes.

Thatcher Demko, who has looked excellent to start this season, makes an incredible save on Stars sophomore, Wyatt Johnston.

The Stars’ puck-moving is on full display here as forward, Tyler Seguin, receives an iffy pass while Demko has to slide to the far post. Seguin then makes an incredible no-look pass to Johnston, who settles the puck, fires, and is left with his jaw on the floor.

It can’t be understated just how loud the crowd was when this happened. Rogers Arena couldn’t believe it.

Both teams would conclude the first period without a goal, with the game feeling pretty even as the second period was approaching.

Who’s going to be the one to break the ice for Vancouver? Boeser’s been on fire, Pettersson was second in league scoring going into this game, or hey, Quinn Hughes has kind of been the best defenceman in hockey to start this year. Only ‘kind of,’ though (for the record, it’s not even close right now.)

The Canucks’ top players have been so good, so it was nice to see one of the teams’ third liners break the ice.

Pius Suter, who has looked pretty good since arriving in Vancouver but couldn’t buy a bounce in the first nine games, scores his second goal in as many games.

Suter gets the puck to Dakota Joshua, making his return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch, and he tries to send a cross-ice feed to winger, Conor Garland.

Stars player Miro Heiskanen breaks up the pass, but the puck goes to the middle of the ice where no one is covering Pius Suter, who fires a wrist shot to the glove side of Jake Oettinger.

The crowd pops and we have a 1-0 game on our hands.

The rest of this period was an absolute work of art. Vancouver controlled the pace of play throughout and weren’t giving the Stars any sort of time or space. With that said, walking out of a dominant period with just a one-goal lead would be pretty disappointing.

Thank goodness for Elias Pettersson’s existence, man.

Filip Hronek, who has been lights out in his first full season as a Canuck so far, has all the time in the world, grabs the attention of every Stars player, and makes an outrageous pass to Elias Pettersson, who is left wide open in the slot.

Hronek is now second in scoring for defenceman (11 points in 11 games,) while Pettersson now ties Jack Hughes for the NHL scoring lead with twenty points through his first eleven games.

It’s now 2-0 and the vibes are great. Surely that’s enough for this period!

No. It’s never enough. More, dammit!

Ian Cole CRUSHES Stars forward Matt Duchene, which leads to a fight between Cole and Mason Marchment. The crowd’s going absolutely bonkers, and no kidding, this is old-time hockey right here.

So we head into the third period and the Canucks have a two-goal lead… everybody duck and cover.

No craziness. No goals. No nonsense. The Canucks… did it.

Even with considerably more zone time in the third period, the Stars couldn’t generate much of anything meaningful. Vancouver’s pursuit of the puck was on point all night, but especially in the third. The Stars heavily outshot Vancouver in the third, but there weren’t many high danger chances for Dallas.

In a game where Canucks fans and media agreed that a tough test was ahead, Thatcher Demko and the Canucks get a shutout victory against a legitimate foe. An incredible performance from the Canucks. Seriously.

This is the last time you’ll be seeing these recaps (at least on this site) so I would like to remind y’all to stay excited.

Even if the team doesn’t perform like this for the rest of the season, this has been some of the most fun I have ever had as a Canucks fan, and I know it’s been that way for everyone else in the fanbase.

This might be it, man. The Canucks may finally be a good team again, and it’s so damn refreshing to see.

The “What does it all mean?” Phase: A quick perspective from someone in their early 20s

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I have come to accept the fact that a very important part of my life is just starting to occur. Well, maybe not “just starting” but it’s pretty apparent that it might be at its peak at this point in time.

Before I reveal what exactly it is that I’m talking about, let me give you some perspective.

I’m a 20 year-old student trying to find my place in this weird world, and although I have a healthy relationship with my family and realize just how fortunate I am to be living in a beautiful part of the world, I have my own struggles and hardships.

The COVID-19 pandemic did a number on all of us, and I wasn’t immune to its effects. I luckily didn’t get the virus, but the effects that the pandemic had on my mental health was seismic. Again, I know that I’m not alone in that regard.

So, I have officially reached the “what does it all mean?” phase of my early 20s.

Credit: Pixabay - geralt

And I know that I’m not alone in this situation. I am fully aware that this is a rather common thing for people in my age range. Heck, you might have already had this happen to you, as well.

Regardless if you are currently feeling similar to me right now or are maybe just beginning to go through this important phase, I’m here to help and offer some perspective. So let’s get into it, here’s a little bit of my perspective on the constant search for fulfillment.

Questioning if anything is ever enough

This, for me, was the first realization that it had begun, and it happened earlier than I expected.

At 19, I was in the midst of my gap year, meaning I wasn’t in school for an entire year. This gave me even more time to reflect on not only the previous two years (the height of the pandemic,) but also on my future.

That was what really got me down. I was working long hours at a job where I was extremely unhappy most of the time, irrationally worried about being stuck there and thinking that it was maybe all I was capable of.

The reason why I was worried about that was because when the going would get tough, I’d curl up in a ball and hibernate. I didn’t want to act on anything, just roll with the punches and see what life had in stock for me.

I felt worried that even though I wasn’t happy, that if I eventually did something bigger and something that I genuinely loved, it still wouldn’t feel like it was enough to fulfill me.

Credit: Pixabay - Saydung89

This shouldn’t be a shock to anyone, but this is not a healthy way to think about life. With that said, it is entirely normal for someone to have these types of thoughts. I still have them from time to time.

My best advice is to act on it! It’s easier said than done, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with something like clinical depression, but healthier habits and focusing on things that you love will do wonders for your own well-being. If you’re feeling down, do something that will make you happy, maybe even try new things!

“We are screwed and everyone’s against us”

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, we are living in a truly terrifying period of history right now. No matter where you go on the internet it just seems as if there’s a brand new story about something either extremely depressing or horrifying.

The current genocide happening between Israel and Palestine, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the aftermath of a global pandemic are all major parts of this, as well as the fact that unjustifiable hatred towards many minority groups seems to be spiking at the moment. Part of that could be due to the fact that more and more people are becoming aware that it’s happening, which I guess is a positive?

It can seem as if the entire world is collapsing in on itself pretty much all the time, and that everyone is pinned against one another.

Credit: Pixabay - johnhain

There is constant conflict in the world, no matter what. It’s just an unfortunate part of reality. If you feel strongly about what you believe in, be outspoken, be brave, try to help create the change that you so desperately want to see.

If you feel strongly about wanting to help people, do it. It’s just another key into the search for fulfillment.

“What’s the meaning of all of this?”

This is the last one that I’m going to cover, and I think it might be the most important one.

Credit: Pixabay - geralt

A question that has lingered throughout the entire history of humankind is “what is the meaning of life?” and I think it’s for good reason.

There hasn’t been a concrete answer and I don’t think there ever will be, and that’s the beauty of it. You, as an individual, are responsible for creating your own meaning, and that’s what I want to finish this story with.

You’re an adult, the ball is now in your court to choose your path. Sure, you may feel pressured or worried about where you’re headed (you’re valid, I feel the same way,) but you have time to decide.

Don’t feel rushed, don’t feel pressured, you will find your purpose and meaning. Some things are just worth waiting for.

Game recap: Canucks combine for fifteen goals in two games

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In my last game recap, I told you to get excited if you’re a Canucks fan since we don’t know when this’ll all stop.

Well, keep that excitement because, you know…

I’ll go into that one later, as there was a game that happened just two days prior that was also pretty fun!

After a tough loss on Saturday against the New York Rangers, the Canucks were looking for a bounce back against a team that they had previously beat just one week prior, the Nashville Predators.

So, I was at this game, and it was an absolute blast… but man, the Canucks did not play their best game. Even though that was the case, the Canucks still came away with a 5-2 win, and it was a memorable night for Elias Pettersson, who scored his second career hat trick.

How this was only his second? I have no idea.

Everyone knew that the Preds were going to be out in full force tonight after the Canucks walloped them in their own barn, but it wasn’t enough. It seemed as if they were missing the net on literally every single shot. Sure, they generated a fair amount of offence, but I don’t think they have enough offensive punch to be good enough for the playoffs this season.

Sam Lafferty, who’s been an important fixture on the fourth line, got things going in the first, as Quinn Hughes sent a shot to the net which was stopped by Preds goalie Kevin Lankinen, bounced in the air, hit Lafferty’s helmet and found its way over the goal line.

As good as this team has been, man they have been the beneficiaries of some pretty crazy finishing luck, which is just not sustainable in the slightest.

Regardless, the Canucks are up 1-0, the building is alive, and the good vibes continue.

The good vibes were then squandered in rather short order, as two local boys would score two goals in just under a minute for Nashville. Vancouver natives Colton Sissons and Dante Fabbro scored two quick goals, and every bit of energy that was once in the building had been eradicated.

But have no fear, Elias Pettersson is here, and he scored the only two goals of the second period to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead.

Vancouver’s penalty kill was perfect in this one, but they were put to the test in the second period as J.T. Miller took six penalty minutes, which lead to him being benched for the remainder of the period.

Take a guess as to what happened next.

Hollywood type beat.

J.T. Miller cashes in a rebound off of a laser from Brock Boeser, and that was the insurance marker that the team needed. Elias Pettersson secured the hat trick late in the third with an empty net goal, and the Canucks win 5-2 on home ice.

Following the result of this game, the Canucks had a record of 6-2-1 and the vibes were at an all time high, but there was a storm brewing.

The winless San Jose Sharks were next on the chopping block, leading to a ton of anxiety from the Canucks fanbase and media, as this just seemed like a perfect “trap game.” A trap game is basically when a team plays a game they should have no business losing, but they lose anyway.

Canucks fans have been haunted enough by the team playing down to their opponent, so I guess some of it was justified? It wasn’t a concern for Thomas Drance, a Canucks beat writer for The Athletic, who (somewhat) predicted the outcome.

Sharks forward, Nico Sturm, immediately took a double minor penalty for high sticking just over a minute into the game.

Who knew that a game could be over that quickly?

Brock Boeser receives a pass from Elias Pettersson and absolutely rifles a one-timer past Sharks goalie, Kaapo Kahkonen. A disgusting shot that was reminiscent of his rookie season.

That wasn’t all for this power play, as it didn’t take long for Brock Boeser to get back on the scoresheet. Boeser sends an outrageous bank pass to J.T. Miller, who shelfs a backhand shot while moving at full throttle. A world class play to make it 2-0.

 

Oh, you thought they were done? THINK FAST!

BANG! Quinn Hughes makes it 3-0 with his third (THIRD!!!) point of the period, and Brock Boeser scored again on the power play for his eighth of the year. 4-0. What a start, and the jokes write themselves.

Okay, so the Canucks could go in a couple of different directions. They could letup and- NOPE! FULL THROTTLE. FOOT ON THE GAS. LET’S GO.

Do you like goals?

SO DOES ILYA MIKHEYEV. 5-0.

This was an absolutely absurd play by Elias Pettersson. He receives the puck via a lob pass in the neutral zone. He takes the puck on his blade, controls it, brings it into the zone and sends a perfect cross-ice pass to Carson Soucy, who then feeds a perfect cross-ice pass to Ilya Mikheyev who has a yawning cage to insert the puck into.

Andrei Kuzmenko would score not too long afterwards to make it 6-0 midway through the second period, and that would be the one to end Kahkonen’s night, as Kuzmenko’s leg caught Kahkonen’s helmet after the puck went in.

Sam Lafferty would grab his second goal in as many games to make it 7-0, and Pius Suter (FINALLY) scores his first of the season to make it 8-0. Quinn Hughes assisted on both, giving him five points on the night, good enough to tie a franchise record for most points in a single game by a Canucks defenceman.

So after all of that, the game is over and-

Wait, what do you mean there’s still a period of hockey left to play?

Yeah, the Canucks were leading 8-0 after two periods, and personally, I wanted ten. FULL. THROTTLE.

Anthony Beauvillier, who coming into this game had a total of zero goals and three assists in nine games, scored his first two goals of the season to make it 9-0 and 10-0, in his 500th career game, nonetheless.

Yeah, the Canucks scored ten goals… in one game. Insane.

The Sharks would get one off the stick of Fabian Zetterlund to ruin Thatcher Demko’s shutout bid but like, who honestly cares that much?

Well, unless your Thatcher Demko (sorry, Thatch.)

So yeah, that was a rather successful two games from Vancouver this week, one of them being a ten goal performance. Can you believe that the Canucks scored ten goals?

Vancouver will be going head-to-head against the Dallas Stars at Rogers Arena this Saturday. Dallas has a very impressive 7-1-1 record through nine games, while the Canucks are crushing it with a 7-2-1 record through ten games.

This will undoubtedly be a tough matchup, as the Stars are touted to be a potential Stanley Cup contender this year. The Canucks should hopefully hold up against a good hockey team, but let’s see.

Either way… STAY HYPED, VANCOUVER!