Fans have their say on season so far
Readers have their say on what they like and don’t like about the Canucks — and what the team still needs to do
Ten days ago, we asked Vancouver Canucks fans what they thought of the 2019-20 team, whose season remains on hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the following days, hundreds of readers responded through our newspaper website, though a few did email in their thoughts, too.
Today we present to you the results of that poll:
MOST IMPORTANT CANUCK
Given how many wins this year
have been due to his stellar play, it’s no surprise that more than half of all votes in the most important Canucks category went to Jacob Markstrom (53.6 per cent).
The veteran netminder has been on a tear over the previous season and a half, having found a tutor in goalie coach Ian Clark who’s proven to be the perfect fit.
The big Swede has proven to be the league leader in making difficult saves, according to data tracked by Clear Sight Analytics, the company run by ex-NHL goalie Steve Valiquette.
At last, Markstrom’s work was drawing Vezina Trophy attention in the weeks before he tore his MCL in late February.
If the season does finally return, he’s fully recovered and will be a key factor in whatever schedule the Canucks face.
Two new Canucks drew plenty of support, which isn’t a surprise: Wunderkind Quinn Hughes drew 23.4 per cent of the vote while the irrepressible J.T. Miller was third with 17.1 per cent of the vote.
To the surprise of at least one beat writer, Elias Pettersson was the fourth choice available to respondents, winning just 5.9 per cent of the vote.
LEAST IMPORTANT CANUCK
Signing a big contract and then struggling to produce is a surefire way to draw the fans’ ire, and Loui Eriksson was the overwhelming choice of fans in our poll, taking 59.7 per cent of the vote.
Eriksson may do lots of little things well, but the simple truth is he was signed to score and he simply hasn’t done so since signing on the dotted line in 2016.
Jordie Benn, who most said would be a solid fit when general manager Jim Benning signed him last summer, has struggled this season and was the second choice, taking 25.2 per cent of the votes.
OVER-DISCUSSED? OVERRATED?
We asked which Canuck was talked about too much, leaving the door open for fans to pick a player they thought was overrated, or perhaps a player who simply was in the news too much because of injuries or other factors.
Brandon Sutter, who was playing pretty well in the early parts of the season before hurting his groin and struggling to get back to full health, got the biggest slice of votes at 34.4 per cent.
Jake Virtanen was the choice of 26.8 per cent of voters, followed by Tyler Myers with 21.8 per cent and Jay Beagle with 17 per cent.
WHO DO YOU LOVE?
Much like the opposite question, there was no dominant name, though two middle-six forwards did combine to draw the majority of fans’ favour: Adam Gaudette was chosen by 32 per cent of fans as the Canuck who doesn’t get talked about enough, with Tanner Pearson close behind as the choice of 25.8 per cent of votes.
Gaudette has had a solid offensive season from the third line, having improved his shot and his skating. He’s a solid contributor on the second power-play unit, but in the long run will need to improve his defensive play to be a truly effective force.
Pearson is a great pickup off the scrap heap by Bening. Playing on Bo Horvat’s wing, the direct-skating winger has rediscovered the two-way form that made him a favourite of former Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter.
Defencemen Alex Edler and Troy Stecher, who have often been paired on the blue line this season, drew 19.6 and 16.7 per cent of the vote, respectively. Antoine Roussel, who won unsung hero in the Canucks’ team awards in 2018-19, had just 5.9 per cent of the vote.
A MEMORY LIKE THAT
MOST MEMORABLE CANUCKS GAME THIS YEAR?
This Canucks’ season had more than a few very fun games. The
team’s suddenly high-octane of- fence has been a welcome development after a string of seasons in which the opposition goal sometimes reminded onlookers of the Bermuda Triangle.
It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that 63.6 per cent of voters chose the 9-3 demolition of the Boston Bruins in late February as the most memorable game of the year. Nine goals against anyone will light up the eyes of any fan, but for it to have been against the B’s was a very nice treat.
The Sedins’ retirement night was a solid second, being picked by 26.2 per cent of voters, while the home-opening 8-2 win over L.A. — the night Drew Doughty went off about losing to “a team like that” — drew little support at just 7.9 per cent.
A game rated by some in the media as the best of the year, a thrilling shootout loss to Carolina on Super Bowl Sunday, drew just 18 votes, or 2.3 per cent of the total.
THE BEST IN SEDINERY
Feb. 12 was a special night. Jacob Markstrom stood on his head to lead the home team to a win over the Blackhawks.
And the Sedins’ numbers 22 and 33 were raised to the rafters.
The night’s highlight was Kevin Bieksa’s hilarious roast of the twins, according to 42.4 per cent of voters.
Nearly a third of voters, 30.8 per cent, said their favourite part of the night was seeing the cavalcade of old heroes, which included Bieksa, Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Markus Naslund, Mattias Ohlund, Jannik Hansen, Roberto Luongo and Trevor Linden.
The simple memories that rushed through everyone’s minds drew 16.5 per cent of votes, while the Sedins’ speech itself was chosen by 10.3 per cent of voters.
BACK IN BLACK
The nostalgia for the Canucks’
black, flying-skate sweaters meant ‘90s night, which honoured the Canucks teams from over two decades ago, drew the “ayes” of 51.9 per cent of voters.
The Canucks originally planned to wear their throwback black uniforms only three times this season, but the debut of “The Skate” this season — just the second time they’d worn the now-classic black-salmon-yellow setups since switching to the orca in 1997-98 — was so popular that the team added a fourth game.
THE MODERN SHIFT
It’s not a big surprise that the 2011 Sedin-led Canucks are the favourite-team choice of 50.2 per cent of Canucks fans. It’s also not a big surprise that No. 2 is the ‘94 squad, drawing 35.9 per cent of the vote.
The combination of the two speaks to where the bulk of the Canucks’ fan base is, as is the truth that the ‘03 West Coast Express Canucks drew four times as many votes as the original Canucks squad to make it to the Stanley Cup Final in 1982.
THE BEST PLAYERS
It came as little surprise that Jacob Markstrom and Quinn Hughes handily won the votes for best goalie and best defenceman, respectively.
But it’s perhaps a bit of an upset that J.T. Miller was the leading choice as the team’s best forward, taking 58.8 per cent of the votes. There’s no doubt he’s had an incredible first season in green and blue, but how does the team fare without Elias Pettersson in the lineup?
TWO STRENGTHS, ONE WEAKNESS
That the two strongest segments of the Canucks’ lineup are seen to be the forwards and the goalies is no surprise; that the defence is indeed the weakest section of the lineup isn’t a surprise either.
This team can score. And it’s been
BEST PART OF THE CANUCKS’ LINEUP?
in the playoff chase because it has received excellent goaltending.
There are still improvements to made in the forwards, but there are some intriguing prospects on the way to make the forward group deeper. It’s the lack of intriguing names in the defensive pipeline that remain a worry. The blue-line corps can clearly be much, much better.
BRING BACK MARKY
Another no-brainer vote result: Of all the Canucks’ pending unrestricted free agents, Jacob Markstrom is the man two-thirds of fans want Jim Benning to focus his efforts on retaining.
Tyler Toffoli has only been a Canuck for 10 games, but his seamless transition to his new team, skating on Elias Pettersson’s right wing, won him the favour of 28.9 per cent of fans.
SHOTGUN LOVE
Restricted free agents don’t have a whole ton of leverage in chasing after their new contract, so it’s just about a safe bet they’ll all be retained. But that angle has a slight twist in Vancouver because of the complicated cap situation and the fact both Jake Virtanen and Troy Stecher have rights to take the Canucks to arbitration to settle their new contracts.
But the question posed here was much simpler: Of the four Canucks who are restricted free agents, who is the priority?
Virtanen was the choice of nearly three-quarters of voters. The Abbotsford winger has had his best season as a pro, scoring 18 goals in 69 games this season.