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It's going to pretty weird tonight, folks. A team that's been eliminated from the playoffs will be playing in front of a crowd that's pumped up and excited to watch them play. Why? Brock Boeser. The Canucks 1st round pick from two seasons ago is making his debut at home, and it's going to have the fans in attendance fired up to get a glimpse of the future.
We know Boeser had quite the whirlwind weekend, but now with a day to rest and get his bearings in his new hometown, it will be interesting to see how he responds to playing in front of the people that will hopefully chanting his name in the future.
THE OPPOSITION
The Ducks are locked in a 4 team battle royal for the Pacific Division crown that likely won't be decided til the last game is played. San Jose, Edmonton and Calgary all have a real shot to win it.
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Looking at this, you can see that it's like the old Sesame Street song. For quite a while it looked like the Pacific was San Jose's to lose, and welp... looks like they took people up on that offer. You'll notice that Anaheim is the hottest of the 4, and 4 is also the number of games they've won in a row currently.
The Ducks are healthy, have Ryan Getzlaf playing some of his best hockey in years, and really look like they're getting hot at the right time. The question is: will they be able to overcome the issues that have seen them flounder in recent years once they get to the post season?
THE CANUCKS
As of this writing Troy Stecher is still a question mark after leaving the game against Winnipeg with an upper body injury. Another body for the pile that is the Canucks injury list, we haven't heard of any plan to call someone up from Utica, further frustrating the legion of Jordan Subban fans.
The Canucks added some depth yesterday, signing Western Michigan free agent F Griffen Molino. He's likely to be there to fill gaps in Utica, but the consensus seems to be this might be a solid get for the Canucks.
Ryan Miller is the Canucks Masterton Trophy nominee, though any writer who votes for anyone besides Craig Anderson of Ottawa this year should have his credentials revoked. It's a no-brainer, honestly (looking at you, Buffalo writer who shall not be named).
The Canucks have opened voting for their annual team awards. You can go vote here.
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Since we heard Brock Boeser likes him some Megadeth, we thought we'd dust off a classic. No, you won't find something off Risk in my playlist, instead we're gonna go back to the beginning, from the debut 'Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good' album.