Wake With Elias: World Cup of Hockey and Surrey’s New Stadium

Canucks News

• So, this is kind of a hilarious story from the other day. Incumbent Mayor of Surrey Doug McCallum, in the lead up to the upcoming Surrey election, has promised a 60,000 person multi-use sports stadium. This seems, quite frankly, absurd. Apparently the Canucks as well as the BC Lions will play there. Some have pitched a Major League Baseball team. What? Good luck with that, man. Apparently he’s discussed it with the Canucks and I do not really believe that. I guess we’ll see what happens but this seems like silliness to me.

• Some Canucks prospects will be partaking in the Four-Nations tournament, if you’re looking for some prospects action.

• The Backstreet Boys wore Canucks jersey at Rogers Arena! I have less than zero interest in this particular band, but like I've said before, I’m a huge sucker for famous acts wearing the hometown team jerseys. They’re just like us!

• Matt Sekeres talks about Elias Pettersson’s next contract and how it lines up with an increase in the salary cap. It’s true — with the cap forecasted to go back up, EP will likely be due for a tidy next contract, assuming he keeps up the level play we saw in the back half of last year. Certainly, it makes you happy they got the term they did on the Hughes deal.

• CanucksArmy asks, what are your favourite memories of the Sedin and Luongo, the former Canucks set to be inductee into the Hall of Fame? I ask the same of you, dear readers. I’ll say my favourite Henrik Sedin memory is when he made that pass through Antti Niemi’s five-hole in the 2011 Western Conference Final, though my favourite Daniel Sedin memory is a bit of a dark horse. I got really into hockey post-2011, and in 2012, Daniel tied a game late versus the Red Wings, and Burrows eventually won it in the shootout and ended a historic winning streak. Little-me was hyped. My favourite Luongo memory, I’ll go with the Patrick Sharp save, game seven against Chicago. Have your say!

• And this is a few days old, but we didn’t really cover it this week and I wanted to touch on it. This is certainly an interesting piece. Apparently Rutherford was both worn out by COVID and wanted a President of Hockey Operations role, and that’s why he left Pittsburgh. It adds some texture to the situation, as it had been previously very fuzzy. Whether it’s the whole story, I guess we'll never know, but it’s certainly interesting.

Hockey News

• The World Cup of Hockey is back folks, and it seems like it’s a serious tournament this time. It look like it will be held mid-season, with an Olympics-esque break in the year. There won’t be any of the Team Europe or Team North America Under 25 nonsense — an actual best on best. We’re still short on some details, but I think this could be a big win for the league and the sport if done properly.

• EA Sports announced the cover for their NHL 23 game, and it features Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras and Canadian women’s hockey sensation Sarah Nurse. I think having a female player on the cover is extremely cool, and it’s certainly fun to see someone as dynamic as Zegras as well. Some people have, understandably, hated on the palm tree aesthetic, but honestly, I don’t mind it. I’m not a big gamer (it was only recently that I learned the Xbox One was not in fact the newest console), but I may buy this one.

• Team Canada put up a 4-1 win over Finland in the IIHF Women’s World Championship in their first contest of the tournament. it featured a goal from the aforementioned Nurse, as well as Marie-Philip Poulin, Maeghan Mikkelson, and Blayre Turnbull.

• And an important update on the ongoing Hockey Canada saga. I hope the recent WJC win for Canada does not overshadow the work going on here.

BC Place Bulletins

BC Place Bulletins is a Friday WWE feature summarizing scores and major news from the local Vancouver sports scene.

• With star quarterback Nathan Rourke out, the BC Lions will be relying on Michael O’Connor to step in and maintain the club’s success (an impressive 8-1 so far). Patrick Johnston spoke with O’Connor’s high school coach.

• Canada Basketball is currently playing in my home of Victoria for the World Cup Qualifier. Could be an interesting local story to follow.

• And just for fun, a record update on the two MLB teams the locals love here. The Seattle Mariners are 67-57 for second in the AL West, while the Toronto Blue Jays are 67-55 for third in the AL East [MLB.com]