Wake With Elias: Rest in Peace, Gino

Arguably the toughest dude to ever lace them up for the Vancouver Canucks passed away suddenly at the age of 52.

Gino Odjick succame to a heart attack on Sunday. The legendary enforcer battled a rare illness known as AL amyloidosis, which affects the heart’s ability to expand and contract.

Odjick left Canucks fans with a plethora of memorable moments, some of which included 127 career fights, a penalty shot goal against Mike Vernon, and an unlikely friendship with another Canucks legend, Pavel Bure.

He absolutely put everything on the line for this franchise, which is a stark contrast to what we’ve seen from the Canucks so far in 2022-23.

Odjick is gone from us far too soon, but his legacy in this city will live on forever.

Canucks News

• Former members of the Canucks, such as Geoff Courtnall, Cliff Ronning and Jyrki Lumme comment on the passing of their former teammate. [The Province]
• Ethan Bear, who had a relationship with Gino, talked about the goal he scored within minutes of the world learning that Odjick had passed away. [Sportsnet]
• Rick Tocchet will be the next head coach of the Canucks: confirmed (maybe, possibly, probably...) [Daily Hive]

• The Canucks are still fighting for their current coach amidst the Tocchet rumours. [The Score]
• Jonathan Lekkerimaki talked to Postmedia about how he “needs to be better.” [National Post]
• Thankfully, Jack Rathbone is okay after being stretchered off the ice for the second time in 11 months. [Sportsnet]
• The Lightning are reportedly interested in bringing back Luke Schenn. Shocker. [Daily Hive]

Around the NHL

• How many former Canucks do you spot on this list?

Chris Tanev, Jalen Chatfield and Nate Schmidt all cracked the top 12. There’s also Calvin de Haan, who many people wanted here on a PTO. Instead, the Canucks signed Danny DeKeyser to a PTO, and he lasted half of preseason.

Brandon Carlo is another player who I mentioned as part of a potential return during the JT Miller trade rumours last season. Bruins fans seemed down.

• Fuck Ron DeSantis & the NHL for caving to his ridiculous demands. [Deadspin]
• Matt Boldy just signed a seven-year, $49 million extension with the Minnesota Wild. [TSN]

Boldy was drafted two spots after Vasily Podkolzin at 12th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.

I often think about how Jason Botchford stated prior to the 2019 draft that the Canucks should select Boldy because he’d be the perfect winger for Pettersson.

Another bang-on take by the legend.

RIP Botch. Both you and Gino were taken from us too soon.