The Vancouver Canucks will look to accumulate a four-game winning streak for the first time this season when they take on the Jets in Winnipeg on Thursday evening.
“The last time we played these guys they beat us 5-to-1, so I think the confidence in the way we’re playing is good, but every game is a new game for this team and I think the last thing this team wants to be doing is being comfortable,” Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau said Thursday morning.
The Canucks are coming off consecutive wins against the Seattle Kraken, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks. The last win put them over the .500 mark for the first time this season with a record of 16-15-and-3.
Boudreau believes as the team gets healthier and more confident, its identity and potential becomes more defined.
“I had a good vision of what we were going to be from last year,” he said. “but we started out with (J.T.) Miller on the wing for a portion of it, but we’re starting to come around, we’re pretty healthy other than (Tanner) Pearson and (Thatcher) Demko, so you’re getting a pretty good idea of what they’re capable of anyway.”
After sitting out all of the season thus far following a training camp head injury, defenceman Travis Dermott is finally eligible to return to the line-up.
Let’s Skate!
It’s not that they can’t afford it with their hockey monopoly in the nation’s largest market, but the Toronto Maple Leafs got slapped with a $100,000 fine on Wednesday.
Here’s the fancy version of the NHL announcement:
NEW YORK — The National Hockey League announced today that it has fined the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization $100,000 for the team’s travel to St. Louis on Dec. 26, 2022. This team activity was in violation of Article 16.5(b) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association.
The fine money goes to the NHL Foundation.
Bottom line, the Leafs violated the CBA by travelling the team on the 26th during the official league Christmas break.
Canucks WJC Boys
Canucks 2021 5th-round NHL Draft pick Aku Koskenvuo dressed as the back-up goalie to Jani Lampinen for a second straight game as Finland defeated Latvia at the World Junior Championship Group B games in Moncton.
Meanwhile, as we write, Team Sweden has a 2-1 lead on Czechia in the 3rd period of their game in Halifax. Canucks 2022 1st-rounder Jonathan Lekkerimaki has played 10:33 through two periods while big D-man prospect and 2022 3rd-rounder Elias Pettersson has logged 11:43 in ice time.
— Puck drop for the Vancouver Canucks at Winnipeg Jets on Thursday evening is a little after 5 pm pacific.
Enjoy the Hockey Action !!
