It’s only been four years since the St. Louis Blues beat the Boston Bruins in seven games to win the 2019 Stanley Cup, but when looking at the roster the Vancouver Canucks will face on Thursday night, it seems like a lot longer.
Then captain Alex Pietrangelo is long gone, a Vegas Golden Knight since the summer of 2020. Star sniper Vladi Tarasenko recently joined the New York Rangers and just last week the club’s next captain Ryan O’Reilly became a Toronto Maple Leaf.
Here’s who the Canucks will see:
Brandon Saad – Robert Thomas* – Jordan Kyrou
Ivan Barbashev* – Brayden Schenn* – Pavel Buchnevich
Sammy Blais* – Logan Brown – Josh Leivo
Alexei Toropchenko – Nathan Walker – Tyler Pitlick
Nick Leddy – Colton Parayko*
Nelson Scandella – Justin Faulk
Tyler Tucker – Robert Bortuzzo*
The players with asterisks were the six on the Stanley Cup club. Blais actually moved on and just returned in the Tarasenko deal.
Of course, the Canucks are no strangers to being sellers, with ex-captain Bo Horvat having already been moved along to the New York Islanders back on January 30th. More changes are expected.
As for the race to the bottom and the best odds of landing the top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, the Canucks have the 6th fewest points in the league while the Blues are 8th worst.
Canadian Women Rally
Wowsy, what a comeback. After dropping the first three games of the Rivalry Series between the Canadian and American women’s national teams, Team Canada came back to sweep the next four, including Wednesday’s 5-0 shut-out in Game-7 in Laval, Quebec.
Blayre Turnbull tallied two goals, with Marie-Philip Poulin, Victoria Bach, and Ella Shelton each chipping in one.
“I’m really proud of everyone in the room and any of the girls who have a played a role in any of these games,” Turnbull said postgame. “It’s a hard thing to do, but if any group can do it, I believe it’s us. Getting the win is a great way for us to build momentum and hopefully keep it going as we head to Brampton (for the world championship).”
