By: Brayden Fengler and Trent Leith / March 25, 2024 #FryGate
Did you come here for hard-hitting, serious analysis of the week that was? Fine sure, scroll further, we have that. But we need to start with the most important part of the week that was. And that was #FryGate.
It all started on Saturday, March 16th, but the momentum of the story evolved into last week. Sara Jones posted a photo on Twitter, claiming she got only 15 french fries from the Rogers Arena concessions for $7.99.
Now, I talked to some contacts in the math industry to try and get a handle on this, and they are saying that is over $0.53 a fry.
When Canucks Twitter found out, they went to bat for Sara creating such a raucous that even the owner became aware of the situation reportedly.
As it tends to be, Twitter was popping with memes once #FryGate caught on.
In the end, Sara’s Canucks rep reached out and made up for the mistake with a much nicer meal for her. Of course, it should have never happened, but I am glad Sara came out on top!
March 19th vs. The Buffalo Sabres
On to the boring stuff, the hockey.
The Canucks played their first game of the week on Tuesday where they took on the upstart Buffalo Sabres. Despite taking an early penalty, the Canucks managed to score first. The goal came off of Conor Garland’s stick. Tocchet decided to mix up the lines a little bit and put Conor Garland on the top line alongside Elias Petterson and Small Town Nils Höglander. It immediately paid off with an ugly goal from Garland chopping away at the puck.
The Sabre’s challenged for goaltender interference and lost. It seems rare you see a coach’s challenge lose, but the Sabres’ just wanted to get a head start on the losing on Tuesday.
Every single Canucks on the ice seemed to be having a strong game, even the powerplay looked deadly, which isn’t something we have seen a lot of lately. Lindholm was forechecking hard, and creating chances, Pettersson had three points, Mikheyev had a short-handed breakaway and DeSmith was sharp despite only a few shots coming his way.
We all love big hits, here is Myer’s big one of the night.
And that wasn’t even the best hit from the Canucks Tuesday.
Pettersson scored his first of the game on the powerplay which was nice to see. The powerplay looked much more dynamic on Tuesday than it had in recent days.
The only Sabre goal came from Dahlin when he walked three Canucks right to the net and scored backhand to bring the Sabres within one. But Pettersson scored his second on the game on the empty net to push it 3-1. He was patient as he approached the net, outwaited the defender, and then had a clean look.
Dahlin made things interesting with a goal in the final minute to bring the game within one again, but ultimately the Canucks would hang on to win 3-2.
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March 21st vs. The Montreal Canadiens
On March 21st the Canucks faced the Canadiens at home in Rogers Arena. The Canucks controlled the bulk of the pay in the first period, in part thanks to the Canadiens who gifted Vancouver two power opportunities in just over the first ten minutes of play.
However, it wasn’t until late in the first period when one Canucks defenceman took matters into his own hands and started racking up multiple goals for the Canucks. That’s right Quinn H… wait a minute *checks notes*… Nikita Zadorov scored two goals within four minutes of each other to allow the Canucks to leave the period up by two.
Zadorovs first goal came in the form of a well-placed wrist shot from the point that Habs goalie Sam Montembeault just simply did not see coming due to traffic in front of the net. Zadorovs then earned his second of the night in a different fashion. While trailing into the Montreal zone after a Canucks break-in Ilya Mikheyev spotted Zadorov gliding into the slot and set up the goal scorer for a one-time slap shot which earned him his second of the night.
Somehow someway Quinn Hughes left this contest without a point to his name, while the b-team of Zadorov, Mikheyev, Aman, and Garland stole the show and earned the Canucks a 4-1 victory over the Habs.
The world truly feels upside down when Quinn Hughes is the pointless physical d-man and 6’6″ Zadorov is lighting the lamp. However this is exactly the kind of play that the Canucks need, they need to have enough depth to allow nights for their stars to take a back seat and the middle talent to win them out. The Canucks also kept the Habs to only 17 shots on DeSmith which no doubt played a big role in the team’s victory.
Draft Day Deep Dives
Daniel Wagner of Vancouver is Awesome is releasing a new book called “On the Clock: Vancouver Canucks” and just announced a launch event and signing for his new title!
“‘On the Clock: Vancouver Canucks’ is a history of the Canucks at the NHL Draft and it’s nowhere near as bleak and depressing as that sounds. It’s a fun look at some of the wildest stories in Canucks’ history and how legends like Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure, and the Sedins became Canucks.” Wagner told us.
There are several “On the Clock” books written by different authors covering both the NFL and the NHL, including the Leafs, Oilers, Flames, and more. But of course, in Vancouver, Daniel’s is the one we want to read. Dan Murphy even writes the foreword in this book.
The book launches this week and a book launch event will be held on March 30 at 7 pm at The People’s Co-Op Bookstore in Vancouver. Come meet Daniel Wagner, hear stories from the book, and get your book signed!
If you are unable to make it to the signing, currently Amazon has his book listed at $26.95 with Prime shipping. Of course, it is always better if you support your local indie bookstores if you can.
Pro tip: If you can’t wait to get a hold of your copy, many local bookstores will order it for you and give you your copy before it is officially released, I (Trent) have had my copy for a while now.
Lekkerimaki on His Way to BC
It was reported on Friday by Rick Dhaliwal that Swedish prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki was on his way from Sweden to Vancouver for just under a two-week stay out in this neck of the woods.
What this means exactly is still unclear, a stint with the big club seems unlikely. So perhaps as Dhaliwal posits in his reporting, this trip is intended just to get Lekkerimaki working within the Abbotsford system for a bit, before going back to Sweden to prepare for the IIHF World Championship in May.
So don’t imagine Lekkerimaki is going to help the Canucks on a cup run this season. But it’s still always exciting when notable prospects start finding themselves in the Pacific Northwest more and more.
March 23rd vs. The Calgary Flames
The Canucks’ final game of the week came in the form of a Hockey Night in Canada match-up against divisional rivals Calgary Flames. Calgary currently sits well out of the playoff picture at four positions out of the last wild card spot.
The Canucks got to work early as less than a minute into the opening frame Pettersson, Garland, and ultimately Höglander executed a beautiful passing play, resulting in a back-door goal for Nils that put the Canucks up by one.
The rest of the first period concluded without a change in the score, but just like in the last game the Canuck who scored the first goal also had something to say about the team’s second goal. After earning himself more chances in the first period as well, Höglander finally converted again in the second period.
The Flames somehow left Höglander and Pettersson all alone at centre ice which resulted in Petey feeding Högs the puck for a breakaway. A little leg lift and shoulder shake later and the puck’s in the back of the net for Höglander’s second of the game.
The Flames earned one back at the very end of the second period thanks to a Rasmus Andersson goal, but the Canucks weren’t done yet. Most of the third period did go by without a goal from either club, until an absolute riffle from J.T. Miller while on the power play, added a third goal to the scoreboard for the Canucks.
Quinn Hughes also assisted on this goal, which aided in his quest up the all-time Canucks leaderboard for points from defencemen.
Elias Lindholm contributed a Loui Eriksson special late in the third, helping his team with some empty net insurance. Calgary did get a second goal on the night in the dying second of the game, but in the end, Vancouver would leave with a 4-2 score and their third straight win.
