Merry Christmas Canucks and Kraken Fans
1) Both of these teams head into the break with a bit of a surge. Here’s to them keeping it going, completely, or not at all. Both are in a position where if they keep playing well, but not quite well enough to make the postseason, they put themselves in the middle of the pack and out of NHL Draft lottery high pick range.
2) It should be considered a sign of character when teams step up after losing key players. It was fascinating to watch the Canucks win four games in a row after their captain Quinn Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild.
In a different way, but more gradual, the Kraken stepped it up and won three in a row after losing their two key offensive defensemen to injury. First Brandon Montour and then Vince Dunn. At this point Dunn is expected back first and both are listed as day-to-day.
3) Here’s to Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko making it through the rest of the season healthy.
4) Some were shocked to see Mason Marchment score three goals over his first two games after being traded by Seattle to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hey, sometimes these things happen. A fresh start, a burst of adrenaline and confidence.
It didn’t make the deal a mistake. One might recall he had a two-goal night for the Kraken against the Utah Mammoth back on December 12th.
He’ll just be Mason Marchment when things settle in.
5) Seattle rookie Berkly Catton returned from his hand injury on Tuesday night and played 12:28 with two shots-on-goal in the 3-2 win over the LA Kings. I think if it was up to the kid he’d be playing for Team Canada at the World Juniors in Minnesota starting on Friday. The Seattle club originally planned on making that holiday wish come true, but the roster and his health changed over the last two weeks.
The 8th-overall pick from 2024 is still looking for his first NHL goal and has five assists in 22 games.
6) Trivia time: When’s the last time the Canucks played an NHL game on Christmas Day?
7) Vancouver still has three players on injured reserve: Filip Chytil, Derek Forbort and Teddy Blueger. We wish them nothing but health and happiness moving forward, especially for Chytil whose ongoing injury concerns are concussion related.
8) Apparently all “Grubi” needed was some competition.
I’m not sure that was the original intent when the Kraken decided to keep three goalies on their roster this season, but it’s worked out well for Philipp Grubauer. Matt Murray was originally brought in over concerns about Grubi’s past performance and health. The German’s name had popped up in buy-out rumours over the last two seasons.
As it turns out, Murray has been on IR since mid-November, having put up excellent numbers, while Grubauer has recently matched that effort.
He has a goals against average of 2.59 and a .911 save percentage, clearly his best since arriving in Seattle. Kraken head coach Lane Lambert credited Grubauer with winning the game for his club in Anaheim on Monday night.
9) Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day to one and all. Enjoy the Hockey Action!!! … when it returns on December 27th.
Trivia Answer: The Canucks have never played a regular season game on Christmas. In general, the league stopped playing games on the holiday back in 1971, Vancouver’s 2nd year in the NHL. Vancouver has played a bunch on Boxing Day.
Earlier Canucks:
— Tocchet’s Flyers Smoke Canucks 5-2
