EDMONTON – No matter how much a team exceeds expectations and does things that others thought impossible, no NHL season ever ends in defeat without sadness and regret.
The Vancouver Canucks weren’t even supposed to win the Stanley Cup this season, but they did win two playoffs and were only one game away from reaching the conference finals for the fourth time in the franchise’s 50 years.
When their remarkable season, made even more extraordinary by the summer of COVID-19, ended in a 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, the regret was that the skaters had nothing left to help the goalkeeper Thatcher Demko.
Demko’s arrival in the playoffs this week, with starter Jacob Markstrom injured and the Canucks 3-1 down and facing out, was the most incredible twist in Vancouver’s amazing six week adventure in Edmonton.
In three starts, Demko’s first since the league ended in March, he stopped 123 Vegas shots and allowed only two goals – and that still wasn’t enough to carry his teammates past the Golden Knights.
“It obviously hurts,” said Canucks manager Travis Green. “We have a lot of people who are upset right now. That’s how it should be. The Stanley Cup is hard to win. It should hurt when you lose.
“It’s not often that you go into playoffs with 10 players playing their first playoff game and win a Stanley Cup. You have to go through … and learn. You have to fall, get up. You have to fall, get up and learn how hard it is. It was a good experience for our boys and we will be much better for it.
“I don’t think a lot of people thought we were a target before we made it to the semi-finals. What our team went through, the mental part, the physical part, will help our group. It will help our group next year. It will help us in five years. “
Playoff newbies Elias Pettersson (21) and Quinn Hughes (20) – in the end both of them still blocked shots on their empty net after Knights’ defender Shea Theodore finally got a shot through a sea of players and past Demko at 6:08 Minutes ahead – handled the intensity and pressure of the playoffs admirably and look like they are superstars in this league.
Captain Bo Horvat had an inspired tournament, scoring 10 goals. Winger JT Miller led every night, the Canucks defended better than most people thought and both Markstrom and Demko were of course superb. The stage never looked too big for the Canucks.
The team just has to be better, deeper in the striker and stronger in the defense and even faster.
“I think across the board, in our line-up, there are a lot of things to be proud of,” said veteran striker Brandon Sutter. “For the guys who experienced it for the first time, their fighting level and their competitive level – some of them are only 21, 20 years old – showed a lot. I think we can all be pretty proud of the way we play.
“You never know when there will be a chance to win a trophy. I think this year has been just great, just great to get back into the fight. We can be proud of what we did, but it also gives you a bitter taste. It just makes you hungrier for another chance. “
The sour power game on Friday will last a long time on Canuck’s palate.
It was a team strength all season, and failed miserably in Game 7, when the lack of strength and shots in the five-on-five game made the power play the most plausible means of an unlikely Canucks win.
But they only managed two shots in eleven minutes of full advantage, including a five-minute power play that started late in the second half when Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves received a severe penalty and game misconduct to the striker’s head from Vancouver to review Tyler Motte.
The shots for Vegas were 36-14, scored by Alex Tuch and Paul Stastny with empty goals. Vancouver marked the only time in Canucks history that fewer shots were scored in a playoff game. Vancouver defeated San Jose in the 2011 Western Conference final – because his power play scored three goals against the Sharks.
On Friday, the Canucks power play unit couldn’t even come close to scoring against the Knights.
This is something Canucks players will remember in the fall months before another NHL season begins.
The team will of course be different the next time they play.
Markstrom, winger Tyler Toffoli and defender Chris Tanev, a career canuck, are entitled to unrestricted free rein – and it’s nearly impossible for Vancouver to re-sign all three during the flat-cap crisis.
There will be a financial effect that will also bring uncertainty to the limited free agents like winger Jake Virtanen and defender Troy Stecher who had excellent playoffs.
But with its young core getting smarter and tougher since his time in Edmonton, the Canucks’ success this summer may just be a preview of even better times.
“From the puck drop [against] Minnesota (in the qualifying round) we fought hard until the end of today’s game, ”said Tanev. “Very valuable to all young people who are exceptional players. It is a tremendous experience for them to try the playoffs and play three rounds. And you know how hard it is when you lose like this, so these guys will be ready to go next year. “
At the end of his first season as captain, Horvat said, “It’s been a heckuva year in many ways. I couldn’t be more proud of the way our boys acted on and off the ice. We played a lot of good hockey. (Vegas has) a really good team over there and we took them to seven games. We shouldn’t hang our heads; we should learn from it. We will learn from it. We all said it already in the room: ‘We can’t wait to come back next year and prove ourselves again.’ “
