Sat Shah and Bik Nizzar breakdown the Canucks 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Hear from Head Coach Rick Tocchet (41:48), Phil Di Giusueppe (4:00), Carson Soucy (1:19:53) and Quinn Hughes (1;22:15) post game. Plus a few clips from Patrik Allvin (1:09:54, 1:29:25) on After Hours. And Brett Festerling and Iain McIntyre (1:30:35) provide their analysis.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
This is the Canucks Central post-game show. Two on one for the Canucks the other way. Booger, right wing, in front for Dieter Shiffi, he scores! Out of the right circle to use. High spot, wrist shot, block, remotely scored. Patterson to the side of the net. Elias Pedersen strikes on the power play and it's four-nothing, Canucks. With instant reaction from the players and coaches. Old lander, left wing, in the low and effect zone. Old lander centers, loose in front, they score, you shooter! Shooter driving the net as the puck land right on his tape and he scoops it past, Connor Hellebach to make it five, nothing Vancouver. Have your say on the official home of the Canucks, Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network. Canucks ground the Jets, five-nothing victory on Holmice. Winning their fourth straight game and this is the Canucks Central post-game show. Presented by the number five orange on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network, Satyar Shah with Biknazar, going to bring in Brett Festerly into the conversation in just a moment calling the game alongside Brenna Bachelorette here on Sportsnet 650. Get your thoughts into a Dunbar number, Texan inbox, 650, 650. You can also grab a phone line on our dispatch plumbing and heating hotline, 604-280-0650 or toll free, 1-888-275-0650 and the Canucks four straight wins, they be three heavy teams in a row, the Kings, the Vegas gold tonight and tonight the Jets and Brett, when I look at how the Canucks play tonight and I know we'll get to Demko, that's a big story to obviously, it left the game, did not return, we'll see what the head coach says about his status but another complete performance here from the Vancouver Canucks, playing some of their best hockey right around the time you want the team to start getting going again ahead of the playoffs. Yeah, that three games, that stretch, if you're circling those on your calendar, those are big teams and I think going earlier, especially into the slump, they did get a little criticism for how they performed against some of the bigger teams, Vegas the first time they're in, that's obviously when they were a little hotter but obviously LA the week before those kind of games and then going into LA, having the game they did, obviously going to Vegas and then today even the start, you just knew it was just business like from the puck drop, so it was really impressive win and showed a lot of confidence in who they have out there. We were talking last post game set that this game was going to be kind of interesting to watch just because they've been on the road and now you've got this nine-game homestand to you, just kind of lose focus a little bit but you just said they're Brett, immediately they were on it, like from the first shift, that Miller line gets out there on the second shift and they were fantastic and they create the goal. When you're at this part of the season, do you cast away things like that of like, oh slipping focus just because you know you're right there at the finish line and you got to start ramping it up? Yeah, I mean you're always, there's always like precaution and coming off, coming off, there's, every time you come off a road trip there's always that little bit of a lull or you're worried about it and then obviously it's unique circumstances going into nine games at home. Yeah, but there should be the energy there and you expect to see the energy but that doesn't always happen. So to see it and then see how they executed especially that first period and the energy they had was very encouraging. It really was and I mean it's one of those games where there were really no passengers tonight. Five different goal scorers, JT Miller, Niels Hoaglander, Fieldes Giuseppe, Elias Pedersen, and Pew Souter as well. Pedersen having a multi-point game here tonight. I think three points on the night and we'll see officially how that final goal gets scored. So you talk about all four lines contributing tonight. The Lynn home line didn't get a goal to their, to their credit, but I thought that line would put the coals in in Garland. They're all over it as well and one of the goal scorers he meets us now outside the Canucks locker room. Fieldes Giuseppe scoring it back to back games. Phil, man, it's always a pleasure getting you on the post game show man. How you doing? It's been a while, boys. What's going on? Not much. We're missing chatting with you, man. How you feeling now? Four wins in a row, goals in back to back games. Confidence must be pretty high right now. Yeah, I think I'm finding my game obviously the level that I want to be playing at and contributing at and you know obviously we got a good run going here as a team at both ends of the ice and in goal. So things are going well right now. When things are going great in December and into January, it felt like the team had such an identity and you know the the blue girl Garland Joshua line got so much love for it, but it was really the bottom six for me that was doing so much great work and here recently Rick talking has mentioned these last four games. The team has found their identity back. You're scoring it back to back games. Do you feel like the team itself is also finding the identity too? Yeah, I think all four lines are playing well and contributing at all ends of the rink. So obviously you know Dakota is a big big presence. He's been playing really well this year, so can't wait to get him back in, but you know right now I think all four lines are finding a way to you know move the chains out there. Well and as far as you know playing to your identity, I know the coach spoke about that as well. You guys when you're at your best, you protect the guts of the ice really well. You four check well and I guess sometimes you know teams go through stages and ups and downs through a season, but it really feels like you guys are honing in on your team game right now. Yeah, obviously before the stretch you know we had a little bit of a lull and you know all the things that the coaching staff was preaching and things we were trying to work on have come have come around. So that's just a testament to you know our practice habits and and everybody listening and buying into what the message is and you know it's been good it's been good. Lack of penalties also helps the the penalty kill obviously, but it's four games in a row as well where no shorthand of goals against. You play a role on the penalty kill, what's been working? Yeah, we almost went a full game without a penalty, but Brock had to take that one in there. No, like I said, I mean I sound like a broken record, but just you know trying to do what the coaching staff tells us and you know we practice a lot in penalty kill and you know I think we all take it serious out there even when it's practice. You know obviously we have a lot of skilled players, so just try to learn you know defending those guys and then and bring those habits into the game. Well, and as far as you know the team getting through the trade deadline as well, this is the group you guys are going with and clearly you guys deserve the back and 91 points on the season. One of the top teams in the National Hockey League, but how nice is it to kind of know this is the group now and get that whole trade stuff just out of the way? Yeah, obviously you know every team goes through it you know it's a serious part of the year, but that's just the nature of the business and you know that now that it's over with you know everyone's everyone's coming together and you know we know where we're at and we know that teams are coming for us, so you know we're gonna we're gonna keep building off this stretch. I wanted to ask you what some of the young guys, Ho Glander and put Coles in. They went through the journey of the AHL to the NHL. You spent some time with the Abby Connects last season. What is it about the process that's working so well for that transition that guys are able to jump right in and make it seem so seamless? I think first off I can't say enough good things about you know the entire organization from from the bottom up and obviously I played a year and a half there and you know we had some good teams and a lot of young guys that are that are doing well. Obviously Hoggie's you know he's kicked off on the door of this here. He's incredible. He had a good game tonight and you know we're lucky lucky to have him and you know Pods Pods is a gritty out there and you know he's powerful so you know those guys are still really young and continuing to grow so this guy's the limit for those guys. Before we let you go Thatcher Demko left the game in the second period there. I mean it's always tough to see a teammate get out but hopefully he's all right. Anything you saw in him? Does he seem okay? I don't know what happened but he's a warrior so I'm expecting him to be back in no time. We try we try we try to see the inside info. No loose lips here pal. I love it. Hey Phil man great stuff as always. It's nice to chat with you on the post game show and we look forward to hopefully doing this down the road again. You know the Italian way. You can't talk. No restaurant. Exactly man. 100% you know you ain't no snitch. We know that. All right. Thanks Phil. Appreciate it man. Thank you guys. Always a pleasure. Yeah man. Great stuff. That's Fieldage Zepi and as soon as you score the goal tonight we're like we got to get Phil on the on the post game show. You know we love chatting with him and and Brett you know you need to have guys around the team but he's a certified beauty isn't he? Yeah those guys are great and he's yeah every time you get them on. He's great to talk to and I love his game. His energy is amazing and it shows you know it carries through. They started the last two games and then second period they have they're losing some of the momentum when when they're trying to press. Did you set up being laughed or did you go out blue or they're the ones that flipped the momentum goes to commercial break? Who does talk put out? Those are not lying right? So started the game with them right? Yeah exactly and started to so they're showing confidence in them they're looking really good and and playing a really nice game on the fourth line there. The guy I wanted to ask you about we're getting a lot of texts about a person Susie. I really like. It's like so much fun. What's not to like? Yeah it's incredible. I don't even know what specific thing I want to highlight with you just talk about his game. Yeah I mean tell me what we went through this three times which is too bad that he has. He has been as injured as he has but his ability to bounce back and step into the lineup and contribute and look that smooth is tough. That's really tough to come from injuries and look just like that speed right to get the timing of that speed down. He's really good on the off side in terms of coming back as a left and I talked about this a bit on the broadcast. There is some advantages if you can use them. Not every player on the off side can use them but he comes back as a lefty and he's looking up right away. You saw a nice break go pass because he's on his forehand right whereas if you come back on your on your regular side you're on your back hand so you can't make these quick passes where Susie's coming back getting on his forehand and looking up right away so he's not only not having to get the net he can make that quick break go pass which he did here in the third which was great or he just gets on his horse uses that net and then he's got a solid forehand pass so he can go up the wall he can rip it up the middle he can go cross-seam so he's taking advantage of that and he's already a good player at moving the puck up the ice so it's been really impressive. He had a play in the first period that I think on the TV broadcast it looked like the puck got away from him but it was actually a rim around in the offensive zone and he's on the the off side he took it off his skate off the wall and it was perfect and it just kind of went off the heel of a stick but it was the thing was like his heads up looking for the play and it looked worse on the TV broadcast we were like oh you couldn't handle it he did it perfectly it was unbelievable it just kind of just went away but it was just one of those things like off the skate off the onto the blade and like it's stuff like that that you just look at like this guy's got all the goods right now yeah and that's one of the advantages too if it's the same thing you're you're taking pucks on your back end or your skate like you did but you get to pull it forehand which is like seven eight feet for him it's so fluid yeah exactly so you so that forward that's trying to block he's coming on the body and then all of a sudden you move that puck eight feet in one motion he can't get in that lane he can fire it he's really good at that his hands and his mobility for a guy his size is really impressive what and it seems like his first priority all the time when he's playing somebody with the puck or playing another body neutralize the threat and he can be physical but more often or not he doesn't need to resort to the physicality it's playing with the stick the positioning but when he wants to use physicality he can really nail guys as well I mean he had that hit on a mess in the cob behind the net it's like it's not always his go-to because his go-to is just win the puck and win the space which shows just the smarts that he has right but the fact that he can clear guys with authority is a real big key as well yeah and he's high hockey IQ in terms of he uses that big stick and I notice here a lot in the third guy's coming in on rushes he neutralizes guys with his stick at the top of the circles because he's coming in and he's not only boxing out but he's lifting their stick so they can't get a stick on it with pucks coming to the net like that's what happens with suitor right the guys get pucks he's just getting sticks in the air before they come and then setting up that wall he's so big they can't move so he's really good on the neutralizing is it like checking the guy's speed is it going after the puck he's good at matching speed doing that kind of surf the wave as we as the young kids call now surf it where you're using your forward momentum to match the speed and then pivoting but with his stick he's getting the stick in the air as he's coming backwards so it's just those guys and then they're naturally just coming to him and he's already has them wrapped up right so it's matching the speed boxing them out early and it just creates this hole for the smith or damn code it just can't you know see any shots coming in there's no traffic it's just interesting to watch him versus someone like Queen Hughes because they win in different ways obviously right Quinn wins with just quickness and he's able to kind of stack guys and pivot away whereas Susie there's a bit more physical contact but he's also 6'5" and he's just he's so large and he just does it in different manners yeah and he but he he's a nice hybrid like Cole's gonna get in the guy's physical wrap him up push him out same with Zadorov's usually gonna do that Hughes is more Hughes reminds me so much of Nedermeyer in the way he checks on the walls just because he's so tricky at jumping around and lifting sticks or a stick in between legs where he's poking and then getting body position but Susie has this nice combination of both he can do both depending on who the opposition is and yeah I can't say enough good things about how nice it is to have him back in the lineup yeah and I know Susie I think you mentioned how well he's able to play off the rush he's able to do that because for a big guy he's his foot works really good like he's he his mobility for guy his size his ability to play on his edges like he's not the fastest guy but his footwork is really impressive yeah there's a couple I notice a lot when he's going backwards or he's coming back to get a puck he's grabbing a go skating forward and then he's pivoting backwards to look up ice and then he's having to make a move or whatever that's like when your feet are going forwards backwards left right that's when you usually notice a big body right like you know I'm not gonna put your names out there but you'll notice taller bigger guys whereas he looks pretty smooth and quick when he does that and right away you're like ooh that was that was smooth and for a big guy you usually don't see smooth yeah and bick you brought up uh Quinn Hughes I wanted to unless you have something of Susie on the transition uh on on yeah on well I mean we can wax poetic about Carson Susie and everything but you know Quinn I thought especially in that first period it was like he was on a mission and we all know about obviously the offensive ability he has and how well he can break the puck out but that battle was shyfully behind the net I mean physical lays a body into him cross-jacking fighting hard takes the puck from him and then you see both ends of the ice right the physicality the you know how he and getting the puck helping the transition then joins the rush and sets up suitor for a great chance as well the other way I mean you saw it at both ends of the ice on that sequence and it just kind of showed how dominant he was early in this game yeah he continues to just impress we're talking there for 75 points multiple 75 points under 24 years old for D-Men he was here let me get the sheet this is the seven the six guys he's he's in with Paul coffee Potvin or Bork McInnes and Leach those are pretty good someone to prep today let's go but you know I mean like that while you read those names and the fact that he's having stats that compare with those guys to me is mind-boggling that that was as impressive of 20 minutes that that first period that we've seen from them all season yeah and it was fantastic the whole game but that first period was textbook of do it on one side of the ice breakouts in the offensive zone like he he won a pinch against Shife Lee he got to the front of the net he was in front of the net for another play in the defensive zone dancing around in the offensive zone it was everywhere in that first period and it's it's one of those like send that one to the award committee to for the norises says like if you watch that 20 minutes it's hard to like not put him right there you know how do you know he he is literally everywhere that and that reminds me of scott and earmark too he's breaking out the puck and then he gets like didn't want to cite names here but no but like you know i mean but the positives are good but that's what happened would be you know he he makes the solid defensive play and then somehow he gets an odd man rush but then he's the first back checker and then he's breaking the puck and you're like how how is this guy everywhere on the site yeah i mean it's been it's been fantastic let's spend a couple minutes on the fours before we let you go that hoglander peterson line tonight with pew suitor i mean all three guys get a goal peterson gets his on the man advantage suitor scores late to make a five nothing and hoglander had the second goal of the game very effective game from nils again but those three players that line very effective tonight yeah starting to show some chemistry right yeah like i i think you saw it first in pewing hoglander hoglander has that to net i like when he just kind of flies down the wall and pewdie has enough skill hoglander just trusts that he's going to get the puck and pewdie gets in the puck and that's where that hoglander goal comes from is pewdie does some skill it's a nice breakout play by i think all four guys on the ice there but hoglander just bust he knows he's gonna get the puck then he gets it there and pewdie's going there too so but yeah and then suitor is just a good compliment he works hard he's so smart he's on the right side and he can keep up on the skill level it seems like i wanted to ask you about that breakout because it looked like suitor was coming back to like support hues but it slips into pewdie and then he hits hues i think they were working past um it was um Alex Eiffaldo was trying to get in on peterson but i can't course correct to suitor and they're just able to get an easy breakout yeah they just it was so nice how the three of them supported they could have went either way right they could have went pew over to suitor but they instead because of where winnipeg's position they go suitor and he's just like a one touch over to pew busts up and then hoglander knows so he busts and it's just exactly smooth and fast it looks so fast to get up the ice for so many of these plays and when they're getting that north and they're and they're supporting each other they look so good yeah i don't think there was one line tonight that just didn't really have it i mean every single one of them and you know mekev he had a couple other chances against tonight that he created tons and he's skating fast but it just seems like he just can't put the puck in the net but that line as well was effective and at least he's making a real positive impact when he's out there with that line yeah he's a bit he's a bit snake bitten right now but he has looked like the vegas game is the most dangerous i've seen him look in a long time in terms of some of the opportunities he had and then tonight you're right he just he was in the mix he was in front of the net he was getting pucks back and then going to the net which is something i definitely during the slump i don't i don't think i saw from him in terms of just more that grit more that sand of getting to those areas and battling and yeah he looked at i mentioned it quickly with phil um put colson uh is he keeps showing that flashes of upside that that here's another stable performance and i stack another game i think so yeah like i like i'm really impressed with his skill but how he uses it on the defensive side and i mentioned that too where like he had one play around the wall where he took a rim play into like a toe drag swung his body around to protect the puck and they made the play like those little plays make such a difference and during the vegas game he made a lot of like skilled toe drag plays and then busted to that red line to get to make the smart play to get it deep so those combined with that offensive ability and some of the chances he's having yeah i think he's stacked it on bret fantastic stuff as always man appreciate your time calling the game but also post game breaking it all down and uh we look forward to chatting again very soon and have a really fun finish this campaign yeah thanks for having me great stuff from bret festerling keep your thoughts coming in to our dunbar lumber tax them box six fifty six fifty you can also grab a phone line on our dispatch plumbing and heating hotline six oh four two eight oh zero six fifty or toll free one triple eight two seven five zero six fifty we are going to hear from conux head coach rick talkett coming up in a bit as well plus we'll also play the thoughts of rick bonas who was not too happy with the performance of his team the jets here tonight uh who did play last night in seattle blanking the crack and three nothing but vega blank tonight five nothing by the vancouver conux and we mentioned minus two on the aggregate yeah man and and five different goal scores for the vancouver conux tonight now the fifth goal is so far claimed to be unassisted so no point right no well i mean because it was peterson with the puck up hogan how to shoot it over it hits the jet's player falls down so question is did they have possession it hits namescov but he does like a very we're down for nothing what if i can just like put this into a space like i thought he tried to make a plan yeah i i couldn't tell exactly if he tried to make a player not but if he made the play no point but we'll see if they correct that but as it stands uh it was a two point performance with quin hues elias peterson pew suitor and neils hoe gander tonight the one they should correct is pd's goal no demco assist yet yeah that one should he's the one who kicks it out and on that your demco we don't have an update on on what happened with that your demco and the best we could tell watching some of the plays uh that tv was showing during the uh second intermission was that after a couple of shots and chances in the second period before he left it looked like he was grimacing and favoring his left side a little bit it took a while to get up you saw one sequence the official comes over to him in the blue paint he checks on him takes a while but he gets back up and then during the tv time out at the almost 11 minute mark he comes out in case of this myth replaces him so clearly there was some level of discomfort we can't intelligently tell you what it was i know during the tv broadcast they speculated that it potentially could have been a growing injury but we'll ultimately see what the status is for that your demco and and that is going to be uh the big thing we're watching the next few days here as you mentioned though bick the good news is we still have several weeks before we're even getting to the post seasons there's some time here but there's always a uh there's always concern when your number one netminder gets an injury after the trade deadline yeah six weeks away but uh it is the one black cloud that hangs over this five nothing game obviously uh but we'll see what happens here moving forward yeah all right we are going to get to the full thoughts of connex head coach rick talk it but to give everybody an update because everybody's wondering talk it says they have to talk to a doctor don't think it's too serious but they can't speculate now listen we i would caution we all wait for a better update because we've heard before they say i'm waiting for doctors exactly we've heard before where they say hey i think he's going to be okay day-to-day then it's week-to-week and everything it's always tough to know right or the inverse even right jt miller was once week-to-week right next day right right right around the same time he came back to very next day so things to keep in mind here but that's the update uh we were trying we want to get that to you as soon as possible the coach doesn't think it's serious have to have to meet with the doctors don't want to speculate beyond that but we're all hoping that that your demco is not injured too badly so for those asking including k-man that's the latest on demco and i don't think we're gonna hear anything in addition to that at least until tomorrow or the next couple of days all right bick we are going to get to the foam boards coming up in a second let's get to a few text messages William and Langley says incredible game guys the boys were absolutely buzzing and i hope demco is okay question how many more victories until the connex clench a playoff spot well it comes down to mathematically other teams being out and for that to happen but the connex are now sitting at 91 points on the campaign and what the playoff cutout cut off might actually be 91 points this year no i think it's improved quite a bit um because it's vegas now is the wild card two so is it 94 i think it's 94 95 but they are also have they already won um yeah so they're at 75 points right now in 64 games so it's uh it's it's trending to be um uh 95 or 96 points so still got some work to do obviously yeah uh yeah there's definitely some work to do here uh for the connex before they officially clench but for all intents and purposes they essentially have 91 points and they still have 15 games to go on the campaign here so an incredible uh season so far by the Vancouver connex this one from calling the Vancouver we cannot trade hoaglander he will be a 20 30 goal score plus a ferocious f1 four checker thank you alvin for not trading and patrick alvin is also on after hours so uh depending on what he says we'll get some of those thoughts to you later in the post game show as well but hoaglander gets his 20th goal this season here bick and what a campaign for him and you know what we talked so much about top six forwards for lee is peterson and the way he's been playing alongside peterson and the way he's going right now maybe just maybe they have that solution in house it's so funny too because you think oh man like what a great gaming hand an awesome game he was very visible every time he thought he must have played 16 minutes tonight 12 12 for nils hoaglander yeah and i mean it's so hot because he looked at the 12 minutes it's very impactful and you can't not notice them and you like to see that constant energy from nils hoaglander was a third star or sorry second star this evening queen huge is your third star lee is peterson your first star uh but yeah a really strong came from nils hoaglander and popping up in very pivotal moments uh with the between the legs uh rebound chance which they highlight real stuff to get jt miller the first goal and then gets a reward uh later on for the goal and kind of a shot that kind of squeaks through hella buck but he he was pivotal and there's always been the chemistry there with lee is peterson obviously but the big thing has always been production yeah if you're gonna play top six minutes and have that role you have to produce and he hit a little bit of a dip there uh in mid february but now it's starting to come around for nils hoaglander yeah it really has in a massive massive way um another update on Thatcher Demko from patrick alvin on after hours saying hopefully we will have some good news later on tonight or tomorrow so that's the latest on Thatcher Demko the head coach said they're hoping it's nothing too bad have to check with the doctors don't want to speculate beyond that and patrick alvin just saying hopefully have good news later on tonight or tomorrow so we're hoping it's minor patrick alvin going to the field he just at the school of uh no secrets let it uh loose lips sync ship so he's keeping it very very tight so okay uh all right uh a couple texts before we get out nav and dallas what a statement if we play like this we can hang with any team in the league uh any other texts here you want to hit big before we get to the foam boards uh 604 0 uh 2800 650 just a second but kevin from calgary seattle has never been the same without cars and suits facts only i mean they're struggling this year i mean how much is correlation and causation we don't know all we know is since c left they have not been the same all right we'll get to more of your text messages coming up in a little bit but let's go to the dispatch heating and plumbing hotline and we'll start things off in poco where we have holdin on the line holdin thanks for calling in what are your thoughts after this connects five nothing went over the jets hey set i've been uh been listening to you since uh jake and pratt i'd love to see you grow i love the show man um i just wanted to say like watch where quinQ's puts pucks when he is driving extended play in the offensive zone watch where he puts the pucks watch where his feet are pointing like it's it's unbelievable what he's able to do he's five eight he looks a knee neck he looks like he had polio yeah and the man is just driving the defensive the transition game the entire complexion of the game for the connect it is elite he is the second best player right now in the league next mc david that's all i have for you man hey fantastic stuff appreciate the common words thanks for calling in uh holdin and you know as far as quinQ's does i mean he that's a great observation by him and everything he's doing right now as that's such a high level pick quinQ's again that first period i'm excited to go home and rewatch it because he was fantastic man on the mission man on the mission it was it was everything it'd be one thing if it was like oh power play and he really feathered it and great pass and doing his maestro act or it's all being conducted at its feet but it wasn't just the power play or something like that it was a pinch where he's sneak past chiffley not a small body and he works a chance there and i think it was best or gets a net front tip he's joining the rush on a put cozin uh takeaway and put cozin hits him and he goes around and he gets that chance in front of uh connor helipok he creates the goal for jt miller because he's dancing around it's the speed it's and that play behind the net uh that you were talking about with chiffley it was so magnificent and you just see the ability to tilt the ice and i know it's been tweeted out and many people have probably seen it in that first period the ice tilt was 15 nothing uh shots on shot attempts when quinQ's was on the ice yeah i mean that's just dominant utterly dominant and the play even to um on the hope lander goal mentioned like that past the peterson you know kind of like up the middle on an angle but it's perfect and peterson can lay it off perfectly for suitor and they're out past afalo and away they go and just so many moments where not only is he calm in the waters but he's also extracting the most out of the opportunity that's available yeah he absolutely is that's well said they're big let's take one more phone call before we hit the break let's go to edminton and where we have mike on the line mike thanks for calling in what do you have for us here tonight uh just first we want to say uh what a great night of hockey for the conoxo is an excellent game to watch and i feel as if um there are just so many great takes that can be made just based off this game alone uh but with that said i'm not going to have any of them um i am not a superstitious individual however if i was could we possibly make the argument that our hockey lives have finally come full circle as conox fans and after we are eliminated by big Z the day no chara in 2011 playoff that we have finally done what was needed and we have acquired our very own big Z in the door off um i feel like he is just a level of absolute dynamics that i think is necessary for a great playoff run i think he's going to be the guy that's going to be leading the charge and sticking up for his teammates and kind of letting the ground works uh for the team anyways i'll get your thoughts on that guys have a great night hey thanks for the phone call that's mike in edminton you can also grab a phone line 604-280-0650 or toll-free 1-888-275-0650 quickly on the door of while uh we put him down as one of the players to talk about so let's hit that a little bit here but i think mike makes a good point in terms of him bringing the physical presence it's certainly notable when he's on top of his game and in the post season if he plays engage like that consistently it's going to be an absolute menace to play against and one thing that's very clear when you see this Canucks team they have trees on the back end right and as much as their forward group is the biggest they forecheck and they're really good with their details but that defense it gets through is tough and Zadorov had one of those games where guys trying to get through him had a real hard time here tonight it's a big warning to wingers that are trying to enter the zone on the left side because there's a couple of moments in quick succession where kupari tries to enter the zone and he just eliminates them gets across the blue line but he has to go around him and he goes to the wall and you heard a big thundering boom into the glass and that's what he's going to do and and that's him falling off dropping off and finding the angle to eliminate the guy into the board so okay is he going to do that every time can you come in with some speed and try to work so think well Adam Lowry tries it later and what does he do he steps up this time ahead of the blue line and forces the play off side and Adam Lowry is no small guy you know he's big he's a large human being right and so is Nikita Zadorov and so it's like Godzilla versus King Kong and there's Nikita Zadorov winning that battle and forcing Adam Lowry to go vertical yeah he takes flight not landing on his backside but it was it was a large hit and you know it's two guys that are six five plus and when you play like that you're going to send a message that hey coming up the left side it's going to be pretty difficult for you so you better have a plan you better act on it quick and well look there were still a couple of moments where defensively rotations where they have smooth as they needed to be but nevertheless the zone entry denials are really strong yeah they really are and and sousi's great at doing that as well I mean as a team that defense and it's remarkable how the Canucks have gone from where they went from being one of the more permissive teams the past couple years to literally if not the best one of the best defensive teams in National Hockey League and yes the Jets played last night and everything but we've talked about that with the Canucks and saying you can't use that as an excuse you have to learn to play tired but nothing in the middle of the ice pretty much a couple chances in the first where they're only two real quality chances well there was three chances I thought they had Appleton had two in the first and then the Mess and the Cobb had one in the second and those were like the three chances that were real quality to me in front of the net where you know they could have a prep perhaps maybe should have scored on one or two of those but that was pretty much it and outside of that you know this Canucks team does not give people a lot in the middle of the ice yeah and just really quickly the PDG goal obviously it gets kick started by the demo save but that whole sequence actually started with Zadorov he's kind of retreating he's got the puck he's facing his own goal line and he's kind of sweeps it into the corner to spin it up the the wall and that's how the Jets get the possession more sea creeps in on that left side they get a bunch of chances eventually Appleton gets that shot and it kicks out Lindholm gets a PDG and they score but it all starts with the Zadorov giveaway just wanted to highlight that moment there too but in general yeah like what was the a couple of moments in front of the slot but the rest of the way they they really kind of locked up shop yeah they certainly did in a massive way traditional suk says Zadorov intimidating and Lowry all night was awesome the bully got bullied was awesome the bully got bullied all right keep your thoughts coming in to our text inbox 650 650 you can also grab a phone line 604 280 0650 it's Satyar Shah with biknazar after a five nothing Canucks win over the Winnipeg Jets we'll hear from the head coaches that's coming up next on the Canucks central post game show presented by the number five orange of Vancouver legend they've got sports two more next on sports net 650 catch up on what happened in vancouver sports with howford and bruv in the morning be sure to subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts this is where you talk Canucks you're listening to the Canucks central post game show on the official home of the Canucks sports net 650 and the sports net radio network saucer pass right circle for Lowry feeds to the back door for Morrissey sneaking down the wall it was tipped off of a Vancouver stick Morrissey couldn't get a shot but settles the puck now throws it for the goal from the far half wall dimple made the same rebound in front of appleton and what a save by demco and now it's a two on one for the Canucks the other way bluegurn right wing in front for diocipi he scores a huge save by demco at one end of the ice and a huge goal for diocipi at the other it's three nothing Canucks with three minutes left in the first yeah i think all four lines are are playing well and contributing at all ends of the rink so obviously you know diocota's a big big presence he's been playing really well this year so can't wait to get him back in but you know right now i think all four lines are are finding a way to to you know move the chains out there that is field the juzepi scores the goal to make it to nothing for three nothing for the Canucks at the time they go on to win five nothing and this is the Canucks central post game show presented by the number five orange on sports on 650 and the sports net radio networks out to your shot with bick nazar and that is your play of the game it all starts off with a great save by Thatcher demco kicks the puck out middle of the ice bluegurn grabs it sets up field juzepi who makes no mistakes scoring in back-to-back games and he joined us on the poll post game show as well and he mentioned about Thatcher demco that you know hopeful that he'll be back soon and we had a couple of updates one from Canucks head coach rick talkett who mentioned they're hoping it's not serious but he has to meet with the doctors and they'll know more soon doesn't want to speculate at patrick alvin also mentions on after hours and we'll play the audio from from both those coming up in a little bit but mention that they're hoping to get some good news uh after some tests either tonight or tomorrow so perhaps the hope is it's not too bad how things are with Thatcher demco but he makes a save field juzepi makes no mistake and the Canucks well they took advantage of their opportunities here tonight absolutely uh and that one again a lot went right for the Canucks this evening like broken sticks falling their way bounces uh going their way on like the hoglander goal and uh also the peterson goal uh but the the pediciko was the one with like demco not entirely convinced he knew that the shot was on its way but you go through your process as a goalie right you get to that post and you get low when you think a shot passes come from behind and he's uh he's in the right spot and and that's that's the sort of stuff where we see from time to time again from from demco we were talking about the ickel save last game against the golden knights where he tracks the puck so well he's gets to the spot so early and he makes a would-be good chance for someone like jack eiko just get completely nullified and here in this moment he's doing the right thing gets to the right spot appleton takes that shot hits it perfectly and it bounces perfectly for lindholm or uh for blugger to uh open up that uh two on one and away they go to uh convert that chance so uh great work and certainly to play the game yeah absolutely uh it was the play of the game with Thatcher demco big stop unfortunately had to leave the game like we mentioned we have a lot of questions about who gets credited with the shutout it was a team shutout if neither gold i was on the unperson everybody knew this but all right yes uh neither goalie gets credited for the shutout it's a team shutout correct but neither goalie gets credit for the shutout because neither goalie played the full game so you got to play the full 60 yeah and so it's too bad but uh that is how it's like all right big couple text messages and a phone call before we get to the head coach what are the people saying on the dunbar lubber text unbox uh Elijah and maple Ridge such an amazing win trying not to freak out or demco have to say Carson freaking Susie the steam just can't lose with him in the lineup not a coincidence i think a lot of people ask us uh what's the record with Carson Susie what's the record he he always looks so good and the team is winning well 19 3 and 2 now with Carson Susie in the lineup also when is Dakota Joshua back mentioned yesterday uh it's trending to be uh next week so uh there's your update on Dakota Joshua yeah hopefully uh you'll see him practicing with the team here this week and a return is not too far or long around the corner uh all right we'll get to more of your text messages let's take a phone call 604-280-0650 you're told free 1-888-275-0650 let's go to Toronto where we have Ron on the line Ron thanks for calling in uh what are your thoughts here tonight well before I get to a few cautionary words here I want a great respect for a hog wonder you know I love them since his rookie season and when he's with this guy's been through with the demotions and the trade rumor they're gonna give him away for free and he's elevated his game this guy is a top 6 forward by by by next year so you know he's he keeps this guy he's great and uh and and the connection like what can I say great intensity for the first two periods but this is kind of where it throws him off they did let up a little bit in the third and he got to play 60 minutes and uh and uh and some floppy line changes there that could come back to bite them if they didn't play off that kind of bothered me and um and the other thing is maybe you can explain this to me you have some very skilled shooters standing at the dot or the or the or the or in the circle and then they're shooting the puck wide over the net how does that happen exactly you know that it disturbs me hey thanks to the phone call ron I mean sometimes you just miss the net it just it just happens it's one of those things it just happens um you know as far as how they play it in the third I mean I don't think it's five nothing it's five you know a hundred percent but also in terms but also in terms of you know scoring chances the Canucks out chance them the Jets high dangers tonight 17-8 five on five and in the third the Canucks out chance them 4-2 with high dangers as well so I think this is about as complete a 60 minute performance as you can expect from the Canucks I thought they played really well fantastic performance tonight but let's get the thoughts of the Canucks head coach after a five nothing win over the Winnipeg Jets and here is Rick Talkett post game Rick let's start off with your thoughts on what was a pretty complete performance from your group tonight yeah I think from you know from all 21 guys today contributed it was good effort by everybody I mean honestly you could pick a lot of guys that had good nights and did the small things obviously concerning to see Thatcher leave you have an update yeah I've been talking to the doctor you know I don't think it's too serious but I don't know I can't speculate I haven't talked to the doctor I want to ask you about Quinn I mean he had a bunch of guys that were slow coming out of the break yeah he seems to be on top of his game again yeah he's been playing really well um I think uh I gave those two I think getting a couple days off for him helped um he's mentally like he's recharged you can tell um yeah he's been he's been terrific for us you were wanting your fourth line to find an identity does it seem to you like maybe in the last two to three games they've done that especially blueber yeah um I think to win this league you have to have a you know a good fourth line and I think they've played well these last four games it also quences we were not taking penalties so they get out there a little bit more you know it's so when you take penalties some guys sit the bench for a while so it looks like there's more flow so it's easier for me to coach when it's a flow like this you can use the bench so um yeah did you get in a couple goals your last couple games you know laughs man with his speed and he's really good on in his own end with the Hughes and Herodic pairing it feels like they spent like 80 percent of time in the offensive zone tonight what worked so well for them tonight well I think the four check I think our forms are really good to get in the puck they've got a lot of loose pucks um you know they played yesterday last night so might have the little bit obviously advantage um but I thought from when the puck was going east west we were jump on those pucks and I think you get possession out of it I think that really helped those guys we've talked a lot about the three centers kind of one two three lines but I want to ask about Teddy Blueger and the way that his line played tonight it felt like they were another line that had a lot of possession what did you like about Blueger um I thought they were close together the speed deja with deja and uh laugh on the speed on the wings I thought they were really fast tonight they played a fast game um and Teddy's really smart guy you know uh it just seemed like the they were connected they've been connected the last couple games and you know now it's about good I'm getting confidence holding on to pucks I think they're holding on to pucks more than I've seen them before usually just throwing around now they're holding on to pucks and making some good decisions with and some good plays that the start you mentioned the start but the starts have been pretty good for you guys so you you know badly outscored the opposition the first period what is it about the start is it just the speed or is there a broader story there no I honestly I just think it's been a tough month and I think this last week um guys are feeling their legs again I mean we're a team that has to skate I mean we're you know we're a team that has to play structured hockey and I just feel we're getting it back again you know we're we're you know it just seems like we're refreshed you know and this is a good month they get even getting more fresher so um we'll see how it goes and the record with Susie in the lineup is yeah pretty remarkable what what does he bring how does he set the rest of the the pair he's a really calm guy like he's a he's a he's a really he's a great guy in the room because he's always got a small in his face that's one but he's a he just mixes him with everybody uh his demeanor even if when things get hectic on the bench he you can see like he's just calm he breathes you know he talks to the guys and I think it calms the bench sometimes the bench can get hyper and he's just one of those guys you look at him he's still like you know he might he might even make a mistake and he's still like but no problem you know and I think that that helps the team helps the defense. William McKayev has been snake bitten yeah last couple games but especially this game he gets a team high six shots on goal but more than that he was winning a lot of puck battles yeah what have you seen from him and does it feel like a goal is kind of inevitable that it's coming yeah I think a lot of people are trying to root for him to score I mean but honestly like if he plays the way he's been playing last couple games or lately for me you know they're gonna go in I you know I just don't want him to get down about it because I like his game and I told him you know in the bench halfway through don't get I know he had the chance or don't get dejected because your game's good you know he's winning in pocket that's with Mick if he can win puck battles and win races he's gonna help our team it's you know eventually you know something will hit him when going to that I hope I know he said you didn't talk to the doctor but with with Demko heading down the stretch here into the playoffs how important is it to get him a little more rest so that he is fresh going into the postseason yeah well the schedule kind of sets up for that and we're confident in Casey obviously we'll find out what this happens but yeah we're gonna have to really manage it we got three days off we got two days this week I mean I think we play three games and I don't know you guys were eleven days or something so there's a lot of time for him to get some rest and whatever you know we got to do to get him healthy again but yeah we're gonna manage him for sure continue on the theme with the lines with the lint home pod calls in garland what are you seeing from them and do you think that the chemistry is sort of starting to grow between the three and I think lindy's game's been really good the last three four games I you know for me subtly I you know maybe some people see it I see it smart plays you know good defensively guards his guards guards you know he usually every game he gives you his you know he gives you his all and I thought posse I thought posse he's really chipping away at his game you know he's his hockey IQ is really night and day from the training camp like and I gotta give the Jeremy down there in the office for really helping him out but yeah his hockey IQ is really you know is this the point where it pays off having had lint home already for over a month and him sort of being more settled in with the group yeah I think so I mean you know sometimes you make early trades that's why you do that sort of stuff so you know like I said he's the last game he won four draws the last three minutes of a game a tight game against Vegas tonight he won a couple of draws for me when I went it so you know these are big plays that go a long way only a couple chances for the for your power play tonight but looks like they were moving the puck around wall what do you see from that group especially with a new formation with PD at the net prep yeah I was just more confident so I thought tonight I thought the road trip it was coming you know little little by little but I thought a little bit more decisiveness I mean I love the shot you know peas in front those are the goals you have to get we had a couple chances there you know we just got to continue work on it make sure that we don't get frustrated and I thought the last three four games were chipping away at it we're getting close we're not there yet but we're getting close and Nils Hoaglander hit the 20 goal plateau for the first time is where what is he brought to your club this season just energy I mean he's uh he's been terrific for us energy wise you know there's been games where we're maybe not on our game and he'll just do something you know whether it's heavy four check or get a big goal to ignite our team so he's a good igniter you know he when we're a little bit dead you know you have to have those players when the team's not there you need that that guy you know he's uh he's that guy he's a you know he'll ignite the the night the team sometimes he's got 20 goals you know terrific so far Rick do you think you guys have made a statement here over the last week I mean a week ago you didn't have a win over Los Angeles Vegas or the Winnipeg Jets hadn't played them a bunch but you hadn't beaten any of those teams now you've rattled off four straight and three against those clubs do you think you've made some sort of statement I don't know the statement I just think we believe it you know you know you know we talk about the outside noise you know you got to believe in yourself yeah we're a little bit pissed at our play but it wasn't that bad too I mean we had a really good game against Boston you know we gave the one in Pittsburgh away I don't think it was that bad but it's a grueling month you know after they all start big it was uh you could tell the miles it was wearing on guys I think this week the rest we got playing the playing the style that we had to get back to the two one games the three one game those are you know and playing meaningful games in March are huge for this organization this is big you know for POTC and those guys but also other guys PD you know huggy those guys these are big games and they're delivered for us that is Canucks head coach Rick talk it after five nothing when these are meaningful games important for the group and it's not just lip service in years past we'd hear it hear the phrase meaningful games in March and it was like oh because you're eight points out of the playoffs and you can somewhat try to talk yourself into winning five in a row and being in it and being in meaningful games this is like legitimate meaningful games vying for the top spot in the conference going up against other powerhouses and the Canucks are coming out ahead right now with a four game winning streak and he mentioned like they believe in themselves you know you have to take you know they hear the outside noise but they put the belief in themselves and they had a grueling month with a lot of travel off the all-star break as well and they weren't at their best but he mentioned there was parts of their game he didn't mind and he liked but these past four they've really gotten back to their identity and he sounded like a very pleased head coach yet again here tonight certainly um all 21 guys contributed and uh doing all the small things the little things matter he really hit all the uh classic tropes here he really did the little things and meaningful games in March yeah and it wasn't just you know and the funny thing is sometimes you hear those and their cliches and just make you know they're yeah as like it's legitimate you know they were small cliches in larger answers and there's real truth in what he was mentioning you know and you know Niels Hoaglander a lot of credit and just when you hear him talk about Hoaglander now compared to how he talked about Hoaglander earlier this season and training camp I remember him saying once I'm it was after a game and he was asking he's like you know about Hoaglander he's like well I've been told he's a buzzsaw I've yet to see it see it though I think he's seeing it now the buzzsaw aspect of it and you know mentions how he brings energy he's been terrific energy wise whether it's a heavy forecheck or a big goal he's an igniter when they're a little bit dead he brings it and you know can't say anything else about 20 goals on the campaign from Niels Hoaglander but the coach is more than pleased with the development of number 21 yeah and you know he still finds ways to do his little flair yeah on top of being an effective team player as well so between the legs rebound opportunity so it's a little something for the fans a little showcase from Niels Hoaglander and a goal for JT Miller well you know like does he get that puck through if he doesn't make that move you know absolutely you know and it was the right thing it was right in the moment and then JT is able to bang it in and that shift to me you know we were having a debate what should have been the play of the game coming in and you know we went with the field digital zepi goal to make it three nothing because it included the demco save but to me the first goal of the game really epitomized what they've been as a team for the most part this season but also this stretch I mean it was another great team goal and by that I mean two separate lines changing keeping the pressure going by you know really putting it to the their opponents and eventually breaking through and it happens because the efforts there of course you're crashing the net but also they're playing with tenacity and they're playing discipline hockey getting off quickly allowing a teammate to change and that change is what allows Hoaglander to jump onto the ice allows him to keep the pressure going I mean there's so many things on that point I know you want to outline it all starts off the face off too but to me you know he spoke up mike of the coach that play doesn't happen if mike is not be lining it to the blue line to keep the puck in and then jumps off for a change right away I mean it's things like that that allowed that first goal to happen you can go through the entire sequence as you said there start with the face off well JT wins the face off but by himself and takes guys with him to the boards and then slides it to mike for a one-timer near the face off dot mike of later gets a slot tip on that shot from her own it and that's what started three guys below the line and the player we're talking about earlier where three jets go below the line connor slips into the slot and so he was kind of goes with them and just collapses the overall space and if it swings around okay so be it he's got to go in a photo race with Kyle Conner but the puck squirts to Kyle Conner and he goes to turn and Queen he was just right on him yeah and forces of the puck loose JT swings back and is able to keep the play alive swings it to the boards mike of gets there now after a dogged shift just slides it deep goes off for nils hoaglander and who's the one that is there when the puck comes back up the wall it's nils hoaglander and then against the Queen Hughes he's dancing he finds some space and then there's hoaglander for the rebound chance it's stuff like that that okay this is connected hockey as much as he talked about the fourth line they played connected close together there's still like connection between lines lines inflow play and that was a big moment and it's tiring when fresh guys come out there and they're pushing the tempo and there's no hoaglander fighting for space it's a tired unit creates the goal yeah it does and the Vancouver Canucks another victory five nothing over the jets we have a lot of reaction on the text unbox and you know there there isn't a lot to critique when it comes to the Canucks tonight and how they played and how they performed so Gary and vancouver texted and says we're absolutely lucky to have a d-man like hues on our team the way he handles the puck the decision making is like no other d-man in the Canucks pass it's so nice to have a team where you're not scared about giveaways when they have the puck not a whole lot of negativity to throw around on the team so let's critique sat instead sat say growing again uh sat sounds like he's saying going you guys are the absolute best thanks for your great post game show growing growing injury am i saying it oh you are saying growing am i saying growing growing growing i don't know now i am all in my own head growing growing growing growing growing this is like us doing math yeah oh we're heading the call and he's like what a breaking morons all right i keep your thoughts coming into our text unbox six fifty six fifty we are going to we are going to bake bake yes complete absolutely unraveling here get critiqued than you fall apart talk about a week constitution all right uh we'll get back to more of your reaction we'll hear from brick bonus who was none too pleased with his team's performance plus we're here from patrick alvin and more from conux players and this is the conux central post game show presented by the number five orange so the game is over but is you not really done the number five is open more coming up next on sportsnet six fifty everything conux before and after the games conux central with dan reachio and sat here shop subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcast hit the this is the conux central post game show join the discussion on the official home of the conux sportsnet six fifty and the sportsnet radio network jt milloch right corner hit by shuffly feeds the line for hope lander off the bench lock shot bounced off besser's side of the ball missed the target but he recovers it and goes to hues of the line hues top of the point darting to the right circle with room gets a shot stop by helibok remember hope lander he's there kneels hope lander got the shot free with his stick between his legs and then gt miller scooped at home in the blue paint conux take a one nothing lead two oh six into the first boy hues does good hues things he crosses the blue line he gets room for himself and he gets a shot to that we said that you need to get rubber on these goalies early and go there and hope lander standard right in front of helibok actually puts a stick between his legs to get it through the crease and miller just jams at home three inches from the line all the conux needed to beat the jets tonight and this is the conux central post game show presented by the number five orange on sports net 650 and the sports net radio network get your thoughts into a done bar lumber text and box 650 650 and we are going to hear from conduct we heard from conux head coach rick talk it and we are going to hear from jet head coach rick bonus and mike it's awesome says that i hear brick bonus tough seg sat brick bonus is a strong name though elite maybe i did unraveling there at the end of the previous segment but uh rick bonus his thoughts are coming up in a little bit but bick before we do that what are the people saying to our done bar lumber text and box 650 650 a lot of questions coming about what the rotation will be like when guys come back so let's write all these off who comes out when mires is ready from sam and who comes out when joshua comes back uh two texts that one's on sign there 650 650 all right uh let's start with the mires one do you just keep him out man i was gonna suggest it but i'm glad you went there first no no and listen i i think tyla mires for the most part has been good this year for the conux right right now with how the team is playing and the fact that he got injured and i'm not saying you lose your spot to injury or anything i always hate that always hate when guys lose your spot injury but do you doesn't matter no i i think it's it's unfair sometimes but i don't think i don't think fairness matters i think what matters is how the team is performing and if you lose your spot you will get a chance to regain it again so that's how i view it as a general principle i really dislike that but nevertheless it's it happens yes i i'm a far i'm a bit more cold blooded when it comes to those sort of things than you are i think but uh i think with how they're playing it's especially these past four games you can say this has been the conux best defense the stretch of the season these past four games they've allowed three goals in four games three goals in no game if they allowed more than a single goal and four penalties as many people have pointed out here it helps hey is there a coincidence that someone's out of the lineup in the four penalties they're barely giving anything up defensively they've been good offensively whatever they're doing is working very well and of course as susie bick was struggling playing the right side i would have a different answer for you yeah man but i don't have that answer for you that's what changes the dynamic of that question of is that susie is not just oh he's on the right side and he's playing a minute he's bribing on the right side yeah that's the difference and it's a conversation i don't know if it actually materializes but it's a conversation you know what though it's it's a good problem to have let me just put it that way but i would and keep keep this lineup even once Myers gets ready and wait for his opportunity to come back next that's how i would mention that he's like when he's got to keep one of these guys in the lineup and it's it's been Noah julson that he feels pretty bad about it is it Ian Cole who by the way i thought had a much improved game you know what and they have to find some maintenance days as well honestly the best answer is Ian Cole to find him in the maintenance days he did play a lot better tonight and and maybe we should spend a moment on his game here in a second because we have noticed there's been a bit of a regression in his game say the past few weeks tonight was a lot steadier they can certainly stand to rest him a few games because they will need to lean on him in the postseason so that's probably if you are making a switch i probably say Cole just for the maintenance maintenance more than anything else and as far as Dakota Joshua goes whoo this is a lot tougher and my answer would have reflected there's like no no one's not even getting no he's getting into the lineup that's one's gonna come out reflexively you would usually say somebody on the fourth line we've seen lack for to get healthy scratch but now you had back-to-back games with goals for field digital zappy you played 15 minutes tonight last time place now and he could it be put Colson it's a tough decision to low-minute person is 1141 with the scope of Colson yeah it might just be put Colson coming out it's a tough decision like right now it's a like with Joshua i feel differently about Joshua i think Joshua is so impactful that you have to make room for him whereas with Myers i think you can wait but it's a tough one i would probably i mean and PDC played well but that's probably the guy i would have to go with he was just on with us too i hope he's not listening so come on with us again on the post game show now the benefit is you would get a pk or back yeah so you could do someone like pdg because if it was like a non pk or coming back into the lineup and you took a pk or out that would be kind of interesting and what what sort of damage would that do yeah but man um i might i might do Lafferty but Lafferty brings a speed i know the speed too right it's it's a really tough decision but at least if you're if you're taking out Lafferty Joshua would go back with Garland and Lynn home and but Colson could bring a certain speed element he's not as fast as Lafferty but he's not slow no i mean it might just be pods that comes out probably you know i mean i wouldn't surprise me but um yeah it's a good question a good problem to have and hopefully it's one that remains a problem because that means good things for the team depth wise and also performance wise all right we will get to more of your text messages uh Frank Anderson and Kelowna says bonuses comments are very disrespectful they weren't playing a bottom feeder playing one of the top teams in a league a lot of people reacting to what Rick bonus said so for those who haven't heard it here is the Winnipeg Jets head coach a former Canucks associate coach who met with the media after poor performance by his jets tonight at Roger's arena you know whatever my message was before the game was uh clearly rock um so it starts with that i guess and then it's up no listen the bottom line is that's the worst game we have played in my two years here by far because we didn't have one player play a good game not one so it starts it starts there and uh it ends there it's as simple as that so none of this was on the Canucks oh yeah they played a great game but it's the same team we came in here three weeks ago and played so uh that's on us we just again we didn't have one player play a good game so it starts there when you get the line blending well listen the line blending nothing we we had nobody going it's it's that simple right don't over him he's anything other than that we that's again so we're as game we played in the two years i've been here and we didn't have one player play well so line blending had absolutely nothing to do with anything what was the most frustrating part that we had no one going not one player play well it's the state and the fact that this was a match up here guys Robinson looking forward to is that making it even more frustrating yeah it's all right listen like give them credit they played well we didn't we we came in here and played great game three weeks ago tonight we didn't so we got one more game with about the end of the year and we'll go for there get ready for my day thanks thanks right uh that is jet's head coach rick bonus and this text here says only thing bonus teaches his team is how to dive so the trash talk is coming in to the text inbox it mentions the worst game by far that he's seen from that team since he's been the head coach of that squad the past couple years and i mean he he gave Canucks the Canucks credit he said they played well and that's a good team and everything he also referenced this is the same team we played a couple weeks ago and i remember the post game show that night as i mean i should it wasn't that long ago but one of the the base that we had on the post game show was were the Canucks really that bad there was a narrative after the game hold here we go Canucks lose the Jets big heavy team and they can't hang with the top teams they can't hang with heavy teams and my take was i thought the Canucks actually played well five on five it was a couple mistakes special teams was a difference but five on five actually thought the Canucks were better i mean slightly better if not actually better i thought they actually played them really well five on five so i don't really buy it as you know the Canucks last time couldn't hang with the Jets now the Jets were tired and that's why the Canucks were so dominant now obviously that plays a part into it but i thought the last time these two teams played i didn't get the sense the Canucks could not hang with the Jets no not at all it was it was those two plays that Noah julson took a lot of accountability for them yeah well the coach yeah the coach was like listen like i don't want him to you know be down on himself things happen you have to be a goldfish and you have to like forget and you know you have to move on but it was just those two plays and and special teams on that night Monahan at night's night that night but everything that happened through you so it's very correctable yeah and tonight you see what the Canucks could do and then and did it from the first shift PDG you know create the chance for sam lafferty and then it comes that middle line and they they set it up for that goal yeah it was fantastic work by the Canucks when those were the thoughts of uh rick bonus after the game after his team lost five nothing and you know we mentioned the last time how these two teams played and how the Canucks have been playing now the last little while this for a game stretch defensively is a big part of it but also showing the commitment the team has to the overall game and something that you know you bring up a lot is you know breaking the season down into three segments and what you need to do the final 20 games we're into the final 15 games of the campaign now and we look start looking at the standings the Canucks went through their swoon and it looked like okay can perhaps the Edmonton Oilers catch the Vancouver Canucks atop the Pacific Division and nothing has you know yet been decided of course and there's still time remaining in the season but the Edmonton Oilers have now lost two games in a row now they picked up a point losing in the shootout thought they lost in overtime but now it was a quite the scenes in Buffalo this afternoon but offside came in after a review so the the Oilers just had to delay their loss a bit longer and lost it in a shootout instead but because of that the Canucks have now opened up a 12-point lead on the Oilers atop the Pacific Division Edmonton does have four games in hand but that means that to win all four and there's still four points back of Vancouver Canucks sitting there with 91 points Edmonton with 79 again it's not over but Edmonton was getting close now they've been pushed back down again and it's going to be quite the road here for the Oilers who have a very tough schedule they play again tomorrow it's another early game for them plus you lose an hour tonight because the clock spring forward oh right you know it's a tough spot for Edmonton and they have a lot of games coming up in short order until the end of the season so they kind of don't have a lot of margin for error and the Canucks are just a few wins away from essentially ensuring that they are 100% going to win the division yeah they're not that far away from clinching it yeah but as we said last game you beat the gold knights on a night when they lose to the blue jackets it's a wrap it's a wrap Pacific Division title they'll they'll get there they've not won a Pacific Division title haven't they because it was Northwest Division so yes it could be your first Pacific Division title it would be fantastic we'd love to see it we'd love to see it all right keep your thoughts coming in to our text them box 650 650 for those also tuning in late and wondering what was going on with Thatcher Demko he left after the midway mark of the second period with an injury we don't know what that injury is speculated to be a growing injury however the head coach did give an update after the game saying he's hoping it's not too bad but they will know more after he meets with the doctor and we also got an update from Canucks general manager Patrick alvin who was on after hours let's hear from Patrick alvin he talks about the situation with Thatcher Demko and here are his thoughts and his update delighted to have Canucks GM Patrick alvin as team heading to the playoffs a second time in 10 years and looking post deadline very much like he did pre deadline we'll get to that in a second but the big story tonight obviously Patrick Thatcher Demko leaving the game in the second period I know it's always touchy when you're asked questions about injuries but what can you tell us about about your goaltender yeah I'm unfortunate I can't tell you anything happened have been able to be down to the dressing room there yet so I think we know more tomorrow I didn't even see what happened there so I don't really know I know Casey played really well when he came in there so hopefully he's hopefully he's good I don't know well six weeks to the playoffs what's your level of concern about Thatcher Demko well I think he's been playing great for us here and and you know you don't want anybody to get in here to this time of the year and hopefully we we have good news here later on tonight or tomorrow okay let's get to yesterday trade deadline nothing doing for you were you close on anything as I said yesterday we had communications with with a lot of teams that had players available we also know that we we did our moves during the year to improve our club by adding Lafferty Sedorov and the Eslando mayor so we yeah did we want to add a play area if we could then we weren't able to do it so but we were also pleased for the team we have here Dave yeah Patrick was it tough to see other teams not only within your division I mean Vegas makes some deals like a Colorado that's beefing up Edmonton added was it hard to almost make a move to add to the team or as you said there were players you identified you couldn't make it happen and you're okay with that yeah again we we were sitting yesterday with the eight and nine points and our team have played well and I trust the players the coaches have done a great job up to this point and we as I said we identified a couple players that we felt could improve our team but unfortunately we were unable to execute there and for different reasons but we felt comfortable that is Canucks general manager Patrick alvin on after hours now he had more thoughts which we'll get to as well and play for you a bit later plus more post game reaction from Canucks players but but he mentioned there on the trade deadline yeah the Canucks weren't able to obviously make any additions it wasn't for my lack of trying and if you want to hear a bit more in-depth on some of the things about the deadline and where the Canucks were going you can listen to our interview from Canucks Central with Patrick alvin from yesterday on your favorite podcatchers that is available if you want to revisit some of the things that happened there but again the big story is that your damn goal we're all hoping that he's going to be okay but that remains a question mark and as you just get where we're telling us during that clip being played the next media availability for the bank request otherwise it's not until Tuesday so we'll see if we actually get an update before Tuesday and if that actually means the Canucks have two days off and you know the coach mentioned talk had said that they have three games and eleven nights here coming up which is a nice break for them lots of practice time and also given how tough the schedule's been because you know like somebody texted in every team is tired this time of year for them to have this nine-game homestand but then have as many days off in between it doesn't set up any better in terms of you catching your breath honing in on your game building yourself on whole mice before the play like it's I know it's been a tough schedule and the Canucks have gone through you know hell and back on a lot of different things I know a lot of fans have been moaning how tough it's been for them you're gonna get a big reward now the rewards here now the focus over this being at home is going to be the key and don't lose your edge and everything but that's gonna that's gonna have to be the big thing here the other part of what we were just talking to about the division chase much as we call it a chase so Eddington's playing this condensed schedule Vancouver's got this expanded schedule Vancouver's gonna be playing a lot of teams on back to backs too no yeah so there's that element to it and Eddington's gonna be playing back to backs so this chase that's already so difficult for them the schedule itself I know we like to use the term schedule losses it sets up better for Vancouver to keep extending their lead and also having said that the other thing of like Eddington trying to catch them they're also five wins back in regulation wins so it's not even just that they have to tie Vancouver they have to be six wins better than them to have the time regulation yeah in 20 games Pacific Division is over yeah it's it pretty much is the Canucks just had to take care of business 15 games remaining on the campaign for the Vancouver Canucks a lot of thoughts coming in to our Dunbar Lumber text inbox six fifty six fifty a 16 game sorry this text here says that sigh from bick when you realize we lose an hour of sleep good laugh out of that one and this text here says thanks for reminding me I lose an hour of sleep tonight trust me I bemoan this I've been thinking about this all day that's why it took a nap it took a preemptive nap to be ready oh well you're not a big nap guy no I've become one because I'm old now all right uh keep you're a man you're 40 to a Dunbar Lumber text inbox six fifty six fifty we hit more of those and we'll hear from Canucks players and Patrick alvin next on Sportsnet 650 the most opinionated Canucks show out there can us talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans be sure to subscribe on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts this is where you talk Canucks you're listening to the Canucks central post game show on the official home of the Canucks sportsnet 650 and the sportsnet radio network just over five minutes left third period Canucks laid a chance forward and out the clear to center Henderson placed a home lander left wing into the Winnipeg zone home lander centers loose in front the score you're suitor suitor drive in the net has the puck land right on his tape and he scoops it past Connor Helibok to make it five nothing Vancouver old Leonard does a good job staying on side drives down the wall and just throws a sauce passing in the middle gets knocked down in the crease Canucks go on to win five nothing over the Winnipeg Jets and this is the Canucks central post game show presented by the number five orange on the home of your Canucks sportsnet 650 Satya or Shaw with bick nazar keep your thoughts coming in to our Dunbar lumber text inbox 650 650 a lot of reactions so far this one here says um gold differential pre-game Winnipeg was four plus ahead of Vancouver post game Vancouver leaves a league again six ahead of Winnipeg right now that is KG texting in so the Canucks their gold differential back to being a top in the NHL this text says hey guys best all-around complete game that Noel Julesin has played this season looked very solid in sharp hockey IQ a second time we've heard sharp hockey IQ on the post game show the first one was head coach Rick Talkett speaking about the silly put Colson who has done a very good job since being recalled by the Canucks has played four games now and did not look out of place playing with Elias Lindholm and Connor Garland tonight bick no keep stacking up good performances and showcases you know some upside and some play making elements today we just heard that pew suitor goal you know that's the one that if put Colson in a runway here in this little audition shows enough and if it carries on for five more games if he stays in the lineup and it carries on for eleven more games that's the one that's interesting to me that if he does enough could he get into a spot in the top six because it's not that suit is not playing well is I think it gives you another edge if he's playing on a depth role yeah and if you're throwing out the bottom two lines and they're winning their match up consistently boy that sets up really well for the top six it does and so I just wonder if put Colson keep stacking these now he's got to produce it's at that stage like he's done some really nice things he's an obviously nice fit on that third one right now but if he gets a marker if he gets an assistant or something like that you're like hey let's give this guy a little audition in the top six what does it look like it would really nice and then succeed in that top six well if he can if he can stack the games and continue taking steps and you know he um the coach mentioned that they've done a good job in Abbessford and Colton with him but also the template for Neils Hoaglander well you're talking to PDG earlier and he went to great lengths to talk about the the vertical alignment the organization has and speaking to great lengths of uh what the the past two years in the development process has looked like and here's a couple of young guys obviously someone like R.C. Baines has obviously done fantastic work as well getting his cameo early in the year and what does that mean for next year but in the year and now um but Colson Hoaglander thriving because of uh a little reset in the show yeah fantastic job by them and the organization with how they brought those players along this text says put Colson Lindholm and Garland are playing well take a flyer on Joshua in the top six so that's what one text says all right we'll get to some more of your thoughts here on the text in the box coming up in a little bit but let's get some thoughts of the Canucks players who have played a complete game tonight against the Jets winning five nothing let's hear from a couple of defenseman let's start off with a player we've spoken about quite a bit tonight uh in detail with his return to the lineup Carson Susu the pass forward games paying massive dividends for this Canucks squad and here he is posting talking about uh getting a big W here tonight we obviously had our legs kind of wanted to take advantage on the team on the back to back our fords did a great job tracking again okay it was our first period it's kind of as good as it can go i mean obviously getting a getting a lead like i said a team on the back to back we want to come out and we want to show that we're fresh we have legs on like i said our fords are doing such a good job lately tracking making it easy to keep good gaps when Casey's got to come in and Thatcher goes out giving up who he's been for his team to get a little nervous um we have a lot of faith in Casey um we just want to make sure that he's seeing the puck um like i said work on our box out especially um let him see a couple early obviously get those i think he had a nice slap shot from the outside as his first save just kind of get him a little confidence uh let him feel the puck he told us a week ago that he's kind of wanted to get the feel of the game uh your return to line up obviously has come out about it as well as you could expect it individually and as a team yeah i mean we've been playing great um i think our starts have been huge um and then just kind of almost getting better as the game goes uh our fords doing a great job doing do you doing a good job kind of limiting their uh their possession in zone i think our breakout has been really good first game back up with a trade deadline how nice is it to see all the same faces in the room we love this group um we've obviously had had good success um and that's huge that they have faith in this group which want to keep moving forward you miss winning at home for a bit of a while yeah it's been a while obviously the crowd was really good tonight um couple of jets fans but we were definitely louder so that was nice to see no i wouldn't say that uh obviously rather just not talk about kind of the stats anymore i think just as a team we're playing good hockey that is karsen sousi after the game and mentioning how they wanted to jump on a team on on the second up but back to back and they certainly did a playing a strong game tonight uh correction mechanics are still second in the league when it comes to gold differential the florida panthers are still number one but they do have a better gold differential than the winnipeg jets so that would give them the top uh one here right now all right uh we'll get to some more of your text messages coming up in a little bit we mentioned you want to hear from connect's defenseman quin hues as well the team captain what a very strong game tonight and when we outline his play especially in the first period a bit earlier and really had a physical presence as well here tonight but but let's hear what he had to say after the game and he's talking about uh how they've been playing the last little while i feel really good but i mean give you a little cliche answer that um you know tomorrow's a new day and we just got to keep going and can't get too high or low but obviously after you know beating some of those teams that we just beat in the way we beat them with only allowing three goals in four games obviously um dimmer it was a big part of that and in kc filling in you know coming in tonight um finishing it off but yeah feel really real good about how we're playing i think we're pretty optimistic kind of talked to anyone and um he's been you know the anchor for us and um obviously you know my opinion the best goalie in the league this year and um we need him big time and so we'll just see what happens there yeah i mean um yeah i thought we played pretty solid a little bit you know loose in the third but sometimes it's hard you know for nothing five nothing and um i thought we played really good against vegas and in la too so um like i said three goals in four games it's pretty good it's good luck for us and um we just got to keep going because we got a hungry car out of the economy. How good were you guys in the first period? Yeah we were good we created our looks i think we're just ready to go and um we knew they were on a back-to-back and i think we just wanted to be ready to play. What do you think has changed the last three four games Quinn and the way this team is waiting to allow you guys to be successful? I just think it's hard to mentally be there for all 82 games i mean obviously you're gonna put your best foot forward but you go through different stretches throughout the season and i told you guys there'd be nights where the power pose good power pose bad team played great team played okay and um i think you're seeing a stretch now we're starting to find our game and at the right time. It wasn't personally as well because a lot of guys were a little slow coming out of the all-star break but you look like you're like dancing right now. Yeah i mean that yeah like i'll be honest like it's hard to you know i'm pretty competitive person you want to you expect a lot of yourself every game but sometimes it's not like that but you know last couple games feel like i got my energy and you know we haven't been playing as much hockey we've had a couple of days here and there um to rest and you know feel good and i think you know a lot of guys feel good right now. How important was it for you guys to lock things down in particular right after Casey came in to help him start to get settled in the game? Yeah i mean we trust Casey he's been really good all year i think he's got a couple shutouts you know too and um it was just a really good team win he played really good made some saves when he had too and then we were we were there to shut it down. Looks like you were moving the puck wall on the power plate and you had a bit of a different look to it then how did you feel about it? I feel real good about it i mean i think that um we know what our roles are and what we're supposed to do and everyone has a you know a plan you know when they get the puck and um i think we're starting to feel real comfortable yeah i mean i think the last couple games i don't know what do you have last game maybe eight shot at timeside 10 or 11 i think that our game's been really good all year but in the last couple we're really starting to you know play our best hockey i think at this stage of the year and um he's a tremendous fan you know we're gonna keep playing that wide open. That is Canucks captain Quinn Hughes after the game a five nothing victory a strong performance by them overall with their team game and also credited Casey the Smith for playing well when he came in uh to relieve Thatcher Demical what left with an injury and no further updates but the team is hopeful it's not too serious but they'll find out more when he meets with the doctor but that is Quinn Hughes bick we have a lot of reaction on the text inbox we are going to get to another clip from Patrick alvin but i know there's a couple of texts that you want to get to here yeah this one came in earlier we didn't have a chance to lose so much hype earlier we didn't get a chance to talk about it. Wayne texting in please explain how before the deadline you talk so much about trading Zadorov now you're talking about the playoffs and how you can't live without him. so we definitely talked about hey one of the options is to move Nikita Zadorov what his name was in rumors there were reports that Nikita Zadorov had teams that called about Nikita Zadorov and there was a possibility he could get traded again but just yesterday Patrick alvin cited salary cap right didn't have enough room so it's not that Zadorov was playing so terribly or something that you had to get rid of them it's about finding solutions to obvious problems and the salary cap right now is going to be an obvious problem what machinations can you create to alleviate that that strain to find ability to get new players in so is is your fifth sixth d-man making a certain price point worth it or is it this guy might not value right now and we can try to make the money work differently and just shift it out shift it in find the right guy so part of it was just alleviating some of the the yeah but the other prices but also the the discussion was the connects were in on Chris Tannov and they weren't going to be able weren't going to be able to acquire Chris Tannov without moving somebody off the blue line so if you're going to add Tannov somebody was going to go out and the guys with expiring contracts are Cole Myers and Zadorov so anyways that's the obvious one now why you can make an impact in the playoffs is well each players cut their strengths to what strength will help them obviously in the playoffs and the key to Zadorov got size he's got mobility and he plays with a certain tenacity that if he brings it consistently that's where the benefit comes in so it such is the game that you have to play with the salary cap and everything that that these considerations have to happen but you can't live in a world where 23 guys are untouchable yeah I mean 100 this organization does not operate that way they listen to things and we've seen how active they have been on the trade front and it's one of those situations where multiple things can be true at the same time and the question was Zadorov is in the playoffs how many minutes is he going to play is it going to be third pair minutes more and that's kind of where it's at right and we're kind of talking about today's reality is different than yesterday's reality because now we're past the deadline yeah this is the group this is what you have and now you lean into the player's strengths and and hope that they can play to the best of their abilities or at least being the best position to be the best versions of themselves and the best version of Nikita Zadorov is playing physical dependable hockey if he's able to hone in on it and certainly did here tonight an impressive Canucks victory as far as the deadline goes we have a lot of text messages here about the deadline Lenny from Richmond texted in a bit earlier and said this is a statement when after not making any moves at the deadline it validates management's faith in our roster and we had somebody text in not too long ago as well I just lost it but along the lines of the same thing I got it yeah do you have a lack of trades at the deadline instilled an underdog mentality in the team that will give them extra juice for the end of the season playoffs yeah so certainly something that could happen and as far as how Patrick alvin felt about how the the deadline and everything went he talked about that but here is the GM quickly talking about all the moves he has made as GM of the team you know what uh we were again communicating with Rick Talkett and and we're on the same page how we want to build our team and we felt obviously the first move getting Ronik in here we were looking for a right chat advancement in the young age here and you know and then we're able to to get Lafferty right before regular season we felt we needed more speed and hardness there in versatility so I think all those players even Mark Friedman was important for us to get in here yeah that's some injuries at the top yeah exactly so he played uh he played well and a guy like that can sit up in the stands for a couple games and come in and play so I think all of those guys on the list have done a great job for a team that is connect gentle manager Patrick alvin after a five nothing win and meeting with them with Scott Oak and Dave Thomason on after hours tonight uh all right it's time to close this thing up by bringing in the man we call the triple threat you watch him on tv you read him on digital and you're about to hear him on radio he is Ian McIntyre it's only it's only fun until the starting goalie gets hurt yeah then it changes everything it does change everything hopefully it's it's hard it's hard to know because they never tell you yeah but my spidey senses say that maybe this is just going to be if a few games or a day-to-day thing yeah more precautionary I mean the coach didn't seem overly concerned but it obviously say he didn't want to speculate Patrick alvin said he hoped to get some positive news on it tonight or tomorrow so initially it doesn't seem too bad but at the same time it's one of those things where you never know until we get an update and we may not get an update until Tuesday because that's when the Canucks say their next media availability is going to be right and and it's understandable why people would be concerned with Thatcher Demko first of all it's the position right so if you know having what and I'm just pulling this out of thin air having a sore knee having a sore hip having a sore groin it's different for goalie than it is for a skater but he's also a guy who as we know missed three months last season yeah with a very serious groin injury and we saw what it did to the Canucks now the team is is so much better position now structurally mentally talent wise in every respect including having Casey to Smith uh an experienced NHL goalie as a backup instead of a couple of journeymen that they're trying but it's still it's still uncertainty you know we're six weeks out from the from the playoffs this is a leisurely month as far as the schedule goes but it's a vitally important month to get ready for what's going to be the organization's first non-bubble playoff game since 2015 it's a really important spring for this organization so we'll wait and see it uh it did you could feel the air in the building go out a little bit after the injury and it was for nothing at the time so the game was more or less decided but uh yeah it's it's too bad I guess this is also a big endorsement for Ian Clark if uh you know if pending what happens but this is why you have a star gold tending coach as well to insulate yourself in in scenarios like this well they had Ian Clark last year and it didn't really insulate them there's only so much the gold tending coach can do yeah also we're really playing defense in front of wow that too yeah that was a complication as well a little glitch in the system last year slight small one um yeah I mean Clarky is is the best he's and probably the best in the world he's certainly one of the best uh in the best league in the world and generally gets the most out of every guy he works with and I know Casey's dismiss uh has talked glowingly already about what he's learned yeah from Ian Clark but also from Ian Clark and from working with Thatcher Demko who's learned everything from Ian Clark and so dismiss feels he's a better goalie uh because of it so yeah that's important by the way I think and maybe this isn't news uh but I think Ian Clark left the booth presumably to go down and check on Demko yeah and then was back in the booth before the end of the period yeah fairly quickly did you guys talk about that over no we didn't realize that yeah yeah so we're still on this side I mean again we're we're kind of squinting at tea leaves here trying to read things but I think if it was my feeling is if it was something really serious you know for instance they were bringing in further medical staff yeah yeah do a more thorough examination of what was wrong I I think maybe Clarky would have been gone longer so there is that it went downstairs to the Miyagi Mr Miyagi yeah there we go yeah it's uh good good observations there for me and and hopefully we can confirm some of that as good news as the week goes on here but to the point you know you brought up earlier about you know we were talking about last year and uh how you know they weren't playing a lot of defense until Rick Talkett showed up and they've transformed and what a transformation to go from one of the most permissive teams which which had horrible habit here for years couldn't get line changes right we were talking about a team that was making the types of mistakes defensively that you don't see at the National Hockey League level heck you don't even see that lower levels I remember Rick Talkett one of his first practices he was going through simple rotations if this guy goes here blowing the whistle you go here like very rudimentary it was almost say they weren't playing defense it was almost pedantic and in the way he was going about showing the guys at the National Hockey League level to all of a sudden this year this four game stretch may be the best defensive stretch of the season so far three goals and four games shut out here tonight not giving up a lot of chances and they've become one of the best if not the best defensive team five on five this year in terms of taking away the middle of the ice and it's really impressive watching them hone in on it even more against big opponents late in the season now I think that's what's so impressive about this little run and it's only four games yeah but we we got kind of excited when they lost four in a row so maybe we should be excited that they won four in a row right but you know they've beaten it's the quality of the teams and okay Anaheim was Anaheim but the Canucks have gotten better each successive game and they've knocked off teams that obviously all right well I was gonna say obviously are going to the playoffs I think Vegas will make the playoffs they got to get in yeah it'll be quite a story if they don't after all that they've done at the trading deadline but Vancouver's gotten better each game and really although the scores were close until tonight they've looked comfortable in these games and LA is a smothering checking defensive team that tries to force you into mistakes they the Canucks didn't make many mistakes Winnipeg is a very good defensive team that forces you into mistakes that's how they won here three weeks ago four two yeah Canucks didn't make many mistakes tonight against them and certainly they forced Winnipeg into a bunch of mistakes and then there was the Vegas game in between where you know Vegas right now is just out of sorts I don't really know what to make of them but again the Canucks just look comfortable they didn't look threatened yeah leading in the third period on the road against the mighty Vegas Golden Knights so you know that this has gone a long way to I think further strengthening their confidence their belief in themselves and you know that's that's going to be tested obviously if Thatcher damp goes out because it's one one thing to believe in yourself when you have a guy who's right now probably going to be a Vesna trophy finalist yeah in your net it's another thing without them but I do I think they genuinely believe that the way they're playing the structure they have guys can come in and come out but as long as they stick to that structure and keep playing the way they are they'll win and that includes with Casey to Smith and net we don't really keep a list of the best games or best periods Quinn Hughes has had maybe we should but I thought the opening 20 minutes would be in that conversation of one of the best periods we've seen Quinn Hughes play yeah I I can't even get my head around that big and and I'm not saying you're wrong I just haven't thought about it in those terms he he has been great for a couple games now and that's important because he you know there's a lot of attention on Patterson struggling and and other guys you know farther down the line up McKayev and and what have you I think that that probably there wasn't enough attention when Quinn Hughes wasn't playing his best but not playing his best was still better than 90% of the defenseman in this league he just wasn't playing the way he had you know for the first three and a half months and the last couple of games and tonight he was great you know what I notice notice about Quinn Hughes tonight and this is this was my this will be my Quinn Hughes memory of this game early in the first period behind the net there was a puck battle if you guys are talking no please talk about it please your impression of it yeah it's just you know it's Mark Schifley who's a big powerful center and Schifley actually had position it looked like he you know had the pocket he had his size to protect it and Quinn got body position on him used a little bit of physical force but used his great hands and stick knocked the puck away and then spun so that now he had body position on Schifley to protect the puck he's now won and then just made a play to to send it the other way like and he made it look easy and this is a guy that was so criticized for his defensive play and even now like until Quinn Hughes wins the Stanley Cup there's going to be a yeah but about him because of his size but to me that play he made on Schifley is indicative of what a vastly better more complete defenseman he is now than what we saw even last year but especially if you go back a couple years he's truly one of the best we're lucky we're lucky we get to see a guy like that every game because most teams never have a guy like that on their team truly I mean he has a very good chance of becoming the first ever Norris winner for this organization to win a Norris as a bank or could not get me it's between his finalist he's fine he's yeah yeah exactly let's start there yeah and he is going to be a finalist it's essentially between him and Kael Makar and Makar is having a strong finish of the year so and those two guys might be duking it out for quite a few down the road with how he was just really entered the conversation this year is one of the best of not the best defenseman but you mentioned Patterson a little bit let me interrupt about that so you know our friend Ken weeb who works win a peg free press I saw him before the game and he was asking me about Hughes and Hughes and Makar and what do I think and I said to him when you get a chance watch all the little things that Hughes does with his skill in his end because it seems to me and again I see Hughes 82 times a year I see Kael Makar well the three times he played the Canucks and maybe I'll watch another three avalanche games whatever it is single digit games so I don't I'm prefacing this I'm saying I don't really know Makar but I do know Quinn Hughes it seems to me Makar has an incredible dynamicism through the middle of the ice like when he's skating the puck up and he's beating guys and he's going to the net and so what he does spectacularly is really overt right what Quinn Hughes does spectacularly although we do see like incredible setups and and passing and stuff I think is a lot more subtle and it's and it's a lot more constant throughout the game all the all the little plays and we talked about the one behind the net and that was that was somewhat exceptional because of who it was against him because it involved a real physical element but Quinn Hughes 20 times a game makes some little play in his own zone under pressure or in the other team's zone under pressure to relieve that pressure and just continue making a play and so if it's if the Canucks are in the offensive zone and Hughes was part of that first goal you know where he challenged at the right time and it looked like Winnipeg should have got the puck out of their end but Hughes and Miller kind of tag team to guy the puck stayed in and a few seconds later they score Hughes allows those offensive zone shifts to be sustained and I think even more well equally importantly but harder to quantify he relieves so much pressure in the defensive zone that we never see the shifts where the Canucks should be under siege we don't see them nearly as often as there they would be without Quinn Hughes because he makes all these little plays turning away for pressure anticipating where the puck is you know making a little pass using his edge work just to elude a guy and then make a play so it's a really interesting it's going to be a fascinating head-to-head comparison because although they're both through the two most exciting entertaining dynamic defense in the league I still see some real differences yeah between them I think McCar is going to be hard to beat because the spectacular he stuff stuff he does is on ESPN and on highlight shows throughout the US the spectacular things that Quinn Hughes does often gets unnoticed especially because he's doing them at 11 at night in the eastern time zone yeah yeah Quinn Hughes gets to his greatness a lot more in a lot more subtle in a more subtle manner than Keith Kilmer that's what I would say you know had I not spoken for five minutes I could have just said that right I'd rather hear your words yeah I like it a lot better is it's easy I mean that's why you're a writer Ian and you're fantastic on the post-game show and that brear for sound bites exactly it's about what can I say in 10 seconds all right Ian great stuff has always been appreciated can we the chat with you on Wednesday it's bit of a break between Canucks games we must have a couple of days off it's nice we can catch up breath as well you know we've gear up for the playoffs now do you think they canceled yesterday or tomorrow's practice just so that there doesn't have to be an inquest or any more information questions about Thatcher damn cool yeah I'd say one guy's getting arrested I'd say no I think no I think they were planning this more but yes I get what you're saying but it was on the docket for practice tomorrow yes there was yeah no you're right uh-huh entry we'll see if we get an update before uh Tuesday when the next media availability is supposed to be but we'll find out I know you're trying to end the show but that's when I start talking yeah it's actually going to be a really interesting month even you know Thatcher is yeah the story right now and we'll see and maybe maybe it's a story that only lasts 48 hours but it is a really interesting month because I don't remember many nine game homestands and I don't remember them spread out over over 24 days 23 days something like that for comparison the Canucks played 13 games in February in the same time and almost all of them on the road so this it's a luxurious schedule it's almost like too much or potentially too much time at home like focus can waver your your intensity can can abate a little bit when you've got this much time between games they're gonna have a bunch of days off so I think it's it's really interesting again I find most things about Rick talk at interesting but it's going to be interesting to see how he handles this month and how he keeps the team sharp but you know while dealing with this spaced out schedule a lot of days off yeah no absolutely it's going to be fascinating and my Canucks 16 16 games remaining on the calendar and one of the top teams in national hockey league the top team in the pacific division and great stuff as always appreciate your time and I would look forward to reading your latest as well on sportsnet.ca very soon please do yeah we always do and this insider was brought to you by avenue machinery and Douglas lake equipment be a champion on the work site find them together online at dle amc.com that's bick nazar I'm sat your shot thanks Josh Elliott wolf here at the rink and fast Eddie Gregory back at the studio and all of you for listening participating being part of the post game show it's always a lot of fun and we look forward to doing it again on wednesday but back at it on the regular shows on monday you've been listening to the clock central post games show presented by the number five orange of anchor religion they've got sports too on the home of your Canucks sportsnet 650
