Thursday March 29 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers - 7 p.m., Sportsnet One, Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 77 GP, 28-40-0, 65 pts, 28th overall Edmonton Oilers: 77 GP, 34-37-6, 74 pts, 23rd overall
It's already a good day for Adam Gaudette. Hours before making his NHL debut, he has officially been named a finalist for the 2018 Hobey Baker Award:
.@Hockey_Gaud is a Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalist! Congrats Gauds! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/rBdcvams6u
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 29, 2018
Gaudette's challengers:
• Sophomore forward Henrik Borgstrom from the University of Denver. The NCHC player of the year, Borgstrom finished tied fourth in NCAA scoring this season with 23-29-52 in 40 games. Drafted 23rd overall by Florida in 2016, before he started his college career, the Finnish native signed with the Panthers on Monday. He's also expected to make his NHL debut tonight, when Florida faces Ottawa.
• Junior forward Ryan Donato from Harvard. Named ECAC player of the year, Donato had 26-17-43 in just 29 games with Harvard this year. He was coached by his father Ted, a veteran of 796 NHL games himself. Ryan was also the key offensive force for Team USA at the Olympics, tallying five goals and an assist. He signed his pro contract on March 18 and has 3-2-5 so far in five games with his hometown Bruins.
Gaudette is said to be the favourite for the award, but Donato's profile is sky high thanks to his hometown roots in Boston, his strong Olympic performance and his early success in the NHL. I think it'll go down the wire.
Two years ago, Thatcher Demko was named a Hobey Baker finalist, but lost out to Jimmy Vesey.
With all three finalists already in the pro ranks, will any of them be able to attend the award ceremony? It takes place at the Frozen Four in St. Paul, on April 6. That's two days before Borgstrom's Panthers and Donato's Bruins square off in the final game of the season—one that could easily have playoff implications.
The Canucks play their last game of the year in Edmonton on April 7. Travis Green's expecting Gaudette to play.
Coach Green anticipates Gaudette will play all five remaining #Canucks games, expects Leipsic and Gaunce to return shortly and said Hutton skated this morning on his own.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 28, 2018
Gaudette also has an unlikely superfan:
Congrats boysðŸ‘First Sikura now Gaudette And next Stevens, It has been Fun to watch Huskies first line magic on the ice👠Welcome to the NHL https://t.co/GelhKNaWMV
— Teemu Selanne (@TeemuSel8nne) March 28, 2018
Teemu's 20-year-old son Eetu Selanne appeared in 14 games for Northeastern as a freshman this year.
Gaudette is also showing himself to be a media master. Yesterday, he was raving about the beauty of Vancouver. Today, he offers this:
.@Hockey_Gaud said he’s ready to go, thrilled his debut is against McDavid and the Oilers, and no, his parents will not be in Bruins gear tonight. “They’re #Canucks fans now, they’ll likely make a trip to the team store!…
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 29, 2018
I love the fact that teams around the league make an effort to ensure that family members get to attend players' NHL debuts. Gaudette is expected to have about 20 supporters on hand tonight.
One other note: if you listen to him pronounce his last name, we have some adjusting to do. For him, the emphasis is on the first syllable, like GOD-it.
.@Hockey_Gaud is all smiles as he gets set to make his NHL debut tonight in front of family and friends. 😃 pic.twitter.com/XEEtzWQTTp
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 29, 2018
And one other roster note. We may yet see Ben Hutton before the year is out—although at this point, Travis Green would be loath to mess with a winning lineup.
#Canucks Hutton says left foot is fine now. Has been on ice for 3 straight days. Waiting for full medical clearance & hoping to get into games in final week
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) March 29, 2018
As for the Oilers, they're a solid 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, which has moved them up the standings, although they were pounded 7-3 by Columbus in their last outing on Tuesday. When the Oilers visited Vancouver to open the Canucks' 2017-18 season back in October, Connor McDavid was riding a wave of hype after his season-opening hat trick against Calgary, but Derek Dorsett and the Canucks shut him down on their way to a 3-2 win.
Tonight, McDavid's back at the top of Hype Mountain once again—earning First Star honours for his play last week, when he climbed to the top of the Art Ross Trophy race. Coming into tonight's game, McDavid has a six-point lead over Nikita Kucherov. He did pick up points on all three of Edmonton's goals against Columbus on Tuesday, which gives him 12 points in his last four games.
The Oilers are relatively healthy. Oscar Klefbom has been shut down for shoulder surgery and veteran Mike Cammalleri is questionable but other than that, the team is icing pretty much a full lineup. Nothing definite, but signs point to Markstrom vs. Talbot in goal.
Tonight is also South Asian Celebration Night at Rogers Arena—a culture with hockey roots that run deep in B.C.
Surrey native Jujhar Khaira will be suiting up for the Oilers tonight—a third-round draft pick from 2012 who has become an NHL regular this season, picking up 11 goals along the way.
Tonight's festivities will also celebrate the careers of Robin Bawa and Manny Malhotra.
I will always think of Bawa as a Kamloops Blazer from those mid-80s powerhouse teams that also featured players like Mark Recchi and Rob Brown. Undrafted, Bawa went on to play 61 NHL games over four seasons, including two regular-season games and one playoff game with the Canucks in 1991-92.
Malhotra, of course, now makes his home in Vancouver and has been an assistant coach with the Canucks this season after serving as a development coach last year. In a vagabond career that saw him play 991 career games with seven different NHL teams, Malhotra was 18-30-48 in 158 games with the Canucks between 2010 and 2013.
Enjoy the game!