You don't have to be a prairie dweller to be devastated by the news of Friday's terrible bus crash involving the SJHL's Humboldt Broncos. My cousin lives in Phoenix and was just on a road trip to a tournament in Anaheim with her son last weekend; the ritual is the same across the hockey world.
Right now, it's awful enough to know that 14 people are dead and 15 more in hospital, some with very serious injuries. Emotions will run even higher once we start learning more of the stories behind the names.
With a population of about 6,000, Humboldt is about the same size as Castlegar, where I lived for a short time in my younger days. The hockey arena is the nerve centre of the town. No one will be unaffected.
My deepest sympathies to the players and their families, the Broncos and SJHL organizations, the town of Humboldt and the rest of the hockey world. I'll let Saskatchewan boy Kole Lind take it from here:
Pretty hard to sleep with all that’s going on. Please try support this organization, families and most importantly some great teammates and friends. #PrayForHumboldt https://t.co/mUFW8Qhf84
— Kole Lind (@klind13) April 7, 2018
Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog:
Saturday April 7 - Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet Pacific
Vancouver Canucks: 81 GP, 31-40-10, 72 pts, 26th overall Edmonton Oilers: 81 GP, 35-40-6, 76 pts, 25th overall
By the time all 15 games are played on a busy Saturday in the NHL, we'll know the Vancouver Canucks' final position in the standings and their odds for the draft lottery.
The Canucks are four points behind the Oilers, so they won't finish any higher than 26th. Tied with Detroit at 72 points, with Montreal at 71, it's possible that they could drop by up to two spots depending on the outcome of tonight's games.
Odds-wise, there isn't much to choose between the three spots: the team that finishes 28th will have a 9.5 percent chance at the first-overall pick; 27th gets 8.5 percent and 26th is 7.5 percent. I get the argument that lower is better for positioning in the later rounds, but I won't be mad if the Sedins give us another magical moment tonight in their last-ever NHL game instead.
Here they are at the morning skate:
Miss morning skate before their final @NHL game? No chance. Daniel and Henrik are both taking part in the final #Canucks skate this season. pic.twitter.com/lbV8X619Li
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 7, 2018
Coming into tonight's game, Daniel is now tied with Brock Boeser at the top of the team's scoring race, with 55 points. If he gets one more tonight, he'll retire as Vancouver's leading scorer in his final season—like Wayne Gretzky did when he hung up his skates as a member of the New York Rangers with 62 points in 70 games in 1998-99.
Henrik goes into tonight's game with 50 points. He needs one more to match his total from last season.
The Humboldt tragedy won't be far from the minds of many tonight, including Edmonton coach Todd McLellan:
"I know that Humboldt area really well & they're as strong as they come... My brother played there, my dad lived & worked there." Coach McLellan cont'd on the @HumboldtBroncos tragedy
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 7, 2018
Derek Dorsett is also a Saskatchewan native and is with the Canucks for this final road game.
“Lost for words. We were at dinner last night when we found out. The room went silent. It’s heartbreaking. It’s all we’re talking about. We’re numb. Our hearts go out to those families and everyone impacted.… -Dorsett #HumboldtStrong
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 7, 2018
I'm glad to see that Adam Gaudette was able to make a detour to St. Paul after Thursday's game, where he became the first-ever Canucks draft pick to win the Hobey Baker Award.
Adam Gaudette (#Ho8ey) joined @NHLNetwork to discuss the #HowlinHuskies' first Hobey Baker in program history: https://t.co/imLPxPK0Vx pic.twitter.com/GM8nfVDAps
— Northeastern MHKY (@GoNUmhockey) April 7, 2018
The Canucks have had four other Hobey winners on their roster over the years:
FWIW, #Canucks have never had one of their draft picks win the Hobey Baker, but these one-time @Canucks did win NCAA top honors:
— Joey Kenward (@kenwardskorner) March 24, 2018
Ryan Miller - 2001
Jason Krog - 1999
Brendan Morrison - 1997
Tom Kurvers - 1984
It's a reasonably short flight from Minnesota to Edmonton, so I'd expect Gaudette to be back in the Canucks lineup tonight.
To wrap today, great news from Sweden:
We welcome the team of @timra_ik to the #SHL next season. Lead by several talented prospects, including Vancouver prospect Jonathan Dahlén, they defeated Karlskrona HK in 7-game thriller. https://t.co/R9WnfzIQZx pic.twitter.com/dmtTlt3wba
— Eliteprospects (@eliteprospects) April 6, 2018
I also heard that Henrik Zetterberg did the exact same thing when he was that age taking Timra from Allsvenskan to SHL and that Jonathan Dahlen broke Zetterbergs Playoff point record he had 13 points,so now Dahlen holds the record with 14.
— Patrik Petrin (@PatrikPetrin) April 7, 2018
Next stop: Utica.
I know of a few people who are making the trip to Edmonton tonight to take in the final night of Sedinery. If you're there, your presence is requested at the second intermission:
@NoJoryous @sportsnetmurph a group of us will be gathering outside section 201-234 tomorrow to take a huge group photo for #ThankYouSedins @canucks we need to get the word out!
— Matthew B. (@MattBInYYC) April 6, 2018
And don't forget, Daniel & Henrik are scheduled to be on After Hours with Scott Oake tonight.
Enjoy the game!