Even after watching the Vancouver Canucks' new guard through preseason, it's impossible to overstate how weird it will be not to have the Sedins on the ice at Rogers Arena for the team's season opener against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
For the first time in the 21st century, the @Canucks will play without a Sedin.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 2, 2018
April 9, 2000 was the last time Vancouver iced a lineup without either Daniel or Henrik Sedin - a span of 6,752 days and 1,465 team games (1,360 regular season, 105 playoffs). #NHLStats #NHLFaceOff pic.twitter.com/2kZ8qyDjGc
I can hardly believe it's been 18 years since the Canucks were icing that lineup. Jack Hughes hadn't even been born yet!
On October 2, 1997, the Canucks made No. 11—he who shall not be named—the 10th captain in franchise history. He was succeeded by Markus Naslund (seven seasons), Roberto Luongo (two sesaons) and Henrik Sedin (eight seasons).
Team management met Monday to decide whether or not to award a captain's C this season. On Tuesday, they announced that they'll go with a four-man leadership group—with Alex Edler, Chris Tanev, Brandon Sutter and Bo Horvat wearing the As.
#Canucks set roster, name leadership group for 2018.19 season. "Our team culture will be built from leadership by committee. It will be a big part of our process and our identity each and every game." https://t.co/MKsfEVALLd
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 2, 2018
I was on board with giving Horvat the C, but considering he hasn't worn a letter up to this point in his career, I'm not terribly surprised that management has decided to go this route.
It's a stepping stone, and still allows Horvat to be supported by three older players as the team adjusts to life after the Sedins.
"It's a little bit different," said Bo when I spoke to him before Saturday's game in Kelowna. "I feel like i have to be a little bit more of a leader on and off the ice.
"Those guys were good for so many years and did such a good job of it. Somebody's got to step up—whether it's me, or the guys in the room—to fill that role. That's what I'm going to try to do this year."
Horvat understands that part of the gig means facing the media after games, win or lose.
"(The Sedins) did such a good job, night in and night out. Whether it was a bad game, good game, taking the heat or not. They were always there to face the music. It's part of being a leader and that's something that I'm going to try to do."
I chuckled a bit during Horvat's postgame comments on Saturday, when he marvelled at the youthful exuberance of Elias Pettersson.
"The way he gets people moving and breaks ankles out there, it's pretty impressive to watch. As an older guy, you watch that and you've been in the league for five years—it makes you want to be better. He pushes you to be better as a centreman as well."
I have always been impresssed by Horvat's commitment to self-improvement, so it's understandable that he sees Pettersson's creativity as something he can learn from.
I feel like Bo has always been an old soul, but it was a bit jarring to hear him refer to himself as one of the team's 'older' guys. He turned 23 in April, which makes him just six months older than Nikolay Goldobin, a month younger than Tyler Motte and 11 months younger than Brendan Leipsic.
Experience-wise, though, it's a different story entirely. As Horvat mentioned, he already has four seasons and 295 games worth of NHL experience. That's 91 more than Goldobin (61 games), Motte (79 games) and Leipsic (64 games) combined.
Following Monday night's Def Leppard/Journey double-header, the Canucks are back practicing at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.
Sam Gagner and Darren Archibald did both clear waivers this morning, so here's how the lines and pairings shook down at practice at UBC on Monday:
Lines for the #Canucks in practice this AM:
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) October 1, 2018
Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser
Goldobin-Pettersson-Eriksson
Motte-Sutter-Virtanen
Schaller-Beagle-Leipsic/Granlund
Edler-Tanev
Del Zotto-Stecher
Pouliot-Gudbranson
Hutton-Biega
Most notable:
• Sven Baertschi returned to the ice after a brief bout of the flu and hopped straight back onto the top line • Travis Green is going to see if he can continue to milk some magic out of the Goldobin/Pettersson young guns combination • Ben Hutton looks like he's back to being the odd man out after getting a big chance to prove himself in preseason
Hutton got a long look on the power play during exhibition play, but went pointless in four preseason games. It's no surprise to see Alex Edler back in the anchor spot on PP1, working with Horvat, Baertschi, Boeser and Pettersson.
One thing that's very different so far about this season (knock on wood): the Canucks have been pretty healthy.
Thatcher Demko is in Utica, but is officially still on the Canucks' injured reserve list because of his preseason concussion.
Demko also still in concussion protocol. Travelled to Utica and didn’t feel good after flight.
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) October 1, 2018
Benning also says he tried to trade Gagner but couldnt get a deal done. Says #Canucks are prepared to make similar cuts to veterans in the future young players play well enough
With the big club, Antoine Roussel looks like he's making progress from his own concussion issue:
Roussel is skating pic.twitter.com/CFQ3funRBM
— Patrick Johnston (@risingaction) October 2, 2018
One other note on Gagner:
Source : Hearing if Gagner clears waivers, the #Canucks might help him out and assign him to an AHL team closer to his family in Toronto. It is the right thing to do for a veteran with a young family.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) October 2, 2018
And speaking of the AHL, they're offering a free preview of their upgraded streaming service this weekend:
We're so excited for the 2018-19 season that we're making #AHLTV free for opening weekend. 🎉
— AHL (@TheAHL) October 1, 2018
Details: https://t.co/bMAYmlw8z0 pic.twitter.com/4QJQ8gOxv4
The Utica Comets open their regular season with three straight home games, starting this Friday against the defending Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies, then Saturday against the Belleville Senators.