Friday September 7 - Vancouver Canucks 8 - Winnipeg Jets 2
I've been so busy trying to will the Hughes brothers into becoming the Canucks' next Sedins that I overlooked the possibility of Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Dahlen becoming the brothers-from-another-mother version. And unlike the amount of wishing and hoping that's attached to the prospect of Jack Hughes falling into Vancouver's lap at the 2019 draft, the two slick Swedes are already in the system—and apparently ready to make an immediate impact.
It took one period of acclimatization before Pettersson and Dahlen started clicking as the Canucks prospects crushed the Jets prospects by a score of 8-2 on Friday night at the Young Stars Classic in Pentiction.
If you missed it, you can watch the full game here:
Yes, it's only a prospects game, but it certainly makes the idea that the Canucks have one of the deepest and most talented prospect pools in the NHL seem a little more real.
Three years after Jake Virtanen created my all-time favourite Young Stars moment with his crushing bodycheck on Connor McDavid, Elias Pettersson may have supplanted him with this sweet snipe:
Pettersson made a believer out of me last summer in another "mean-nothing" setting, when he scored those two gorgeous goals at the 2017 Summer Showcase game. I was happy and a bit relieved but not especially surprised to see him score twice and pick up an assist on Friday night.
But I was surprised by Dahlen. His speed and his hands looked tremendous and his chemistry with Pettersson might have been the best part of all.
The pair are currently rooming together in Vancouver, but their relationship goes back four years. Ed Willes has the story.
Despite the Canucks' logjam at forward, I'm suddenly very interested in the team keeping Pettersson and Dahlen together this season—and I'm not talking about Utica.
The story should write itself as long as the pair keeps getting opportunities to play together. Jim Benning has promised that he'll 'make room' for kids who deserve it. Dahlen's impressive achievements with Timra in Sweden last year flew a bit under the radar because Pettersson's year was otherworldly.
“I think it was good for us to play apart from each other and have some success,” Dahlen told Willes. “It wasn’t a negative.
“I grew as a leader and a person and also as a player. I took on a lot of responsibility and it meant so much. I think I gained a lot more than if I’d gone to the top league.”
Now, Dahlen is serving notice that he deserves his own share of the spotlight and is planning to put Benning's promise to the test. But he's not ready to call himself the next Sedin.
“I feel confident in my game but it’s not like I’m thinking of myself as a Hall of Famer,” Dahlen said with a laugh. “They’re (Sedins) two of the best Swedish players ever. I’m not going to compare myself to them just yet. I’m going to work very hard and give it everything I’ve got. We’ll see how this turns out.”
But he also took something away from his time with the Sedins.
“They’re amazing guys. You don’t really understand you’re working out with two guys who led the NHL in scoring. It’s crazy how good they are as guys.”
Of course, the other crazy part about Friday's game is that it was a far cry from just being the Pettersson-and-Dahlen show.
In a scrambly first period where players on both teams were struggling to find flow, Adam Gaudette got things off to a good start when he opened the scoring on his first shift of the game, showing maturity and confidence compared to some of the younger prospects. He logged big minutes throughout, playing on a second line with Petrus Palmu and Zack MacEwen as well as on both special teams.
As for Palmu, the Finnish fire hydrant continued to show that he won't be ignored despite his small stature. This year's best player at the Summer Showcase, Palmu scored twice and demonstrated more of his trademark tenacity in puck battles along the boards. He'll start in Utica, but I think he's poised for an excellent pro debut.
I imagine he'll end up rooming with his old billet partner from Owen Sound, Jonah Gadjovich. He also had a strong game on Friday, staking out his favourite terrain in front of the net and scoring twice.
The Canucks had the game in the bag by the middle of the second period, so it's not as easy to come to any meaningful conclusions about the defense and goaltending. I'm curious to see if Trent Cull goes back to Michael DiPietro for Game 2 on Sunday or if he gives Ivan Kulbakov a look.
The skaters who were scratched on Friday were all undrafted kids: defenseman Kaleb Bulych and forward Owen Hardy of the Vancouver Giants and forward Isaac Nurse of the Hamilton Bulldogs. There's no urgent need to get any of them into the lineup, although it's plausible that the Canucks might pull a couple of their top players to give them some rest and make sure they don't get injured before main camp begins.
Here's the update on injured defenseman Jett Woo:
Told Jett Woo had to have a minor procedure on his knee. Recovery is 2-3 weeks. #Canucks
The Canucks kids will practice at noon on Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre, then wrap up Young Stars with their second game against the Jets on Sunday at 2 p.m. UBC will take on the University of Alberta for their second game on Saturday at 6 p.m. after dropping a 5-2 decision in the first game on Friday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»