With the 2016-17 Season being the Centennial Season of the NHL and the Canucks' 45th Season in the NHL, this is a list of things the Canucks and us fellow fans will look forward to.
5: Tanking for Nolan
Many fans are still admiring the flashy young prospect their team acquired during the first round of the draft. Others have moved on and are looking forward to the season, some looking forward to the next draft and draft lottery. If things don't turn out well, the Canucks could find themselves somewhere at either the bottom of the barrel (Top 5 chances), a Mediocre but slight improvement (Top 10 chances) or just unlucky with the wild card (Top 14 Chances). Of course, that's not what we're going to look forward to at all.
4: Return to the Playoffs
The Canucks were so close to lifting Lord Stanley's grace in 2010-11. But after the blowout game against the Bruins, things were never the same for the Canucks. They would get blown out in the first round of the playoffs everytime they made it in. It gets annoying. But as long as it's better then missing the playoffs by the wild card slot, then we'll accept it.
Hopefully, with boosts from new players like Gudbranson and Eriksson, as well as more experienced sophomore Virtanen and Hutton, as well as another 40 to 50 point season from Horvat, and veterans playing like their prime, then maybe we might see a good cup run. I mean, it would be amazing if we made the playoffs, but if we made it into the second round and held off until Game 7, then that would be a year to remember for Canucks fans.
3: DEMKO=SCHNEIDER
Perhaps had goaltender Cory Schneider not been injured, the Canucks may have had a chance to win the Stanley Cup in 2011. So far, Schneider has become a possible Vezina candidate in 2 or 3 years. He is well in his prime, and can become something extraordinary and will lead the New Jersey Devils into becoming the Dark Horse of the NHL next season.
I plan on doing a simulation on NHL 14 to see how the 2013-14 season would've turned out had Schneider stayed in Vancouver, so when that happens, I will post.
Fortunately, Canucks fans have another American goalie from Boston College to look forward to. Thatcher Demko, a second round draft pick by the Canucks, has the potential to end up like Schneider. He could have been drafted around the same place as Schneider, but because of an injury, he was picked in the early 2nd round. Now, let's note that only 10 picks seperated the 2 goalies. As far as I'm concerned, Demko is going to prove he deserved to be drafted 10 picks earlier. We'll see how well he does in AHL's Utica Comets as Richard Bachman's potential back-up, and we might see him become a starter if Bachman goes down to injury, meaning we'll see some Garteig as well (He may end up joining the ECHL's Alaska Aces though).
2: Welcome to Vancouver
In 2016-17, we'll see forward Loui Eriksson and defencemen Erik Gudbranson join the team. Gudbranson was a former top 5 draft pick in 2011 for the Florida Panthers, and Eriksson previously played for the Boston Bruins.
Loui Eriksson was probably the most exciting moment during free agency for the Canucks. He is an elite player who can fit into the role of first line centre.
1: We Love Hockey, We Love The Canucks
What we're most going to look forward to is without a doubt the fact that there's going to be Hockey to watch in Vancouver. Hockey is Canada's sport. Vancouver loves Hockey. We love Crosby, we love Gretzky, we even love Ovechkin. The point is, the reason people watch the Canucks play, be it on TV or live, is because we love the sport and we love our city and our team. The Canucks is Vancouver's Team. It's our most oldest sports franchise, and as far as I'm concerned, it's our most beloved franchise. So let's enjoy another good old season of Canucks hockey.
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