In a perfect world, I would never know an NHL official\u2019s name. They would just sort of exist as paragons of justice, maintaining order and sending people into the box of sadness when the occasion called for it.<\/p>\n
Yet after the San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Friday afternoon, the names of Garrett Rank and, to a lesser extent, Riley Brace are now well known to everyone who watched this game. It was the kind of game that only Kelly Sutherland, Scott Foster and Angel Hernandez could truly love, as a start-and-stop game mired what had looked to be an intriguing matinee matchup.<\/p>\n
And this isn\u2019t a story of \u201cthe refs stole the game!\u201d for any particular team, as I would imagine both sides found the officiating, how do I say this politely\u2026less than ideal? Not great? More akin to eating an expired ham sandwich and praying it doesn\u2019t end in disaster?<\/p>\n
The Canucks certainly had their share of power play chances, but ended up going zero for seven on the night, whereas the Sharks cashed in two of their six opportunities with the extra man. This just speaks to the fact that the officials weren\u2019t singling out a single team; instead, they were just focused on being terrible in every aspect of calling the game.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the kind of game where you just wish that once, just once, there was an ounce of accountability from the officials. And look, I know it\u2019s a tough job. You don\u2019t grow up with Ron MacLean screaming in your face about the sanctity of referees, how their lives are incredibly tough, and how they can do no wrong, without accepting that there are two sides to this debate.<\/p>\n
But if ever there was a game where you\u2019d love to just ask a couple of questions to the officials along the line of \u201csooooo, what were you thinking?\u201d, it would probably be this one.<\/p>\n
Alas, that isn\u2019t the world we live in, so just let it be known, for posterity\u2019s sake, I have officially registered my objection to how this game was called.<\/p>\n
That being said, we still have a hockey game to talk about! We have Quinn Hughes\u2019 body language updates, we have Macklin Celebrini attempting to murder a man updates, we have Will Smith ruining the game of hockey with his jersey number updates, and we have a potential goal of the year candidate from Elias Pettersson updates, so buckle up and let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n
P.S. Lukas Reichel played in this game. I have no clips of him actually doing anything, as he\u2019s currently in a \u201cphotograph in Back to the Future where he\u2019s slowly fading out of existence\u201d timeline, but just note that he did, in fact, take Aatu R\u00e4ty\u2019s spot in the lineup for this game.<\/p>\n
Best Did Macklin Celebrini get a point yet?<\/p>\n
#Canucks<\/a> a little slow out of the gate on Black Friday in San Jose. Turkey hangover? 90 seconds in shots are 4-0 #Sharks<\/a>. Tolopilo playing well.<\/p>\n I had this fun thing planned where I was going to post clips of every time Macklin almost got a point, in the hopes he would never get one, so we could all have a good laugh about it, but he got an assist on the Sharks\u2019 first goal, so this adventure ended pretty quickly.<\/p>\n That being said, there was at least one play early on where he did not register an assist, when he tried to feed Will Smith in front of the net after Marcus Pettersson slipped on some bees:<\/p>\n If you hear a retching dry heave at any point in this article, that\u2019s due to me trying to suppress my vomit at a forward using the number two. Also, it\u2019s best not to wonder why I am standing behind you whilst you\u2019re reading this and under no circumstances should you turn around.<\/p>\n I just think the number two is clearly for defencemen. I shouldn\u2019t see a player rocking the number two cutting up the ice for repeated odd man rushes and think to myself \u201coh man, who is this crazy offensively oriented d-man??\u201d before realizing it\u2019s Will Smith spitting in the face of hockey.<\/p>\n We used to be a society, that\u2019s all I am saying.<\/p>\n Best forming chemical bonds<\/p>\n Boeser scores after the Canucks get outplayed for the first 4:30 of the 1st. #Canucks<\/a><\/p>\n After watching the assortment of 19-21-year-olds on the Sharks run wind sprints around them for the first five minutes of the game, Vancouver actually ended up opening the scoring when Brock Boeser finished off another delightful play with Conor Garland:<\/p>\n The Heated Rivarly line strikes again, as Boeser and Garland have really seemed to feed off of each other the last couple of games. I don\u2019t view Brock Boeser as a huge puck-handling guy; normally, he darts in and out of traffic to steal a puck, feeds a linemate, then gets into position to shoot, which makes sense for the 2018 NHL All-Star Accuracy contest winner.<\/p>\n But playing with Corolla, we\u2019ve seen a bit more hanging onto the puck, a bit more skating and cutting back to find an open lane from Brock, and I am really digging it. I just enjoy the way these two players are working together on the ice, as it hasn\u2019t been too many times in the last couple of years that I\u2019ve gotten noticeably excited when a line jumps on the ice.<\/p>\n Also, with that goal, Brock Boeser passes Todd Bertuzzi in points as a Canuck, taking over the 10th spot all-time. Although he still has a ways to go before he ties Bertuzzi in plans for revenge that go horribly wrong.<\/p>\n The movement on the SJ powerplay was pretty slick.<\/p>\n #canucks<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking of things that almost ruined the game, here is Will Smith of the San Jose Sharks tying the game up on the power play, on a cross-crease feed from Alex Wennberg:<\/p>\n I just sort of assume everyone in San Jose is a 21-year-old former first-rounder, so at least in this case, Wennberg is a 31-year-old former first-rounder.<\/p>\n The Sharks\u2019 power play is like an apple, very crisp and\u2026the seeds contain cyanide\u2026so Will Smith is like a cyanide pill that eventually the Canucks chomp down on after they\u2019ve been captured, and ok, this metaphor clearly got away from us.<\/p>\n The point is, the Sharks have a fun power play. Lots of skill, lots of bravado, lots of moments where you marvel at young people\u2019s endless energy.<\/p>\n And while east\/west passes tend to murder the Canucks at the best of times due to spotty coverage, this goal was kind of helped out by a lucky bounce off of Fil Hronek\u2019s skate. I think the Canucks positioning on the penalty isn\u2019t great, as they end the goal in a straight line, offering up limited coverage, but that bounce certainly didn\u2019t help anything.<\/p>\n Like, we\u2019re still in that odd world where pining for Derek Forbort and Teddy Blueger to come back isn\u2019t the wrong way to be viewing life, but it\u2019s also a position you feel like you should never be in?<\/p>\n Either way, I appreciate the stick toss from Nikita Tolopilo, as that really emphasizes what little chance he had on that goal. Try it the next time someone tosses you something just out of your reach. If you fling your phone\/wallet\/backpack at it as an object sails by you, your friends will fully understand the plight you were in.<\/p>\n orcas vs sharks today who\u2019s excited for the fishbowl<\/p>\n I often wonder if playing the Sharks inspires Conor Garland or makes him a tiny bit sad that he isn\u2019t playing for them. He had a solid outing on Friday, so I think he was excited for the game. I just don\u2019t know if he was an orca on this play, or a shark, when he circled the water and attacked out of nowhere to steal the puck:<\/p>\n For my money, there is nobody at jumping up with the pick six interception style on the Canucks than Conor Garland, just due to how Corolla thinks the game at such a high level.<\/p>\n Best signs of Anaheim withdrawal<\/p>\n This #canucks<\/a> game is boring and I\u2019m realizing we as @canucks<\/a> fans are actually addicted to chaos \ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8<\/p>\n Not every game can be played against the Ducks, so even the perfectly acceptable games like the one against the Sharks did tend to fade a bit in comparison. But we still had Quinn Hughes doing Quinn Hughes things, as he attempted to play hero ball and dance around the ice and generate some shots on net:<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t qualify that as a dangerous shot, nor do I think it had a high chance of going in, but sometimes in games like this, getting a thoughts and prayers shot on net is better than nothing.<\/p>\n I also like to think that Macklin Celebrini watches that and it just plants the seed for him to come home one day, you know? One day, it has to work in Vancouver\u2019s favour, right? Joe Sakic dedicated his life to Colorado, and Paul Kariya wanted nothing to do with playing in Vancouver, but eventually it\u2019s going to work out where a giant superstar signs with their home team Canucks..<\/p>\n #Canucks<\/a> continue to give up East-West passes on the PK. But Tolopilo does a great job to track the puck and make the sliding save.<\/p>\n Tolopilo didn\u2019t have nearly as big a workload as he did against the Ducks, and while he certainly wasn\u2019t the reason the Canucks lost this game, he also didn\u2019t have to stand on his head throughout the night. Which part of me is like this guy is a Luongo-style goaltender (relax) in that he seems to thrive on a chaotic number of scoring chances, based purely on a two-game sample size from this season. I say open up the barn doors and go end to end all game, let Tolopilo figure it out (please note this strategy is being made while I lean back in my chair eating a sandwich).<\/p>\n Visually, though, there is just something I enjoy about this guy\u2019s game. He\u2019s a big dude who fights to make every save, and I just really like watching him play in net:<\/p>\n I feel like Jiri Patera would have slid into the second row on that play; he just can\u2019t seem to say no to an aggressive push-off, but Tolopilo keeps control and makes sure he doesn\u2019t slide too far out of position.<\/p>\n Oh kiefer sherwood how I’m going to miss you<\/p>\n Amidst all the rumours and allegations about Canucks management sending out an alert on their Blackberry about veterans being made available for trade, it was thought\/decided\/proposed that Kiefer Sherwood would have the most value amongst them. Which makes sense, as he has shown a goal-scorer\u2019s touch in Vancouver, plays a physical game, and enjoys jawing with opponents.<\/p>\n Here he shows a bit of all three as he chases down a puck, watches John Klingberg fall to the ice, gets a shot on net, then calmly discusses how bad Klingberg is at skating after the whistle goes:<\/p>\n He\u2019s the prototypical \u201cadding some skill and toughness to our lineup\u201d addition for any playoff team that you could probably acquire at a reasonable cost, so it\u2019s not surprising that he would be at the top of many lists.<\/p>\n It\u2019s ok Tom \ud83d\udc9b\ud83e\udd79you\u2019ll get em next time #Canucks<\/a><\/p>\n It feels like any day now Willander will score his first NHL goal, as his ability to jump into the play has created some solid scoring chances this season.<\/p>\n And on this play, Willander sees Hughes dangling with the puck at the blue line, so he knows the puck is about as safe as it can possibly be in life, so he activates and rushes the net:<\/p>\n Him and Boeser play a brief game of \u201cmine! mine!\u201d with Quinn Hughes\u2019 rebound, but ultimately are denied by Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov.<\/p>\n OK, that was the most *back* that Elias Pettersson has looked this season. Incredible goal. #Canucks<\/a><\/p>\n If ever there was a John Wick look into the camera from Elias Pettersson, it would be this goal:<\/p>\n I\u2019ll give you time to wipe yourself down after watching that goal before we discuss it.<\/p>\n Things to note on this goal:<\/p>\n That\u2019s the kind of goal that gets you put under a sorting hat.That level of unique creativity is something we have missed from Elias Pettersson. He\u2019s basically doing his dekes, bro. In a game against a kid who is already posting superstar highlights seemingly every other game in Macklin Celebrini, you might have wondered how Elias was going to do in this matchup, and the answer is right there for you.Tapping the puck to himself out of the air to beat former friend and now hated foe Tyler Toffoli would have been enough to make a highlight out of, but to add in the falling to the ice and hitting the step back fadeaway jumper? I honestly have a hard time seeing a more skilled goal being scored this year for Vancouver. I can already hear Michael Bubl\u00e9 giving his \u201cyou people all wanted him gone\u201d speech in my head as we watch that, despite being fundamentally wrong.I assume Macklin will be excited to forever be part of Canucks lore as a player who was posterized by Elias Pettersson on the best Canucks goal of 2025.<\/p>\n And perhaps inspired by this outburst of offensive destruction, the Canucks pushed the pace and immediately got an odd-man rush from Drew O\u2019Connor and Kiefer Sherwood on the next faceoff:<\/p>\n Askarov made the perfect poke check to break up the play, and it should be noted that I thought the Sharks goaltender was fantastic on the night, EP40 humiliation aside.<\/p>\n DOC would then get another rush attempt with the Sharks caught deep in the Canucks offensive zone, but was denied again by Askarov:<\/p>\n And defensively, Fil Hronek was doing his part to keep the lead for the Canucks, as he easily broke up an odd-man rush against in the second period as well:<\/p>\n I think every defenceman on the team has struggled in some form under the new Foote-led defensive system, aside from Fil Hronek. I don\u2019t know what it is, but he seems to get it.<\/p>\n He\u2019s like that friend dating that person nobody likes, and all you can do is mutter \u201cI don\u2019t know what they see in them\u201d as you head home for the night, overanalyzing everything about them.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you see the way they swarmed the garlic dip?? They left the nachos wide open. I don\u2019t get it. I just don\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Can Askarov stop robbing Boeser \ud83e\udd72<\/p>\n The Heated Rivalry line almost made it 3-1 when David K\u00e4mpf won a puck battle in the corner and fed Boeser for a dangerous shot, which was then followed up by Garland getting the puck back to Boeser for yet another dangerous shot:<\/p>\n If Chytil can come back and play, I think he joins the Heated Rivalry line. That feels like a trio I want to see in action.<\/p>\n Best manning the advantage<\/p>\n The Canucks power play on the night was not good. Even if it had been a night of quick puck movement and tons of shot volume, when you fail to convert seven times with the man advantage, you have done a poor job.<\/p>\n It just felt like the first unit was a bit sluggish on the night. Moving the puck a bit slow, nobody really skating to get open. I think the Canucks made life pretty easy on the Sharks in that regard.<\/p>\n In fact, the second unit might have been better on the night, as they had one extended sequence where Sherwood almost scored, and Evander Kane hit the post:<\/p>\n Ultimately, the Canucks lost this game because they couldn\u2019t score on the power play, with the added bonus of poorly timed officiating decisions thrown into the mix.<\/p>\n EP40 great iq play\u2026flicking the puck in the air killing the PK and almost scored\ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n #Canucks<\/a><\/p>\n I have to assume Macklin knows EP40 made him look silly on the previous goal, so he\u2019s out there skating fueled purely by spite, to showcase that he, too, can score pretty goals.<\/p>\n Being down two men to the Sharks is a rough spot for any team, but Elias Pettersson actually almost scored against them when he flipped a puck in the air, shoved a dude to the ice, and then tried to bang home the loose puck:<\/p>\n This outside-the-box thinking is the kind of thing I love from Ep40; this is what I want more of.<\/p>\n Can\u2019t get into the zone? Take off your skate and huck it at the other guy\u2019s head, see what happens. I dig it.<\/p>\n Alas, the Sharks would score when William Eklund would get a shot off from the Draisaitl Angle of Doom:<\/p>\n When you\u2019re down two men, it\u2019s hard to criticize a team too much for how they penalty kill. I will say Elias Pettersson and Tyler Myers are probably too high and too close together on this play; it just leaves a lot of room for the Sharks to find a guy open on the wings.<\/p>\n And that being said, that\u2019s still a hell of a shot from Eklund, to the point I would give it an (E5) rating, which is a rare thing, let me tell you.<\/p>\n And while I fully agree that the Canucks had multiple chances to score on their own power plays, the decision to give Quinn Hughes an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the initial penalty really felt like a bit of a momentum changer. Again, I don\u2019t think you can claim this cost them the game, but you can definitely say it played a part in how things played out.<\/p>\n Which is unfortunate because I think calling that unsportsmanlike is about as bush league as it gets. If you listen to the broadcast, you can hear Quinn expressing a dislike of a fudging hold not being called, but that\u2019s about it. Nothing egregious was said; nothing crossed any lines. It was just your usual run-of-the-mill \u201cmake the call, ref\u201d stuff you hear a hundred times a game.<\/p>\n But for whatever reason, the officials decided that, yeah, now is the time to randomly punish a player for daring to yell loudly in my direction. The officials wanted to be the heroes in this story.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just, I shouldn\u2019t be watching NHL officials and wondering if I saw them at the local beer league game the night before. The energy from the officials on the night was very much that of two guys who don\u2019t get paid enough to show up in Langley for an 11 pm puck drop, and now they\u2019re going to power-trip and take it out on you.<\/p>\n At the very least, it just brings \u201cgame management\u201d back into the spotlight, because you know what? It truly did feel like the officials tried to \u201cmake it up to Vancouver\u201d by calling a couple of soft penalties later in the game. And I can firmly state, everyone would rather the game be called as fairly as possible without having to watch officials apologize by way of handing out penalties and handing you a piece of paper with \u201cDo u accept my apology? check yes or no\u201d written on it.<\/p>\n Where\u2019s the look that shows the puck in the net?? #canucks<\/a><\/p>\n I much prefer videos of Adam Gaudette delivering round house kicks to unsuspecting brides, instead of unsuspecting pucks into the gloves of goalies:<\/p>\n This was a bit of a weird one: Tolopilo made the save, then the broadcast went to a commercial break, only to return to the NHL officials huddled around the box, discussing whether the puck went in.<\/p>\n And yeah, when you watch the replay, you can see Tolopilo gloves the puck, and it\u2019s in the webbing, which is inside the net. He actually catches the puck outside of the net, but he turns his wrist and brings it inside the zone of sadness, and boom, it\u2019s 3-2 Sharks.<\/p>\n Best never forget the importance of body language<\/p>\n As we just went over, the Canucks would get several power play opportunities from the officials after going down 3-2, but the Canucks just didn\u2019t do much with them. The power play was too static and too slow to generate much aside from your token Quinn Hughes, \u201cThere are no options here, god damn it, fine, here\u2019s a shot on net\u201d play:<\/p>\n I feel like half of the shots in the third period from Vancouver were on unscreened attempts that went right into the glove of Askarov.<\/p>\n The main talking point of the power plays, from my end at least, was a couple of moments where Quinn Hughes just didn\u2019t look engaged with puck pursuit:<\/p>\n The first one is at the end of the period with not much time remaining, so that one you can kind of walk away from feeling too troubled by it. The second one, though, it just looks like Quinn isn\u2019t jumping on the puck like he normally does, almost as if he\u2019s given up on the play too soon. When you have a play on the ice where people start talking about JT Miller\u2019s body language, you know it\u2019s going to be a hot topic.<\/p>\n And honestly, this one is a bit of a tough one to talk about. To me, it\u2019s both an important couple of highlights to talk about, but also, we have to be careful not to make too big a deal out of it?<\/p>\n It\u2019s important because we have seen Quinn Hughes generally look unhappy as of late. And not just an existential crisis resting face unhappy; we\u2019ve seen him be short in media scrums, and we\u2019ve heard the rumours of being talked to about the importance of body language\/how you present yourself, especially as the captain. We have reports of him being 100% committed to the Canucks, and then we have reports from Andy Strickland saying accept your fate Vancouver, he\u2019s out of here. So it\u2019s natural to wonder where his head is at in all of this when you see plays like this.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s important to remember we don\u2019t definitively know why he\u2019s not jumping on the puck here. It could be a Thanksgiving hangover. He could be dealing with injuries. He could be frustrated. We just don\u2019t know. We\u2019ve seen Quinn Hughes duct tape his body together last year to keep playing, so I would never question his commitment to winning, and for all we know, the duct tape has begun again this year. We never truly know the extent of a player\u2019s injuries until they retire and become a sports radio guest, where they tell you how they had their ligaments replaced with several strands of spaghetti for a season or two, which is why their play fell off. I honestly wonder if JT Miller was\/is dealing with the effects of a longer-term injury, and if that plays a part in some of the more debated highlights we\u2019ve seen from him as of late.<\/p>\n However, it is a play that will stand out, because yeah, Quinn Hughes is in such an unknown position with the team. We don\u2019t know if players are injured, so all you can do is guess. And he has a cloud hanging over his head in the form of his next contract, something that most likely won\u2019t clear up until he\u2019s traded or re-signs with the Canucks.<\/p>\n All of which makes for another season of wondering if people are getting divorced again, and being told it\u2019s ok because if it happens, you get to celebrate Christmas twice at least. And we know how well that went last season in terms of it affecting the mood around the team.<\/p>\n So yes, I do believe people have a right to be concerned, but I would just caution jumping to conclusions about some of it.<\/p>\n Best keep my puck out your net<\/p>\n Every time I get fed up with a lot of AI junk I feel like Will Smith in I, Robot<\/p>\n The third period was a lot of \u201cpark the bus\u201d hockey in the sense that the Sharks clearly wanted to slow things down and grind out the victory.<\/p>\n But even with that, they did on occasion get a breakaway or two, such as this moment when Will Smith walked on stage and slapped a puck at Tolopilo:<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what it is, I just really enjoy watching this kid in net.<\/p>\n Toffoli might be cursed at this point<\/p>\n Macklin then almost got his third assist on the night when the Sharks bombed the puck down the ice, and Celebrini got to the puck first and found Toffoli in front of the net:<\/p>\n But Tolopilo denied him, and you know why? Because that\u2019s just what this kid does.<\/p>\n Best I don\u2019t understand what\u2019s happening<\/p>\n