Expectations for the Vancouver Canucks were not high heading into the season.
Asked in September if he expected the team to make the playoffs, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford hedged.
鈥淭o be very to the point, the changes that we made, we have a playoff team if everything goes right,鈥� he said.
Things did go right.
On Sunday, the Canucks will host their first home playoff game since 2015 when they kick off a first-round matchup against the Nashville Predators.
Vancouver has been one of the big surprises of the NHL season. The team went 23-9-3 ahead of the Christmas break and consistently hovered near the top of the league standings before capturing the Pacific Division title with a 50-23-9 record.
鈥淚 think if someone told us where we would be this time (of the) year in the summer, obviously we鈥檇 take it,鈥� said captain Quinn Hughes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 different when you鈥檙e building something every day and you鈥檙e living it. But we knew we had some good pieces in here and we鈥檝e got a great staff, and management did a really good job with putting pieces together.
鈥淎nd it hasn鈥檛 been easy, but we did everything we were supposed to do.鈥�
Players arrived in Vancouver well ahead of training camp last fall, trading their late-summer plans for group skates.
Brock Boeser, the team鈥檚 longest-tenured player, says it feels 鈥渁mazing鈥� to see the hard work result in a playoff spot and division title.
鈥淥bviously, we were sick and tired of losing,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why we came here early to try and set that standard, set those expectations. I think we had that great start to the year and just built off it. We鈥檝e had our ups and downs, but I think we鈥檝e learned a lot.鈥�
Several of the Canucks鈥� top players shone throughout the season, putting up career-high numbers.
Hughes led all NHL defenceman with 92 points. Boeser hit the 40-goal mark. Three Vancouver players were among the league鈥檚 top-20 scorers, including forward J.T. Miller with a team-high 103 points. Even after missing a month with a knee injury, goalie Thatcher Demko finished with a 35-14-2 record, a .918 save percentage and five shutouts.
Point totals and division titles don鈥檛 count in the post-season, noted winger Conor Garland.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice, but once Game 1 comes around, it鈥檒l all be meaningless,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e give ourselves a chance getting into the playoffs. It really doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e the eighth seed or the No. 1 seed, everybody has a chance. And that鈥檚 what everybody fights for all year.鈥�
Head coach Rick Tocchet preached the importance of having a 鈥渄ay-to-day mindset鈥� throughout the season. That won鈥檛 change come playoffs, he said.
鈥淚 think for our group, we just have to worry about Game 1,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 look at the big thing, 鈥榃hat if?鈥� or 鈥榊ou鈥檝e got to win a series,鈥� all that stuff. I think it鈥檚 dangerous when you think that way.
鈥淚 think, honestly, we鈥檝e got to prepare for that first period against Nashville and be ready to play from that first shift. 鈥� I think when you think big picture, that鈥檚 when you get nervous.鈥�
NHL playoff experience is one thing many of Vancouver鈥檚 stars lack. The Canucks鈥� last playoff run came in the Edmonton bubble during the COVID-abbreviated 20219-20 season.
鈥淭hat was different. That was tough,鈥� said Garland, who played for the Arizona Coyotes at the time. 鈥淥ur games were at like, 10 in the morning. So I was eating pasta at 8 a.m. It wasn鈥檛 the most fun I鈥檝e had in my life.
鈥淭his year is different. I鈥檒l find out.鈥�
Six current Canucks played for Vancouver in the bubble, including Boeser. Playoffs this year will be completely different, he said.
鈥淚 think we鈥檝e just got to look at it as our first time,鈥� Boeser said. 鈥淛ust with the fans and the momentum shift and all that, it鈥檚 something new to us and something I think we鈥檙e going to have to embrace.鈥�
The Canucks swept their season series against Nashville, but all three games took place before Christmas and the Predators were one of the NHL鈥檚 hottest teams coming out of the all-star break. Nashville took points from 18 straight games across February and March, and finished the regular season fourth in a ultra-competitive Central Division.
The late-season push doesn鈥檛 scare Canucks winger Dakota Joshua.
鈥淚 feel good about facing anybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think this group is a confident one.鈥�
The results of the Vancouver-Nashville season series will help going into the playoffs, Joshua added.
鈥淵ou know you can beat them,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day, you start off 0-0. They were a pretty hot team here down the stretch, so they鈥檙e feeling probably a lot better than the times we played them during the season. And it should be a great series.鈥�
TALE OF THE TAPE
Regular-season series: Vancouver 3-0
Goals per game: Vancouver 鈥� 3.40 (6th); Nashville 鈥� 3.24 (10th).
Top scorers: Vancouver 鈥� J.T. Miller, 103 points; Nashville 鈥� Filip Forsberg, 94
Starting goaltender: Vancouver 鈥� Thatcher Demko, 35-14-2, 2.45 GAA, .918 save percentage; Nashville 鈥� Juuse Saros, 35-24-5, 2.86 GAA, .906 save percentage
Power play percentage: Vancouver 鈥� 22.7 (11th); Nashville 鈥� 21.6 (16th)
Penalty kill percentage: Vancouver 鈥� 79.1 (17th); Nashville 鈥� 76.9 (22nd)
The Big Stat: Vancouver went 17-12-4 after the all-star break while Nashville was 21-7-3.
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