Forget “Canada’s team,” Canucks fans want Tanev to win Stanley Cup

If you thought Vancouver Canucks fans were going to hop on the Edmonton Oilers bandwagon in large numbers, you must be new here.

As the last team standing north of the border, I suppose you can call them “Canada’s team.” The majority of players on their team are Canadian, too.

But that’s not how this works.

Judging by the chatter on social media, it’s clear who the majority of Canucks fans are supporting now that Vancouver’s out.

They’re Team Tanev.

Chris Tanev, who was traded to the Dallas Stars late in the season, has his best shot to win a Stanley Cup since 2011. The 34-year-old grizzled veteran is still making an impact, helping Dallas dust off the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche to get to this point.

Tanev is playing a top-four role on Dallas’ back end, averaging 23:42 of ice time per game in the playoffs. He’s been on the ice for eight goals-for and just four against at five-on-five, despite getting the Nathan MacKinnon matchup in Round 2, and the Mark Stone matchup in Round 1.

And yes, he’s still suffering gruesome injuries — though he hasn’t missed a game.

“My teeth went into my lip, so they had to pull my lip back over my teeth and stitch it up,” Tanev said in a recent interview with TNT.

Here’s what Canucks fans have been saying about Tanev over the past couple of days:

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