We are coming to the end of a historically strong Vancouver Canucks season. This year’s team is the best edition to not feature the Sedin twins across the entirety of franchise history.
Daniel and Henrik are still around the team, but they’re coaches instead of players.
The Canucks have two games left to collect the one win needed to reach 50 on the season. They’ve only accomplished that feat twice before, in 2010-11 and 2011-12, when the Sedins were at the top of their powers.
“We haven’t talked about it at all. It’s just another game for us. We’re going to try our best to win, but if we don’t, it’s not the end of the world either. We’re just trying to win the game and worry about ourselves,” said J.T. Miller this morning about the 50-win milestone. “It’s about the process for us, having a good game and doing the staples that we’ve talked about all year.”
The team’s 107 points are already the third-best in team history, and there are still games to be played. If they win both of their final contests, they’ll finish tied with the 2011-12 team for the second-best season in franchise history. They’ll hope to do better in the postseason than that Sedin-led team that lost in the first round.
Best seasons in Canucks history – NHL.com
“Start of training camp and even last year, whether it’s right or wrong, a lot of people didn’t believe what we could accomplish. We’ve got this plateau; there’s another plateau to go,” said head coach Rick Tocchet about potentially reaching 50 wins after this morning’s lightly attended optional skate. “So I think we’ve answered that question like, ‘Hey, you know, we play our way, we can be successful.’ The guys should have a little swagger because of it, but then there’s also another level, so I think that’s the way you’ve got to look at it.”
The Canucks get their first chance at reaching the milestone tonight against the Calgary Flames. A win will also clinch first place in the Pacific Division. The puck drops at 7 pm PT.