Vancouver Canucks weekly thoughts: Daniel’s milestone, Dorsett’s decision, more

For this week’s segment, we reflect on Daniel’s milestone, raise our pitchforks against the Eastern media bias, and speculate on the potential return of Nikita Tryamkin. We also touch on Dorsett’s tragic retirement.

Tryamkin speculation

When Nikita Tryamkin inked a three year deal with Avtomobilist of the KHL in April, it seemed improbable that we’d see him back in a Canucks jersey.

Those slim chances may have been slightly boosted after Sunday when Tryamkin’s agent Mark Gandler spoke to Jason Brough of The Athletic.

Despite having no out clause in the three year deal, this soundbite from Gandler indicates that a mutual termination is possible. While such a possibility remains far-fetched, it opens the door just a crack for a potential return.

The Canucks could certainly use Tryamkin as well, with the 6’7″ defenceman racking up 21 points in 36 games. Avtomobilist’s new captain has also won the KHL defenceman of the month award in consecutive months.

Boeser snubbed

NHL fan voting for January’s all-star game opened up this weekend with a highly controversial ballot decision.

Despite leading the team in scoring by six points(with three fewer games played), Brock Boeser was left off the ballot in favour of Sven Baertschi and Bo Horvat.

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Boeser wasn’t the only rookie star left off the ballot either; as Islanders centre Mathew Barzal was also snubbed. With the pair scoring 25 and 24 points respectively, it’s surprising to see their names missing when looking at all-star nominees.

If this lack of recognition wasn’t frustrating enough, take a look at the NHL’s November highlight package for young stars.

As surprising as it is, you won’t find a single highlight from November’s rookie of the month.

I guess effortless snipes like the one below just aren’t exciting enough.

Daniel’s milestone

Daniel Sedin capped off a dominant power play shift in Thursday night’s game against Nashville with a five-hole goal to notch his 1,000th career NHL point.

Daniel was honoured in a touching pregame ceremony before Saturday night’s tilt against the Leafs.

Before I go on about Daniel, huge props to the Canucks organization for incorporating Dorsett in such a meaningful way. While we’ll have more on Dorsett later, it was so right to see him present the honorary silver puck.

As for Daniel, enough can’t be said about the way he and Henrik blossomed into stars. The pair had to overcome an indescribable amount of scrutiny and pressure to take over as the faces of this franchise.

The twins’ resiliency has also been apparent in their performance this year. Despite seeing their ice time significantly reduced, the two are still on pace for 48 points each. It’s awesome to see the twins quietly succeed when some around town were already writing them off as washed up.

Markstrom nearing shutout record

Jacob Markstrom‘s 35 save performance in a 2-1 win over the Leafs was overshadowed by the one puck he didn’t stop. James Van Riemsdyk tipped one home with 2:52 left in the 3rd period to get the Leafs on the board.

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That goal marked the 130th career NHL start for Markstrom without a shutout- second only to Eldon “Pokey” Reddick for the NHL record. For whatever reason, Markstrom just hasn’t been able to slam the door completely. If I were to wager a guess, I think it has more to do with Markstrom’s mental strength than talent.

Mental weakness has been the source of countless soft goals throughout his Canucks tenure. The common theme with these goals has been that the vast majority are either at the very start or very end of the game.

Looking forward, Markstrom will have to overcome his nervousness to get the monkey off the back.

He better hurry as well; he’s only got two games left to make it happen.

Dorsett’s Retirement

A season filled with highs and lows came to a grinding halt this past week for Derek Dorsett. In fact, Derek’s whole career came to an unfortunate end.

After experiencing neck stiffness a week and a half ago, Dorsett met with two Vancouver doctors last week to look into the root of the problem.

Thursday morning it was announced in a press release that Dorsett was retiring from professional hockey. Dorsett had developed a cervical disc herniation following last year’s neck surgery. Given his prior neck injury and new herniation, it was decided that it was too risky to come back to NHL hockey.

As devastating as it must have been, Dorsett definitely made the right call on this one. Derek’s long-term health is far more valuable than NHL hockey.

While he’s made the decision to step away, the loss will be felt both on and off the ice. The player’s reactions in the video below show just how much he meant to the team.

Moments like this prove just how cruel the game of hockey is. One freak accident or injury can jeopardize a player’s entire career. These are the stories that coaches are referring to when they talk about treating every shift like it’s your last.

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If there was ever a player that followed that motto it was Dorsett. Best of luck moving forward Derek.