How Luke Schenn became an instant Vancouver Canucks fan favourite

The Vancouver Canucks had no idea Luke Schenn would be a key player for them when they acquired him, and neither did fans. Both the team and it’s fans are thrilled with the performances Schenn turned in.

It’s January 16th, 2019, and the Vancouver Canucks are playing the Edmonton Oilers. They’re down in the game, and during play, a graphic pops up on the screen that simply reads, “Michael Del Zotto traded to Anaheim Ducks.”

That’s it. No details of what was coming the Canucks way in return, just that DJ MDZ had been traded. I was watching this game at a sports bar with my friend, and oddly enough, that news was enough to make the rest of the onlookers in the bar erupt with joyous cheers. Just the news that the Canucks had parted ways with the 2017 free agent signing was good enough — regardless of what they were getting in return.

It wasn’t until a couple of minutes later until people began to wonder who else was involved in the deal. I checked Twitter and saw that in return, the Canucks were getting a seventh-round pick and the subject of this article, Luke Schenn.

Schenn reported directly to the Utica Comets to clear a roster spot for Elias Pettersson, who was returning from his second injury of the season. Fast forward to February 25th, and with Erik Gudbranson gone via trade and Chris Tanev sidelined with injury, Schenn made his Canucks debut — marking down the sixth team of his NHL career.

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In that first game, which was, oddly enough, against the Anaheim Ducks, Schenn recorded four hits and registered just over 15 minutes of ice time. He was on the third pairing alongside a familiar face from his time in Utica, Ashton Sautner. The two came up and were an effective third pairing for the Canucks when the injury bug hit their blueline hard.

Fans began to take notice of Schenn’s play. His physicality and his willingness to stick up for his teammates — especially his willingness to spill blood if an opposing player even breathed on Pettersson — made fans quickly realize that Schenn was everything we had hoped Gudbranson could be, for a fraction of the cost.

The hashtag #DrunkOnSchenn was already quickly becoming a regularity on Canucks Twitter, but the game where everyone took notice of Schenn’s play was on March 24th against the Columbus Blue Jackets. In that game, Schenn rewrote the Canucks history books by recording 12 hits — the most by any Canuck in a single game.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, took notice of Schenn, especially after that game. With more and more reporters beginning to want to get a word in with him on where this stellar play was coming from, Schenn said:

“I’m very grateful and thankful for the opportunity. I didn’t know if it was going to come. I was working towards it all year, went down to the minors hoping to improve on some things. … It’s been so far a good fit and I’m just trying to play hard and compete until the end. We’ll see what happens.”

That quote perfectly reflects the way that Schenn played for the Canucks this season. According to general manager Jim Benning, Schenn was exactly what his team needed last year.

“He’s a good person, he’s got a lot of experience playing in the league and he filled a need for us,” Benning said. “He’s a physical, stay at home defenceman but he moved the puck fast. I thought he played well for us.”

As a result, the Canucks weren’t shy about voicing their interest in bringing Schenn back next year, and why wouldn’t they? He is exactly the kind of person you want on your team, ready to stick up for your young players. Speaking of sticking up for your young players, have you heard the story of why there was a scrum after Quinn Hughes picked up his first career assist off of a Brock Boeser goal?

You’ve already seen the goal, but just for a reminder, watch that video. There’s a lot to unpack here, and I’ll explain why Schenn plays such a quiet yet huge part in this, even though you can hardly see him at all in the clip.

So Hughes slams on the brakes and banks the puck to himself off the back of the Kings’ net, and shakes off ten year NHL veteran, Trevor Lewis. Hughes walks back out and let’s go of a shot, and Lewis finishes a hard check on Hughes that knocks him to the ice, while Boeser buries the rebound from Hughes’ original shot.

Did you catch why Schenn would be important in this story? If you guessed, “Lewis finishes a hard check on Hughes that knocks him to the ice,” you’re correct! While Pettersson, Boeser, and Hughes celebrate with one another, Schenn goes to retrieve the memorable puck for Hughes to keep, but not before he has a word with Lewis — and the other four Kings players on the ice.

He knew he would be outnumbered, and he knew the guys he was on the ice with weren’t exactly the toughest that the Canucks roster had to offer, but that’s the point; Schenn makes sure that everyone, not just Lewis, knows that it’s not okay to take liberties on the Canucks’ young guns.

That’s exactly what we want as fans, for our young, exciting players to be protected and for opposing teams to know that it’s not open season on the Canucks rookies. Schenn absolutely has a role on this team, and if he is re-signed, then there will be some healthy competition for roster spots come October.

It was a healthy combination of solid defence, finishing every check, sticking up for his teammates, and not once appearing to take a shift for granted that turned Schenn from a minor trade pickup into a fan favourite amongst Canucks fans — in just 18 games.