The Vancouver Canucks are finally back on the horse and ready to make some noise in the NHL. Here are three ways for fans to enjoy this moment.
The Vancouver Canucks‘ fan base is often regarded as one of the NHL’s most passionate.
Thanks to some savvy drafting, management has quickly put this team back in the playoff hunt. This team immense potential, and they’re just getting started. Here are the three ways for Canuck fans enjoy the ascension (if the season resumes).
1. Be patient
The Canucks have assembled a promising core of players that are lead by a 25-year-old captain, Bo Horvat. Quinn Hughes is only 20 years of age, and Elias Pettersson is still a sophomore. This young team still has a lot to learn, and they will inevitably struggle in all kinds of areas that will be extremely frustrating to watch.
All through the 2019-20 season, Vancouver has been criticized for being unable to play a full 60-minute game. Consistent back-checking, winning the battles along the boards, fighting for every faceoff: These are skills that develop as you spend more time in the league. The team will have to learn through their mistakes, and fans need to just bite their tongues and let the players figure it out.
Sidney Crosby won his first Stanley Cup in his fourth NHL season and did not touch it again for seven years . Alexander Ovechkin, arguably the greatest goal-scorer of all time, didn’t lift the Cup until he was 32 years old. Greatness takes time but remember, all good things come to those who wait.
2. Limit time on social media
With any big fan base comes a lot of hot takes and plenty of division. The Canucks have a massive following which leads to a variety of different opinions. They were able to get the head of scouting, Judd Brackett, trending on Twitter because of all the people who wanted to weigh in on the drama.
Social media often makes small incidents seem like the world’s biggest problem and it can easily distort people’s attitudes. Petersson turning the puck over for the game-winning goal can be magnified a thousand times that night and just blow away the next time the Canucks win. Perspective is important, and it’s hard to have it when you’re constantly on social media.
Canuck fans need to remember that they’re all cheering for the same team. Everyone can have different opinions but at the end of the day, they all want to see the same thing: A Stanley Cup parade in Vancouver.
3. Enjoy the ride!
This sounds obvious, but the journey is just as important as the destinations. All the heartbreaks, all the challenges the team and fans go through are critical in bringing everyone together. If the Canucks won the Cup every year, it would eventually go stale. Knowing that your team put in their blood, sweat and tears to achieve this goal is what will make the moment even sweeter.
It’s not every day that teams have the opportunity to watch a player like Hughes go coast to coast or Pettersson score from a seemingly impossible position. The Canucks have built a truly special core, and their talents should never be taken for granted.
The St. Louis Blues waited 51 long years before finally hoisting the Stanley Cup, and it seemed like a giant weight was lifted off the city. The Washington Capitals waited for 42 years. Joe Thornton has played in the postseason 17 times, but he’s yet to capture a ring. The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports, and knowing that you stuck by your team through thick and thin will make the ultimate victory so much better.