5 times the Canucks were referenced in movies and TV

The Vancouver Canucks have been mentioned in movies and television several times over the years. Here are five of the best pop culture references.

Both movies and television love to reference sports teams from time to time. For the Vancouver Canucks, they’re definitely no exception to this.

The Canucks may not be one of the most well-known sports teams around the world compared to the Dallas Cowboys, Manchester United, New York Yankees or  Los Angeles Lakers but their name (and even some players) have been brought up in film and TV.

Let’s look at five of those instances.

5. Trevor Linden and Ryan Walter in “Being Ian”

Being Ian was one of my favourite shows as a kid. The animated show centered around a dorky kid named Ian who loved making movies. The show aired on YTV in the mid-2000s, and it was primarily set in Burnaby.

In one episode called “Hockey Night in Burnaby,”  the Vancouver team played a big part. This episode aired during the 2004-05 lockout.

Ian is also a big hockey fan and one day meets former Canuck Ryan Walter (who has become a motivational speaker) and he allows Ian and his weird friend Odbald access inside the arena which was called GM Place at the time, to inspect the Canucks’ organ.

Unknown to Ian, his two mischievous older brothers tag along and try to spoil his day. They even get Ian a lifetime ban from the arena for destroying the organ and Ian, with the help of Trevor Linden, tries to convince Walter that his brothers were culprits.

Walter voiced himself for this episode, and so did Linden.  At one point, Linden got angry and turned into the Incredible Hulk. Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, Mattias Ohlund, Jarkko Ruutu, and Dan Cloutier also make brief cameos.

You can actually watch the full episode here.

4. Family Guy’s Seamus wants to watch the Canucks

Moving on from a show for kids to an adult cartoon, the Canucks were surprisingly named dropped in an episode of Family Guy.  The episode called the “D in Apartment 23”  aired on Nov. 17, 2017.

In this episode, Brian the dog got in trouble for tweeting something offensive about the film Baywatch, which causes an angry mob to protest outside his home. The Griffins then kick him out for their safety ,and Brian has to live in an apartment all by himself.

In one scene, the Griffins are trying to watch TV with the protesters outside. One character Seamus, a wooden pirate/fisherman, takes a look through the window and the TV. He then asks the family, “Can you turn on the Canucks game?”  Lois Griffin then responds, “No, go away!” and closes the blinds. You can watch it here.

When I was watching the episode, I had to rewind a few times to make sure I was hearing things correctly. It was nice to hear Family Guy referencing the Canucks, but I found it odd at the same time.

The reference was just out of nowhere and had no connection with the rest of the episode. I also found it odd because Family Guy is set in Rhode Island, which is Boston Bruins country, and it just seemed so out of place for Seamus to be a Canucks fan. Maybe one of the show’s writers is a Canucks fan, who knows?

3. Ewan McGregor watches a Canucks game in Ghost Writer

Ghost Writer is a 2010 thriller film based on the 2007 novel called The Ghost by Robert Harris. In the film, Ewan McGregor (the biggest reason why I love the Star Wars prequel trilogy) plays a ghostwriter who was hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister who lives in the U.S because of fears of being charged for war crimes, played by Pierce Brosnan (based off Tony Blair.) McGregor uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.

About half an hour through the film, McGregor’s character is sitting in a bar and asks the bartender to change the channel from the news. The bartender turns on a Canucks game against the St. Louis Blues. You can see parts of it as well, but Jim Hughson’s commentary can be clearly heard.

You can hear Hughson say, “Vancouver is on the power play,” and you can hear the names of Daniel and Henrik Sedin as well as Alex Edler and Ohlund. This goes on for almost thirty seconds before McGregor talks to the creepy guy in the bar. The game McGregor was watching might have been a game from the Canucks and Blues first-round series in 2009.

You can watch the scene here.

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2. The Canucks never lose to the Whalers in Mallrats

Mallrats is a 1995 romantic buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who is also a big hockey fan.

In one scene in Mallrats, Jason Lee’s character is playing an NHL video game while his girlfriend Rene is asking him to have breakfast with her.

He’s playing against the Canucks with the Hartford Whalers, leading 12-2. When Rene asks him to have breakfast, Lee’s character replies with, “Breakfasts come and go, Rene, now Hartford? The Whale? Hey, they only beat Vancouver maybe once, twice in a lifetime.”

Smith later said in a 2004 interview that the reference was a last-minute addition and his friend Walter Flanagan told him to have the worst teams in the game, play each other. Those teams were Hartford and Vancouver.

You can watch the full scene here.

1. Robin From”How I Met Your Mother” is a huge Canucks fan

How I Met Your Mother was a comedy show that ran from 2005 to 2014.  Robin Scherbatsky was one of the central characters in the series and is a big Canucks fan. She is played by Cobie Smulders, who is from Vancouver herself and just like her character, is a big fan of the Canucks.

Unlike previous entries, this reference just doesn’t happen once. In How I Met Your Mother, the team is referenced multiple times through the show. Robin would be seen wearing a Canucks jersey in many scenes as well as mentioning the Canucks (Mason Raymond and Darcy Hordichuk, for instance.) There was also a scene where she would watch the Canucks play the New York Rangers (the show was set in New York).

There are so many scenes to choose from, but you should watch the one where Robin is wearing a Roberto Luongo jersey while shooting a puck indoors.

There are surely other times where the Canucks were referenced in movies and TV, so free to say in the comments if I missed any.