The Canuck Way Mailbag: Horvat, Hughes, Pearson, more

More mailbag Q&A

https://twitter.com/canucks181/status/1294698748002500608

As hot as the captain has been lately, it can’t last forever. That’s no knock on Bo, but I don’t expect him to keep this pace up too much longer. That being said, the Blues will be forced to turn their attention his way, or else he’s going to close out this series all on his own. He’s showing that he has the ability to do that.

He’s (without a doubt in my mind) playing the best hockey of his career right now and that says something. Within a calendar year he’s been married, had his first child, been named captain of the Canucks, and ultimately led his team to the playoffs for the first time in five years. He’s doing absolutely everything the right way right now and he must be loving life.

I can’t say if this hot streak will continue or not but with the way he’s playing, the Blues have to adjust. Either way, it’s a win-win for Vancouver. Either the Blues can’t make proper changes in time which leads to him scoring more and more or St. Louis doubles down on Horvat which then creates the needed time and space for Petey and the lotto line to close out this series.

He’s playing phenomenal right now and it can only lead to bigger and better things for Vancouver.

Right now, there are a few players on the Canucks roster who I believe are not getting enough credit for the things they do for this team, but if I had to pick one player, I’d say Alex Edler. The Eagle has stepped up as the team’s top minute muncher, especially against the big, bad Blues.

Sure, he coughs up the puck on occasion and has you fuming mad and screaming at your TV (like when he turned the puck over to Sammy Blais), but without him, this series could be lost altogether. He’s been our go-to defender on the PK for more than 10 years and his work ethic often goes unnoticed.

At 34-years-old, Edler can still get the job done at both ends of the ice and he’s been a vital part of keeping the puck out of Vancouver’s net. He put up a team-leading 24:18 in game 1 and was just 38 seconds shy of a 30-minute performance in game 2. In my opinion, he’s underrated and sometimes underappreciated in Vancouver.

Laugh all you want, but I take this question very seriously. If you know me, you know that I love me some chocolate, but I can never get enough peanut butter! I’ve been an absolute addict for that PB goodness for as long as I can remember and it’s most definitely still a part of my daily diet. In fact, this is a great way to end the mailbag for this week. I’m starving and my bagel just popped. Time to lather on the chunky peanut butter (yes always chunky) like the Canucks lathered on the goal-scoring this week.

The Canucks play game 3 on Sunday night. Get your popcorn ready folks, the Blues will be sure to make Vancouver scratch and claw their way to the second round. This could get ugly in a hurry. The puck drops at 7:30 PM Pacific.