Gameday preview: Canucks vs Kraken (January 1)

Happy New Year everyone! The Vancouver Canucks are back in action tonight as they head down to I-5 to take on the Seattle Kraken for the second time this season. They last met on October 23 and the Canucks spoiled the Kraken’s first-ever home game with a 4-2 victory.

The Canucks winning streak came to an end on Thursday night as they fell 2-1 via the shootout to the Los Angeles Kings. However, Vancouver has still hasn’t lost a game in regulation since Bruce Boudreau became the team’s head coach.

The Canucks and Kraken were supposed to play in Vancouver on December 27 but that game has been postponed.

It’s been a tough inaugural season for the Kraken and they have lost four straight games and currently sit last in the Pacific Division with a 10-18-4 record. Given the history of expansion teams in their inaugural season,(minus the Vegas Golden Knights.) their record shouldn’t be a surprise. Seattle last played on Thursday night where they lost 6-3 to the visiting Calgary Flames.

Boudreau confirmed that no players have been added to the COVID-19 protocol during Saturday morning’s media availability and that is good news.

The Canucks head coach also said Thatcher Demko will be back between the pipes after a night off in Los Angeles.

“Our first periods have got to get better,” said Boudreau per Patrick Johnston of The Province and Vancouver Sun.

How a fan saved Brian “Red” Hamilton’s life

The Internet can be a toxic place but can also be a great place and that showed on this New Year’s Day. The Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton penned a letter that was posted to Twitter and he was hoping to find a woman that identified malignant melanoma on the back of his neck on October 23.

It didn’t take long for the people to find her and it turns out she is the daughter of a woman who is part of the Ladies of the Kraken Facebook group. She and her mother are season ticket holders and she just got accepted into multiple medical schools. To make things even better, she will be at Thursday night’s game.

Hamilton spoke to the media after Boudreau and he was very happy the woman was found.

“I’ve got a wonderful family,” said Hamilton per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650. “She extended my life. She saved my life. She didn’t take me out of a burning car like the big stories, but she took me out of a slow fire. The doctor said if I ignored it for four to five years, I wouldn’t be here.”

“When she pointed it out, I’d never seen it,” said Hamilton per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. “When I started asking people, doctors on the team, they didn’t like the look of it either. So I got scared.”

” I’m happy that story’s there, not for me, but for her because the world needs to know that this woman exists, and she’s a hero, and we need to celebrate her and people like her,” he said.

It turns out Hamilton’s hero’s name is Nadia and hopefully, they will get a chance to meet Saturday night.

This goes to show the kindness of a stranger can bring a good impact on a person and this story is a great way to open 2022.

Players to watch

Vancouver Canucks- Quinn Hughes: Hughes is currently fifth in points among NHL defencemen and he has two goals and 25 assists for 27 points in 32 games this season.

Seattle Kraken- Jared McCann: The former Canuck leads the Kraken in goals with 13 and is third in points behind Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz with 19.

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM. You can watch the game on CBC and Sportsnet or listen to the game on Sportsnet 650.