Even as we all grow up and get used to dealing with the realities of life, there's still something special about when your favourite team releases their schedule for the next season; it's one of those instances when you get a feeling of excitement akin to being young again. We would assume plenty of Vancouver Canucks fans, regardless of their age, felt some level of elation on Tuesday when the NHL released the schedule for the 2024-25 campaign.
As always, there's plenty for Vancouver hockey fans to delve into. However, here are our main takeaways from the Canucks' schedule for next season:
1) Another opening night rout?
As with this past season, the Canucks will get to open their regular season campaign at home in Rogers Arena. This time around it will be the Calgary Flames, with the game taking place on Wednesday Oct. 9, with puck-drop scheduled for 7:00 pm PT. Unlike the 2023-24 home opener though, don't expect another 8-1 thumping of their opponent.
2) Revenge on the mind
On the subject of the 8-1 rout, the Canucks will first renew hostilities with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday Nov. 9, also at home at 7 pm PT. The Canucks will of course be looking for revenge, after taking the Oilers to seven games in their second round playoff clash this past season, before ultimately losing 3-2 on home ice. The teams will face each other three times in total in 2024-25 with -- for what it's wort -- two of the games taking place in Vancouver.
3) Home and away for the long haul
Some of the toughest slogs of an NHL season are the long road trips, especially for a team such as the Canucks nestled up in the corner of the Pacific Northwest. However, it's not toooo bad relatively speaking, with them twice having to take six-game road trips, once between Nov. 23 - Dec. 3 and the other from Feb. 22 - Mar.1. The Canucks' longest home stretch is also six games, with it interestingly happening twice right on either side of their first six-game road trip.
4) The best of enemies
Any games versus the Toronto Maple Leafs are always going to rile up Canucks fans. This is a battle between two of the most passionate fan bases in the NHL, with the added aspect of both being Canadian, hence the cities are rivals in a lot of other ways too. (Which we wont get into on a sports website.) They will first meet in Toronto on Jan. 11, with the rematch back home on Feb. 8.
5) Going up against the very best
It must be both heartening and frustrating for the Canucks to know they more than held their own versus the eventual Stanley Cup finalists from the Western Coference. However, the same is true of the actual champions, with them winning both games versus the Florida Panthers this past season; 5-3 on the road in late October and then a 4-0 shutout at home in mid-December. They'll only have to wait till the fourth game of the 2024-25 campaign to face the Panthers this time around, on the road Thursday Oct. 17, with the rematch back home once more around mid-December, Thursday Dec. 12.
6) No time for a breather
The good news for the Canucks is that they will face less back-to-back games in 2024-25 compared to this past season, when they had 10. The bad news though is that it's not that much better, with nine back-to-back scenarios to come. Still on the matter of endurance, the Canucks will face their most total games for a month in both January and March, with 15 games on each occasion.