VANCOUVER -- The Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally coming back to Vancouver, and after nine years without postseason hockey, former Canucks goalie Kirk McLean expects the city and a pent-up fanbase to welcome it back passionately.
When the Canucks host Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Nashville Predators at Rogers Arena on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, SN360, TVAS), it will be the first playoff game in Vancouver since 2015, a six-game, first-round loss to the Calgary Flames. Their only trip to the postseason since was in 2020, when they lost in seven games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, with all games taking place at Rogers Place in Edmonton without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"A nine-year hiatus from a home playoff game is a long time, especially in a hockey market," McLean said. "Everybody is craving playoffs and the excitement of the fans here, it certainly brings a seventh-man situation, 100 percent."
That playoff energy won't be limited to inside Rogers Arena, added McLean, who played 11 of his 16 NHL seasons in Vancouver, backstopped the Canucks to Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers, was inducted into the Ring of Honor in 2010 and has worked as a team ambassador since 2014.
"Driving to games, players are going to see flags all over the cars and people are going to be out and about and you'll see all the different jerseys," Mclean said. "The city is going to be lit up in Canucks colors and you can feel the buzz. Even on days off, going out to the supermarket, the players are going to feel the buzz themselves. And as soon they step out on the ice, it's going to be crazy … towel power and the excitement of the crowd, guys are definitely going to be ramped up right from warmup."
It will be new to all of them, at least in terms of playoff games in Vancouver.
Brock Boeser is the longest tenured player on the current roster. The 27-year-old forward was selected by the Canucks in the first round (No. 23) of the 2015 NHL Draft, two months after the last playoff game in Vancouver.
The closest Boeser has come since to the atmosphere he's expecting in Game 1 was when Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin played their final game on April 5, 2018, connecting on the winning goal in overtime against the Arizona Coyotes in the final moments as players after 17 NHL seasons, all in Vancouver.
"It's just going to be a new experience, but we have heard it loud in this building, when we play the [Toronto Maple] Leafs and just looking back at Daniel and Henrik's final game, that was crazy," Boeser said. "I've heard that it gets pretty crazy [during playoffs] and I'm just excited to experience it myself now."
That the Canucks get to experience it for the first time with home-ice advantage and as Pacific Division winners in these playoffs isn't something many would have predicted at the start of the season. It's the first time they've won their division since 2013, which at the time was their fifth straight division title.
That five-year stretch of success included winning the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season team in consecutive seasons (2011 and 2012) and advancing to the Cup Final for the third time in team history in 2011 before losing to the Boston Bruins in seven games. That was the last time the Canucks won a playoff series with fans in the stands. They had missed the postseason in eight of 10 seasons since 2013, finishing no higher than fifth in the division in those seasons when they didn't qualify for the playoffs.
It hasn't been easy on a proud fanbase, which makes this season's success stand out for players who committed to raising the standard back to past levels by coming back to Vancouver earlier in the summer to skate together. Vancouver finished sixth in the Pacific last season (38-37-7), although they finished strong under Rick Tocchet, going 20-12-4 after he replaced Bruce Boudreau on Jan. 22, 2023.
"We were sick and tired of losing and that's why we came early to try to set that standard and set those expectations," Boeser said.
That meant adopting "day to day" and "meet pressure with pressure" mantras of Tocchet in his first full season. It meant offensively gifted players like defenseman Quinn Hughes and forwards Boeser, J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson being willing to put team success and defense ahead of scoring.
"The crest means a lot to me and we always talk about the emblem on the front more than the back and a lot of guys bought into that," Tocchet said. "We try not to preach individualism around here. It's good for guys to get accolades, don't get me wrong, but it's all about the crest and that's what wins in the playoffs, so that's what I'm most proud of the guys really buying into this year. … They're feeding off the culture of the crest, and it permeates at each level, so that's the way I think you build organizations."
