After Emerson Etem scored his team’s first goal Thursday, the celebration on the ice included Dan Hamhuis, Linden Vey and Matt Bartkowski. It could have been their final hugs as Vancouver Canucks. Three of those guys might not belong here Monday.
With Hamhuis and injured teammate Radim Vrbata at the vortex of the National Hockey League’s pre-deadline trade hurricane, and Vey and Bartkowski on a sell list of seven other Vancouver players that was leaked to the media on Wednesday, the Canucks somehow managed to focus Thursday on a game.
And while the showdown against the Ottawa Senators, the tallest of the seven dwarfs from Canada who will likely miss the playoffs was not exactly the game of the season, it meant a lot to players trying to keep their jobs in Vancouver or audition for one elsewhere before the trade deadline on Monday.