Did you know that Loui Eriksson scored a goal for Team Sweden in exhibition play leading up to the World Cup of Hockey? Did you know Jacob Markstrom stopped all eleven shots he faced in the half game he played?
If this had happened in pre-season play for the Canucks, I would have been dissecting not just the goal in minute detail, but every shift played by the Sedins and Eriksson. I would have been talking about what Markstrom’s quasi-shutout meant for the coming season and whether he’ll fully supplant Ryan Miller as the number one this year.
But because it happened in the World Cup—or rather in the even-more-meaningless World Cup exhibition games—I just can’t do it. As I explained, at length, . In all honesty, I find it more rewarding to watch goals scored last season by players who aren’t even on the Canucks anymore.
So, here’s all nine goals scored by Jared McCann last season.
1 | October 10 vs Calgary Flames
I last October, observing that McCann gets his first NHL goal thanks to a yeomanlike effort from Jannik Hansen, a nifty pass from Brandon Prust, and some truly shoddy defending by the Flames. That’s not to take anything away from McCann, because his finish is superb.
2 | October 16 vs St. Louis Blues
The Blues completely misplay this 3-on-3, but it’s partly because of the way the Canucks come across the blue line, with McCann and Alex Burrows switching sides while Brandon Sutter drives up the middle. Two defenders go with Burrows, leaving McCann open for a seeing-eye backhand pass that he directs toward the net. Somehow it squeaks through.
3 | October 27 vs Montreal Canadiens
Alex Galchenyuk deserves to be thoroughly shamed for this goal. Sure, Carey Price can’t quite snare Prust’s slap shot, letting the puck roll into the crease behind him, but it’s Galchenyuk’s non-existent backcheck that lets McCann get to the puck first.
4 | October 27 vs Montreal Canadiens
Good lord, what a pass by Prust. He may have been bad at pretty much everything else on the ice, but . This is a savvy play by McCann too, losing his check off the faceoff and heading straight to the slot.
5 | October 30 vs Arizona Coyotes
McCann scored this goal in his ninth game, making it nearly impossible to send him back down to Junior. So the guy with 52 career goals is going to send down the guy on pace for a 46-goal season? !
In any case, it’s a really lovely goal.
6 | November 16 vs Montreal Canadiens
McCann didn’t spend much time on the ice with Henrik Sedin this season, but McCann got the benefit of Henrik’s vision on this this power play goal. After McCann’s centring pass goes through Radim Vrbata’s legs, he gets himself to the side of the net, where a falling Henrik finds him for the open net.
7 | December 18 vs Detroit Red Wings
The Canucks might have been questioning the whole keep-McCann-in-the-NHL thing when he went on a 14-game goal drought, but he got some luck when Jimmy Howard misplayed Hansen’s dump-in and Hansen himself couldn’t cash in when he got tied up. With Howard awkwardly holding the butt-end of his stick, he’s off-balance, and can’t get his blocker on McCann’s shot. Howard shouldn’t have taken .
8 | March 14 vs Winnipeg Jets
This is an absolutely hilarious way to end a 3-month, 25-game drought. McCann comes off the boards looking like peak-era Markus Naslund, leans into a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle, but instead of sniping the top corner, the puck immediately hits Chris Thorburn’s stick, then bounces off Julian Melchiori’s rear end, and wobbles comedically past a desperately lunging Michael Hutchinson.
9 | April 4 vs Los Angeles Kings
McCann’s final goal of the season was a beauty, making it easier to ignore that he had just gone another nine games without a goal. Seeing him score a lovely goal like this to cap off his season didn’t make it any easier to see him traded, that’s for sure.
When Dustin Brown bobbles the puck, McCann shows great acceleration to burst past the defender and take it in on a breakaway. Even more impressively, he manages to control the puck after it bobbles up over his stick and evade Jonathan Quick’s pokecheck before sending it upstairs like a .
