The Stakes Have NEVER Been Higher...

We have a huge Quinn Hughes injury update ahead of a massive game against the Calgary Flames tonight that is going to have the biggest stakes of any Canucks regular season game so far this season. We're going to be breaking down all that in this episode of Canucks Digest. But first, before we hop into that, I want to let you guys know about a special offer, and I'm going to let Mark take it away from here. We're kicking off a March Madness bracket for the channel. We are partnering with the Hot Takes app and other Digest channels for this event. It's completely free to sign up. Just download the Hot Takes app, Click the March Madness banner at the top, and under Groups, select the Digest Media Pool. This is really exciting, as there's over $25,000 in prizes to be won, and there's such a smaller pool of people participating, there's a real chance at winning big. Check out the link below or scan the QR code to download that. Make sure to use the promo code DIGEST in all caps to get exclusive perks when signing in. The main event competition will start on March 16th, And if you have any trouble, reach out to us in the email that will be down below in the description. Once again, I want to give a huge thank you to Hot Takes for partnering with us on this amazing competition. Thanks for that, Mark. And without further ado, the first topic of the day, which is Quinn Hughes' game status. And this is coming right from Rick Tocchet himself, saying it's a good possibility he could be in. And now this could not come at a better time for the Canucks, because the 25-year-old Quinn Hughes has missed a total of 14 games this season with the Vancouver Canucks, going six six and two and at times have missed the offense he brings in a big way which is ironic for a defenseman in 50 games this season Hughes has registered 60 points 14 goals 46 assists 27 penalty minutes and a plus 10 rating despite missing 21 percent of his team's games in 2024 2025 and still remains in the mix to be a finalist for the Norris Trophy now obviously we know how valuable Quinn Hughes is to this team obviously he is our captain now the reason why this is so big is this is coming at the perfect time for the Canucks as far as him coming back in I know we would have loved to have had him back for these past few games that we have unfortunately lost and not played great at all and really last night we made a bit of an attempt to come back against Montreal but it just wasn't enough and yes I can't help but think that if Quinn Hughes was on that ice we would have won that game for sure because we were able to get within one goal without him so having him on the ice I think we definitely had a really good chance at winning that game that's not to say we didn't play an entirely terrible game last night Phil Hironic is someone who definitely has stepped up in the absence of Quinn Hughes probably the most out of any player however having the captain back you need that especially for this game that's not only against a division rival but it's against the team that is in the playoff hunt with us and this is going to be a massive swing for the Canucks if they are able to get this win and that's going to take us into our second topic of the day which is the biggest topic of today and that is the highest stakes of the year with this game and we see here from Jeff Patterson where last night he tweeted out that the Canucks remain at 69 points on the year after the loss to Montreal if they go 10 and 8 down these last 18 games that'll get them to 89 points probably not enough for the playoffs 11 and 7 gets them to 91 maybe enough 12 and 6 down the stretch will get them to 93 points and that'll probably be enough to get them into the playoffs and when looking at the standings right here we're going to look at it a few times in this video but as well when you look at the standings you got Minnesota up there at the top of the wildcard race it's going to be very tough to catch them it's definitely going to be a fight for that second wildcard spot where Calgary can get into a commanding lead if they get the win tonight against Vancouver then you also have St. Louis and Utah also right on their tails Anaheim is starting to creep up a little bit but they're not a problem as of yet however they are still in our division and still have beaten us head-to-head many times a few times this season as well but St. Louis and Utah those guys are going to be really tough coming up down the stretch especially with St. Louis on the on the heater that they are on right now playing really good hockey and as far as the playoff chances for this game if the Canucks beat the Flames in regulation our playoff chances jump up to 9.3 percent or jump up to 33.6 going up 9.3 from where they are currently at if we lose we drop down to 16.1 dropping down 8.3 percent we beat them in OT drops up to 30 and a half if we lose an OT 21.6 this is a four point game for either side tonight you're earning two points but also stealing two points away from your closest competition in the division the flames can jump up at nearly 50 percent at 43.5 percent with a regulation win but drop to over 11 percent and drop below the Canucks with a regulation loss so obviously the Canucks we know that overtime losses have been a big thing this year that's why unfortunately like thankfully we have gotten them because we've been able to get some points but those are games where we could get a two-point swing and not just a one-point consolation but this is a game where we cannot afford for it to go into overtime we can't afford for it to be as stressful as it has been for the Canucks this season it's been a very tough year for the Canucks it's been very inconsistent it's been a lot of games where hey we should be winning this game or we are winning this game and we choke it this can't be one of those games that just gets away from us we know how big this game is this is going to be massive I know Canucks fans are going to be all over Twitter tonight just watching to see what the reactions are going to be they're going to be talking smack especially because we're playing Calgary there's going to be a lot of back and forth with Calgary fans it's going to be interesting to watch with my popcorn as much as it is going to be to watch the game hopefully I know Petey he scored last night hopefully he can score again tonight Phil Housley getting Quinn Hughes back that will be a big boost for him as well hopefully those guys can get back to where they were at last season I know this season their duo hasn't really translated as greatly we've seen Housley kind of almost play better like I said without Hughes this season but nonetheless you still cannot deny that they are a great duo and I'm guaranteeing that they would definitely love to have each other on the same pairing even with the with even when considering their production levels their chemistry is still there and with a game as big as this this would be a perfect welcome back for Quinn Hughes to not only get a goal but I'm calling a one-on-one night for Quinn Hughes one goal one assist hopefully he's able to get more than that or just some other guys are able to get opportunities because of what he's able to do on the ice maybe not getting a primary secondary assist but still creating opportunities for this team because that's what he is that's what Quinn Hughes is for this team he is a natural born leader he is that opportunity creator for this team and that's crazy to think coming from a defenseman where your main reliance for points and production is a defenseman hasn't it's not very common in this league where we're seeing a lot of goal scorers be the front runners for players like that but here we are in Vancouver where we're a defensive team like Patrick Allvin said we can't win games two and one down the stretch and make the playoffs however we are the team where that's kind of been our identity of just scoring a lot of low scoring games winning a lot of close ones not a lot of high scoring ones on our side and like i was saying to mark last night something that was just ironic that i thought of seems like the Canucks tend to score more goals when we don't put up 20 plus shots on net and we seem to not score enough when we put up more than that so i thought that was kind of interesting i don't know if the numbers are exactly right on that if anyone wants to fact check me on that they can go ahead but just based off what i've seen this season the Canucks for some reason we can score more goals on less shots than on more so I don't know that might just be me let me know if you guys think otherwise down in the comments but the biggest thing too with this game is the Canucks win this game it's not only huge for the playoff chances but only when also when looking at the remaining games that they have down the stretch within the Pacific Division we got the Golden Knights twice got the Flames got the Kraken Ducks and Sharks each one more time then you got the Central Division where we got the Jets twice that's going to be a pain in the butt then you got the Blackhawks Utah as well and St. Louis Stars Avalanche and Wild and then there's none for the Atlantic Division then in the Metropolitan division we're playing against JT Miller and now Carson Soucy again where they would play them one more time the Devils one more time without Jack Hughes the Islanders and the Blue Jackets so of all the teams left in the regular season with games that have a big with all these games that we have left in regular season the Canucks undoubtedly have the toughest stretch down to to the playoffs to try and race in there Golden Knights twice that's not going to be fun then you have the Jets twice that's not going to be fun because if we make it in the playoffs we're probably going to be playing them so at least it's good for us to get some tape on them but we know how it's gone with the previous times of playing the Jets hasn't gone our way then you play them two more times so hopefully that doesn't go horribly but I'm anticipating us to probably lose one of if not both of those games then you have Utah and St. Louis who are hot on our tail as well Dallas they played us really tough the other night and they really ran away with it at the end Colorado we've been able to have their number a little bit this year same with Minnesota so i do like our chances there then going over to the east that's where things are going to get a little tricky as far as the Rangers and the Islanders and the Blue Jackets but hopefully we're able to steal some of those games there as well especially against the Rangers i know JT Miller and Carson Soucy are going to want a revenge game we can't let them have that that's if of all all these games are must win at this point every game is must win but tonight in the Rangers game those are two of the four probably two of the four most must win games not only for the points but also for team morale because we can be a team like the Rangers i know that they're not the best of teams and they're kind of resurging a little bit but it's more about beating JT Miller and Carson Soucy in that game the Flames this is about defeating defeating a division rival and someone who is hot on our tail in the playoffs and ahead of us in the playoffs race right now then we've got a lot more other tough games that are coming up ahead but it's going to be a very stressful ride to the finish it's not like last season we were able to lock up that division and we were sitting nice and pretty and chilling kicking our feet back until the playoffs started, no it's not like that this time around it's going to be a stressful ride to the end it's going to be a very anxiety inducing next few weeks for Vancouver Canucks fans not only with the playoffs but also with the looming free agency with the Brock Besser stuff and everything like that but with for everything all the every step of the way we are going to be bringing you guys updates I know I'm stumbling a lot but that's just because the game's gonna be starting soon I'm getting nervous I'm nervous for the Vancouver Canucks because i've seen how things have gone this season but here's the hoping we can steal a game against a big big big opponent that shouldn't be a big problem but they have been all season but now we can go in and get a four point swing in all honesty when it could be a two point swing on the score sheet but it could be a four point swing in the overall standings but what do you guys think about this down below how excited are you to have Quinn Hughes back in the lineup what do you guys think our record is going to be down these final 18 games and do you think ultimately the Canucks are going to squeeze into that final wildcard playoff spot let us know down in the comments below let us know how excited you are for this game but that's going to do it for this episode of Canucks Digest leave a like comment subscribe hit that bell icon so you don't miss any updates when they drop and a special thanks to our sponsor for this video for supporting us but with that I've been your host Griffin