Boeser Active, Hughes Gone, Bigger Vancouver Canucks Crowds

Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes not on the ice for warm-ups in Buffalo for the game against the Sabres. It appears Alex Chiasson is the healthy scratch up front.

— The Vancouver Canucks have activated winger Brock Boeser which means the 24-year-old, starting his fifth full season with the club, will see his first action of 2021-’22. He injured/aggravated something at practice and has been unavailable since the end of September.

With Boeser in, Nic Petan has been waived and designated for assignment to the Abbotsford Canucks. The Canucks have already had Jonah Gadjovich (San Jose Sharks) and Zack MacEwen (Philadelphia Flyers) plucked off waivers this campaign.

— As we expected and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told us here on VHN 5 days ago, the Province of British Columbia has decided to allow 100% capacity at events like Vancouver Canucks games. The new policy kicks in October 25th, the Canucks home opener at Rogers Arena is the 26th.

Is this a sign of things to come, as in the Covid-19 pandemic finally waning? We can all hope so, but in the meantime remain vigilant, as we’re told virus variants could abound. Normalization will make everyone’s job easier and more entertaining, from the players to the media. Here’s hoping our full access is restored in the not so distant future.

— Thatcher Demko gets the start in net against Buffalo.

— The Vancouver Canucks are third in the NHL with 39.3 shots per game, which includes a plus-9 average shot differential. On the bad side of the ledger, the team is dead last in face-off percentage at 39.7%, and the PK is at an abysmal 57%. The numbers are a bit skewed after only three games when you get off to a slow start. We’ll check the numbers when they finish up the road trip.