Canucks Coffee: Tyler Myers’ full-body block is the stuff of legends

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Who knows what we’d be saying this morning without Tyler Myers, a.k.a. the Chaos Giraffe.

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This season has been a renaissance for the giant blueliner. After some up and down seasons for the up and down Vancouver Canucks, Myers has become as steady as they come.

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Paired with Carson Soucy, he’s been a hard-edged, defence-first defender.

And oddly enough, he’s had his best-scoring season since joining the Canucks in 2019.

But what he’s going to be remembered for is the stuff of legend.

It was Myers who got the block on a Gustav Nyquist shot with just nine seconds left in Friday’s 1-0 Canucks win over the Nashville Predators, a moment that clinched the series for the Canucks.

Sprawled out on the ice, Myers still managed to get himself — and let’s be clear, all of himself — in front of Nyquist’s shot.

The puck popped up in the air and then Ian Cole, the other elder statesman of the Canucks’ blue-line, punched the puck out of mid air and into the corner.

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Getting it all, you say? How so?

Myers took the shot in the balls.

The cup did its job, he said.

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“The boys are OK,” Myers told Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy, or thereabouts.

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Petey’s play

Everyone can tell things aren’t going easily for Elias Pettersson.

Whether he’s dealing with a recurrence of the groin problem that bothered him before Christmas, or perhaps his wrist is also bothering him again, he’s never going to cop to anything.

He’s simply going to say he needs to play better.

And over the latter half of the series, his game did improve. He did start attacking space through the neutral zone. He did actually try to get some shots off.

But most crucially, he’s been greatly improved defensively.

After some early-series gaffes, his game in his own end has greatly improved.

He remains a vital contributor to the PK.

He’s also finding moments to grind.

Take the winning goal by Pius Suter. Brock Boeser made the brilliant pass to Suter to set up the game-winning goal, but it’s Pettersson who did the yeoman’s work, winning three separate board battles before shovelling the puck around the end boards from Boeser to play.

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He found a way to make a difference on Friday.

Arty Party

It’s safe to say Rick Tocchet is going to ride the Latvian as long as he can.

Fans are in love with their new goalie. Everyone loves an underdog.

Fans were chanting his name post-game outside Rogers Arena.

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pjohnston@postmedia.com

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