This group of young Canucks are strengthening off-ice bonds through a shared love of food.
Max Sasson fires a text off to the ‘dinner club’ group chat.
“Italian, Japanese, or bar food?” he asks the crop of young Vancouver Canucks.
When the voting reaches a conclusion, Sasson picks out a place fulfilling the chosen cuisine, and off the group of players goes.
This dinner club has quickly become one of the Canucks’ home and road traditions after picking up steam during the 2025–26 season. The group — usually composed of anywhere from eight to 12 players — go out and try new restaurants together as a way of maintaining off-ice connection.
Sasson is the primary ringleader of the group, having made a point of organizing dinners with teammates all throughout his professional hockey career. It’s something that originally started due to his desire to get out and bond with his teammates while on road trips, rather than staying in his hotel room after practices or games.
“When we get to a hotel, I don’t really like just sitting in my room, and I think a lot of guys feel the same way,” he told The Hockey News after a summer skate earlier this week.
The dinner club’s restaurant selection process has become an elaborate one that typically involves some collaboration, but ultimately leaves the responsibility of choosing a place up to Sasson. Due to the nature of the regular season, most of the group’s dinner expeditions occur while on the road, as most of their meals are taken care of by the team when they’re in Vancouver.
“Whenever we get to the hotel, or even before, we’ll kind of pre-plan the trip, and when we get the schedule, maybe talk to some people on the other team or someone who I know that lives there, and get some recommendations, and then kind of set it up from there.”
The hype around the dinner club even extended into this past off-season.
“We were even texting in [the group chat] during the summer talking about different spots and recommended some different places.”
The act of trying the restaurants themselves also comes with a rating scale. The players will consider everything about the restaurant, from the food itself down to the service, with the overall rating falling onto a list that’s categorized by ranking.
“We’re trying to become food critics here,” Sasson joked.
Some of the road cities that Sasson and the group of Canucks have been most impressed with are Los Angeles and New York, though the forward was quick to give shout-outs to Columbus and Detroit for their food scene as well.
The Canucks-installment of the dinner club started off relatively small, with four or five players initially in the group chat according to Sasson, but has since expanded to anywhere from eight to 12. Some of the players he mentioned include forwards Linus Karlsson, Liam Öhgren, Arshdeep Bains, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and former Canucks winger Nils Höglander, as well as defencemen Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, Elias Pettersson, and Victor Mancini.
“We’ve got a lot of guys, and depending on the night, we’ll usually get eight to 10.”
While the number varies right now, Sasson explained that the group is always happy to welcome players.
“One thing that we pride ourselves in is we never say no to anyone. So no matter if we have a reservation for eight and there’s nine, we figure it out.”
Mar 6, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Vancouver Canucks center Max Sasson (63) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images That reservation count looks like it’ll be increasing with more players having joined the team. Sasson continued the dinner club with Team USA during the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland, where he managed to recruit new Canucks forward Paul Cotter into the group’s ranks.
“He’s been locked in since he signed here, [that’s] the first text I sent to him,” he said, also noting that the two have compared restaurant recommendation lists for Vancouver.
Three-time Canuck Luke Schenn is also one of the players who looks like he could be joining the group if he’d like to. The NHL veteran, who has 1122 games under his belt, is one of a few players brought in during the past off-season to help shape Vancouver’s locker room culture. Getting to know teammates off the ice is a big piece of that. What better way to do so than by heading out for dinner?
“We would love to have him. He said that his most famous thing is that he’s never room-serviced food at a hotel,” Sasson mentioned.
The heart of these dinners isn’t solely the aspect of trying new places, though, which is something Sasson emphasized. For a team like the Canucks, who have shared time and time again that they’re looking to form a new locker room environment and culture, it’s about maintaining those off-ice bonds and getting to know one-another better in a setting away from the rink.
“It really kind of loosens everyone up. Obviously some of the guys are the same, but you get to probably go out to dinner with guys that you maybe don’t talk to as much. It’s super fun.”
It can also serve as a good way of decompressing before or after a game.
“The night before a game — or maybe it’s after a game, whatever it may be — you can kind of relax, or you can go out and talk about it,” he said.
For a young group like the Canucks, small dinners every couple of days could make a big difference in the team’s long-term culture. Cohesion off the ice can lead to cohesion on the ice, which will become essential come the time that Vancouver is ready to contend.
“I think it does a lot for the group, and I think it’s fun [...] I think the dinners are bigger than you think.”
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site:
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
The Hockey News