Vancouver Canucks' stars have performed excellently both on and off the ice.

In a city often referred to as “Hollywood North,” it’s not surprising that our NHL team puts out Netflix-quality pregame videos. Something that started as a fun, entertaining way to introduce the team has now become a part to look forward to when attending a game at Rogers Arena. Now that we’ve seen five different videos put together by Mike Pohorly and the rest of the team let’s give them a rating of 10.

2019–20: The Zombie Army

The first video in a wave of Canuck-cinema, the title that I’ve been referring to as the “Zombie Army” video, opens with a short blurb to set the context. It highlights the “50 years of battles” that Vancouver has taken part in as a member of the NHL, then transporting viewers inside a war-torn Rogers Arena. The camera pans past visuals of Canuck history, including Alex Burrows’s slaying of the dragon. My favourite part in this video is when former Canucks Alex Edler and Chris Tanev walk past a white towel draped along a bar, reminding viewers that they are — or were, at the time — the last two members of that 2011 team. When people say that a picture’s worth a thousand words, a quick, three-second shot like that is no exception.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG5ZKTRPEDA[/embed]

A horde of zombie-looking creatures line the ice in anticipation, as if waiting for the team to come out and face them. The logos of former playoff rivals decorate their jerseys. As Vancouver suits up, a tense air lingers throughout. Lighting strikes the arena as the teams stare each other down. From a birds-eye view, it looks as though the zombie army doubles, if not triples, that of the Canucks. Defeat appears imminent. But, in a metaphoric moment of motivation, the sound of sticks banging against the boards hits the air. The camera shifts, flashing jerseys bearing the numbers 19, 16, and 10. Former players, including Stan Smyl and Dave Babych, watch on from the bench as if gesturing to the players that they’re all in this fight together.

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As Henrik Sedin throws the puck in the air, Daniel watches on — and the battle begins. Quinn Hughes can be seen skating circles around the creatures. Micheal Ferland takes a zombie through the glass. Gino Odjick even gets his shot at a zombie, taking one out from the bench. As the puck makes its way to Elias Pettersson, he shoots, shattering the opposing goalie into a flurry of shards. Bo Horvat makes his way to centre ice, stabbing a billowing Canucks flag into their territory.

The bulk of this video’s power comes from the evocative images of the past. Tying in the legends of all eras of Canucks hockey, even in the smallest ways, set the tone for an unforgettable 50th season of the Vancouver Canucks. While many of the more recent videos have brought in celebrities and toyed with impressive visual effects, the simpler style of the video makes the meaning behind it stand out that much more.

Rating: 9/10

2021–22: Heroes Return

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1t4kFmkqos[/embed]

After the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down Rogers Arena for a season, the Canucks heroes made their return in their second in-arena pregame video. Created in the style of a Marvel movie, viewers were pulled into the Canuck-hero universe through a series of graphic novel-themed pages. As the illustrations fade into reality, we see a dystopian version of Vancouver littered with broken buildings and burning cars. A boy finds the handle of Vancouver’s period-opening siren, making his way into Rogers Arena in search of the remaining pieces. As he dusts off a faded Canucks orca logo, the scene shifts to the players.

Snow blankets a mountain, where a shadowy figure walks towards the camera. In another setting, a hooded man stares out at the pointed hills of a warm, orange planet. A Bruce Wayne-like persona stares down at the wreckage of the city. When the boy begins to crank the siren, the Canucks logo appears in the sky, and the camera moves to reveal that the suited man is Horvat. An axe-wielding J.T. Miller stares up at the sky, and the figure in the snow is revealed to be Brock Boeser. The players are ready to begin their battle.

The video shifts, flying through videos of each player training. Horvat slams a hammer down, Boeser punches a thick sheet of ice, and Conor Garland runs on a treadmill. As Boeser continues trying to break the ice, viewers are treated to high-tech, Tron-styled shots of Thacher Demko mastering his saves. Jedi Canuck wields a stick sabre, and with the illumination of the light, Elias Pettersson’s face can be seen peeking through the hood. In what may be the most accurate casting, a Spiderman-like Quinn Hughes can be seen ducking into an empty hallway and pulling a Canucks jersey out of his backpack. The training scenes intensify as the choir of voices grow louder, with Garland running faster, Miller’s hockey-blade Wolverine claws extending, and Boeser calling upon the lightning with his version of Thor’s hammer.

As the boy looks out at a destroyed Rogers Arena, with the siren blaring throughout, he spots one lonely figure out on the ice. Horvat stands in his uniform, the ‘C’ bright against the blue of his jersey. A portal forms, transporting Canuck player after Canuck player in a scene not unlike the final battle in Avengers: Endgame. From their respective homes and shelters, the Canucks have been called back to Rogers Arena to bring a desolate, divided city together again after the collapse of the pandemic. With their powers brought back together, the arena transforms back into a sea of blue, white, and green, with fans welcoming back the boys with a cacophony of cheers. After a stressful couple of years with limited community interaction, this video hit the nail on the head in welcoming both fans and players back into the building.

Rating: 8.5/10

2022–23: Power Rising: Part One

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RI9_Lw7l6c[/embed]

The Canucks’ acting chops really came into play in the 2022–23 pregame video, as it was the first of these to feature some prolific actors. A crop of Canucks are gathered in what looks like an empty garage, all summoned by an unnamed character played by How I Met Your Mother and Marvel star Cobie Smulders. A flashback shows Smudlers being given a card by Canucks legend Kirk McLean, both wearing noir-styled trench coats and standing in the pouring rain. As she drops the card on the table, a hologram of the city lights up the screen — the Canucks have an assignment to carry out, and only time will tell what exactly that is.

A car pulls up to the front of the Parq, where Luke Schenn is disguised as a valet. Smudlers’ voice details the location of the “target” they’re after as clips of Boeser in an elevator, Hughes navigating a tunnel, and Tyler Myers preparing dishes in a kitchen flash by. Bartenders Nils Höglander and Andrei Kuzmenko keep their eyes on a man hanging around the bar. Elsewhere in the building, Hughes sticks his hand through a glitchy, veil-like pass, changing the setting once again.

Clips move back and forth as Horvat is shown on the ice and then in a suit while talking to the man from the bar. “It changes now,” he says before being transported onto the ice. An on-ice montage plays, showing the captain crashing through two of the opposing team’s players before Demko makes a glove save. Boeser fades in and out on the ice as if teleporting from spot to spot while Miller fights someone off with a hockey stick up in the rafters of the arena. A Mission Impossible-like soundtrack cuts in and out as a helicopter appears outside, and Pettersson vaults over the side of the building while running away from it. Fights break out at the same time as the on-ice matchup, with Myers kicking an opponent while in his chef’s uniform. In a dark tunnel, Demko grabs a briefcase and flees, ending up at the top of a tall building in the middle of the city. An upbeat, spy-thriller theme echoes as Demko turns around, letting himself drop off the building.

“Power Rising: Part One” brought a lighthearted vibe to the pregame videos, but compared to its predecessors, something felt a little off. However, given that the future of Canucks captain Horvat was up in the air at the time of filming, it’s not surprising that the team opted for a shorter video. Like the trailer format it follows, the video teased fans with what they could expect for the upcoming season.

Rating: 7/10

2023–24: Protocol V

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TO-UC9Yv1w[/embed]

In a time when “artificial intelligence has taken over all rival cities,” Vancouver is presented as “humanity’s last stronghold.” Canucks players are kept in protective chambers that analyze their strengths and skills, with a circular bar keeping track of the amount of data acquired. As the data of Hughes, Demko, and Boeser are uploaded to a database, Miller, Pettersson, and Anthony Beauvilier punch targets, shoot pucks, and run on treadmills for data analysis. Miller is seen pulling a chain that leads through a blue portal as if trying to fish something out. This video feels the most digitally ambitious, as the robotic effects and virtual realities crafted within it are filled with colour and detail. Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet even makes an appearance as he deliberates something on a clipboard with General Manager Patrik Allvin. Things seem to be going according to plan until the data bar suddenly drops to around 78%.

The video shifts as artificial intelligence swamps the city, turning the blue-lit city into a shade of red. Randip Janda reports on the “mysterious red glow” as confused Canucks fans try to figure out what’s going on. Vancouver-based actor Lochlyn Munro hurries into a control room, outlining the situation — that the opposing team’s AI has overridden Vancouver’s. A robotic face appears on Rogers Arena’s jumbotron, telling Canucks fans to “prepare for deletion.” As the opposing team’s data bar increases, the players attempt to fight back in their respective data collection systems — but to no avail. Vancouver’s data bar drops lower. Boeser and Pettersson are unable to shoot, Filip Hronek’s smashed blocks repair themselves, and Teddy Blueger is unable to push against his weights.

When it’s clear that Vancouver’s high-tech methods aren’t working, the team puts their work in the old-fashioned way. Miller continues pulling the chain leading into the portal, and as the music crescendos, more and more players join him. As Ilya Mikheyev, Noah Juulsen, and Boeser help Miller, Blueger is able to start pushing against his weights, Pettersson is able to shoot the puck, and the team’s data bar starts moving back up. With old and new Canucks pulling the chain (Kirk McLean handles another section of it), Vancouver’s data bar surges back up to 100% as Munro motions to “activate protocol V.” Vancouver rapper BBNO$ makes the call to “send it,” as a blue ‘V’ leads into the players suiting up to take the ice. They form a glowing ‘V’ as they skate off, vanquishing their artificial opponents.

“Protocol V” explores the intersections of humanity and artificial intelligence, eventually showing the importance of human-based effort regardless of how advanced technology is.

Rating: 7.5/10

2024–25: Breaking the Ice

Spoilers ahead for this season’s pregame video.

While “Breaking the Ice” is not the official title of this video, it does summarize a big part of the video itself. Starting with a wide shot of mountains in a snowstorm, Cobie Smudlers’s voice runs through the video as she talks about the importance of ice to the Vancouver Canucks. Through a chilling journey past ice caverns and icebergs, Hughes makes it to the inside of a cave. Dressed in arctic-fighting gear, he encounters a deity-like Smudlers in a glistening cape. The fate of the Canucks rests in Hughes’ hands, and as he reaches to grab a magical hockey stick, a sheet of ice freezes over it.

This season’s pregame video places a lot of emphasis on the team’s connection to ice. Clips of frosty snow billowing in the wind set the tone, as do shots of Canucks climbing up thick layers of pointed ice. Unlike past videos, which have highlighted dystopian or high-tech societies, this year, viewers are taken back to nature’s origins of the sport. The addition of Smudlers’s character makes the video feel much more mythological, as if viewers are being told of a centuries-long legend.

The swishing of skate blades against ice continues, connecting to the video’s theme of nature and ice. Players flock back and forth on the ice, hitting and evading a variety of players wearing their rivals’ jerseys. As Hughes struggles to retrieve the stick from behind the ice, he is confronted with his own reflection — one that shows a long line of current Canucks behind him. It’s a reminder of his leadership and how he truly does hold the franchise’s fate in his hands. As the captain of his team, it’s up to him to lead them to the promised land. However, that doesn’t mean he’s alone. In one long shot following one player, the figure skates around players and towards the net, each cut revealing a different number on the back of his jersey. When he finally shoots, the ice around the cave’s hockey stick shatters.

Hughes starts the attempt to pull the stick out. When his efforts alone aren’t enough, the hands of Boeser and Pettersson join him, as well as more and more Canucks later on. With a final pull, the stick is freed and placed onto a sheet of ice — from a birds-eye view, it’s revealed to make the Canucks stick-in-rink logo. Could this indicate something for the future?

This season’s pregame video does a great job of taking the sport back to its roots while putting a Canuck-like spin on it. Above all, it emphasizes the importance of a team effort, and how no victory is possible without contributions from up and down the lineup.

Rating: 8/10