From Matthew Sekeres at the Globe & Mail:

In 40 years of NHL history, the Vancouver Canucks have been short on success, making just two trips to the Stanley Cup final, and getting to Game 7 there once.

While many NHL fan bases can point to the glory days and the indelible memory of a captain hoisting the silver chalice, there is no such visual on West Coast.

To know that is to understand why the 1982 and 1994 teams are so lionized in British Columbia, even though they fell just shy of the ultimate prize. And to know that is to also understand that the current group of Canucks can cement legacies unlike any players who have come before them.

More here, with a look at some of the players who have a lot on the line.