The Vancouver Canucks locker room had that loud, celebratory chaos you only get when a season feels like it’s limping forward and somebody decides to pick up the pace. Tuesday, it was the hooting and hollering for winger Curtis Douglas—his name chanted as he walked in after a 4-3 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the final home game of a torturous NHL season.
If you were there, you probably remember the tiny details people don’t think about later. Like the way sweat and old ice-cream-cookie smell mixes after a win—someone’s laughing too hard by the door, skates still half-on, jacket still unzipped.
Jake DeBrusk noticed the vibe immediately, too. He sees the value in Douglas as more than just a body. Douglas is gregarious, towering—6-foot-9 to be exact—and he’s helped fill a void after arriving as a waiver-wire claim with an uncertain future as a Group 6 unrestricted free agent. Basically: he came as advertised. And he’s doing it in a way that makes the whole team harder to play against.
The numbers on the willingness to drop everything and step into trouble are hard to ignore. Douglas has fought 10 times this regular season—either getting challenged or acting as a protector. And the Canucks, lately, have leaned into that identity: they’ve scrapped six times in the last 11 games. It’s turning into something like a culture shift, not just a reaction. Teddy Blueger and Filip Hronek are among those who’ve tangled up recently, and in a season that’s been anything but simple, that kind of togetherness matters.
Douglas himself talks like the whole thing is both serious and… kind of simple. “It’s making sure (the opposition) know if they’re going back and get a puck, there’s going to be someone coming after them,” he said Tuesday. He also added, “I don’t know what the outside noise is (about a contract), but at this point it’s finish the season strong and not let my one goal be a high.” And yeah, that one goal—his first NHL career goal—still hangs around the story even when the conversation drifts.
The head coach, Adam Foote, frames Douglas as a chess piece that happens to have fists and feelings. Foote said they were evaluating him, and specifically wanted his energy in a brutal schedule moment: playing back-to-backs on the road and a 5 p.m. start in Anaheim. He can play physical and emotional, Foote said, and the point is to get guys into the game—especially because the Ducks have big hitters. “There is value for sure in what he brings. (The Ducks) knew he was out there, and that’s a good thing,” Foote added.
The first-goal celebration in Anaheim—well, it’s not likely to fade quickly. Douglas was rewarded for getting to the net, holding his ground, and banging home a rebound. Afterward, he said the excitement came from the unity around him: “It was the way that everybody was so excited for me… We’ve been playing so well the last few games, it was just the unity.” And then, almost casually, he answered the real logistical question—where’s the puck? “In my bag at home and my mom or dad will get it,” he said. His parents, he added, have an office in Burlington, Ontario, where his jerseys are kept. He made it sound like a family tradition more than a trophy moment.
Thursday’s game comes fast, and the Canucks’ attention splits into a few threads. One is Zeev Buium, named the most-exciting player in fan voting Tuesday, giving off that Hughes sort of vibe—speed into the offensive zone, contact absorbed from big centre Quinton Byfield who lost his stick, then finishing a give-and-go with Nils Hoglander for a backdoor tally. That’s his sixth goal and 26th point of the season, putting him third overall among rookie blueliners in scoring.
Another thread is DeBrusk, who has nine goals in his last dozen games and is third overall in power-play goals with 19, with a team-high 23 goals overall. After a 10-game goal funk that included a disturbing healthy scratch, Tuesday’s two goals felt like a release valve—so maybe the season pain is easing. And then there’s the bigger question: can Vancouver make it four-straight wins? They did beat the Devils, Rangers, Islanders and Bruins in a shootout, including a Kiefer Sherwood hat trick against the Islanders. But the season also did that ugly thing where it unwinds quickly—four-straight road wins after Hughes left, then 16 of their next 18 losses.
So Douglas enters that mess with a different energy than the rest of it. Not just grit. Not just the fights. It’s also the way he seems to pull people into the moment—like the locker room itself is bracing for impact, together. And honestly, with one puck in a bag at home and the Ducks and Ducks-sized hits looming, it’s hard not to think the Canucks need that kind of emotional, physical, finish-the-season mindset more than they admit out loud.
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