Quinn Hughes will make his much-anticipated return to Vancouver on Sunday night.
It remains to be seen how the Vancouver Canucks faithful will react when Hughes takes to the Rogers Arena ice with the Minnesota Wild. His reputation has taken a hit among the fanbase ever since he instigated a trade away from the Canucks last year.
His time with the Canucks is a strange one. Though the last couple of seasons didn’t go to plan, he also helped the team to a few exciting playoff runs, including two second-round appearances.
Hughes is the franchise leader in points by a defenceman, and is among the very best blueliners to suit up for the franchise. He looks back on his time on Canada’s west coast fondly.
“Felt like I gave it my all. Played some really good hockey [in Vancouver],” Hughes said before Saturday’s game against the Seattle Kraken. “I was really lucky to start my career there. Just being in a Canadian market, it was a really special thing for me. Very grateful for the six and a half years there.
“A lot of the reasons I am the person I am, and the player I am, is the experience I had in Vancouver… However, I am going to be received tomorrow; I’ll always look back and be grateful and appreciative of the experiences I had.”
He likened his experience of playing for the Canucks to feeling like playing for the New York Yankees, in that it feels like everybody in the city is laser-focused on the team and the pressure to win is immense.
The thing he loved most about his time in Vancouver is that passion.
“The passion in Canada, you don’t see that everywhere around the league,” Hughes said. “Especially in Vancouver, there’s no NBA, there’s no NFL, there’s nothing like that… Toronto has the Jays and Raptors.
“In Vancouver, it’s just the Canucks, and that’s a special thing. Definitely brings its highs and its lows with so many eyes on you, but, for the most part, I really, really enjoyed that.”
Will he be met with a chorus of boos, or will fans opt to focus on the positives and cheer when Hughes is inevitably met with a ‘welcome back’ homage on the jumbotron? We saw just how harsh Ottawa Senators fans were with Brady Tkachuk, but could it really get that bad for Hughes?
It seems to be a mystery even for him, but he says it won’t change his perspective on his Canucks experience.
“I don’t know what to expect too much tomorrow,” Hughes said. “We’re gonna face that when it comes. Whether I’m booed or whatnot, it won’t change what I feel about that place and how grateful I am for the experiences I had there.
“That’s the beautiful part of being in a Canadian market. The passion and what it means to the people. At that point, it is what it is.”
It seems like no matter how the fans react to his return, he will be making time to meet up with old friends. Players like Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Thatcher Demko, and Filip Hronek all played alongside Hughes during his time in Vancouver.
He told reporters that he looks forward to catching up.
“I’ll be really excited to see some of those guys,” Hughes said. “Met some of my best friends there, and overall, six-and-a-half years was there and had some really memorable and enjoyable moments.”
No matter what happens in the game, Hughes will leave a complicated legacy in Vancouver.