On the Clock: Vancouver Canucks: Behind the Scenes with the Vancouver Canucks at the NHL Draft

by Daniel Wagner

A singular, transcendent talent can change the fortunes of a hockey team instantly. Each year, NHL teams approach the draft with this knowledge, hoping that luck will be on their side and that their extensive scouting and analysis will pay off.

In On the Vancouver Canucks , Daniel Wagner explores the fascinating, rollercoaster history of the Canucks at the draft, including tales of Stan Smyl, Trevor Linden, the Sedin twins, and more.

Readers will go behind the scenes with top decision-makers as they evaluate, deliberate, and ultimately make the picks they hope will tip the fate of their franchise toward success.

From seemingly surefire first-rounders to surprising late selections and the ones that got away, this is a must-read for Vancouver faithful and hockey fans eager for a glimpse at how teams are built.

Genres: Sports, Hockey, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2024

Reviews

[Steve May · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the Vancouver Canucks, and their long, tortuous history, especially at the draft table, then this is the book for you. This is a thoroughly researched and entertaining read, going through the ups and down of Canuck drafting, from the infamous spin of the crown and anchor wheel in 1970 for Gilbert Perrault up to how the Canucks finally managed to have a franchise defenceman fall into their lap in 2018.
Daniel Wagner has done his research here, combing through news archives and interviewing a host of people who were there, and providing insight into how decisions were made at the time, and why certain decisions were made.
If you want to know how the Canucks really determined Pavel Bure was eligible to be drafted (and it's not the usual story), or the decision making process around picking Elias Pettersson (also not the narrative you would expect), then you should read this book. You will devour it.
The style of writing is informative and humorous. This is a fascinating story, well told.

[Josh Weissbock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best part is when I am mentioned

[hannah pachet · Rating 5 out of 5]

i miss hockey

[Christian William · Rating 5 out of 5]

as a non-(primary) Canucks fan, i bought this book mainly out of loyalty to one of my fave sports writers and twitter accounts. And i ended up annoying the hell out of my hockey fan friends for 3 or 4 days in row texting them “whoa did you know this?” multiple times a chapter. Eventually i settled for strenuously recommending they read On The Clock.

The book is THOROUGHLY researched (the best kind of researched!) and very well organized. Wagner manages to weave together multiple through-lines over 50+ years of Canucks history while never allowing scores of 70s newspaper quotes and statistics-dumps to become dry or textbook-like. You come away from On The Clock feeling more connected to a sports franchise than you realized was possible, as you start to internalize decades of draft strategies and scouting reports and anecdotes from the people who lived it.

[Brandi McKandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been watching hockey since the 80s, but grew up in a Leafs household before straying and choosing my own team in 1999. Ironically, it was because of the 1999 draft. There was just something about those Sedins and I knew I had to follow them. I was forever branded a Canucks fan from there.

But, I grew up in Ontario, where the Canucks games aren't often aired without paying out the wazoo for out of market games. I knew our history with the drafts, well, in general, has some painful moments and mistakes, but being stuck on the east coast, the main focus was the Leafs. So I knew everything about them and their history.

I read this one right after finishing Willes' Never Boring and between the two, they've taken me back on a roller coaster, reliving our success and excitement, and throwing salt back in the wounds of our most painful moments.

I have an equal appreciation for both books, but for this one, I'm just gonna say thanks to Wagner for "filling in those blanks" for childhood me, who didn't really get a lot of Canucks exposure growing up, or in my early days as a Canucks fan. This was a great read and thoroughly helped me learn more about the history of my beloved team.

Sincerely,
A Canucks fan stuck in Leafs Nation

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book consists of chapters related to various events in Canucks draft history: the first draft in 1970, Stan Smyl, Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden, the Sedins, Pettersson, Hughes, and the background to the 1982, 1994, and 2011 teams, among other subjects. However it doesn't have a lot of depth to the stories, and ignores other aspects of the 50-plus years of draft history. It also really lacks because aside from Wagner interviewing former Canuck scout and executive Mike Penny, it entirely consists of quotes from secondary sources, and not direct interviews with anyone else. There are also some noticeable factual and spelling errors that should have been caught before publishing (the Sedins were not inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020; women's hockey did not debut at the Olympics in 2022; and Little Ceasar's is not a thing; and Fred Hume was not a major). It leaves you wanting a lot more in the end.

[Kathy Smitheman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally awesome book. Enjoyed it so much and have now given to my daughter in law’s sister who lives in Vancouver and totally cheers for the Canucks.
I enjoyed all the stories of the great players to come through that organization and some of the little known information about them.
Written and set out in a way that made it easy to read but formatted well to respect the content.
I would highly recommend this book to any hockey fan, not just a Canuck fan, because the content addresses stars who were icons in their own right.

[K.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book. I consider myself a bit of a Vancouver Canucks historian and this was still packed full of new information, quotes, corrections to popular myths, and incredibly serendipitous connections that Daniel pulls seemingly from nowhere.

I recommend this to anyone who considers themselves to be a Canucks fan

[Tony Loyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly entertaining. Felt a little incohesive and rushed in some parts. Players like Adrian Aucoin, Matt Cooke, and Jared McCann are barely mentioned if at all. Super well-paced and I liked the structure. Terrific read to get me pumped up for the Canucks in the playoffs. Go Canucks Go

[Scott Goglin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book.

[Steve Tripp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rue the day in 1975 when, as a 13-year-old I moved from Ontario to BC and shortly after became a Canucks fan. What was I thinking?

Nearly 50 years later, it has not got any easier. And this book reminds me why. So close, but yet so far. So many great stories of successful drafts, but way too many stories about how things just plainly went wrong.

And now I find out we were 1 digit away from Connor Bedard. Curse you, Daniel Wagner. Curse you.

Can you love a book and hate it too?