Can Canucks say ‘I’m still standing’ come late Tuesday night?

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Bruce Boudreau is of a certain vintage to appreciate the Vancouver Canucks’ victory celebration song.

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Elton John released ‘I’m Still Standing’ in 1983, and in a season of want and will and resilience, it has become a siren to signal the long and arduous push toward the National Hockey League playoffs.

Boudreau could also give a nod to ‘Takin’ Care of Business’, released by Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1973. It’s what the Canucks must do Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken and hope the Dallas Stars don’t collect a point against the Vegas Golden Knights to mathematically eliminate Boudreau’s bunch.

To add some needed levity to the serious situation, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that Boudreau would applaud the ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ movie released in 1975. It included the timeless comedic line: ‘I’m not dead yet.’”

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The Canucks are alive and the magnitude of that moment Sunday in Vegas was not lost on the bench boss Monday. He knows his club has to win its three remaining games and hope a string of results elsewhere work in their favour.

Sunday helped.

“They’re a little ticked off in Vegas right now — is poor George (president of hockey operations McPhee) going to be upset now,” Boudreau chuckled Monday. “I know George and he’s a good friend, but I know how he is as far as being competitive and that was my first thought — man, he’s not going to be happy.

“We’re still in it. We’re still alive. I don’t know if stranger things have happened. The Pittsburgh Steelers made the playoffs last year and two or three teams had to beat favored teams and win by a certain amount and they got in.

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NEXT GAME

tuesday

Seattle Kraken vs. Vancouver Canucks

7 pm, Roger’s Arena. TV: Sportsnet Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650.

“Crazy things can happen in sports. If you give up hope, then you’re done. You always have to believe there’s a chance. I believed that when I was 38 and playing in Fort Wayne (Ind.) that I still had a chance of making the NHL.

“Francesco (Aquilini) asked me if we could make the playoffs and I said: ‘Absolutely.’ I’ve done it before and it takes a miracle in a lot of ways, but I thought if we could get on a run, we could do it.

“We’ve played pretty darn good for four-and-a-half months. There are going to be days this summer where I’ll look back at some of those (second-half losses) games (Islanders, Ducks, Red Wings, Sabers, Senators) and be so angry if we don’t make it.”

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However, if the Canucks respond this week and the weak play giant-killer, there could be a different feel to the rest of this week.

“Maybe one of those underdog team feels like San Jose did (Sunday) and that was their Stanley Cup game and then they play better than they’re capable of,” said Boudreau. “If the favorites aways won, the betting world would take a hit. Maybe our Thursday game becomes a valid game.”

Boudreau had nothing but hope when he took over behind the bench on Dec. 6. The Canucks rattled off seven straight wins to commence a recovery from an 8-15-2 start. Whether it was just a fresh face, new systems or a message of belief that the Canucks were better than they appeared, something clicked to be playing a meaningful game in late April.

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The Canucks needed guidance and they got it in a players’ coach who talks a lot, laughs a lot and rides his top players like a horse. He’s old school and that can work in a new-age game amid the emergence of young star players.

Getting veterans like Masterton Trophy nominee Luke Schenn to turn back the competitive clock and impressionable players like Elias Pettersson to work through adversity and return to form takes a special communicative skill.

It’s why Pettersson rebounded from just four goals in his first 28 games to sit with a team-leading and career-high 32, and who is one point away from eclipsing his personal record of 66 points.

It’s also why Quinn Hughes also needs one point to pass the franchise record of 63 points by a defenseman established in 1986-87 by Doug Lidster.

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“He has just touched the tip of the iceberg,” Boudreau said of Hughes. “There’s room to jump into the play more and that will come with experience and he’ll work on his shot because he’s determined. In the next 10 years, he might break it (record) every year and he’ll get 80 points and upwards. He’s got the capability.”

Schenn would second that emotion.

“The way he runs power plays is at the top of the league and he can skate himself out of trouble and make those good outlet passes,” said Schenn. “And he’s better defending because he can close in on guys quick.

“I told him congratulations for the assist record and he kind of shrugged it off. It’s how humble he is. He was upset how the game went (a 6-3 loss Saturday in Calgary) and that’s where his mindset is. He’s a team-first guy. We’re lucky to have him.”

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