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Did the Vancouver Canucks just reveal a new postgame tradition?

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Dec 17 2025, 3:26 pm
Did the Vancouver Canucks just reveal a new postgame tradition?
@Canucks/X

After starting their Eastern road trip with a 2-0 record, you could say the Vancouver Canucks are slicing their way through the competition.

Although they’ve definitely overcome some choppy play in those victories.

Whatever way you want to spin it, the Canucks defeated J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers 3-0 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

And, a clip posted to their social media channels after the win revealed a potential new locker room tradition: the postgame battle axe.

In the video, rookie defenceman Zeev Buium hands the battle axe to fellow San Diegan Thatcher Demko, who stopped 23 shots to get the shutout.

“SD boys take care of each other, I like that a lot,” Demko told the team in the posted clip.

“A little bit of adversity this week, we all know, but it’s good to stick together. I’m proud of you guys, keep going,” he said.

So, why the postgame battle ax?

That remains a mystery, although it may have been lifted from an Abbotsford Canucks tradition.

This appears to be the first postgame token handed out in the Canucks locker room since the WWE-style belt, which existed during the Bruce Boudreau era.

The only other visible tradition we’ve seen in the Canucks locker room since was during their 2024 playoff run, where they handed out a game puck and added it to a Stanley Cup, with 16 slots.

Boy, does that feel like a lifetime ago.

If the axe sticks, it would represent a unique new tradition. Other quirky ones have popped up among Canadian teams recently. The Oilers started handing out a pump jack after their wins, while the Montreal Canadiens revealed two postgame awards last season: one was a helmet with antlers, while the other was a golden nutsack.

We’ll see if any other clips surface of the new postgame battle axe on this road trip. The Canucks have managed to win both games of their five-game Eastern swing so far, despite registering a total of 32 shots on net in the two victories.

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