So why isn't Bieksa in the Canucks Ring of Honour?

The Vancouver Canucks put together one heck of a celebration for Kevin Bieksa on Thursday.

Fulfilling his one-day contract, Bieksa skated with the Canucks at practice. He was in full Canucks gear prior to the game against the Anaheim Ducks, skating onto the ice at Rogers Arena. He was greeted with a standing ovation from fans and a special gift from the Canucks, presented to him by Daniel Sedin at centre ice.

All in the details:

– Game winning goal puck
– Shorty's call can be heard with the press of a button
– The stanchion lights up on "He scores! KEVIN BIEKSA!"
– This is the exact stanchion from Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals pic.twitter.com/oCtzQwnLWY

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 4, 2022

They made a special Bieksa logo and sold Bieksa merchandise in the team store. The team really went the extra mile.

Video tributes poured in all night long. It was a truly nice night to celebrate one of the most popular players in franchise history.

All that was missing was putting Bieksa in the Ring of Honour.

It begs the question… Why wasn’t he inducted?

Bieksa wasn’t the best defenceman to ever suit up for the Canucks. He might not even be top five.

The Ring of Honour, according to the Canucks website, was made to “celebrate Canucks heroes who have made a lasting impact on the franchise.”

The Canucks inducted Orland Kurtenbach, Kirk McLean, Thomas Gradin, and Harold Snepsts into the Ring of Honour during the 2010-11 season. Since then, they’ve added Pat Quinn (2014), Mattias Ohlund (2016), and Alex Burrows (2019).

Clearly, the Ring of Honour isn’t just a place to put the best players that don’t qualify to get their jerseys retired. If it was, Ryan Kesler and Todd Bertuzzi would have been inducted already. Off-ice contributions in the community and other intangibles seem to matter for the Ring of Honour too.

You might also like:
• The Bieksa family has two things to celebrate in Vancouver this week

But that’s just the thing. Bieksa ticks all those boxes.

Bieksa played 597 regular season games with the Canucks, which ranks 15th all-time in franchise history. He ranks sixth all-time in regular season points by a defenceman, and first in playoff goals by a Canucks blueliner.

He scored one of the biggest goals in franchise history, has done a ton of work for the Canucks’ mental health initiatives, and is beloved by the fanbase.

If X-factors matter, he’s got them in spades.

You can make a great case for Alex Edler getting into the Ring of Honour someday. But will the night be as special as Bieksa’s just was?

Putting Roberto Luongo in the Ring of Honour would probably qualify as a slap in the face for the Hall of Fame goalie. It’s probably jersey retirement or bust for him.

It was a special night for Bieksa regardless, but the Ring of Honour would have felt right.

Perhaps he’ll get in one day.