Vancouver Canucks Kiefer Sherwood ties franchise record in dominant win over Blackhawks

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Maverick Mitchell
October 23, 2024 (1:53 PM)

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As the Vancouver Canucks bested the Chicago Blackhawks in a dominant 6-3 win, the star of the show was newcomer Kiefer Sherwood who tied a franchise record for most hits in a single game.

Sherwood now joins Luke Schenn with the most hits in a single game with 12, where the latter was able to achieve the feat three separate times. Since Schenn in a defense, Sherwood now stands alone for the record for most hits by Vancouver Canucks forward, where he passed Tyler Motte who previously held the title with 11.

«I try to have a hunter mentality and simply just want the hunt for the puck,» Sherwood said of his forechecking approach. «It's a lot about reading the opposition's positioning and seeing where we can try to outnumber guys.»

Since coming over from the Nashville Predators, Sherwood has made an immediate impact that we are sure they still would like to have. He is the only player in the NHL to have thrown 10 or more hits in a game this season and has not just done it once, but twice.

Sherwood currently leads the NHL in hits with 44 and is in position to challenge for the all-time single-season record of 383 set by Jeremy Lauzon in 2023-2024.

At his current pace of 7.33 hits per game, he has a real shot at breaking the record set by Jeremy Lauzon. The pace equals out to 601.06 hits by the end of the season, and to be realistic, it seems unlikely he will hit the 600 mark, but he can well surpass 383.

Kiefer Sherwood spoke about his love for physical play and why he thinks it is an important aspect to the Canucks system.

"The physical part is nice for me,» said Sherwood, who finished 15th in the NHL last year with 234 hits. «I like to get a lot of hits and wear their defence down, but the puck is the priority, so that's kind of been my more my reflection over the past few games. I'm trying to get to the puck first and disrupt the body with hits to start wearing teams down when they are starting a possession.»

All in all, the Vancouver Canucks are happy to have him!