Not only can a big hit turn a game around, but it can change a season.
After Willie Mitchell's crushing hit on Jonathan Toews last Wednesday, the Canucks scored two goals in a comeback win over Chicago and have won twice more since.
The turnaround has moved them to one game above .500 from two games under, making the season's slow start a distant memory.
So in lieu of this big bodycheck, which made it to our list, here's the top five Canucks hits of all time, all viewable via YouTube search.
1 Michael Peca on Teemu Selanne - It was a welcome to the league moment for both the Finnish Flash and Captain Crunch. Not only did Selanne, who was with the Winnipeg Jets at the time, complete a full back flip on the devastating hit, Peca also broke his cheekbone delivering the goods.
2Trevor Linden on Jeff Norton - When a player is crunched through the glass into the laps of the first two rows, that's list-worthy. The glass-shattering hit, which came during the first round of the 1995 playoffs against the St. Louis Blues, has generated more than 177,000 hits on YouTube.
3Willie Mitchell on Jonathan Toews - For now, this hit has been the turnaround point to the Canucks season. After exiting the penalty box, Mitchell caught the Chicago captain with his head down at centre ice and laid him out flat. Toews has been sidelined since with concussion-like symptoms.
4Pavel Bure on Shane Churla - We know. It was an elbow. Even Don Cherry called it "The Mother of all Elbows," but that won't keep it off this list. After Churla threw a hit on Bure at the other end of the rink during this 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs matchup, Bure came back and blindsided the Dallas Stars defenceman, knocking him out of the game.
5Todd Bertuzzi on Chris Chelios - There's been plenty of big Bertuzzi hits over his years as a Canuck and with the big babe making a return to GM Place tonight, here's a tribute to the forward. During the 2002 playoffs between Vancouver and Detroit, the ongoing feud between Chelios and Bertuzzi saw the latter crush the Red Wings veteran into the end boards, bringing fans to their feet.
