Youtube is full of pump-up videos. These fan-made compilations, which combine sports highlights with epic music, tight editing and, usually, a theme of some kind, are designed in order to get you, the viewer, totally jacked before playoff games, seasons, and trips to the gym. Because they’re made by amateurs, usually with whatever footage they can “borrow”, not every one of them works. But when they do, they really do.

Needless to say, there are many Canucks’ 2011-12 season pump-up videos on Youtube, but obviously, you can’t watch them all. With that in mind, and with the Canucks’ 2011-12 season opening this very night, PITB has selected our three favourite Canucks pump-up videos on the Youtubes, and we would like to share them with you, so as to get you appropriately jazzed for the evening’s festivities.

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1) “NOT AFRAID” by sjam99

Our first video loses a few points for being a touch long (I like my pump-up videos a concise two to three minutes), but it’s hard to complain about four minutes of the best Canuck highlights of last season. And it’s not like the video drags any, anyway. The editing is tight, the song choice works (even if I’m not a big Eminem fan), and I thought it was a clever touch to pair the Stanley Cup Final footage with the bridge of the song before bringing the mood back up in the final chorus.

2) “ROLLING IN THE DEEP” by hockeychapals

Now we come to the Empire Strikes Back of our season pump-up trilogy. Like that film, this video is my favourite, maybe because it’s the darkest. It’s a depressing watch, scored to Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, and using the “We could have had it all” refrain to remind fans of how close the Canucks came last June. I feel like every Boston Bruins goal is in here somewhere, and it’s hard not to get a little worked up. But, if the point of these videos is to rouse an emotional response (which it is, considering how melodramatic they all are), this one may be the most successful.

3) “ANNIHILATION BEGINS” by FattieAcidProduction

Sometimes these videos stand out because of the fabulous music selections, and this one, which uses “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones and the extremely funky “The Champ” by Ghostface Killah is no exception. I especially like the mini-montage of opponents flying through the air after successful hipchecks in the first minute, and the well-timed quick cuts that occur during the guitar solo/horn blast chorus.

Which one is your favourite? Let us know in the comments.