Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet hopes that the worst is over.
Canuck Nation is hoping he鈥檚 right.
Last year when the Canucks improved by 26 points from the previous season, pretty much everything fell the Canucks way especially when it came to injuries or lack thereof.
The 2024-25 NHL season has been a different story.
Goaltender Thatcher Demko missed the first 26 games of the season due to a knee injury and finally made his much-anticipated debut in a 4-3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues this past Tuesday at Rogers Arena.
Forward Dakota Joshua returned to the lineup on November 14 after undergoing surgery for testicular cancer during the summer and missed the start of the season.
Forward Brock Boeser recently returned after missing seven games due to a concussion suffered in a game against Los Angeles on November 7th.
Defenseman Filip Hronek suffered a shoulder injury in Pittsburgh on November 27th and has been out of the lineup since.
Defenseman Derek Forbort, signed as a free agent from Boston this past off-season, only played in four games due to a personal issue and a knee injury and returned to the lineup for the Canucks in their 4-0 win against Florida on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
And then there is forward J.T. Miller.
Arguably the emotional leader of the team, Miller played in a game against Nashville on November 17th and then was absent for an apparent 鈥榤ental reset鈥� until he too returned against Florida.
Even defenceman Quinn Hughes hasn鈥檛 been able to avoid the injury bug. Last Sunday, Hughes took a high stick in the Tampa Bay game, went for repairs and returned to finish the contest wearing a fishbowl visor which he has worn since. Apparently Hughes is having difficulty speaking to the point where he hasn鈥檛 been made available to the media since Sunday鈥檚 game.
The bottom line is that the team has head to deal with a large amount of adversity which Tocchet sees as having some positives to it.
鈥淭here is a lot of stuff that has hit us. I think sometimes it鈥檚 a good thing. It builds scar tissue. It builds character and it builds the fight in your team. We鈥檙e hanging in there. Our record (15-8-5) is half-decent but we have to get better processing. We need to get better at our team identity. Game management is something that our team has really struggled with this year. Last year, we were really good at it. This year I think we have been a little loose on that. I see improvement in game management but that鈥檚 something we have to clean up,鈥� explained Tocchet prior to the Florida game.
And that boils down to focus.
鈥�100%. It鈥檚 not just one guy 鈥� it鈥檚 the collective. You have to play the odds to what is presented to you,鈥� he said.
Tocchet has been happy with his team鈥檚 play for the most part but admits that there have been pockets of inconsistency.
When asked to expand on that topic, Tocchet admitted that some of that inconsistency was the result of players having elevated roles.
According to Tocchet, extra minutes and/or pressure results in players losing focus due to fatigue. He pointed out that bad line changes or trying to make an extra play are some of the examples of that.
I鈥檒l agree with the Canucks bench boss when it comes to adversity having some positive features.
Adversity provides an opportunity for some that wasn鈥檛 there previously.
Certain players have had their roles elevated which means increased expectations. With those expectations comes pressure. Learning to deal with that pressure is part of a player鈥檚 development. Those players will eventually return to their customary roles but they will now be better equipped to deal with more ice time should those scenarios present themselves again.
Tocchet is excited with the fact that his team is back to almost being 100% healthy minus Hronek, who is expected to return in early February.
鈥淒own the middle鈥etey, Suter, Miller, Blueger鈥ow you have some options. Now you get that third line 鈥� whoever that is 鈥� and you can get some good matchups playing them against other team鈥檚 fifth and sixth defensemen. Things like that are what we took advantage of last year,鈥� said Tocchet.
Getting players back means increased depth, which in turn, means more internal competition.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 big. We have a group that we can rotate some people in. We have that luxury now and it keeps people on their toes. If you play well, you stay in. That鈥檚 what internal competition does,鈥� Tocchet said after the Florida win.
And not only is that competition for ice time coming from players on the Canucks roster but from their AHL farm team in Abbotsford as well. The latest example of this is forward Max Sasson, who was praised by Tocchet for his performance against Florida.
Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra was in the press box for Thursday night鈥檚 game versus Florida and he told us that players coming down to Abbotsford aren鈥檛 sulking about being demoted but hungry to return to Vancouver.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 huge. Attitude is a big thing for us. If you get sent down and you have a good attitude, that checks a box for us. And Manny being the person he is, is helping that attitude down there and it just permeates to us,鈥� said Tocchet.
With players returning to the lineup, the hope is that the Canucks can get on a bit of a roll and start piling up some points
Logic dictates that would be the case but you also have to take in consideration that those returning will still need time to find their game.
Take Joshua for example.
He鈥檚 been an inspirational story but he finally got his first goal against the Blues in his 13th game of the season.
Demko has talked about the challenges of getting his timing back and getting used to the chaotic scrambles of NHL games.
Boeser admitted to your agent that it took him several games to get back to feeling 100% and that it takes time to get used to game speed because nothing in practice can duplicate it.
Miller did pick up two assists against the Panthers but that might be attributed to the extra adrenaline that he may have had in his return.
The 4-0 win over Florida might have been the Canucks most complete game of the year and hopefully it鈥檚 a harbinger of things to come.
鈥淚 thought everybody contributed. We had good team identity. We had a lot of good efforts from guys. We will find our game. Tonight was a step in the right direction,鈥� said Tocchet.
I still believe that it鈥檚 not all going to click off the bat, but once Miller, Demko, Joshua and company get back up to speed, it wouldn鈥檛 surprise me if this team goes on a bit of a heater.
In the meantime, no more injuries please.
OVERTIME
*With the game against Florida, Boeser became the 28th individual to play 500 games in a Canuck uniform. Boeser, in all likelihood, will overtake Jim Sandlak (509), Chris Tanev (514), Kirk McLean (516), Todd Bertuzzi (518) and Brendan Morrison (531) by the end of the season.
*Blueger鈥檚 mom is going back to Latvia $106,853 richer. Jana Blueger was attending the St. Louis game on Tuesday night when she had the opportunity to purchase some 50-50 tickets. 鈥淚t was her first time playing actually. She didn鈥檛 know how it worked, so my wife had to explain it to her and she bought a couple of tickets,鈥� said Blueger, adding that she was in Vancouver visiting along with other relatives for an informal family reunion.
*The Canucks have two more games left on their current homestand. The Boston Bruins visit Rogers Arena on Saturday with the Colorado Avalanche in town on Monday.
