Welp, it’s September. That means Canucks training camp will kick off in 11 days, and only cost you $40 bucks to see. Ah, Aquilini, never stop extorting your own fan base. And with that, we’re starting the slow trickle of Canucks news and ramping up to another glorious season of hockey.
The Canucks are heading into this year with a little uncertainty. Last year was rough to say the least, with the drama and injuries and noise around the team. Some people are pessimistic about the Canucks’ chances – rightfully so as a Canucks fan – but the boys only finished 6 points out of a playoff spot in their disaster year. So with the shit of last year behind them, and reports of a healthy and motivated Petey/Boeser/Demko… I feel like this team has a chance to make some waves they aren’t expected to.
Drance touched on Marcus Pettersson in his last article, talking about how his full impact on the team hasn’t been felt yet. When He came on board, it was amidst the fallout from the JTM trade, and then Hughes got hurt and wasn’t his full self, and then Petey and Chytil… The Canucks haven’t had much of anything behind the Hughes-Hronek pairing the past couple years and bled goals without them on the ice, so taking Pettersson’s impact on his initial play with the Canucks is really encouraging. Drance writes: “In just over 550 five-on-five minutes across Pettersson’s first 31 Canucks games, Vancouver managed to outscore its opponents by a 28-22 margin.”
As for the other Pettersson, the Canucks will probably only go as far as he goes. Hughes can do his Hughes things, but for the Canucks to level up again they need Petey back to his 100 point self. From all the videos and articles this summer – and Petey himself talking about it – he seems to mentally be at where the team needs him.
"I've put on some (muscle)," Pettersson said. "It's always about building your base strength, to get quicker on the ice. To gain a few pounds, get stronger in general, that's always the goal. But for me it's a bonus to gain a few pounds."
"I know what I'm capable of," Pettersson added. "Actually, I haven't thought about it, but for myself it's revenge. I'm not happy with last season."
As for the other ticket to the dance, Hughes is going to be facing some noise when he’s back in town. His contract is up after next season, so that’s going to be the talk of the town until it gets settled. The funny part is, he can’t even do anything about it right now as he’s not even eligible to sign until next summer. However, he knows that and the market and understands what it all means.
“One thing I’m really good at — or have gotten good at — is I’m very present. I can’t even sign for another year, so there’s nothing I can do. As far as the noise (about his future), I can handle the noise. That’s why I’m the captain of the team, because I can handle these things and I can play at an elite level and it doesn’t matter what’s going on around me.
“And as far as the noise around my teammates, I’m going to try to help everyone else, too, and be as good a leader as I can be. Noise doesn’t bother me. It’s a long year, and I’m just going to be day-to-day and focus on the short term. That’s the truth, honestly.”
As for his focus, he said he’s gearing up for training camp – well...
“Not even training camp,” he corrected himself. “I’m focused on the skate test before camp, so I can push my teammates so that everyone's ready going into camp.”
If you haven’t read the article, there are some great quotes from Hughes about the upcoming year, his contract, Tocc, Foote, and Petey. You can read it here: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/quinn-hughes-on-canucks-future-i-can-handle-the-noise/
We’ll see what happens over the next couple weeks in the lead up to training camp. Enjoy your Sunday, enjoy the start of the NFL season, and head to the comments.
Quotes from the Province, NHL.com, and Sportsnet.
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