And hockey is back! On top of that, the Canucks won a game! Team White defeated Team Blue yesterday in a Canucks scrimmage 4-1, and while it’s the start of the season and the vets are generally coasting while the young guys try and make a mark, this preseason is off to a much better start than the ill-fated previous year.
Rewind to last year: Demko was injured, JTM was injured, Petey came to camp unprepared, Joshua had cancer surgery, and the festering tensions were growing. One thing the boys are happy for and talking about is how healthy and ready everyone is – and laso how much they’re putting last year in the rearview.
“That’s probably the biggest difference in this camp, is health,” DeBrusk said. “Everyone’s around. We had five or seven skates together in Vancouver, and now three days here at training camp. More positives as the whole group gets together.”
“I think we’ve done a good job of that; it’s been an emphasis,” Boeser told reporters after the scrimmage. “Last year is the past and we can’t really sit here and talk about it and make excuses. It’s a new year, we have some new guys and we have to have a new mindset. I think we’ve done a great job so far.
“To see Demmer out there ... is huge. I just feel our last few days have been great. The drills and the pace up and down the ice, I think it’s been great so far and I’m excited to build on it.”
One thing that’s come out of camp so far is how Foote is putting his stamp on the team: faster, more pressure, more pushing the pace especially from the defense.
“I felt it today in the scrimmage,” DeBrusk said. “I’d forgotten what it was like to be pinched by the D 17 times in a game; (Fil) Hronek was all over me. The whole league wants to be faster, but the way we want to play, we definitely want our D to be more aggressive, and I felt that today. It was a little annoying.”
This team, annoying? I’ll take that all day. Forbort broke it down like this:
“In the neutral zone, we talked about wanting to close quicker, from there it’s moving pucks north, and then we always want our D joining,” he said. “A lot of teams get offence nowadays from, like, you need a fourth guy joining. That was a big emphasis in the video. In the defensive zone, as soon as we end that play, we get moving. That front D is jumping and joining, it just creates an extra breakout option, and you’re there to support and if (things break down), then you have a better gap anyways.”
Tocc talked about needing more speed and openness up front last year, but quickly shut that down when the wheels starting coming off right away. Something like this puts a lot more onus on the players, so it will be interesting to see how they handle it. At least the games should be more exciting.
There have been a few guys who have been name-checked to be standouts so far in training camp. Chytil looks to be on a mission to prove people wrong and has looked skilled and strong out there. P.O. Joseph is edging above the other depth and rookie defenders to be that 7/8 guy on the roster, not that his ceiling is as has as say Willander, but his details and skills are already at an NHL level. Braeden Cootes has looked like he’s going to make it difficult to not get a cup of coffee to start the season with his speed, compete, shot, and skill on full display (and Foote even throwing him on a line with Bains and Sherwood to up his game). Arshdeep Bains might not have as much fanfare as other players, but he’s apparently stood out from the rest of the AHL guys and has been making high-skill plays – something that wasn’t so much in his NHL gametape last year.
Overall, it’s training camp, and it’s a mixed bag of overhyping people and vets slow-walking it. However, it’s hockey, and it’s something to talk about.
The Canucks play Seattle today in an non-televised game. Should be interesting to see how guys do when it’s not just a scrimmage setting.
Quotes from the The Athletic and Sportsnet.
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