And so it begins. The Vancouver Canucks prospects gathered at Rogers Arena on Saturday for Day 1 of their training camp.
More on the prospects in a minute but I'll confess — I was deep in tennis mode yesterday, eager to see if Bianca Andreescu could take what she learned in her brief time on court against Serena Williams when she won the Rogers Cup last month and parlay it into a U.S. Open win. Seemed like a big ask, but our girl was up to the task.
It's no wonder I have such confidence in her. Since I started following her during her run at Indian Wells back in March, pretty much all she has done is win — and she has worked her way out of so many tough spots along the way, dealing with injuries, nerves and, of course, the skill of her opponents.
After Indian Wells, she was forced to retire from her fourth-round match at the Miami Open two weeks later due to a shoulder injury. She gave it a go in May at the French Open, but the shoulder was still bothering her and she ended up withdrawing before her second-round match.
The Canucks should find out who oversaw Bianca's rehab. Her team not only got her fit in time for Tennis Canada's marquee money-maker, the Rogers Cup — she came back better than ever!
Despite missing so much time this year, Bianca's rise to the top of her sport has been nothing short of meteoric. She'll be No. 5 in the world when the new WTA rankings come out on Monday — and she'll always be the first Canadian ever to win a Grand Slam singles title. Judging from her comments after her win on Saturday, she's hungry for more — and she'll get a chance to play in two more Grand Slams before she turns 20 next June.
After Bianca's win at Indian Wells in March and with Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime on the rise on the men's side, I reached out to Tennis Canada CEO Michael Downey to find out why Canadian tennis had suddenly taken such a giant leap forward.
Bianca's in the same age bracket as many of the Canucks' prospects. I hope they can be inspired by her mental strength and composure as they make their way in their own pro careers.
The Canucks' Twitter game was hot fire yesterday. This tweet got featured during ESPN's post-match chat with Bianca...
Frankly, I'm just as happy that @AB84 decided to take his talents to New England, though...
Most of the focus from the beat guys on Saturday was on Quinn Hughes, who says he believes her got five percent better this summer, and that he's not planning to tiptoe into his rookie season.
Despite the words of caution we heard earlier this week, one fan who took advantage of the public access on Saturday was positively exuberant over Olli Juolevi, who was a full participant in the on-ice drills.
Check out Ken Henderson's Twitter feed for more pics, vids and observations. He also had praise for Quinn Hughes and Jett Woo, and concern for the mobility of Jonah Gadjovich.
I'll be heading to the rink for the final day of prospects camp on Monday. Let me do a little crowdsourcing here — who are you most curious about? Which players would you like to hear from?
Things don't always work out as planned in these situations, but I'll do my best to be your 👀 and👂!
I'll finish off today with one more entry in my draft profile series — right wing Karel Plasek, who's not at prospects camp.
Lithe and speedy, Plasek turned 19 in July, so he was in his second year of draft eligibility. Listed at 5'11" and 154 pounds, he finished up ranked
43rd among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting this year, down from 38 at mid-term. In his first year of draft eligibility
in 2018, he ranked 46th at mid-term, then fell to 59 in the final rankings.
Plasek came to the Canucks in the sixth round, with the 175th pick — an extra that the Canucks picked up on draft weekend when they dealt No. 102 in the fourth round to Buffalo in exchange for both 122 and 175.
With 102, the Sabres selected right wing Aaron Huglen out of the USHL. At 122, the Canucks picked promising winger Ethan Keppen from the Flint Firebirds.
Plasek has come up through the Brno organization in the Czech Republic. His father — also named Karel Plasek — is also a hockey player and is still going strong at the age of 45, dropping from the Czech second division to the third just last season. He must be drinking from the same fountain of youth as his countryman Jaromir Jagr!
Last season, as an 18-year-old, Plasek was part of the Czech team at the World Junior Championship. He was used as an extra forward, averaging just 8:10 per game, and finished the tournament with one assist, one minor penalty and three shots on goal in five games. With great goaltending but very little offense, the Czechs scored just eight goals in those five games but still finished third in Group A before crossing over and dropping a 3-1 decision to Team USA in the quarterfinal.
Plasek was on the initial roster for last month's Four Nations Cup, but ended up scratched due to injury. He's now back in action with Brno.
Writing for
Dobber Prospects, Cam Robinson says that Plasek "was far too good for the junior league," in the Czech Republic last season, "recording 10 goals and 15 points in 10 games.
"His 29 contests in the top league saw him skate primarily in a depth role but continually created offensive chances when on the ice. He was one of the top U19 performers at the Champions Hockey League tournament for his club, trailing only Samuel Fagemo, Aleksi Heponiemi, and Rasmus Kupari in points by a teenager."
If all goes well, we could see Plasek skating in his hockey-mad home country at World Juniors again this year.
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