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Quinn Hughes debuts at development camp, Ian Clark returns as goalie coach |
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Tuesday marks Day 2 of the on-ice portion of the Vancouver Canucks' 2018 development camp. After being held out of action on Monday due to a bout of the flu, top draft pick Quinn Hughes is on the ice today.
On Monday, the spotlight was on Kole Lind—the Saskatchewan native with the close connection to the Humboldt Broncos who quickly learned that his WHL scoring prowess wasn't going to easily translate to the pro level when he managed just one assist in six games with the Utica Comets at the end of last season.
Lind's summer program includes working with a Canucks trainer while living in Saskatoon with his old midget hockey billet, former NHLer Rich Pilon. The plan appears to be paying dividends.
"He got to live it and taste it, and I think it changed Kole and his perception about what he needed to do to get ready for the next step," said Canucks' player development head Ryan Johnson. "He’s had a huge summer so far. He’s been training, he’s been meeting the intensity that we’ve asked of him.
"Just seeing him walking into the building, he’s thicker, he’s more mature. You can see him becoming a man in front of you, so he’s an exciting player for us."
Meanwhile, Jeff Paterson caught up with Finnish Liiga rookie of the year Petrus Palmu:
"Yes, he’s small in stature, but he protects the puck very well," Johnson told Paterson. "He’s almost like a fire hydrant. He’s tough to knock off the puck. He’s very shifty down low. He’s quick in the small areas and the East/West game and has a really high hockey sense. I know when our guys drafted him, that’s what they were envisioning. You look at a guy like (Viktor) Arvidsson in Nashville that plays a crafty game, he’s quick all over the ice and he plays in traffic. Petrus has a lot of those similar qualities and we’re just trying to help him bring them out."
Palmu seems like he could be cut from similar cloth to Marty St. Louis, who's listed at 5'8" and managed to carve out a superlative NHL career when his size was considered a serious liability. St. Louis was named to this year's Hockey Hall of Fame class last week.
The comparison is not lost on Palmu:
“I have a teammate in Turku Eric Perrin who is friends with Marty and I have a St. Louis jersey I want to send to him,” Palmu laughed. “He said he was going to see Marty this summer, so maybe I’ll get it autographed.”
Development Camp will continue with another practice session on Wednesday morning, then the Summer Showcase game on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The boys will finish off their week with the annual trek up the Grouse Grind on Friday morning.
The other big news from Monday—some changes in hockey operations roles:
The big news here is the return of Ian Clark as goaltending coach. A Vancouver native, he was part of the Canucks' coaching staff from 2002-2010 before moving to Columbus for the last seven seasons. He's widely regarded as one of the best in the business.
Clark will work with Dan Cloutier, who is staying on with the organization as director of goaltending. He'll oversee all goaltending issues—at the NHL, AHL and prospect levels. His travel schedule should be cut back so that he can spend more time with his young family, as he'd hoped, but he'll still have an active hand in the Canucks' goalie development which is good news—he's said to have established a solid relationship with Thatcher Demko.
Curtis Sanford also stays on as player development goaltending consultant with the Comets.
Elsewhere, Doug Jarvis, now 63, transitions from the role of assistant coach to senior advisor, where he will "consult with Canucks coaching staff, management and AHL affiliate, Utica Comets." With that move, Manny Malhotra's responsibilities as an assistant coach will be increasing. The press release says he will continue to "include a special focus on the development of young players." I wonder if we'll also see him take Jarvis' place on the bench this fall?
Finally, Scott Walker also takes on a bigger role, moving into a full-time player development position working under Ryan Johnson. He had been a player development consultant for the past three seasons.
Last year, Walker also worked as an assistant to Willie Desjardins for Canada's bronze medal-winning Olympic team. That segues nicely into this news:
Hunter, of course, was part of the gritty fourth line that the Canucks leaned on as they made their way to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. He's also the current coach of Jett Woo with the Moose Jaw Warriors, which could bode well for Woo's chances of getting a crack at a WJC roster spot this winter.
The World Junior summer showcase is taking place in our backyard this year: in Kamloops from July 28-August 4. With the coaching staff now in place, the list of Canada's invitees should be unveiled shortly. The three other participating countries are the U.S., Sweden and Finland. USA Hockey released its roster nearly three weeks ago; it includes both Quinn and Jack Hughes.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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