The Canucks lost 4-2 to the Jets Thursday night in a game that meant very little. Both teams sat some star players, and it was more about going through the motions and not getting hurt than fighting for the win. I’m sure if both teams could have not played the game, they would have preferred that. If you want, here are the highlights:
And with that, the Canucks wrap up a season that saw them climb from the ashes of their troubled past few years to earn the third-most points in team history. It was a great season, lots of personal accolades, yadda yadda the boys only really care about Sunday and the Nashville Predators now.
“The big prize now is playing on Sunday,” Tocchet said after game 82 wrapped up. “I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a fun time for the guys. I want them to enjoy it. We've got some work to do the next two or three days to prepare, and it's going to be exciting.
“I think for our group, we just have to worry about Game 1. You can't look at the big thing. I think… it's dangerous when you think that way. Honestly, prepare for that first period against Nashville and be ready to play from that first shift. I think when you think big picture, that's when people get nervous. So I think it's just more of a short-term goal for us.”
The Canucks have a few days to get ready for the Preds. They’ll take today off, practice Saturday, and then kick off the first home-ice playoff game in nine years Sunday at 7.
With all the excitement building up around the team and the city, it’s possible to get lost in the noise of it all. Tocchet has been great this year at keeping the team focused on the short term – though he did admit during their recent slump he strayed from that – and building up their mental fortitude to ride the ups and downs so far. It’s something they’ll need as the playoffs roll.
“I think the big difference for us was just managing the highs and lows,” Demko said of the regular season. “You know, I think maybe in years past we might hit a couple of roadblocks or some adversity and it might throw us off our course for a week or two and hurt us in the standings. But this year, I thought our bounce back was really strong, trusting our identity, trusting our systems.”
But, outside of that, the players seem pretty jacked on getting back to the playoffs. It’s been a long time coming for some of them.
“I'm very excited for this,” said Myers. “You know, a bunch of us have been waiting for this for a long time, being in Vancouver. Fans have been waiting a long time to have playoffs back, and when we step out on the ice for the first time in front of the fans, step into that atmosphere that we know is coming, it's just exciting for a player.”
The last time the Canucks played the Predators was early in the season, when Nashville hadn’t turned things around yet. They ran hot after the meetings, going 20-5-3 over their past 28 games. But, come playoffs, everything resets and nothing comes easy.
“It doesn't matter who you're playing,” Myers added. “We got here for a certain reason; it's focusing on us and our game and our identity as a group, and that's the focus going into Nashville. Each team definitely does a pre-scout and we know about the other team, but ultimately it comes down to how we play our game.”
When the Canucks are on their game, they can hang with anyone in the league. Having a rested group with their star goalie back and everyone in relative health is going to make this a fun series.
I’ll try to keep up and post game-day and post-game blogs for everyone. So, until Sunday, the comments:
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