As the Vancouver Canucks' early-season holiday continues, the team practiced on Tuesday at Rogers Arena and will do so again on both Wednesday and Thursday, at 11 a.m.
A couple of interesting tidbits from Tuesday's practice:
Bo should be close to being ready to play by the weekend. The big question: Who will come out of the lineup to make room for him?
During preseason, Willie Desjardins said he wanted to use Horvat at center rather than making a spot for him on the wing. If he sticks with that strategy, I'd guess that Shawn Matthias will likely be the odd man out when the time comes, strictly due to numbers. Perhaps Willie will give Horvat a turn during the back-to-back games this weekend?
While the Canucks are enjoying their time off, their next opponent, the Oilers, have headed down south for two games this week. The road trip started off terribly—Edmonton got blitzed by a score of 6-1 in Los Angeles last night. Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed the game due to injury, and goaltender Viktor Fasth left with a groin problem after giving up three goals in the first period.
The Oilers will try to rebound against the Arizona Coyotes tonight before meeting up with the Canucks at Rexall Place on Friday.
I think we're all waiting for the Tampa Bay Lightning to come to town on Saturday, to see how the Canucks stack up against tougher competition than Edmonton or Calgary. I got pretty nervous when the Lightning blitzed Montreal by a score of 7-1 on Monday, but they fell 2-1 to New Jersey last night, so Steven Stamkos and company are not completely invincible. I'd assume they were pretty fired up to play the Habs, who knocked them out of the playoffs in a testy series last spring.
In addition to on-ice workouts, the Canucks are adding some other sizzle to the steak during their downtime. On Tuesday morning, women's national soccer coach John Herdman shared some of his wisdom with the team—specifically talking about how he rallied his squad to a galvanizing bronze-medal win at the 2012 Olympics after losing a heartbreaker to the U.S. in the semifinal.
From Ben Kuzma at
The Province:
“It’s about connection and the importance of looking beyond themselves, what they’ll do for Vancouver and what they can do for each other,” said the 39-year-old Herdman. “We learned some big lessons in the London Olympics. You start to realize sports has a lasting impact on people and to remember the moment and the connection because they (Canucks) get that opportunity every day to inspire kids and people. Be good at what you do and take advantage when you wear the shirt.”
Herdman's another member of the Willie Desjardins fan club. "I’ve been really impressed how he structures and organizes his culture. And you can feel the passion when he speaks — he’s a pretty cool guy."
It's somewhat amusing, though, that while Desjardins talked about giving the team a chance to spend time with family over Thanksgiving weekend, what actually happened was a road trip to Seattle on Sunday to catch the Seahawks/Cowboys clash.
We've seen Alex Burrows, Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis make the trip down to CenturyLink Field in the past, but I'm really pleased to hear that excursions like this are now being organized for the group as a whole.
I bought into the whole idea of the power of team culture in the early '90s, when I came across the entire Pittsburgh Penguins team, trainers and all, whooping it up in a not-yet-infamous-at-the-time Vancouver bar. The veterans were leading the festivities, but the whole group really stuck together, happy to be in each others' company.
Of course, this happened just before the Penguins gelled into an NHL powerhouse and went on to win two Stanley Cups. I was convinced that the players' genuine commitment to playing for each other was as big a reason for their success as the massive talents like Lemieux and Jagr that graced their roster.
Bottom line: I'm thrilled to hear that Willie's committed to this concept. If it's done wrong, it can feel cheesy and juvenile. When it's done right, it can make all the difference. So far, it seems like he's on the right track.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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