Now in his ninth pro season, Luca Sbisa is playing the best hockey of his career with the Vancouver Canucks in 2016-17. After being limited to just 41 games last season due to a series of injuries, the 26-year-old native of Ozieri, Italy is the only member of the Canucks' blue line corps to appear in all 42 games so far this season.

Due to all the injuries to his fellow defensemen this year, Sbisa has been shuffled through the lineup, playing different roles with different partners. His responsibilities have grown as the season has worn on. Many nights of late, he has played top-pairing minutes. He's also tied for the team lead with a plus-five rating.

Newly married and with his first child on the way, Sbisa's steady play seems to be the byproduct of positive changes in his life both on and off the ice.

I had a chance to speak to Sbisa at length one day after the team came out of its Christmas break with the 2-1 win over the Los Angeles that kicked off the recent six-game winning streak.

CS: Congratulations on the win over L.A. They're a tough opponent...

SBISA: They're a good team for sure. Even though they're not quite up there in the standings, they always kinda hang around, make the playoffs and somehow, you know, win the Cup, it kinda feels like.

We knew it was gonna be a tough challenge last night. We weren't really happy with the way we went into Christmas break and it was a big game for us, not just for the two points but for gaining some confidence back.

CS: You were the high-minute man again last night.

SBISA: Yeah.

CS: That's happened a few times over the last little while. That's quite a contrast from the injuries and all the frustrations that you went through last year.

SBISA: It's definitely been fun. You mentioned it: this year, knock on wood, I've been able to stay healthy and I think that's a big part of my game.

The last few years I've always had a little something going on. Now I feel pretty good. I changed my workout routine a bit this summer, focused more on explosiveness, quickness instead of muscle mass and all that and I definitely feel the difference.

CS: I'm glad you brought up summer, because I wanted to ask you about your adventures in Kilimanjaro. First off, what an awesome way to do your honeymoon.

SBISA: Thank you.

CS: ...so much more interesting than lying on a beach...

SBISA: That was our thought process a bit. When we first started dating, I'm pretty sure it was my wife that brought it up. We kinda had it on our bucket list to do the climb, but that was six, almost seven years ago and you just agree to it—you don't really think it'll happen at the time.

And you know, when we got engaged and all that, we started thinking about our honeymoon and all that and we brought it up and—no better time than right now to do it because we're actually...my wife is pregnant right now...

CS: Oh, congratulations!

SBISA: Thank you. Yeah, she's three and a half months, so it's pretty fresh, but we figured we'll have a little someone on the way soon so we wanted to get that off our bucket list and it was honestly the best time of our lives.

CS: Did you have help planning it?

SBISA: Yeah, through an agency and all that. Because it's a pretty complex trip. It kinda was three parts.

We spend our summers in Newport Beach, so we flew out of L.A., down to Tanzania and then the first part was the climb, which is—Kilimanjaro, you've gotta fly to an airport, then we had to stay at this little, like, hiker's hotel for a day or so just so you can get adjusted to the time change and all that.

Then you bus to places. Then we did the climb which took a week. It's basically five and a half days up and a day and a half down.

It's very doable but at the same time it's hard. My wife worked out and trained for it for over a year. For me, too—I used to be the guy that, if I had to walk two blocks I'd hail down a cab.

So, in the summer I went on a lot of hikes and all that because our bodies are made more for short, hard bursts. My back was seizing up and my knees were a little shaky you know, even on those short little hikes.

CS: In California?

SBISA: Yeah, a bunch of state parks there. The hike was fun. We'd hike four to six hours a day.

CS: You had a guide?

SBISA: It's pretty crazy. It was the two of us, and we had eight people that were working with us. It's all regulated. You need a guide and an assistant guide in case someone won't make it, then you need like a cook, porters that just carry the weight.

When they first told us "This is the group that will help us get up there," I was like "Why are there so many people?"

But if you think about it, you're on the mountain for seven days. You have to bring like...during the day it's hot, during the night it goes from 25 degrees to minus-five as soon as the sun drops behind the mountain ridge. You've gotta bring sleeping bags, tents, food, something like a cooker. So you've gotta kind of spread it out.

It was fun. We really bonded with the people there—super nice.

The last day is really hard because, basically, you're walking 26 hours out of 36.

You go from second-last camp, you go six hours, you get there at 2:00, to the base camp. Then, at 5:00 you go to bed, because at 11:00 at night you start your set.

So you go seven hours to the top so you're there for sunrise, three hours down, an hour nap and then six more hours to the next camp.

CS: How long are you able to stay at the top?

SBISA: Only, like, 20 minutes. It's so cold, it's like minus-25. You get nauseous and dizzy and all that. It's hard. So you get up there, you take it all in, then we went back down. The hike was awesome.

From there, we went to Serengeti National Park, did a safari. Same thing—you gotta take, like, a big plane to there, then a bush plane to there, then a car there. So the agency plans everything. Every car is there for you and all that.

CS: Almost like when you're on the road with the team?

SBISA: Exactly, yeah!

Probably it's not quite comparable because the last part, we went to Zanzibar just to kind of relax for, like, four days. That was like, lay on the beach.

All of a sudden you're like "I need to do something" because—the seven days on the mountain, you're always doing something and during the safari you get up as soon as the sun comes up and you're out in the Jeep looking at stuff. You get back when the sun goes down and you're always moving.

Then all of a sudden, in Zanzibar you're lying on the beach and you feel like "Can I do this?"

We said, the safari we'll do (again) for sure. That was very special. So, probably one of the anniversaries coming up, years down the road, we'll do that. We did even say the climb, we might do, but that's a long time from now, because it's special.

Right after the climb you're like, "Never again." You don't shower for a week, you're up there. Like I said, the altitude sickness gets you pretty hard even though you take medications for it.

CS: Did you ever feel afraid? Really concerned that something could go wrong, either for you or your wife?

SBISA: Ummm...no. To be honest, they took really good care of us. The people—there's guys that...do die up there...but rarely from like falling off a rock or something. It's more like, pneumonia and, like, altitude sickness. If you don't take care of it, it can get you pretty hard. Like I said, I took the medication. It hit my wife a bit harder.

From, pretty much early on you're above 10,000 feet and she's like, "I feel like I'm breathing through a straw." That issue, I didn't really have—just, I guess, from playing hockey. But the last day, you get dizzy, nauseous, you throw up and stuff.

It was a battle. It shouldn't be easy, right? Otherwise it wouldn't be as fun!

Right after, yeah, "Glad this is over." But then instantly the next day, we were joking like "Which is the next mountain we're climbing?"

So, it was the best time of our lives. The whole thing was about three weeks.

CS: Do you know the total elevation gain for the climb?

SBISA: Yeah, it's 20,000 feet. Like 19-thousand-something—close to 20.

CS: That's crazy. Denver's like, only 5,000...

SBISA: Yeah, it's crazy. From up there the views are—like, a lot of times around the base, when you start the hike, you're up there, but not too high. We didn't really see the mountain until our second or third day because it's kind of surrounded by the clouds lots of times. You get through that layer of cloud and you see that thing and you're like, "We have to go all the way up there?" It's awesome. It seems SO far.

The total stretch was about 90-plus kilometres—you don't just go straight-shot up. There's another mountain that's a little less high, probably like 18,000 feet, so the first day you see Mount Kilimanjaro, it seems so far away, and over there to your left is this tiny—well, huge—mountain, but so far away. And they're like "We're going to sleep at the base of that thing first and then go all the way over there."

You're like "No chance!"

One thing that was tough, too. Because I'm very competitive, I always want to be first. One thing they tell you is "pulle pulle" which means "slow, slow." You've gotta go slow.

Especially guys that are in good shape, athletes, they tend to go too fast and that's when the altitude sickness hits.

So we had a couple of people that would walk with us. Everyone did their own hike at their own pace but obviously you'd meet up at the camp and you'd take a rest and they'd pass you and like, the first day or so, I was like "Guys are catching up, we've gotta kind of go." Then you realize it's no race. You've gotta take it all in.

Your only goal is to get to the next camp. Usually you get there around 1:00 to 2:00 and then you eat, nap, hang out, take in the sights. Then in the afternoon you do an acclimatization walk—an hour or two where you just walk up a bit, come back down. They say "Walk high, sleep low," to get used to the altitude.

Once it clicked in my head that it's not a race—it's all to enjoy, cuz I've still got to be at that camp tonight, it's not like if I go fast I can go one more—I really started enjoying the whole thing.

CS: Do you feel like that experience, plus your wedding, plus now fatherhood coming on... So many changes...has that changed your big-picture perspective about the stresses of playing hockey?

SBISA: Yeah, definitely. I feel more at ease with my mind. I think I've got to give a lot of credit to (sports psychologist Dr.) David Cox. I really bought into what he's been telling us about, you know, when you're away from the rink, shut off your mind and don't think about it.

Even, those thoughts would creep up about the last game or the coming game or whatnot or what the coach has said. But when that happens away from the rink, just breathe and let it go and eventually you let loose of it.

A lot of times before I'd stress out about too many things and then you come to the rink. Even without really knowing it, you stress all day, you burn so much energy—you get to the game at night and like "I was so fired up for this game," but then you step on the ice and you're kind of sluggish, you know? And all those positive changes in my life have definitely made a difference.

CS: It seems like the poise that you're bringing to your play is really amped up this year. It's been really great to see. Congratulations on that. It's a great journey.

SBISA: Thank you.

CS: It's quite a roller coaster you've been on in terms of your defense partners. You've been the senior mentor guy a couple of weeks and now you're playing with Tanev. That's kind of two ends of the spectrum.

SBISA: It's kind of the mindset that you have to have as a player. A lot of things can change throughout a year. Wherever you start a season, it doesn't mean it's where you end. Injuries happen, different guys play different roles and there's always possibilities to work your way up and all that.

I think that's the way that I've been approaching it. It doesn't really matter who I play with. All the guys on our team, on the back end, are all very good D-men, so whoever you play with, you make the best of it. I think that's the way the other guys feel too.

There has been a lot of shuffling and changes. I don't know know about the forwards. We as the Ds—we always feel that we're a bit different from them because we're very positive so it's very easy to change it up and whatnot.

CS: With both Stecher and Tryamkin, they couldn't be more opposite in so many ways, but the way that they've both stepped in and contributed has been such a bonus for the team this year, I think.

What can you say about their games and how they've adjusted to this next level?

SBISA: It's been very impressive. Obviously I knew Nicky a bit from last year. I didn't play with him at all because I was hurt at the end of last year but I got to see him a bit and he's done a really good job. He plays his role really well. Big, strong, shutdown guy. Hard to play against. Keeps it simple.

But you can tell that he's got a lot of upside. We're just kind of discovering all that. That's the way I think you've got to be as a new, especially, a defenseman coming into the league. You've gotta ease your way in, not try to do too much, gain the trust of the coaches, which both have been doing.

Stretchy has been pretty crazy to me. I don't think anyone really knew anything about him. Like, I never watch college hockey, so he just came to camp.

I wasn't even here for camp (Sbisa was part of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey). I saw him play the first few games I thought "Pretty impressive—maybe it's just, like, a helluva game he had."

But he's been playing the same way this whole entire time. So it's very impressive, especially as the new guy, y'know. You go through stretches where you make the team, you come in and you play really well at first. Then you kind of start realizing where you are and what you're doing and then your game kinda goes down. But I think both of them have been on the pretty steady incline.

CS: I agree. I guess the other big contrast between them is for (the Russian) Tryamkin, who's come halfway around the world from his home, with his wife keeping him company, while (local boy) Stecher knows practically everyone in Vancouver...

SBISA: Exactly. One is super big and strong—one is a little small. One comes from the other side of the world, one is from here. At the same time, they're on our team and they're doing a great job.

It must be fun for Stechy playing in his home town and all that. It's even more impressive to me that he plays the way he does as a rookie in a town where everyone knows him. There's enough pressure as it is, but I'm sure for a kid like him, he's been handling it really well.

And Nicky has come a long way, like he speaks really good English now—it's improving every day. Talking to him and his wife, they really love it over here.

CS: Does she skate as well?

SBISA: Yeah, I think so. I think she was a crazy figure skater.

CS: I saw on his Instagram he referred to her as "his teacher" at the family skate. He's such a good skater for a guy his size, I wondered if that had anything to do with it?

SBISA: Yeah, it must come from something. We had a Christmas skate a week ago or so. She was wearing figure skates. You watch her and she's doing all these crazy spins, and obviously you start talking and someone said "She used to be really, really good back in Russia."

CS: I think she's been a good influence on him.

SBISA: Yeah! He moves—usually big guys like that, over 6'5", 6"6", they're kind of lanky, kind of awkward. He's basically like a six-foot guy that just zooms up. He moves well; he's mobile...

CS: ...He makes good decisions, too...

SBISA: Yeah.

CS: Contrasting from last season to this year—even though you haven't always gotten the results that you've wanted this year, it seems like the compete level on the team has been more consistent this year...other than those couple of games before Christmas...

SBISA: Yeah.

CS: Is there something that has changed in the way that the organization is doing things that has made that happen?

SBISA: I don't know. I think, maybe it's just that we do have more depth and we do have young guys like that just push for spots, which raises everyone else's compete level and awareness.

It really made it clear from Day 1—it doesn't matter who it is, how many games you've played and what your name is—if you don't compete you're gonna be out of the lineup.

Everyone definitely bought into that. I think the effort is there every night. Obviously I can pick a game or two this year where it wasn't, but it's tough to do it for 82 games.

I think we don't play smart sometimes. We beat ourselves a lot. The games we lose, the few games we lead, in the third we kind of back off and kind of play scared to win but as of late it's been better.

CS: Last night (against the Kings on Dec 28) was a step in the right direction, holding the lead all the way through...

SBISA: Last night was huge. We played for 60 minutes and didn't back off. You try to get better every night and learn from our mistakes. We make lots of them and I'm sure we'll make more but we've got to learn from them and get better.

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