With the finale of the Four Nations taking place tonight in Boston (let’s go Canada!), that means the NHL restart is right around the corner. The Canucks play Saturday in Vegas, and have already started practicing… without Thatcher Demko but with Quinn Hughes. Petey, Lankinen, and Tocchet are expected to join the team Friday for their practice. For now, here are some quick Canucks notes:
- Hughes is healthy, at least healthy enough to be a potential fill-in for the USA at the Four Nations. It was a dramatic few hours after McAvoy was hospitalized, and Hughes’ name was thrown around as flying out to join the team. In the end, that didn’t happen, though Quinn would have loved to be there.
“The league's done a great job putting this event together,” Hughes told reporters on Tuesday after practising with the Canucks in Vancouver. “It's been fun to watch — hard for me to watch. But, you know, I'm close with a lot of those USA guys, and proud of how they've been playing. The six (defencemen) that have been there — of course, I want to play — but they've gotten us to the point where we're in a championship game now, and those guys also deserve to play. But in saying that, it's obviously been hard for me. I'm a competitor and, you know, feel like I want to play and need to be there."
But “the rules are the rules; I can't play unless anyone else gets injured. And obviously, I don't want to see anyone get injured. So, yeah, I think that's where we're at.”
“Really, what it came down to is I just wasn't healthy enough,” Hughes explained for the first time. “I wasn't sure (whether the injury) could get worse, and I felt like I couldn't be crawling back to Vancouver at the end of that tournament where now I'm missing more Canucks games.
“If there's a positive, I should be ready to go next game against Vegas (on Saturday). But in saying that, you know, if I didn't have to worry about any of that other stuff, I would have been there in a second and playing with what I've got. But I had to look at the big picture a little bit.
“I kind of grew up with, you know, a lot of those guys with the (U.S. development) program and world championships and different things, and we're all interconnected. I've known a lot of these guys, and it's really hard to not be there with them.”
Hughes wore a red non-contact jersey in his first practice, but seemed to be back to wearing a normal one yesterday.
- Thatcher Demko is injured, again. He was not practicing this week with the team, and he won’t be joining them on their trip. He’s listed as week-to-week. It’s been a tough year with injuries piling up for Demko – when he’s here and on he’s a difference maker, but he just hasn’t been able to stay healthy. The Canucks will lean on Lankinen and the newly-recalled Silovs to carry them down the stretch. Lankinen has been solid all year for the team, and he’ll have his work cut out for him on the playoff push, but the team should be wary of riding him too hard – he’s already on track to crush his previous career starts and shots faced. Silovs is just happy to be here again.
“It's a big chance,” Silovs said of playing on the road trip. “Just had to be patient, work hard day in and day out to prepare, and I feel good. Playing more games and getting more ice time (in the AHL) is a major boost for your confidence.”
- The Canucks signed recently-acquired Drew O’Connor to a 2 year, 2.5 million dollar contract. DOC has been a great addition to the lineup thus far, basically a plug-and-play Tocchet kind of guy. Management has had an eye for guys who have grown with larger roles, and DOC seems like the kind of player that fits the mold. He’s happy to be here, and getting the little break from the grind helped settle his mind about signing.
“I think it kind of let me process everything, think everything through," he said. "I didn't want to rush into a decision, obviously, but was super comfortable with my time here thus far. So I think ultimately, the decision kind of became clear towards the end.”
“I'm definitely appreciative of the opportunity I've got so far here, playing with some really good players, obviously," O'Connor added.
"And I just like the way we play a lot. I like the way (Tocchet) runs the team, and the coaching staff runs the team. It's a fun way to play. They want us skating with the puck, doing things like that. And I've enjoyed that part of it. So hockey wise, it's been a great fit, I think.”
“I think I'm capable of more than I've shown this season thus far. Especially offensively, I think I can contribute more," he said.
"So I'm kind of eager to prove that I have that next level to my game. And I'm confident that with the staff here, with the group here, that I'll be able to get to that level.”
For now, those are the biggest stories. Canucks play Saturday. Canada plays tonight. Enjoy it.
Quotes from the Province, NHL.com, and Sportsnet.
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