Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
PENTICTON, BC – Rick Tocchet has already warned his Vancouver Canucks players – the upcoming NHL season will not be easy.
The team made great strides last year, the head coach said Wednesday before training camp. The bar has been raised for this year’s campaign.
“To reach the next plateau, there are higher expectations and it’s going to be difficult. We know that,” Tocchet said in Penticton, B.C., where the team opens camp on Thursday.
“So that’s the next level. It starts on day one (Thursday). My thing is don’t waste a rep out there.”
The Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record last season, then eliminated the Nashville Predators from the playoffs in a grueling six-game first-round series. Vancouver then fell to the Edmonton Oilers in a seven game second round set.
Last fall, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said everything would have to go right for the team to make a playoff push. That doesn’t change this season, he said, despite last year’s success.
“The challenges will be greater, for sure. But I believe that the team we started with last year, we have just as good a team to start the season this year and probably better,” he said.
“As long as the team builds off of what they did last year, stick to what the coaches tell them, stick to the system, stick together in good times and bad times, they have this team a chance to do pretty well.”
However, some key players will be missing as Vancouver’s training camp begins.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Wednesday that star goaltender Thatcher Demko will not be on the ice when the team begins its preseason.
Allvin did not reveal the reason for Demko’s absence, but said the 28-year-old American has been making progress.
“He’s been working really hard and seems to be in a great frame of mind,” the GM said.
Demko missed several weeks of the regular season and much of Vancouver’s playoff run last spring with a knee injury.
The six-foot-four, 192-pound goaltender has a career regular season record of 213-116-81 with a .912 save percentage, 2.79 goals against average and eight shutouts across seven seasons with’ r Canucks.
Allvin also announced that veteran center Teddy Blueger and defensive end Cole McWard will also miss the start of training camp after each underwent “minor body surgery.”
Vancouver previously announced that winger Dakota Joshua will not be present for the start of camp as he recovers from surgery for testicular cancer.
Tocchet said he will have no problem filling the holes, and plans to change his lines a lot in Penticton.
“Nothing is set in stone,” he said. “I think it’s important that you have different puzzles at different times.”
The coach added that he expects standout center Elias Pettersson to start on the same line as Canucks newcomer Jake DeBrusk.
Vancouver inked DeBrusk, a former Boston Bruins forward, to a seven-year, US$38.5 million deal when the NHL’s free agent market opened on July 1.
The spotlight on Pettersson is expected to be bright once again as he enters the first year of a new eight-year, $92.8 million contract. The 25-year-old erfin struggled last season, putting up 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games.
Rutherford said he was impressed with how Pettersson looked when he returned to Vancouver before camp.
“He seems to be a more relaxed and comfortable guy. And for obvious reasons,” said the president of the hockey team. “This is a guy who I believe has worked very hard this summer. He has done everything he can to play as a front line player. … he is expected to be one of the best players on our team.”
Several Canucks hit milestones last season, including Quinn Hughes, who led all NHL defensemen in scoring with 92 points and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best blueliner.
Several players could once again have the best years of their careers for Vancouver, Tocchet said, but they will need to be consistent and not allow frustration to set in when things go wrong.
“You have to drive yourself every day when you’re having a great year,” the coach said. “You have to continue to create that environment where they can achieve those goals, whatever they are. And the main goal is to win. That’s what it really comes down to.”
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 18, 2024.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://canadanewsmedia.ca/flames-re-sign-defenceman-ilya-solovyov-centre-cole-schwindt/
