The Vancouver Canucks held their final practice in town before embarking on a six-game road trip. The team will fly east to Ottawa on Thursday and face the Senators on Saturday night.
What we saw
Conor Garland and Filip Hronek were both absent from Wednesday’s skate at the University of British Columbia. Garland was excused as his wife gave birth to a baby boy earlier in the day, while Hronek was granted a maintenance day by the hockey club.
That left the Canucks with 11 forwards, six defencemen and three goalies on the ice. Those numbers made it difficult for the Canucks to run lines during practice, so many of today’s drills were less about line combinations and more about overall pace and tempo.
Without JT Miller and Brock Boeser, the Canucks may call up an extra forward for the start of the trip. Rick Tocchet said the team’s medical staff was still in the process of trying to decide if Boeser would fly with the hockey club or if he was better served to remain behind to recover and join the team if and when he’s ready.
Prior to practice, Tocchet spent a few minutes deep in conversation with each of Tyler Myers, Carson Soucy, and Noah Juulsen. The coach indicated some of the positional areas he needs to see improvements in from his defence corps. Some of today’s practice was devoted to defending the rush.
Thatcher Demko participated in practice, although he wasn’t as involved as he has been in recent on-ice sessions. On Wednesday, he rotated through drills with Arturs Silovs and Kevin Lankinen, whereas a week ago, he had a net to himself while others shared the workload.
Appearing in good spirits, Demko met with the media for the first time since training camp. He indicated he can see a light at the end of this eight month ordeal, but still isn’t in a position to target a return date. He will accompany the team on the road trip as he has on the first two road junkets this season.
Practice ended with a hard skate as the Canucks won’t be on the ice again until a practice at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday in Kanata, Ontario.
What we heard
Rick Tocchet on Thatcher Demko inching closer to his season debut: “You look at him at practice and he’s putting in really good days. He was great in net today. That’s a positive and that’s the way you have to look at it. I don’t know when he’s going to play – the timeline – but obviously it’s a lot closer than it was two months ago. Let’s put it that way.”
Tocchet on Brock Boeser’s status: “Whether he stays back to skate or not, we still have to talk about that. If he doesn’t play on this trip, obviously he won’t come. We’ll see how it goes. Day to day.”
Quinn Hughes ready to get back on the road: “I thought we had a good day today. Good practice. Excited to get back on the road and it’s a big trip for us.”
Listen to the full Thatcher Demko availability below:
