“It’s only going to get tougher.”
It’s a quote that can be attributed to Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet throughout the course of an NHL season, but in reality, the toughest test for the Canucks is coming up.
Going from a poor or average team to a good one is difficult but as the yearly standings indicate, it’s a jump that many teams make over the span of a season.
The real challenge is going from a good team to a great team. It’s one thing to have a 109-point season as the Canucks did last year, it’s another to be considered a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
As the Canucks begin the 2024-25 season, there is one question that Canuck Nation keeps asking: Is this hockey club going to take that step this year?
Most observers will look at the changes to the roster and try to theorize whether or not the team has improved.
But improvement can also come from within.
Will Nils Hoglander improve on his 24-goal season?
Does Quinn Hughes reach another level which sees him eclipse the 20-goal and 100-point barriers?
Can Elias Pettersson take his game to the next level after a pedestrian finish to last season?
But there’s also a different lens to view this question from.
It’s about each and every player finding ways to improve their individual games and getting better.
My old colleague Chris Burns loves telling a story from his playing days with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL.
When it comes to practice, veterans for the most part play at a certain intensity. One day at practice, Ti-Cats defensive lineman Tim Terry decided to ratch up the intensity a couple of levels against Burns in a drill. Burns was surprised by the increased ferocity of Terry’s practice habits and asked him what he was doing.
“I’m making you better,” responded Terry, who is now the Director of Player Personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Do the Canucks have another level in terms of pushing one another in practice?
According to forward Conor Garland, they do.
“That’s first and foremost. We have to push each other. Whether it’s in a drill in practice in the middle of the season or today, you have to make sure guys are going as hard as they can, and if they’re not, guys will exploit each other, ” Garland said after the Canucks training camp scrimmage in Penticton. “We all got to get better as a team whether it’s being in shape, detail, skill, structure or whatever you can get better at.
“You should never be complacent in this league as a player or a team, so we are trying to get better each and every day.”
Pushing one another and improving internally through practice habits is something that is paramount to success according to Tocchet.
“It’s huge. You want your leaders to go out there and go hard against each other. Not (to the point) where they kill each other but that’s how you get better,” said Tocchet when the subject was broached.
“I think that’s something that we have talked about over the last year-and-a-half is elevating your practices and elevating your hockey IQ when you’re on the ice. We have to work on whatever theme we have at practice. We are still growing but it’s something that our coaching staff will keep hammering with the players.”
Tocchet believes how you handle that pressure will reveal where you are as a player and collectively as a team.
“How do you handle the pressure? There’s going to be a lot of pressure applied to you and how do you react to it?
“That’s why we do a lot of reps. You have to make sure your body language is good. You have to pick up your teammates. When there is pressure, that’s when you look at people and you look at your team. I thought the guys did a really good job last year but we know there is another level and we have to find it and it starts every day in camp and it starts from here on in.”
It’s going to be interesting to see if the Canucks do find that next level this season and it most likely will be determined if they can improve from within.
OVERTIME
* The Canucks pre-season schedule is a compressed one with five games in seven days. They open up against Seattle (Sep. 24) and Calgary (Sep. 25) at Rogers Arena before road games in Seattle (Sep. 27), Calgary (Sep. 28) and Edmonton (Sep. 30). Vancouver concludes its pre-season with a rematch against Edmonton on Oct. 4. They will begin the regular season at home versus Calgary on Oct. 9.
* With goaltender Thatcher Demko sidelined with an injury to his popliteus muscle, the Canucks signed netminder Kevin Lankinen to a one-year-deal worthy $875,000. The 29-year-old Fin spent last season in Nashville, appearing in 24 games. He posted a 2.82 GAA with a .908 save percentage.
* Prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki was impressive during training camp in Penticton and it appears the young winger will get an extended look in the pre-season. Defenseman Elias Pettersson and Kirill Kudryavtsev also stood out according to Tocchet.
* Tocchet wants to see more offense generated by his defensemen. As a result, the Hughes-Filip Hronek pairing has been split up in training camp and it will be interesting to see if Tocchet decides to make this a permanent move.
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