News and notes: Sven Baertschi on his future, Michael Buble on being a Vancouver Canucks fan and Dr. Bonnie Henry on the NHL’s future

Photo credit:KAREN SUM / VANCOUVER CANUCKS

3 years ago

The Vancouver Canucks have found themselves in the news with a handful of headlines about the team in the last few days so I thought I’d tie it all on a bow with a little news and notes.

Baertschi on his future

Vancouver Canucks forward Sven Baertschi says while his future is partially in the hands of the club, he doesn’t want to be in the minor leagues any more.

“I don’t want to be back in the minors,” he told TSN Radio 1040 Vancouver’s Jeff Paterson. “That’s where I’ve set my goal at. It’s up to them really what they’re going to do next. That’s their job and that’s what they do.
“I’m just going to work my ass off going forward, making sure I’m ready to go to whatever camp I’m going to. I have no plans of going back to Switzerland or to Europe; I think personally I can play on any team in the National Hockey League. I can do it. I can just focus on myself and making sure I’m ready for another year. I think I’ve proved to everybody that was worried before. I’m 100 per cent healthy, my game is going well and I’m preparing for whatever is next.”

The 27-year-old was assigned to the AHL’s Utica Comets out of training camp this year, but was recalled for a six-game stretch before being waived in December. The team tried to trade he and his $3.37-million deal that has one year left, but had no such luck.

Michael Buble and his love for the Vancouver Canucks

Buble took part in a NHL rewind party hosted by Sportsnet last week, where he talked about a number of topics.

On the 2011 playoffs

Here’s what he had to saw about game seven between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Canucks.

“This game in particular, I was wasted,” Buble said of that night. “It would have been really quite early in the morning in Italy. I was on a balcony with a bottle of vodka or something. My wife had gone to sleep and I was terrified. I was terrified.”

On his favourite memorabilia

Buble said as he’s travelled around the world performing, he collects hockey pucks from various cities.

“I’m a Canucks fan but I love hockey, I really do,” Buble said. “I’ve got thousands of pucks from places that you’d never think. From South Africa, little towns in Spain or England that have little teams. I have them all.”

On almost scoring on Roberto Luongo

Buble said he once had a chance to practice with the Canucks and took a breakaway (nearly) scoring on Luongo.

“I shot the puck, it hit the post and then wiped out into the boards. Like a huge loser,” Buble recalled with a laugh. “I remember I came in, and Roberto is a big dude, and I was hoping he would go down early and I saw the room and yeah, it went off the post.”

On the 2019-20 Canucks

“There were a few years where it just hurts and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Buble said. “And then all of a sudden… you start to see this core again.
“It’s great because once again as a fan, I can live on that. I can live on that hope. And even if we lose and even if it takes a few years, that’s better than not having that light at the end of the tunnel.”

Dr. Bonnie Henry doesn’t want to compromise safety in hockey’s return

B.C.’s top doctor says she doesn’t want to risk safety in order for hockey to return to the province. Vancouver has been suggested as a potential hub city for the return of hockey.

“I’m not going to compromise safety for any organization, whether it’s the NHL or anything else. As much as I love hockey,” said Henry.

“There’s a lot of ifs around this. In theory, I think it’s a really great idea. Of course it will depend on timing. Where we are in our phases.”
“I also think that I would need to see a very detailed plan of what their expectations are or how they will meet our requirements. Right now there’s no changes that we are foreseeing in requirements of self-isolation for people that are coming into BC from outside the country, so that would need to be taken into account.
“The ability to monitor, to care for people, to make sure that testing is available, and it would be part of my criteria that it would not have any impact on our ability to test here in BC. Or for anybody in British Columbia to get the testing, the assessment, or the care that they need. So we do need to monitor it very carefully.
“I have not yet seen a proposal of those types of details, so I think it is very much in the theoretical phase right now. But I think we could look at the probabilities and the possibilities if and when they come forward with a proposal.”

On Twitter: @zjlaing

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