Reacting to the Vancouver Canucks’ end of season media availabilities: Canucks Conversation
2 months ago
On yesterday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal reacted to the Canucks’ end-of-season media availability event held earlier today.
One of the significant revelations from the event was Elias Pettersson admitting he had been dealing with tendinitis in one of his knees since late January. This explains many of the questions surrounding Pettersson’s underwhelming performance in the second half of the season.
“Everything starts in your lower body, especially playing through an injury like that,” said Quads. “You’re hoping he’s able to come back next year and be stronger all season long.”
“I’m not surprised,” Harm said of learning about the injury. “You could see it in his skating; he lacked dynamic ability carrying through the neutral zone. This also explains why, at times down the stretch and in the playoffs, it was hard for him to stay on his feet and be sturdy. We know over the years that he’s bulked up and he’s not this soft, pushover player, yet it felt like he was losing a lot of battles, avoiding contact, and was hesitant in those physical engagements. You can understand if a guy has a bad knee; it’s tough to maintain your balance in a lot of those situations.”
The discussion then turned to Brock Boeser and his reflections on his season.
“He seems like a player who’s so hungry and driven in a way I didn’t see when he was younger,” said Harm. “Not to insinuate that he was slacking in the past, but there’s a different level of conviction and determination in his tone and body language when he talks about the next step. One thing you wonder about a player having a career-best season is: are they going to get slightly comfortable? Sometimes it happens unconsciously. For Boeser to speak about needing that right mindset, I was very impressed.”
Next up was Thatcher Demko, whose postseason was cut short just one game in after an injury to his knee.
“He and the rest of that core lived through all those dark years when the expectations were for them to make the playoffs, and they consistently were a laughingstock around the NHL,” Harm began. “To work so hard and finally get an opportunity in the playoffs, it’s such a gut punch to get hurt again. One thing I wonder is if this will make him more open-minded about finding solutions when it comes to managing his workload. I know that Demko is not a goaltender who wants nights off; he wants to play as much as possible, but when a player like that goes through an experience that painful, it might open his mind to trying more things to avoid being hurt come playoff time.”
“One thing the Canucks have to be cognizant of is they’re no longer going to be surprising anybody as a team in the regular season,” Harm continued. “They’re going to be on everybody’s radar. The challenge of managing Demko’s workload might be more difficult than it was this season. Think about how early the Canucks basically had a playoff spot locked up. That may not be a guarantee next season; you never know. What if you’re in a situation where, in January or February, you’re still fighting for a playoff spot? That’s going to make it harder to rest Demko and have the discipline to stick to the plan.”
You can watch the full replay of the show below:
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