Jacob Markstrom has established himself as one of the premier goalies of the NHL, culminating in him being tied with Jordan Binnington as the seventh highest-paid goaltender in the league.

Although he is prone to the occasional blunder and can sometimes be fickle, there are few goalies better than Markstrom when he is on his game. That star power was unearthed during his time in Vancouver, where he went from passing through waivers early in his first year to an All-Star appearance in his final season.

A lot of that was made possible because of his partnership with now former Canucks goalie coach and director of goaltending Ian Clark. Clark’s work with the Swedish netminder put the league on notice because he was the one thing keeping Vancouver’s head above water during a challenging 2018-19 season that was the prelude to a successful campaign the following year.

While the two are on good terms now, the relationship didn’t start out that way. During a recent appearance on Spittin’ Chiclets, Markstrom recalled his first meeting with the former goalie coach and why that helped him improve his play.

“Ian Clark is an unbelievable goalie coach. He just took a step back there in Vancouver, but he really pushed me too,” he said. “First time we met, we sat down in Sweden at a restaurant and he told me for two hours what a shit goalie I am. Then went back to Vancouver and I went home and I was like, ‘Who does this guy think he is? I’m going to [expletive] show him.'”

Talk about making a strong first impression. Looking back on those early years in Vancouver, Markstrom recognized that Clark was simply trying to propel him to reach new heights by giving him some tough love. While it may have come across as quite harsh at first glance, he recognized that it was exactly what he needed to hear from his goalie coach to find his game and increase his confidence.

Markstrom reflected on times when Clark would make him do skates for an hour after a bad game while being challenged mentally by berating him with questions of whether he wanted to be an NHL starter.

“Then everything [Clark] said felt good,” Markstrom said. “He was like, ‘What’s your plan when a guy comes down here or when do you go into reverse? When do you stand up? How do you deal with traffic? What’s your plan?’ I never had a plan on anything: Just stop the puck. But then once you get the plan down and have patterns to follow, the game gets so much slower. Because if a guy is there I know what I’m going to do, and if a guy is up top I know what I’m going to do. So that really helped.”

It wasn’t just Clark’s mentorship that helped Makrstrom reach his full potential; the trade that brought him to Vancouver also played a big role in growing his game, which he described as ‘the best thing that ever happened’ to him. After being drafted early in the second round by the Panthers in 2008 and arriving in North America with a ton of hype, things never really took off for him in Florida, where the roster spot he thought he could get never really materialized.

When thinking back on the trade that made him a Canuck, Markstrom said that being sent through waivers and no one placing a claim on him was an eye-opener for him that he needed to change his approach.

“When you come from Europe, it’s such a big change for goalies,” he said. “Different rinks, it’s smaller, there’s more people in front of the net and all this on-ice stuff. When you come in as a promising prospect and you’re a popular player in your Swedish team and you’re young and you’re a superstar and all this thing they feed you in the newspaper. Then you come over and you’re like nobody gives a damn who you are, you got to earn it. And you’re like, ‘Oh shit. Look at everything I’ve done. I’ve been great for three years in the pros in Sweden.’ And they’re like looking at you thinking, ‘What are you doing? Sit in front of the bus kid.'”

All of those experiences, life lessons, and tough love from Clark helped Markstrom fully realize his potential as a legitimate starter. It is why Canucks fans were sad to see him join their divisional rivals in the fall of 2020 after a strong playoff run in the bubble because many were convinced his relationship with the former goalie coach would keep him in Vancouver. Although the Canucks are doing just fine in net since he left with Thatcher Demko leading the charge, one has to wonder how differently things could have gone had he decided to stay in the blue and green.

While we would never know how history would have been altered, what can’t be denied is the relationship between Clark and Markstrom remains strong after all these years. That’s because the 34-year-old knows he can count on his former coach no matter what.

“He tried to push me because I think he felt like he could push me that way,” Markstrom said. “I’m sure he’s different towards every goalie he’s had. He was with [Sergei Bobrovsky] in Columbus and he dealt with him different. He deals with Demko different than he dealt with me. But I think he’s a really good people person. And one thing with Ian too is he’s having your back when he comes out and then when you sit in his office, he might tear you a new one. But that means a lot when somebody has your back.”