On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by RinkWide’s Jeff Paterson to discuss Rick Tocchet’s rest strategy and Roberto Luongo’s upcoming Ring of Honour night.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet gave his team 2 full days off (with an optional skate on Sunday) after their win against Carolina on Saturday. Harm gave his thoughts:
“If you’re going to commit to blocking a lot of shots, winning those battles, and backchecking like crazy, you have to be really mindful of managing your energy levels throughout the course of the season.” Harman noted West Coast teams, in particular, need to be cautious with their heavy travel schedules.
The guys then featured a clip of Rick Tocchet responding to a question on his tactics: “As a coach, there are spots where you can’t be afraid to give your team two days off. In-season, there are gut feelings, and you just gotta go with it. I felt after that Carolina game we could use the two days. You look at spots in the season to try to do it, maybe a little ahead of schedule, but I really felt we needed these two days. We’re playing the long game.”
After, Jeff Paterson made his appearance and gave his thoughts when asked about the team’s extra days off: “Players will respect a coach that says, ‘rather than me skating the devil out of you, I’m gonna give you the day off and play the long game.’ I think there’s a lot of thought that goes into this, and I give Rick Tocchet credit. Coaches love practice time.”
Quads: “Are you surprised at all that Demko is getting the start against Tampa?”
“No. These are the games the number one goaltender wants to test themselves, and Demko has never been able to get a victory against Tampa… If the Canucks are going to get a win against them tonight, something tells me he is gonna have to have his glove on the results.”
“It feels like it’s three or four games for Demko, and one for DeSmith,” JPat continued. “With Roberto Luongo night on Thursday, I think you’re gonna be looking at a night for your number one there. I’d be really surprised if Casey DeSmith gets the start against Florida.”
The Canucks face off against the Lightning at home tonight after Tampa Bay’s 4-3 overtime win against Seattle on Saturday. Nikita Kucherov leads the league with 47 points, followed by Vancouver’s J.T. Miller with 40. Miller is presumed to be matched up against Kucherov and Tampa Bay’s top line tonight.
Roberto Luongo returns to Rogers Arena Thursday night for the Canucks’ matchup against the Panthers, where he’ll be added to the Canucks’ Ring of Honour with a ceremonial puck drop between the goaltenders. If you haven’t yet seen, check out the CanucksArmy signed Luongo practice-used stick bid put on by Jeff Paterson! All proceeds will go to charity. Click here for more information.
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