It doesn’t always happen in Vancouver in the fall, but the sun came up for the Vancouver Canucks the morning after their disappointing 6-5 overtime loss to Calgary. And it was right back to work for Rick Tocchet’s team as the Canucks skated at UBC for close to an hour on Thursday morning.
Based on the way the Canucks lined up, it appears there will be a handful of lineup changes coming for Friday’s second game of the season against Philadelphia.
What we saw
Thursday #Canucks practice lines
Heinen. Miller. Boeser.
DeBrusk. Pettersson. Sprong.
Suter. Räty. Garland.
Höglander. Blueger. Sherwood.
Extras: Åman, Bains
Hughes. Hronek.
Soucy. Myers.
Forbort. Juulsen.
Desharnais.@Sportsnet650 pic.twitter.com/RGtPNuyljP
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) October 10, 2024
Pius Suter looks to draw into the lineup as he skated on left wing on the third line with Aatu Räty and Conor Garland while Nils Höglander dropped to the fourth line with Teddy Blueger and Kiefer Sherwood.
The top two lines remained intact.
Arshdeep Bains, recalled by the Canucks from Abbotsford on Thursday morning, was on the ice with the big club. But he and Nils Aman were the extra forwards and are likely to sit out on Friday.
Two other likely changes will occur on the back end. Noah Juulsen slotted in on the team’s third pair with Derek Forbort. Juulsen took Vincent Desharnais’ spot at practice after Desharnais struggled in his Canucks debut.
Arturs Silovs having long chat with #Canucks goalie coach Marko Torenius at end of practice. Silovs staying out after Lankinen has left the ice. Maybe an indication of the plan for tomorrow pic.twitter.com/9DGFMZXUa9
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) October 10, 2024
And based on the fact Arturs Silovs stayed out late – he, Bains and Raty were the last three players on the ice – look for Kevin Lankinen to get his first start in a Vancouver uniform. Silovs had a long chat with goalie coach Marko Torenius at the end of the formal portion of practice. Silovs then returned to the net and worked on long shots through screens. He also faced JT Miller and Conor Garland in a series of informal shootout attempts.
With the Canucks surrendering six goals against Calgary on Wednesday, Tocchet said the focus of today’s practice was five-on-five play with an emphasis on skaters boxing out opponents to allow goalies to get a better look at shooters and shots on net.
While the Canucks finished their practice around 1pm, the Flyers were taking to the ice on a separate sheet of ice at UBC.
What we heard
Rick Tocchet on what he said to Arturs Silovs after 6-5 loss to Calgary: “I talked to him after the game and said if you’re going to be in this business a long time, those games are going to happen. He’s a really good goaltender. And to be a really good goaltender, you can ask Demmer, you’re going to have nights like that. You go to practice the next day and work on your game. He’s fine. We’ve put him in tough spots and he’s responded so I’m not worried about him.”
Tocchet on the idea of a rotation for bottom pair on defence: “If Vinny sits out some games, he’s going to work with our guys. It worked with Hoggy, it worked with Dakota. You can’t be afraid to have that (ability to sit players to help them work on their games). Juulsen could come in tomorrow or the next game and we can have a little bit of a rotation and guys can work with the coaches. I think that’s important.”
Arturs Silovs on what he worked on at practice today: “Just clean up my game. There are some things I have to maybe do better. And traffic could be a little bit better, too. It’s small things. I watched a little bit after the game and now I’m focussing on moving forward.”
Noah Juulsen ready if he gets the call tomorrow: “I think just keep it simple, go north when I can and not overcomplicate the game is the biggest thing for me. I’ve worked with Footy and Gonch, and you learn to stay with it every day, and at some point, you’ll get a chance to get in.”
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