The Vancouver Canucks were back at the scene of the crime on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after Seattle’s smash-and-grab overtime victory at Rogers Arena on Saturday afternoon.
And for the third time since Christmas, neither Quinn Hughes nor Elias Pettersson was on the ice with their teammates. Both players missed Friday’s practice and Saturday’s game with undisclosed injuries. And, on Sunday, both were once again absent.
Tocchet updated the injuries after practice stating that neither player will travel on upcoming two game road trip. The coach said Pettersson is a week away while Hughes is now listed as ‘week to week.”

What we saw

The Canucks skated in the same line combinations and defensive pairings as they used against the Kraken. The team has only 12 healthy forwards on the roster at the moment. Guillaume Brisebois remains the lone healthy extra body on hand these days.
Sunday’s practice focussed on pace and tempo which Rick Tocchet feels has slipped in recent games. One of the drills was a two-on-two match-up using the full sheet of ice with a heavy emphasis on proper line changes and recognizing when to change so as not to leave men wide open.
Tocchet said he reserves pace drills for days like today when the team has two days between games and uses the opportunity to mix in a little conditioning into the drills he selects.
The practice concluded with a lengthy mini-game with the nets against the side boards and three players aside going head to head inside the blueline.
The Canucks are expected to hold a brief skate in Vancouver on Monday before flying to Calgary where they face the Flames on New Year’s Eve.

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on getting by without two of his top players for at least the next week: “You play the cards you’re dealt. Some guys are getting some opportunities and they have to handle certain situations correctly. Some of these guys are getting a lot of reps. And it’s going to make us better in the long run and it’s going to make better players out of other guys, too.”
Rick Tocchet on whether Quinn Hughes should have played the San Jose game on December 23rd when he was listed as questionable: “Well, he couldn’t have hurt what he has any more. He’s a tough kid and he won us the game with a couple of assists. I don’t think him not playing would have made any difference. We’re all hockey players. You want to play. He gutted it out for us and we won the game.”
Teddy Blueger on whether he watched Latvia’s stunning upset of Canada at the World Juniors on Friday night: “I did. I intended to watch just a little bit until the score got out of hand. But it turned into a pretty good game.”

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