After a full team day off Thursday, the Vancouver Canucks were back on the practice ice on Friday morning at UBC. It was a quick 45-minute workout before the team jetted off to San Jose.
Surprisingly in the wake of Wednesday’s 6-0 debacle against New Jersey, Rick Tocchet made no apparent changes to his line combinations or defensive pairings. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be at least one new look when the team opens a three-game road trip against the Sharks.

What we saw

The Canucks rolled out the same four forward lines at practice on the Father David Bauer rink at UBC. Dakota Joshua and Nils Åman served as the extras. Joshua took a few turns with Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland, but he still remains on injured reserve and isn’t likely to make his season debut on Saturday against the Sharks.
The defensive deployment was a little murkier on Friday. While the team skated with the same three pairs that started Wednesday’s one-sided loss, Rick Tocchet suggested following practice that Derek Forbort may return to the line-up in San Jose. Tocchet said he planned to have a discussion with the veteran blueliner on the team flight to the Bay Area. Forbort has been back with the Canucks for a week now after the passing of his father but has not played since the third game of the season in Tampa Bay. He is sitting on 499 career NHL games played.
Friday’s drills were halted halfway through the session, and Canucks players were made to do stops and starts in the neutral zone. According to the coach, it wasn’t so much a punishment for poor performance as it was a reminder of the hard work required to get the team back to its standards after consecutive losses.
The Canucks concluded their on-ice workout with shootout attempts. Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk and Conor Garland were among those taking part. It certainly had the look of practice for the netminders rather than any sort of audition for the shooters. The Canucks have been involved in one shootout through their first nine games – a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia in which DeBrusk was the only one of the five Vancouver shooters to score a goal.

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on expecting his team to bounce back from a 6-0 loss to New Jersey: “I thought it was a good practice after a day off. Usually when we have a stinker, this team does a really good job when we have a practice and it usually helps our game. So that’s something we talked about. And it’s a little bit on me. The practices have to be a little bit more fundamental and driven, more detailed than ever. I’ve got to be sure I drive that ship in the fundamental department.”
Tocchet on getting Forbort back into the line-up: “I’ll talk to him on the plane and see if he feels he can go tomorrow. He didn’t skate there a lot (while on leave), but he’s ready. He’ll be ready soon.”
Tocchet on Jake DeBrusk going 0 for October: “I had a good talk with him today. He wants to score the goal and everyone wants to score — and I want him to score. I want him to play the game first and if you hit those landmarks, you’ll get that goal. If you kind of venture and you’re on the outside and not in those battle positions, it’s hard to get out of those slumps. He’s just got to worry about his complete game. The goals will come.”
Sponsored by bet365!