As the Canucks embark on the second half of the season, the noise is going to get louder.
No, weB次元官网网址檙e not talking noise as in the roar of approval the 19,005 in attendance at Rogers Arena on Thursday night gave the Canucks after they defeated the Arizona Coyotes by a score of 2-1.
We are talking about the noise away from the rink.
As the Canucks continue to defy pre-season predictions and meet every challenge in front of them, more and more people are noticing on a league-wide scale - whether it be fans or the media.
With that comes a lot of attention and pressure.
For most of the players on this team, itB次元官网网址檚 uncharted territory.
The only meaningful games that the likes of Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko have played in was in 2020 when Vancouver was part of the NHL bubble in Edmonton due to the Covid epidemic. The three playoff rounds that Canucks participated in were in the cold and sterile environment of Rogers Place with no fans attending and obviously no travel taking place.
Of the current core group, only J.T. Miller has some true playoff experience, participating in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals with Tampa Bay.
If the Canucks want continued success, this group will have to remain focused which reminds me of a great story that Troy Aikman once told us about his Dallas Cowboys and his first-ever Super Bowl appearance with AmericaB次元官网网址檚 Team against the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII.
At the start of that week, Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson walked into the locker room with a 2x4, threw out on the floor, and then asked how many players could walk across it. Of course, every player raised his hand. Johnson then asked who would walk across the same 2x4 if it was between two buildings ten stories high. Needless to say, there werenB次元官网网址檛 as many hands being raised.
B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e been walking across this 2x4 all year long,B次元官网网址� Johnson proclaimed. B次元官网网址淏lock everything else out and just keep doing what you are doing.B次元官网网址�
If the Canucks are going to continue at the level at which they are playing at, they will need to adhere to that principle.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 at the stage now where can this be a special team. IB次元官网网址檝e heard that word special. To be a special team, you have to do special things. That means discipline and (sticking to) the staples. We have to do those things consistently to be special. You come to the rink and donB次元官网网址檛 feel like practicing but special teams do. You have to do extraordinary things to be a special team. We are trying to strive for that,B次元官网网址� Tocchet explained.
What does bode well for this Canucks team is that it hasnB次元官网网址檛 bought into any of the hype of how good they are and is a group that continues to stay in the moment.
The players donB次元官网网址檛 look back nor do they look toward the future B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 only about today according to Pettersson.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 all we can focus on and dictate - what we do today. I think the coaching staff has done a very good job with that and with the culture,B次元官网网址� he noted.
Tocchet and his staff coined the expression B次元官网网址榚arn the dayB次元官网网址� during training camp and that mantra will be tested as the games become bigger and the noise becomes louder.
B次元官网网址淚 guess thatB次元官网网址檚 just down to the individual. We talk all the time about being day-to-day. Nothing has changed. We feel like our record is 0-0 - we go into every period like itB次元官网网址檚 0-0. I think itB次元官网网址檚 a great mindset for our group and itB次元官网网址檚 worked for the most part for us. WeB次元官网网址檙e happy where we are at. ItB次元官网网址檚 everything we worked for in the summer yet at the same time we havenB次元官网网址檛 achieved nothing yet. WeB次元官网网址檙e not a satisfied group,B次元官网网址� said Miller.
B次元官网网址淭here has to be a maturity levelB次元官网网址eing a professionalB次元官网网址nowing what to expect from yourself and your teammates and also just focusing on what you need to do which is just doing your job,B次元官网网址� added Hughes.
As we mentioned in a previous column, this hockey club has a new mindset and if you ever need more proof of it, all you had to do was talk to some of them about the recent Eastern road trip in which the Canucks went 5-1-1.
B次元官网网址淚 think the thing with me is that I feel like we should have won every game. We should have gone 7-0,B次元官网网址� said Hughes, who went on to refer to how they could have won the first game in St. Louis and the last one in Columbus.
B次元官网网址淎fter that St. Louis game, no one was happy and we were all pretty pissed off but I thought we had a really good bounce back game (against New Jersey) and that kind of built that little win streak from there,B次元官网网址� added Boeser.
Tocchet is happy with the approach his team is taking but is even happier that itB次元官网网址檚 originating from the players themselves.
B次元官网网址淕uys were happy (about the trip) but I didnB次元官网网址檛 see guys pounding their chest. Guys were like B次元官网网址榞reat win but weB次元官网网址檝e got to do this tomorrow.B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 that mantra right now, and honestly, itB次元官网网址檚 not like weB次元官网网址檙e pounding it down their throat. TheyB次元官网网址檝e taken that over. ItB次元官网网址檚 a very even keel team,B次元官网网址� said Tocchet.
B次元官网网址淎ny time we lose, we try and learn from what mistakes we made in that game and try and be better in the next game. I just feel we have guys that arenB次元官网网址檛 satisfied with winning one and losing one. We just want to continue to win and keep driving the bus,B次元官网网址� noted Boeser.
OVERTIME
* Pettersson and Dakota Joshua scored for the Canucks while ex-Canuck Travis Dermott notched the only Arizona goal in a somewhat chippy affair that featured a fight between VancouverB次元官网网址檚 Nikita Zadorov and ArizonaB次元官网网址檚 Liam OB次元官网网址橞rien.
* Boeser was pretty giddy about his Green Bay Packers destroying the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 in the NFL playoffs last weekend. His enthusiasm was quickly tempered when asked how the Packers could beat the San Francisco 49ers this Saturday. B次元官网网址淥h boy,B次元官网网址� he paused. B次元官网网址淚 think the Packers should prayB次元官网网址nd hope that (Christian) McCaffrey doesnB次元官网网址檛 show up that day.B次元官网网址� As big of a Packer fan as he is, Boeser has never made the pilgrimage to Lambeau Field because of the obvious conflict but insists itB次元官网网址檚 on his bucket list.
* Montreal Canadiens Director of Pro Scouting Eric Crawford took in the game Monday night. The younger brother of former Canucks head coach Marc Crawford, Eric Crawford spent 16 seasons in the Canucks organization in several roles before moving to the Habs and is now based in his hometown of Belleville, Ontario.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob B次元官网网址渢he MojB次元官网网址� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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