As the Canucks embark on the second half of the season, the noise is going to get louder.
No, we乌鸦传媒檙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, it乌鸦传媒檚 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 America乌鸦传媒檚 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 weren乌鸦传媒檛 as many hands being raised.
乌鸦传媒淵ou乌鸦传媒檝e been walking across this 2x4 all year long,乌鸦传媒� Johnson proclaimed. 乌鸦传媒淏lock everything else out and just keep doing what you are doing.乌鸦传媒�
If the Canucks are going to continue at the level at which they are playing at, they will need to adhere to that principle.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 at the stage now where can this be a special team. I乌鸦传媒檝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 don乌鸦传媒檛 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,乌鸦传媒� Tocchet explained.
What does bode well for this Canucks team is that it hasn乌鸦传媒檛 bought into any of the hype of how good they are and is a group that continues to stay in the moment.
The players don乌鸦传媒檛 look back nor do they look toward the future 乌鸦传媒� it乌鸦传媒檚 only about today according to Pettersson.
乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 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,乌鸦传媒� he noted.
Tocchet and his staff coined the expression 乌鸦传媒榚arn the day乌鸦传媒� during training camp and that mantra will be tested as the games become bigger and the noise becomes louder.
乌鸦传媒淚 guess that乌鸦传媒檚 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 it乌鸦传媒檚 0-0. I think it乌鸦传媒檚 a great mindset for our group and it乌鸦传媒檚 worked for the most part for us. We乌鸦传媒檙e happy where we are at. It乌鸦传媒檚 everything we worked for in the summer yet at the same time we haven乌鸦传媒檛 achieved nothing yet. We乌鸦传媒檙e not a satisfied group,乌鸦传媒� said Miller.
乌鸦传媒淭here has to be a maturity level乌鸦传媒eing a professional乌鸦传媒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,乌鸦传媒� 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.
乌鸦传媒淚 think the thing with me is that I feel like we should have won every game. We should have gone 7-0,乌鸦传媒� 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.
乌鸦传媒淎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,乌鸦传媒� added Boeser.
Tocchet is happy with the approach his team is taking but is even happier that it乌鸦传媒檚 originating from the players themselves.
乌鸦传媒淕uys were happy (about the trip) but I didn乌鸦传媒檛 see guys pounding their chest. Guys were like 乌鸦传媒榞reat win but we乌鸦传媒檝e got to do this tomorrow.乌鸦传媒� It乌鸦传媒檚 that mantra right now, and honestly, it乌鸦传媒檚 not like we乌鸦传媒檙e pounding it down their throat. They乌鸦传媒檝e taken that over. It乌鸦传媒檚 a very even keel team,乌鸦传媒� said Tocchet.
乌鸦传媒淎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 aren乌鸦传媒檛 satisfied with winning one and losing one. We just want to continue to win and keep driving the bus,乌鸦传媒� 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 Vancouver乌鸦传媒檚 Nikita Zadorov and Arizona乌鸦传媒檚 Liam O乌鸦传媒橞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. 乌鸦传媒淥h boy,乌鸦传媒� he paused. 乌鸦传媒淚 think the Packers should pray乌鸦传媒nd hope that (Christian) McCaffrey doesn乌鸦传媒檛 show up that day.乌鸦传媒� 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 it乌鸦传媒檚 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 乌鸦传媒渢he Moj乌鸦传媒� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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