鈥淚f you want to climb a mountain, don鈥檛 look at the peak. Look at your next step,鈥� 鈥� Unknown.
It鈥檚 been quite the turnaround for the Vancouver Canucks.
Last year at this time, Canuck Nation was fuming because of the team鈥檚 strong finish which took them out of the Connor Bedard sweepstakes
One year later and it鈥檚 an entirely different story.
With Tuesday鈥檚 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena, the Canucks clinched the Pacific Division title and became only the third Canuck team to have won 50 games or more joining the 2010-11 and 2011-12 entries.
鈥淚 think if someone told us where we would be this time last year or in the summer, we鈥檇 take it. We knew we had some good pieces in here and we have a great staff. Management did a really good job of putting pieces together. It hasn鈥檛 been easy but we did everything we were supposed to do,鈥� Quinn Hughes explained after the win Tuesday night.
So how did this 26-point turnaround happen?
It started with Tocchet鈥檚 arrival.
While many may have been upset with the Canucks late season spurt that quashed their chances of landing a generational talent like Bedard in the NHL Entry Draft, it gave Tocchet a head start on implementing his belief system on the team while at the same time allowing to evaluate what he had to work with.
Then during the summer, the management group of President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford and General Manager Patrik Allvin restructured the roster and continued to do so once the season began.
Ian Cole, Carson Soucy, Casey DeSmith, Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger, Sam Lafferty and in season acquisitions Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm improved the depth of the team.
Having Tocchet come in during the second-half of the season also allowed the players to know what was expected of them.
For J.T. Miller and the rest of the group, it meant another level of commitment.
鈥淵ou have the whole team come in and buy in, getting the summer over a month earlier than normal. You put the work in and really come together. It鈥檚 certainly part of the process. We played a lot of good hockey this year and we should be proud,鈥� explained Miller.
Bringing in talented players is one thing but getting them to believe they can do special things is another.
Tocchet and his staff coined the phrase 鈥榚arn the day鈥� with the group.
Don鈥檛 think about yesterday, don鈥檛 look ahead to tomorrow 鈥� just focus on becoming better today.
鈥淚 think it helps us stay focused and takes the pressure off ourselves. It鈥檚 a long season and it鈥檚 not always perfect. I think we鈥檝e done a really good job of not enjoying it too much when it was really good and not beating ourselves up when it wasn鈥檛 too good. I thought we were really even-keel this season. It showed when we weren鈥檛 playing our best - we were playing .500 hockey and it never really got worse than that,鈥� Miller said.
As Canucks Army reporter Jeff Paterson pointed out in a post on 鈥榅鈥�, this team has been remarkably consistent when looking at their point totals in 20 game segments. The Canucks have recorded 27, 28, 27 and 25 points in the four segments leading up to 80 games.
The other thing about this group is that they鈥檝e bought into the team concept.
鈥淲e always talk about the emblem on the front and not (what鈥檚 on) the back. I think a lot of guys have bought into that and we try not to preach individualism around here鈥hat鈥檚 what I鈥檓 most proud of the guys 鈥� buying into it this year,鈥� said Tocchet.
The result of that is a team that has no passengers and cares about one another. Tocchet and other players talk about the 鈥榳olfpack mentality鈥� that is needed to win and there was no better example of that during a second period melee against the Flames when Vancouver鈥檚 Conor Garland peeled Calgary鈥檚 Adam Klapka out of a scrum and brought him to his knees.
Klapka is 6鈥�8鈥� while Garland is listed at 5鈥�10鈥� but in reality is closer to 5鈥�8鈥�.
鈥淚 just think the little things like that鈥uys sticking up for each other and having each other鈥檚 back and coming together as a team. It shows that we鈥檝e come a long way. I keep saying we鈥檙e not 鈥榯here鈥� but we鈥檝e certainly made a lot of good strides as a team,鈥� said Miller.
The Canucks, however, know come next week and the first round of the post-season that it鈥檚 a whole new ballgame.
The good thing is you know they won鈥檛 be satisfied with what they鈥檝e accomplished.
After all, there鈥檚 another day to be earned.
OVERTIME
* The Canucks announced their team award winners during the game on Tuesday. Hughes walked away with the Walter 鈥楤abe鈥� Pratt Award as the best defenseman as well as the Daniel and Henrik Sedin Award for Community Leadership. Miller also picked up a pair of accolades in winning the Pavel Bure Award as the Canucks鈥� most exciting player as well as the Cyclone Taylor Trophy as the club鈥檚 most valuable player. Elias Pettersson won the Three Stars Award while Dakota Joshua claimed the Fred J. Hume Award for the team鈥檚 unsung player.
* Goaltender Thatcher Demko returned to face the Flames after a five-week absence due to injury and looked sharp in stopping 39 of 40 shots. 鈥淐asey (DeSmith) has been great for us and the same with Arti (Silovs) but having Demmer back there - it鈥檚 a whole new thing,鈥� said Hughes.
* Calgary鈥檚 lone goal was scored by Brayden Pachal. Longtime WHL fans might remember his cousin who played for the New Westminster Bruins in the 1970鈥檚. Clayton Pachal was the Bruins captain when they won WHL titles in 1975 and 1976 and was subsequently drafted in the first round by the Boston Bruins. Clayton Pachal passed away in 2021.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 鈥渢he Moj鈥� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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