The Vancouver Canucks wish to fill out their fourth line and two notable names are on the skin trying in
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As pre-season practices go, Tuesday’s early session for the Vancouver Canucks on the College of B.C.’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports activities Centre had been as typical as they go.
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The gamers skated arduous, labored on their breakouts and zone entries, then dialed in practising their energy play.
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However two gamers had been notably absent: wingers Vasily Podkolzin and Dakota Joshua.
After the Canucks’ major group completed observe, a second group took the ice, gamers who will most probably fill out the Canucks’ AHL roster.
Each Podkolzin and Joshua had been included within the group, a transparent assertion about how the teaching employees feels about their state of affairs at current.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet took time on the finish of Tuesday’s second observe to have an extended chat with Podkolzin on the ice. They had been joined for a time by Sergei Gonchar, the Canucks’ Russian assistant coach.
The dialog was amicable and the tone Tocchet used to clarify his emotions on Podkolzin being handed an apparent demotion had been very type in presentation.
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“For Podzy, he’s working his butt off, however he’s simply making an attempt too arduous, a few of his reads. We bought to verify we dial that in. Generally we have to take a step again,” Tocchet mentioned.
He needs to see Podkolzin simplify his sport, to only play what’s in entrance of him.
However his reply about Joshua was blunt.
“And Dakota, he’s bought to select it up. That’s it, fairly frankly,” he mentioned firmly. After which he mentioned one thing that absolutely means just one factor:
“I’m not going to enter another components, however he has to, he’s bought to attempt to win a job.”
In different phrases, when you’re questioning how Joshua did on his health testing, you’re not alone.
“The job is just not there. There’s guys respiratory down that need jobs. And whether or not it’s a message or not, there’s quite a lot of different components I’m not going to get into however yeah, he’s bought to select it up.”
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Phil Di Giuseppe took Podkolzin’s place in the principle group, skating on left wing with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, whereas Nils Åman, Teddy Bleuger and Jack Studnicka had been put collectively as a could-be fourth line trio.
Tocchet praised Di Giuseppe and in addition the work that Åman and Studnicka have put in to this point at coaching camp.
“They had been so good for us final yr,” he mentioned of the Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser line, after they performed collectively.
“Millsy is a sort of participant, you assist him out on the forecheck … they bought so much puck possession numbers final yr. Large. And I need to see them collectively,” he mentioned. “These two guys (DiGiuseppe and Miller) had been a menace on the forecheck after which Boes can do his factor. I like that chemistry. I actually do. Whether or not we hold it on a regular basis, we’ll see. Like I mentioned typically you’ll be able to interchange components.”
Tocchet mentioned Åman was within the high three within the staff’s pre-camp health testing.
“He got here in greater, he’s been skating arduous, he deserves the chance to be in that state of affairs. There’s nonetheless two weeks away, however I’m an enormous fan of him,” the coach mentioned. “I feel Studnicka deserves a shot to observe with that group. They give the impression of being quick on the market. They usually can verify.”
“There’s a methods to go but when that line can develop it’s clearly simpler for me to have that type of line to manoeuvre.”
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