From first-round NHL draft choice, career-threatening imaginative and prescient damage, and doing the work in AHL, it has been fairly the journey
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Overlook what they are saying. You may go dwelling once more.
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For Noah Juulsen, who was born in Surrey and raised in Abbotsford, his long-standing affection for the Vancouver Canucks was evident at a younger age. And it was lengthy earlier than the defenceman turned the twenty sixth total choice by the storied Montreal Canadiens within the 2015 NHL Draft earlier than taking a zig-zag route again to the west coast.
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The partitions in Juulsen’s childhood bed room have been painted Canucks blue and inexperienced, and a poster of his idol Kevin Bieksa was positioned in a outstanding place.
“I simply appreciated the way in which he performed, clearly. He was a hard-nosed man who coated each space and facet of the sport, and did it in the correct method, I felt,” stated the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Juulsen.
He by no means piled up penalty minutes or factors like Bieksa, who had a pair of 40-point seasons with the Canucks, however has delivered blocked pictures and heavy bodychecks to bolster a banged-up again finish.
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Quinn Hughes was paired with Juulsen final season and has an ongoing appreciation for his drive.
“He solely cares in regards to the crew and does all of the issues essential to win,” stated the Canucks captain. “In Colorado, he took these two blocked pictures, and also you want guys like that in your room. He’s obtained substance and doesn’t take something with no consideration.”
Juulsen, 26, suffered what might have been a career-threatening damage on Nov. 19, 2018. He was struck twice within the face by a puck within the first interval towards the Washington Capitals. He would develop vision-related issues, and appeared in simply 21 NHL video games that season.
“It form of exploded my face and shattered my bones and I had imaginative and prescient points for a couple of yr,” recalled Juulsen. “I used to be involved. There have been instances once I wasn’t certain what was going to occur, if I used to be going to play once more, and what was occurring.”
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Think about being 20 years outdated and considering a profession change could be crucial.
“It was form of a day-by-day factor, and issues began to clear and progress slowly,” added Juulsen. “I wasn’t even fascinated about a lot or what. However I might most likely have gone on to some kind of first-responder job I might suppose. My dad and brother are firefighters.”
Juulsen’s profession journey took a flip when he was claimed off waivers by the Florida Panthers in January of 2021. He performed simply 4 video games and was dealt to the Canucks the next October as a part of the Olli Juolevi commerce that additionally introduced Juho Lammikko right here.
Right here’s our weekly Q&A with the partaking Juulsen, who prefers steak over sushi, and would play nation music if he managed the locker-room music:
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Q. Extra video games in Abbotsford (99) than Vancouver (32). Is that okay?
A. After I got here right here, Ryan Johnson (Abbotsford GM) talked to me fairly a bit. He stated, “Look, you haven’t performed an entire lot of hockey recently and we all know that you’ve got it. You’ve simply obtained to go and discover your recreation. Go play and have enjoyable.” He stated the sport would come again to me.
Q. How pivotal was your sturdy 52-point WHL season in 2014-15?
A. That entire yr was most likely that “Ah-Ha” second. My 16-year-old yr was just a little iffy, out and in of the (Everett) lineup, after which the second half was good and I obtained my foot within the door. I simply form of ran with it from there at 17. That was my largest step.
Q. Everett coach Kevin Constantine was intimidating. Any points?
A. He was good to me. Clearly, a hard-nosed man, and the way in which he coached was completely different than a number of different guys. (He was fined and suspended in 2006 after forcing his membership to eat the post-game meal on the bus of their gear after a preseason loss.) I had no issues or points with him and the way he handled us once I was there.
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Q. How overwhelming was it being drafted by the Habs?
A. I met with them the day of the draft they usually stated that they had a few guys in thoughts for the primary spherical. I didn’t know if that they had been picked, and I didn’t know what was occurring, however to listen to my identify referred to as was superb. To sit down again that night time, and look again at what occurred that day, was an incredible expertise and one I’ll always remember.
Q. Habs had good defenceman. Who helped you probably the most?
A. In my first recreation, a few us skated that morning, and Shea Weber took quarter-hour simply to sit down with me after and speak. Simply shoot the sh-t just a little and hang around. That also stands out in my thoughts about what sort of man he was and the participant he was.
Q. First NHL recreation was Feb. 22, 2018. What do you recall?
A. In opposition to the Rangers (3-1 win) in Montreal. There was stress. It was loopy. The ambiance and the followers who love every little thing about hockey. I had a very good first recreation (two pictures, 5 makes an attempt, blocked shot, 17:14 of ice time). I performed with Karl Alzner, who was older and gave nice pointers.
Q. Your first purpose was March 2, 2018. Did you go prime shelf?
A. It was on Lengthy Island. (Artturi) Lehkonen set me up and I went glove-side excessive on (Jaroslav) Halak. I needed to (laughs).
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