Canucks notebook: Luke Schenn not holding a pity party, Jack Rathbone ready for home opener
Schenn #Schenn
Luke Schenn has two Stanley Cup rings and a singular resolve to make an impact every night.
The hulking Vancouver Canucks defenceman isn’t a speedster, but he gets to places quick enough to make life miserable for the opposition. He hits like a truck and his 20 hits through five winless games — two off the National Hockey League lead — are a continuation of the 273 hits he landed last season when he finished fourth overall.
In Schenn’s world, if you’re not playing your role, you’re not playing a part in getting the club out of a 0-3-2 start and won’t be a factor in the Canucks’ home opener Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres at Rogers Arena. Especially if you want to hold a pity party because personal points or team wins aren’t there.
“If you start feeling sorry for yourself and getting down and living in the past — and there are a lot of could have, would have and should have — the more you focus on that is counter productive,” the 32-year-old Schenn said Friday following a team off-ice workout.
“Positivity is a big thing.”
The back end was signalled out by the new hockey operations department for a lack of structure and zone exits even before the puck dropped this season. And there were enough coverage gaffes on the first road trip to raise a red flag, but Schenn is convinced that the good has far outweighed the bad on most nights.
“It’s funny,” added Schenn. “As much as people talk about it, and I’ve been hearing about it for the last 10 to 15 years about how much the game has changed and it’s all about speed and offence, the one common denominator at the end of it is that defence wins.
“As much as people think you need a high-flying offence, plays off the rush and puck possession, defending wins championships and that’s taking care of pucks and the front of the net.”
Schenn admits that aspect of the game is one the Canucks need to embrace better, but it’s not just a problem here.
Maybe it’s because it’s still early. Or, maybe those high-flying offences with an accent on youth, speed and creativity are putting defencemen on their heels and making it harder to win board battles, defend down low and cleanly transition out of the zone.
“I watch a lot of games around the league and there’s a lot of bad defending going on and lots of blown leads,” observed Schenn. “The first 60 games, there have been 28 comeback wins and that boils down to a lot of teams not playing the right way and that’s something we need to be a lot better at.”
Rathbone on game radar
Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said Friday that defencemen Riley Stillman, Tucker Poolman and Travis Dermott were still being evaluated which suggested that Jack Rathbone would likely make his regular-season debut Saturday.
“He’ll probably be in,” confirmed Boudreau.
Stillman may have suffered a concussion Thursday on a heavy shoulder-to-chin hit from Minnesota forward Joel Eriksson Ek that took him out of the game. Poolman has battled past migraine issues and Dermott suffered a training-camp concussion.
As for Rathbone, 23, building on a solid rookie American Hockey League season is crucial.
Rathbone was briefly hospitalized after absorbing a devastating check Feb. 16 in Bakersfield, Calif. He also had a shoulder injury and COVID-19 diagnosis, but his 40 regular-season points (10-30) in 39 games proved a willingness to take his game to another level. He projects as a future second-unit, power play quarterback at the NHL level.
Rathbone’s 1.03 points-per-game and 19 power play assists were fifth among league defenders, and he was named to the AHL all-rookie team. He even had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick — goal, assist, fight — to demonstrate a feisty determination that the 5-foot-11, 190 pounder packs in being a fourth-round pick in 2017.
“He has improved dramatically in his reads in the D-zone with time and space, and being able to defend in all situations to give him a chance to be adaptive,” Canucks senior development director Ryan Johnson, who doubles as Abbotsford’s general manager, told Postmedia. “He’s a competitor. He has faced everything with a smile on his face and he keeps coming back stronger.
“I don’t think we’re anywhere near his ceiling yet.”
bkuzma@postmedia.com
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