Now at peace, Boeser re-emerges as a force for Canucks

TORONTO – The question of Brock Boeser’s play is secondary to the question of his happiness. But the two things are undoubtedly connected as the Vancouver Canucks winger moves past two years of personal anguish and grief and re-emerges as a star in the National Hockey League.

Boeser vowed at the end of last season, and the start of this one, that he would be happy again playing hockey in Vancouver after dealing with his father’s death 18 months ago and navigating the quagmire of grief and guilt that it left behind.

Boeser’s peace, his comfort with himself and his team after all that had happened, was obvious over the summer and this fall when he arrived for training camp. So his happiness back on the ice is not surprising.

“You can just see Brock is different -- a different mindset over the summer,” linemate J.T. Miller said.  “I'm just really proud and happy for him. It's a dark point to go through stuff like he did, and for him to rebound and play the way he can, play with aggression and passion and some fire -- I'm just happy for him.”

Boeser’s friend and teammate Elias Pettersson said: “How much he's gone through with seeing his dad (battle cancer and dementia) and dealing with that for many years, it's very good to see him happy and playing well and, obviously, scoring a lot of goals. I've seen the change on the ice.”

Everybody has.

Long-viewed one-dimensionally as a creative, offensive player, Boeser has become an essential piece of the Canucks’ matchup line, joining Miller and winger Phil Di Giuseppe as coach Rick Tocchet deploys them nightly against the opposition’s best forwards.

In Thursday’s 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators, Boeser scored his 11^th goal in 13 games, which tied him for second in the NHL behind only Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, against whom the Canuck is likely to be matched when the teams play here Saturday night.

Last season, Boeser scored his 11^th goal on Feb. 25. But beyond his 16 points and a 10-3 goals differential at five-on-five, Boeser is playing with far more physical engagement. He is using his body to win and shield pucks, contributing to the forecheck, screening goalies and skating noticeably better than he did last season.

And Boeser has become a fulcrum on the Canucks dynamic power play, moving from bumper to wing to net front for a unit that is fourth in the NHL at 32.7 per cent after going 1-for-3 in Ottawa.

Overall, Boeser may be playing the best hockey of his life. And that is the surprising part about his season so far.

“I think I’m just getting back to how I know I can play,” Boeser told Sportsnet. “I think the headspace thing kind of is the first key to everything. I feel motivated. I want to win hockey games and I feel like I can think clearly and don't really have any distractions bothering me. It's a big relief. I just knew how I needed to play when I came back.

“With me, Millsy and Phil, we know how we need to play and I think that's a big part of it. Now on the ice, it's just predictable. Predictable hockey. What does Toc always say? The word he always uses is ‘habit.’ He always says we just need to continue to do this stuff so it's just a habit, and you don't have to think about it. I feel like I'm starting to get to that point and with the body positioning and all these little details they talked about. And I think that's given me confidence, too.”

When Tocchet replaced Bruce Boudreau last January, if you’d made a list of Canucks least likely to succeed under the new coach, Boeser would have been near the top of it. But the 26-year-old is transforming his game in mid-career, incorporating Tocchet’s ideals about playing aggressively, defending and being strong on the puck.

A defensive liability last season, Boeser is being used late in games to protect leads. Three weeks ago in Florida, he scored an empty-net goal to seal a 5-3 win against the Panthers that started Vancouver’s current, nine-game points streak (8-0-1).

“Brock, for me, like the relationship we have, he's a studious guy,” Tocchet told reporters last week. “I didn't know that. Like, he really knows the game. I'll be honest, in practice, he's probably one of the guys I want to start a drill. He's one of my top three guys; he very rarely screws up a drill.

“I put him out the last minute of games. I think that's really got him confidence in what I want. Puck along the walls, he's starting to win those battles a lot more than he did last year. He got that big, empty-net goal for us. I think if Brock just continues to embrace (getting) on the forecheck, playing inside consistently, he can really be a factor for us this year.”

So what does all of this do for Boeser’s NHL ceiling, which suddenly seems more intriguing and substantial than merely becoming a 30-goal scorer?

“That's another level, right?” Tocchet said. “He's just not a shooter. Since I've been here, I hear ‘he's a shooter, he's a shooter, he's a shooter.’ But I see more. I see more of a guy that can play a 200-foot game.

“There's elements and a time in a game where we really need somebody to dig in and battle that puck out (of the zone) or battle to make that play, and I'm seeing that a lot more this year than I saw last year. I think his headspace is so good this summer. He's dealt with some stuff in the past (and) he's got some peace with that. And you can see that he's more free in his mind. I mean, he's getting a lot of points, right? But to me, it's his mental aspect, his mindset. He's so free out there, I think.”

Boeser looks unencumbered, as if the emotional weight he has shed was far heavier and debilitating than even he realized. And he looks as hungry as he is happy.

“I spend a lot of time with Brock on the road,” Miller said. “He's gone through a lot, and I really respect that about him. There's no judgment for somebody that's going through something like that, let alone in the market we play in with the media and all the turmoil in the organization. And then his father? I mean, that's a lot to handle. I'm just glad he's found a comfort level.”

Boeser said he made it a priority to improve his physical play and body positioning, and said he uses Miller as a template.

“I always took pride in playing below the dots and . . .  I think I got away from that the last few years,” Boeser said. “But the body positioning thing is something that started since Toc got here. I'm watching all my shifts (on video) and if I don't have good body positioning, I know I've got to be better at that.”

Asked Thursday morning if this is the best he has played in the NHL, Boeser smiled and said “we’ll see.”

“I'm building towards what I can be out there,” he said. “Obviously, it was a rough couple of years. I think I'm just starting to figure it out. I feel like I'm playing really well and playing well defensively but, I mean, I've got to do it for a whole season. I've got to continue to trend the right way.”

And be happy.