TAMPA — There is nothing funny about Rick Tocchet’s top-10 list for most disappointing games with the Vancouver Canucks – except for how the 59-year-old coach framed Tuesday’s awful performance in Philadelphia.
“Are you talking about David Letterman’s top 10?” Tocchet said Wednesday when asked to rank his level of disappointment in the Canucks’ 2-0 loss to the Flyers. “Yeah, it’s on there. Definitely.
“What surprised me is usually we have a pretty good pushback, and I felt there were pockets of the game we didn’t meet pressure. I have this (saying): ‘Meet pressure with pressure.’ And I didn’t think we met it. I mean, it’s early, don’t get me wrong. But to me, let’s stamp it out early, let’s call it for what is. That’s the way you’ve got to deal with these things.”
The loss spoiled the Canucks’ perfect National Hockey League season, dropping them to 2-1 heading into Thursday’s road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tocchet said after Tuesday’s game, in which Vancouver was outshot 22-3 in the middle period, that his players did not compete, failed to execute any of their systems, and didn’t play smart.
“It’s a good lesson for us,” he told reporters. “Who are we to think we’re anybody?”
Tocchet and his staff reinforced those lessons before and during Wednesday’s practice here.
The performance in Philadelphia – the Canucks might have lost 6-0 had goalie Thatcher Demko not been spectacular – brought haunting memories of the last three seasons. But it was still surprising because, by now, neither the coach hired last January nor his ideology are new, and followed a 2-0 start by the Canucks after a training camp that Tocchet devoted to teaching and setting standards.
“We had a good meeting today,” he said. “The one thing with the players and coaches, you know, we tell it straight. We know where we were at last game, and it’s a new day. (It) wasn’t a good effort in a lot of areas, so now we reset, had a good practice today and move on to Tampa.
“We want to continue to press accountability. . . because maybe in Game 50 we don’t have to go through these meetings and this sort of stuff. It’s got to be done right away. And I think most of the players understand that, and that’s the way we’re going to keep coaching.”
MORE TROUBLE?
The Canucks practised without top forward Elias Pettersson, and Tocchet confirmed the star is “a little banged up” and was getting a maintenance day.
Asked if he was concerned about Pettersson’s availability to play the Lightning, Tocchet said: “I don’t think so. I think he should be fine.”
Nobody asked for that guarantee in writing.
On Monday, Tocchet volunteered that the team needed to do more to protect Pettersson.
Sam Lafferty filled in for the Swede at practice between wingers Andrei Kuzmenko and Conor Garland, which brought Jack Studnicka back to centre between Nils Hoglander and Ilya Mikheyev, who is in the final days of his recovery from knee surgery eight months ago. The other lines were unchanged: J.T. Miller between Phil Di Giuseppe and Brock Boeser, and Pius Suter centring Dakota Joshua and Anthony Beauvillier.
The defence pairings were: Quinn Hughes-Filip Hronek, Ian Cole-Tyler Myers, and Carson Soucy beside a rotation of Noah Juulsen and newcomer Mark Friedman.
SHIFT DISTURBER
Friedman hopes to become a little ball of hate for the Canucks after Tuesday’s trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins rescued the speedy, agitating defenceman from the minors and gives him another opportunity to prove he can play in the NHL.
“I’m doing whatever I’ve done to get me to this point,” Friedman, five-foot-eleven and 185 pounds, said after practising with his new team. “I’m not going to change now. I’m 27, I’m not 21, so what you’re seeing is what you’re going to get.
“I’m a guy who likes to play on the line, whether it’s bringing my teammates in the fight with me — not literally — but just playing a hard-nosed game and using my skating ability to help break out pucks and get back to pucks as quick as I can and play a quick transition game.”
A former third-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, Friedman has logged 65 NHL games over parts of six seasons in professional hockey. In this very limited sample, the Torontonian has drawn penalties from the opposition at a higher rate than any other defenceman, yet has taken only 49 minutes in penalties himself.
He was also fined $2,000 by the NHL in April for embellishment during the Penguins’ win against the Flyers.
“I played soccer growing up, so I might have learned it from that, you know what I mean?” Friedman said. “Again, it all comes down to just my competitiveness. It doesn’t matter who it is, I just like to get in someone’s face. I love pissing people off on the other team; it’s one of my strengths. I mean, if I can do it and put us on the power play, I’ll do that all night.”
Friedman could give the Canucks a jolt if he plays against the Lightning just over a week after clearing waivers in Pittsburgh on his way back to the American Hockey League.
“It’s just a bunch of emotions,” he said of his reaction to the trade. “You can’t even put into words. I got really emotional and had some tears flowing yesterday. I’m just really thankful that I got this chance and hopefully, I can make the most of it.”
CASEY AT THE BAT (OR ON DECK)
Tocchet said backup goalie Casey DeSmith will “definitely” get another start on this road trip after opening it with a 37-save, 4-3 win Saturday in Edmonton. Demko faced 42 shots in Philadelphia. After facing the Lightning, the Canucks visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday before closing their five-game tour Tuesday in Nashville.