Boeser lights it up with hat trick

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1 20 Oct 2015 The Vancouver Sun BRAD ZIEMER Boeser lights it up with hat trick Unlike his NHL team, Canucks prospect has shown scoring touch There have been no hat tricks from the Vancouver Canucks yet heck, no one has scored more than two goals this season but prospect Brock Boeser already has one. Boeser made his home-ice debut with the University of North Dakota an impressive one this past Saturday when he scored three goals in a 5-2 win over Bemidji State. Boeser, the 18-year-old Minnesota native selected 23rd overall by the Canucks in this past summer s NHL Entry Draft, said the atmosphere was electric at Ralph Engelstad Arena. It was an unreal experience, Boeser said in a telephone interview Monday. It was sold out, almost 12,000 fans there. The place was rocking, to say the least. The game went as planned and we played really well as a team. Boeser said it was North Dakota s rich college hockey tradition that helped convince him to commit to the school. The tradition here is unreal, he said. It s one of the top in the country and the facilities are great. They just redid some of the facilities last year and just having that workout room and locker-room, lounge area, just having all that is definitely a nice benefit on top of everything else. Boeser said he s getting adjusted to college life. Overall it has been going good. Obviously there is a lot more homework than high school, but it has been going well and the hockey part has been going well, too. North Dakota is undefeated with two wins and two ties after its opening four games. Boeser s hat trick was the first by a North Dakota freshman since T.J. Oshie accomplished the feat back in There were a few hats out there on the ice, he said. It was definitely a great experience. LOTS OF COMPANY: The struggles of Radim Vrbata have been well chronicled in recent days, but he certainly is not the only member of the Vancouver Canucks not living up to offensive expectations. Captain Henrik Sedin has just two points in his first six games. That s one less than fourth-liner Brandon Prust, who is playing roughly eight minutes a night less than Henrik.

2 Fellow centre Bo Horvat has just one point in six games, a power-play goal in Vancouver s home-opener against Calgary on Oct. 10. Horvat had a terrific preseason for the Canucks, further raising already lofty expectations for the second-year player. Thrust into a top-six role, Horvat has struggled to produce and he and Vrbata failed to find much on-ice chemistry. Head coach Willie Desjardins finally split them up Sunday as Horvat skated with Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen in Vancouver s 2-1 overtime loss to the Oilers, while Vrbata no points in six games played on a line with Brandon Sutter and Alex Burrows. Horvat knows he is under the gun to produce offensively. For me, just not worrying about that I think is my biggest thing, Horvat said on Sunday. The more I worry about it the more it seems to backfire. I think if I just go and play my game and let the game come to me instead of trying to force things it s going to benefit me and the team. Obviously, you are expected to put up numbers in a top-six role and last year I was just expected to play well defensively and try not to get scored on. This year, you have a little more leeway, I guess you could say, to try different things offensively and so far I have had tons of opportunities. Things aren t going in for me right now, but eventually things will turn around. ALMOST FULL: Through their first three home games, the Canucks are still looking for their first sellout at Rogers Arena. But they have been close to capacity in all three games. The seating capacity at Rogers Arena has dropped to 18,630 from 18,910 this season due to changes made to accommodate additions like a new sports bar. Attendance for the first three home games has been 18,570 versus Calgary in the home opener on Oct. 10, 18,362 versus St. Louis on Friday and 18,261 versus Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. ICE CHIPS: The Canucks had the day off Monday and are scheduled to practise today and Wednesday at UBC before meeting the Washington Capitals on Thursday at Rogers Arena. 20 Oct 2015 The Province Ben Kuzma Prust taking late start in stride New Canucks forward wasn t able to skate until August after surgery to remove cyst The golf-ball-sized lump on his ankle still looks like a Titleist. And it s why, upon further review, you can grant Brandon Prust a mulligan for not taking an impressive NHL pre-season swing. It was more like a shank. Or maybe a slice. When the Vancouver Canucks fourth-line winger noticed his ankle was swollen halfway through the summer from irritation caused by the rubbing of his skate against the bone, Prust required surgery to remove a cyst. It not only curtailed critical off-season conditioning, he wasn t able to skate until the

3 end of August. And when Prust arrived in Prince George for training camp on Sept. 17 after medicals, his agenda was different than most. I was about three or four weeks behind and I kind of used the exhibition for conditioning and building and just kind of finding my rhythm, says Prust. I seem to have found it a bit and I ve just got to keep it going. The surgery kind of set me back more than we thought and that s why I m just starting to find my stride. It (his ankle) was sore. I changed my skates and have a lot more cushion in the ankle. It s good now. Even my conditioning seems to be getting better. And I m starting to get more confidence, too. Not that Prust is complaining or making excuses. When you play on the fourth line, you accept the hacks and whacks, gamesmanship from potential punch-up partners, aches and pains that come with staking your physical and enforcer-role claim in the game. For Prust, that means taking a straight-line approach on the forecheck, creating havoc and fighting when necessary. It s not just being the return on the opening day of free agency, when he was acquired from Montreal in exchange for troubled winger Zack Kassian and a fifthround 2016 draft pick. At 31, Prust is in the final year of a four-year contract that pays $2 million US this season he has a $2.5-million salary cap hit and despite playing for the Calgary Flames, Arizona Coyotes, New York Rangers and Canadiens, this is no ordinary season. He has played in 457 regular-season games and 53 in the post-season, but knows the Canucks are trending younger. Prust has one of seven expiring contracts on the current roster and as much as he can contribute to help getting his current club back into the playoffs, he might be an attractive rental player at the March trade deadline if the Canucks falter. Prust isn t planning on that. Maybe that s why he s already fought three times this season and was promoted to the second line last Tuesday in Los Angeles. Willie Desjardins said it was for physical matchup purposes, but Prust had some jump in his game and Sven Baertschi didn t. Emotionally. I m more into it and once the points start counting, my game improves, says Prust, who fought Brandon Bollig in the season opener. That first game with Calgary was a big rivalry and Dorse (Derek Dorsett) had a big fight and you want to get your feet wet with a new team and earn respect within your team and the division. The next two (fights) were kind of guys looking for me and I don t like to say no too often. That approach will earn Prust some trust from Desjardins. The Canucks coach is big on a four-line system and although the current alignment looks more old school with Adam Cracknell in the middle and Dorsett on the right side meaning forecheck ferociously, don t take a penalty and don t get scored upon Cracknell has two goals through six games, Prust three assists and Dorsett an emptynet goal. Averaging 12:03 of ice time speaks to the confidence that Prust is gaining from a bench boss who isn t afraid to deploy the trio in any situation. Desjardins also uses Cracknell and Prust on the penalty kill. You re trying to make your mark and earn more ice time and every day you want to prove you can be put out there in critical situations, says Prust, as lot of guys here don t know too much about me. What they do know is Prust is a gamer. He was obviously shocked by the trade and wondered aloud about the rationale and whether his exit had anything to do with how protective the Canadiens are about their brand and image. Some suggested Prust may have irked management when he was fined $5,000 for calling out referee Brad Watson following a Game 2 playoff series loss to Tampa Bay last May.

4 To his credit, Prust apologized for the heated on-ice exchange but the fire in his belly shouldn t be confused with a player who can t be controlled or relied upon. If anything, Prust s passion is part of what attracted the Canucks. On an optional game-day skate Sunday, Prust emerged from a gym workout at Rogers Arena with his body and mind in the right place to do battle once again. You know, when you get this age, maintenance is big and you have to make sure you take care of the body, says the London, Ont., native, a 2004 third-round pick of the Flames. It s a big year for me individually, but team-wise everything is still the same. I come into every game with the same routine of how I prepare. And how he plays. Hard. Honest. Prust on hockey life, love and comedy 1 Prust is a prankster With the departure of Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa, he has already assumed the mantle of the king of comedy. You definitely go after the rookies. I haven t pulled too many pranks, but the rookies will tell you when we landed in California (Oct. 11), I made them take their shirts off and go off the plane with just their blazers on. No shirts underneath. I just thought it was something funny. It s just part of the rookie s job. 2 Blue Jays all the way Prust played baseball until age 12, but loves watching the game and has struck up a friendship with Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin. People are amazed that I ll just sit down on my couch and watch a whole game whether it s Game 20 or Game 160. I like the pitcher duels and the pitcher-batter duels and the history of the game. I m Jays all the way. Martin is from Montreal and my girl (fiancée Maripier Morin) has know him for years. 3 Lights, camera, romance Yes, that s Prust and his fiancée as a featured couple on the Hockey Wives reality TV show on the W Network. They gained notoriety last season for a relationship that ran the gamut of balancing emotional professional careers she s a Quebec TV host and personality with his life in the Montreal Canadiens fishbowl. They got engaged in June and then Prust was dealt to the Canucks. It s going to make for must-see TV during this season of Hockey Wives. Says Prust: It s a lot of work this season with me getting traded and you ll see her bawling her eyes out. Morin was in Vancouver last weekend and saw Sunday s game. 4 His uncle is an actor Toronto s Paul McQuillan is a song-and-dance man who has been on the stages of New York and Toronto and travelled extensively to pursue his craft. I ve been to a lot of his shows, says Prust. I can t dance or sing or act; he s a very talented man. McQuillan suffered back pain during his performing days and discovered how yoga could aid his ailment. He penned a book called I Hate Yoga: And Why You ll Hate to Love It, Too. Guts McTavish 24 hours Vancouver October 19, 2015 Don't fret over slow start for Canucks' vets Last week the Vancouver Canucks announced they would implement individual goal songs. Basically, each player chooses a song they want to hear every time they score at Rogers Arena.

5 Interesting idea. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we're going to learn the words to these tunes any time soon. As always we use the term it's early but trends often start early and were seeing one so far at home with the Canucks, who are winless in three tries in their own rink. So far they've managed just six goals in those three games, with one of those coming on an increasingly dismal power play. Once again I'm left with the question: Where are the goals going to come from? A dozen players reached double digits in goals last season. It was offence by committee. One of the more important members of that committee, Henrik Sedin, has managed just two points in the first six games this season. And he's got company fresh off a 31-goal season Radim Vrbata is off to the slowest start possible pointless so far. Pointless may be the word here. Does it really matter that the offence is struggling? Will the history books look back and remember for anything more than it really is another year waiting for the future to kick in? Right now we are getting glimpses of certain players who are likely to be Canucks if and when those glory days return. I'm not too worried about Vrbata. He'll get his goals and I'm sure we'll all eventually learn the words to his goal song (it s How You Like Me Now? by The Heavy, as voted by fans, by the way) but I'm more fixated on this team s future core. Which rookies will impress enough to stick with the big club? That's the more important question. For the first time in forever, the team has multiple candidates who share the only goal that matters this season to crack this lineup. VANCOUVER 1040 October 19 Jeff Paterson Expectations are up, but Horvat s production is down VANCOUVER Last season, Bo Horvat had the Midas touch. Right now, he has no touch at all. Six games into his second National Hockey League season, Horvat is sitting on one point a powerplay goal picked up in the second period of the Vancouver Canucks second game. Since then, Horvat has come up empty. Last season, a four-game pointless streak and a stretch of six games with just a single point wouldn t have raised eyebrows. The only numbers that mattered then were Horvat s age (19), his ice time and how he fared in the faceoff circle as he faced - and passed - test after test in his first go-round in the best league on the planet. But based on his impressive play as a rookie, the bar was raised and things have certainly changed for Horvat. Most notably, he has ascended the Canucks depth chart and is now facing expectations to produce. For the first time in his brief NHL career, Horvat, now 20, hasn t delivered. That s not to say he s played poorly, and it s far too soon to declare it any kind of sophomore slump. He s fifth among Canucks forwards in ice time, has 12 shots on goal, is logging special-teams minutes on a nightly basis and is crushing it in the faceoff circle so far this season.

6 On many shifts, he looks exactly like the player that thrilled Canucks fans most nights in the second half of last season. The problem, though, is that Bo Horvat is stuck on just one point. He s well aware that more is required of him, especially now that he s been surrounded by offensive-minded players - whether it s Radim Vrbata, Sven Baertschi or even Jake Virtanen. It could be argued that a lack of consistent linemates from period to period and game to game has been a factor in Horvat s offensive sluggish start. I think I ve been pretty good, he offered up when asked for a self-assessment. The St. Louis game I didn t think I was up to par, but I m still getting tons of chances and just haven t been able to bury it. If I play my game, eventually things are going to turn around. For me, it s just not worrying about it. That s the biggest thing. The more I worry about it, the more it seems to backfire. If I let the game come to me, rather than trying to force things, I think that will benefit me and the team. Last season, the Canucks could be patient with Horvat because of the way he was deployed. But now they need him. His slow start comes as a surprise because he had an inspired preseason. Horvat gave the impression he would pick up where he left off last spring and looked to be serving notice that he would hit the ground running in But that simply hasn t happened. That s the hard part with Bo. He had such a good playoff last year and all of a sudden we start expecting all of these things, head coach Willie Desjardins said. And that was one of the things we didn t want to do at the start of the season. We wanted him to develop the way he s going to develop. Sometimes you forget Bo is 20 and you think he s 25. And I guess if you think he s 25, then he s doing pretty well with where he s at. The numbers haven t been there pointwise, but I think they ll come. Desjardins continues to put Horvat in situations to produce, playing him a career-high 19 minutes and 26 seconds in Anaheim a week ago and using him as the centre on the team s second power-play unit. It s clear that the coach believes Horvat is one of his best threats to generate offence, a departure from the way Desjardins sheltered his then-rookie from any and all expectations 12 months ago. Last year, people were upset with me because I said I don t expect him to score, but I didn t want to put pressure on him to score at that time, Desjardins explained. I wanted him to play his game. It wasn t that I didn t think he could score; I just didn t want him to feel that. And this year he s going to feel it more. Horvat is a heady player with a solid grasp of what s expected of him, both internally by the hockey club and by a fan base still trying to figure out where the offence is going to come from on many nights this season. Horvat is a candidate to produce and wants to be leaned on in that fashion, but he admits there s a different feeling attached to the role he s being asked to play. Last season he rose above the expectations. This time around, he has to guard against getting dragged down by them. Obviously, you re expected to put up numbers in a top-six role, he said. Last year, I was expected to play well defensively and not get scored on. This year, I have a little more leeway to try different things offensively and so far I ve had tons of opportunities and lots of chances. It s just that things aren t going in for me right now but eventually it s going to turn around. Desjardins doesn t seem concerned with Horvat s early-season scoring struggles and certainly isn t about to ask his young centre to change the way he approaches things. He s pretty consistent defensively and that s the best part of his game, the coach said. And if you play good defensively, then the offence will come. If you re not in your own zone, then eventually you will score. That s certainly the hope the Canucks are clinging to when it comes to Horvat and his offence. At some point, it s bound to arrive. Unfortunately for Horvat, the waiting game is a painstakingly difficult one to play when the expectations are there but the production is not. Jason Brough

7 Oct 19, 2015 NBC Sports Snakebitten: These five guys just can t buy a goal Sometimes it s a shooter who s spending too much time on the perimeter, not getting to the parts of the ice where most goals are scored. Other times it s just bad luck. Regardless of why, here are five forwards with plenty of shots so far, but no goals: Radim Vrbata (25 shots) The Canucks need this guy to start converting. Perhaps a few more shifts with the Sedins would help. Vrbata led Vancouver with 31 goals last year. Rick Nash (20 shots) According to this, the Rangers winger has never started the regular season with such a lengthy drought. It s like the playoffs have been moved to October. Dustin Brown (18 shots) One of many Kings players having trouble converting their opportunities. Jeff Carter has 13 shots and no goals. Is it something about Darryl Sutter s system there? Patrick Sharp (17 shots) Fortunately his new teammates in Dallas haven t had trouble scoring. The Stars have the most goals per game (3.8) in the NHL. Patric Hornqvist (17 shots) At five on five, he s skated mostly with Evgeni Malkin, so you can t blame Sidney Crosby here. Honorable mentions: Tyler Johnson (16), Jason Pominville (16), Jakub Voracek (16),Jakob Silfverberg (16), Chris Kreider (15), Jason Zucker (15), Evander Kane (15), Carl Hagelin (14). DAN MURPHY & THOMAS DRANCE OCTOBER 19 Sportsnet Nerdy Guy vs. Naked Eye: Bad bounces for Radim Vrbata Canucks president Trevor Linden on Hockey Central at Noon to discuss the energy and boost that the young players have really added to the Canucks this season. This week Thomas Drance and Dan Murphy are looking at snake-bitten Canucks forward Radim Vrbata, who has yet to register a point through six games this season. I don t know if I will ever score again, but I will keep trying, I guess. -Radim Vrbata, following Vancouver s 2-1 shootout loss to the Oilers Sunday night. Thomas Drance (Nerdy Guy): Last year, Radim Vrbata led the Vancouver Canucks in scoring in his first season in the Pacific Northwest. Brought in as a free agent last summer, Vrbata provided the club with a top-of-the-roster quality sniper and an ace volume shooter. He excelled on the power play and found chemistry both with the

8 Sedin twins and with Nick Bonino on a secondary forward line. His 31 goals were crucial to the club s surprising 101-point season. At no point in his first tour of duty with the Canucks did Vrbata go six games without a point. (His longest scoreless streak was four games, and that was when injuries resulted in him spending an extended period of time skating on a grossly ineffective line with Linden Vey.) So it s pretty interesting, and perhaps somewhat alarming, to see the consistent Czech sniper with a pair of goose eggs no goals, no assists on the board after six games. The good news is that Vrbata s lack of production doesn t reflect an absence of opportunity. Vrbata has taken 25 shots on goal already this year, a total that ranks sixth among all NHL skaters. His 5-on- 5 shooting rate is healthy too, which is a positive sign that the dam will burst eventually. Though he s a quality finisher, Vrbata s goal-scoring ability has never been rooted in his ability to drive shooting percentage at an above average level. Its always been based on volume rather than efficiency. That part of Vrbata s game appears to be healthy in the early going, despite the lack of production. We can reasonably expect Vrbata s puck luck to change if he continues to pile up more than four shots per contest. While unfortunate bounces Vrbata is currently sporting the 11th-worst combined on-ice shooting percentage and save percentage (known as PDO) among forwards who ve logged at least 50 minutes at 5-on-5 this season are a big part of the story, there s probably more to it. In particular, Vrbata has played the majority of his season on a line with Bo Horvat at even-strength. They haven t gelled, to put it mildly. In the 50 minutes Vrbata and Horvat have shared the ice at 5-on-5, the Canucks have been outscored and out-possessed by a wide margin. It s a tiny sample, and it s not necessarily time to give up on that experiment for good, but the early returns have been inauspicious. Luckily, Vrbata and Brandon Sutter have fared much better, controlling over 60 per cent of shot attempts albeit in a tiny sample that s not even at 20 minutes yet. And we know that Vrbata works with the twins, though the club is reluctant to reunite that trio at evens. Vrbata s luck is going to change sooner or later, but the underlying numbers would suggest that linemate chemistry is a big part of this equation too. Maybe if he stops bouncing around the lineup, the bounces will come. Dan Murphy (Naked Eye): Put Vrbata with the Twins. There. Is that so difficult? I don t know why Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins has been so reluctant to do it. It s not like Daniel and Henrik Sedin have been hot with Sutter or Alex Burrows or Jannik Hansen thus far. And Heaven knows Vrbata could use a spark right now. How many times since the start of training camp has Willie D (when answering a question about why he was trying player X with the Twins) uttered something to the effect of Well, we know what Vrbata can do with the twins? YES, WE DO! He scored a bunch of his team-high 31 goals last season alongside Daniel and Henrik. Is it out of the question to give him another look right now? I m all for Desjardins trying to create four lines that can score so he can continue with his philosophy of rolling four lines. But when your top sniper desperately needs a goal, perhaps you should toss him an apple. (If that even makes sense. Whatever, you know what I mean.)

9 I mean, look at the rare chance he got to play with Sedins on Sunday night versus Edmonton. Daniel made a slick redirection pass right to Vrbata (around the :45 second mark) for a prime scoring chance: Listen. It s not like Vrbata isn t getting his chances. As Drance noted above, Vrbata already has 25 shots on goal through six games. He had ten shot attempts against the Oilers, three of which missed the net. I m not going to get in his head and say that he's been trying to be too perfect, but that generally is what happens to players who are struggling to score. If Vrbata is paired with Horvat for the majority of this season I don t think he ll be too upset. And believe me; if Vrbata is upset with something he s usually not afraid to speak his mind. Let s not forget his not-so-subtle shot at the coach (to the Vancouver Sun) late in the pre-season. For me it is important to know who I am playing with and if it s not Danny or Hank, learn their tendencies and build chemistry. That extra second can be the difference if you score a goal or you don t," said Vrbata. "As I said, everyone is working hard, the league is that good you can t afford not to work hard. But the difference is the little things and chemistry and stuff can really help. Vrbata, like any NHLer, wants to be on a line with good players. He wasn t overly thrilled when Vey was his centreman at times last season. He didn t think it was a combination that worked. Listen, Vrbata is going to get his goals this season. He shoots too much and is too good of a shooter not too. And hey, the majority of those goals may come from Horvat or even Sutter. But for now, I believe he should get a game or two with the twins. It s not like it hasn t worked before. David Ebner VANCOUVER The Globe and Mail Oct. 19, 2015 Sedins off to sluggish start, but Canucks stars feel strong as ever Twenty seconds into the game on Sunday night, Vancouver hosting Edmonton, star Canucks centre Henrik Sedin was flying up the ice and the 35-year-old flipped a deft set-up pass over to a charging Alex Edler. But the defenceman s dangerous shot from the slot was blocked by Oilers goaltender Anders Nilsson. Then, early in the third period with the game tied 1-1, Henrik skated in on Nilsson on a clear breakaway. He deked to his backhand, but Nilsson made the save. Brother Daniel was trailing close behind and pounced on the loose puck as it sat in the crease, the net completely open. Yet Daniel inexplicably chipped the puck over the net. The Canucks went on to lose in overtime, 2-1, their second loss in a row after a hot start. Through that game, the Sedins exerted their usual dominance over the Edmonton Oilers. Over 15 NHL seasons, the twins have feasted on the Oilers, the third-worst team in hockey over that long stretch of time. But something is a little off with their game. It s only six games into the Canucks season, but people here worry that the Sedins, who turned 35 in late September, might be showing their age. Midway into four-year deals that pays each of them $7-million (U.S.) a year making them the highest-paid Canucks both Sedins are off to sluggish starts. Henrik has two points in six games, well below the 7.5 points he has in his first six games of recent seasons. Daniel has four points his worst start in a decade.

10 Age does not necessarily define a hockey player, even if the league is quickly getting younger. Fellow Swede Henrik Zetterberg, captain of the Detroit Red Wings, was born two weeks after the Sedin twins and, as of midday Monday, he was tied for the NHL scoring lead with nine points. The Sedins may just be adjusting to a new winger, Brandon Sutter, a natural centre, who the Canucks acquired in the off-season. But the trouble goes beyond an unusually weak offensive start. Their usually stellar puck-possession numbers have also tumbled. You don t need advanced statistics to know the Sedins have a remarkable ability to control play and produce offence by cycling the puck. This season, they ve notably slid. They have long been elite, in the ballpark of 55-per-cent possession or better, and yet Henrik is down to about 51 per cent so far and Daniel has slipped fractionally below 50 per cent. Supporters will point out that the Sedins, in , were both top-10 scorers (in a weirdly depressed season for scoring). Daniel was No. 8 with 76 points, and Henrik was No. 10 with 73. The Sedins were still the Sedins. But it can be argued those point totals were at least a bit inflated by the hapless Oilers. Last season, the Sedins scored 18 of their combined total of 149 points 12.1 per cent against one team. This is not the end of the Sedins. They are noted for their fitness, and say they feel as strong as ever, even if the start of this season has been so-so. In Sweden over the summer, they worked out daily starting at 7 a.m. We used to go for long workouts, said Daniel. Now it s shorter and more intense. Henrik said he felt a little rusty in the first couple games of the season. But of the fourth outing, a 3-0 win in Los Angeles against the Kings, Henrik said: I felt as good as I ve ever felt. The brothers still impress. Sometimes, Connor McDavid said of the Sedins on Sunday night after the Oilers win, you re in awe of watching those guys move the puck around.