Shinkaruk shines at tournament Elliott Pap, The Vancouver Sun

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1 Shinkaruk shines at tournament Elliott Pap, The Vancouver Sun Vancouver s first-round pick scores twice in second game since January s hip surgery Shifty winger Hunter Shinkaruk was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks to score goals and create offence, which is precisely what he is doing at the Young Stars rookie tournament here in the South Okanagan. That is the best news, so far, for the Canuck kids, who have lost both their games in overtime, the second one a 5-4 defeat Sunday to the Winnipeg Jets. Shinkaruk has three points and two goals in the two OT defeats. His second goal Sunday was a lovely re-direct that tied the game with 39.5 seconds left in regulation. Shinkaruk s performance seems all the more impressive considering he had major hip surgery last January. Sunday s outing was just his second game in more than nine months. That s a lengthy stretch on the sidelines for a player who relies on feel and instinct to make his mark on a game. It s no secret what Hunter is, said Travis Green, who is coaching the Canuck prospects in Penticton. He is a goal scorer and he did what he likes to do and scored two big goals. I m a big believer that everyone has to play the game the right way and Hunter backchecked hard and did all the little things that are going to entitle him to ice time and to playing at the next level. So I liked his game today. I did. Shinkaruk, 19, is a perpetual smiler, a person who appears to enjoy every moment of every day that he is awake. At this point in September, two games into his comeback from the surgery, he was leaving a smile on the face of the Canuck organization. He can only get better, too. In fact, he expects that of himself. I felt a lot better today than I did in the first game, Shinkaruk said. I started to feel better towards the end of that first game and I think that kind of set the tone for me today. It s the first time I ve been playing in quite a while so, hopefully, I can build on this game. I feel very happy. Obviously any time you get hip surgery when you re 19 years, it s not easy, he continued. You don t really know what to expect. But I feel great. I feel like it was a very smart decision for myself and this team and my family. Now I just have to keep it going. Shinkaruk doesn t even mind the expectations that have been placed upon him and fellow first-rounders like Bo Horvat, Nick Jensen and Brendan Gaunce. He welcomes it

2 and says fans have every right to feel there should be magic from them every time they step on the ice. Obviously they want to see the best out of us and we want to see the best out of ourselves, he said. We were obviously taken early in the draft and with that comes responsibility. We do have to be the best players on the ice. That s what we dream about as kids. When you play hockey in your basement, you dream about being the best player and scoring the winning goal. We ve put ourselves in that position now. Shinkaruk spent most of Sunday s game skating alongside Horvat and Jensen and there were some down moments. They were on for a lengthy 5-on-3 power play during the first period and generated almost nothing. On some even-strength shifts, they were hemmed in, running around trying to get the puck out. So it was far from a perfect performance even though they contributed to a three-goal third period that erased a 4-1 Jets lead. Getting stuck in your own zone is part of the game and obviously you have to battle it out, Shinkaruk noted. It s a part of my game that I ve really had to learn and those type of shifts are going to happen. While Shinkaruk scored twice Sunday Gaunce and Curtis Valk had the others fellow goal-scoring prospect Dane Fox spent almost two-thirds of the game watching in street clothes after being tossed for a staged fight with J.C. Lipon, the former Kamloops Blazer. The combatants dropped their mitts at 5:54 of the second period following Winnipeg s second goal. They didn t even wait for the puck to drop. Green had no problem with Fox, a 64-goal man in junior last season, risking injury in what appeared to be a meaningless scrap. You can t take that away from players, Green said. I think for Dane to be an NHL player, he s going to have to play a fiery game and he might not be a goal scorer (at that level). Who s to say what he s going to be if he makes it? So, no, I wasn t worried about him breaking a finger, or something. There are a lot of good hockey players who fight now and then. Dane is a 20-year-old kid who is trying to do good things and I like what he did. ICE CHIPS: The Canuck prospects will finish up their Young Stars tourney with a game Monday at 5:30 p.m. against the Calgary Flames.... Sunday s winning goal was scored by North Delta s Nic Petan, the Jets second-round pick (43rd overall) in the 2013 entry draft.

3 Canucks prospect Shinkaruk looking to impress new GM, head coach Joshua Clipperton, The Globe and Mail Hunter Shinkaruk has a second chance to make a first impression. The 19-year-old left-winger was selected by the Vancouver Canucks 24th overall at the 2013 draft when Mike Gillis was the team s general manager and John Tortorella was its head coach. Shinkaruk was among the final cuts at training camp last season before being returned to the WHL s Medicine Hat Tigers, where he suffered a hip injury that eventually ended his year. Now back healthy, and with both Gillis and Tortorella gone after Vancouver s disastrous season, Shinkaruk has an opportunity to start fresh in the organization that drafted him. With so many new people in the upper management and the coaching staff you ve got to come in and show them what you re all about, said Shinkaruk. Last year s camp is basically out the window. It doesn t matter too much. I ve got to come in and play my game and let them know what kind of player I am. First impression is pretty huge in any profession so I ve just got to go out there and do my best. Shinkaruk is among the players taking part in the Canucks four-team rookie tournament in Penticton that also includes prospects from the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets. Canucks GM Jim Benning and head coach Willie Desjardins will have lots to mull over, including a number of players like Shinkaruk who they had no part in drafting. I think you ve just got to come in and play your game, said the outgoing Shinkaruk. Obviously we all have an opportunity to catch the GM and coach s eye, and that s what you ve got to do. We ve got to go out there, have fun, but most of all, play our game. I m sure if I do that everything will work out well. Shinkaruk played just 18 games last season for the Tigers before undergoing surgery on his hip after being cut from Canada s world junior hockey camp, but in his 2013 draft year the five-foot-10, 185-pound Calgary native amassed 37 goals and 49 assists in 64 games. Obviously last year was a pretty emotional year, said Shinkaruk. I went through a lot. It feels really good to be back on the ice and know my hip s 100 per cent.

4 Among the other players under the microscope at the rookie tournament who should be at the Canucks training camp when it gets underway on Thursday are centre Bo Horvat and right-winger Nicklas Jensen. Horvat was selected ninth overall in 2013 with the pick the team received in the trade with the New Jersey Devils for goaltender Cory Schneider, and like Shinkaruk, he knows he s starting from scratch. I m just playing my game, playing a good two-way game and making a good first impression on the new (coaches), said 19-year-old from Rodney, Ont. This is the first time some of them have seen some of us play and this tournament is a good opportunity to show our stuff and show them why we deserve to be here. Travis Green coaches the Utica Comets, Vancouver s AHL affiliate, and is in charge of the Canucks rookie team. The former NHLer has been impressed with Horvat, who had 30 goals and 44 assists in 54 games with the OHL s London Knights in a campaign that included a spot on Canada s world junior team. He s a real good player, without a doubt. He does a lot of good things that go unnoticed, said Green, who coached against Horvat when he was behind the bench of the WHL s Portland Winterhawks at the 2013 Memorial Cup. He s a guy that you know is going to play the right way. He doesn t cheat to make offence. He just plays a good 200-foot game. I really like him as a player. It s possible Shinkaruk could be sent to the AHL if he doesn t make the Canucks, but it s either the NHL or back to junior for Horvat, who might get a nine-game tryout with Vancouver to start the season before his entry-level deal kicks in. For me I just don t want to make things too cute just play my game, play the way I got noticed in the first place, he said. I can t play out of my comfort zone. I ve got to play the way that got me here. The six-foot, 206-pound Horvat gets extra attention from fans and media because of the goalie controversy that precipitated the draft-day trade that brought him to Vancouver, but he said it s something that hasn t really crossed his mind much recently. I m sure it s going to be brought up throughout my whole career, being part of the Schneider trade, said Horvat. I try not to think about it too much. He s a goaltender, I m a player. Another Vancouver prospect with legitimate NHL aspirations this season at the rookie tournament is left-winger Niklas Jensen. He split time between the Comets and Canucks last season, registering three goals and three assists in 17 NHL games. The 29th overall selection at the 2011 draft, Jensen is at his third rookie tournament which could be viewed as a slight but instead he s embracing the opportunity.

5 You ve got to show up and prove that you want to be here every night, said the 21-yearold from Herning, Denmark. I had a good little run last year but I kind of have to forget about that and start all over and work as hard as you can when you get out there and prove that you want to earn a spot. Like any player looking to make an NHL roster, Jensen know it s a numbers game, with maybe one forward spot open on the Canucks after a number of new faces were brought in up front to compete for jobs. If you do as well as they want you to do they ll give you a chance, said Jensen, who has good size at six foot two and 208 pounds. That s what we re all here for, to take that opportunity. We re all fighting for maybe one spot, if (that). Green said it s not uncommon for a player to take longer to develop in the professional ranks, as appears to be the case with Jensen. It s a big jump for guys to the NHL at 19, 20, 21, said Green. Sometimes it takes being 22, 23 years old when you re ready to play there full time. It s definitely not make or break time for him. For his part, Shinkaruk is just soaking up the experience, knowing that he s healthy and has a real chance to influence his immediate future in front of a new coach and GM. It s just up to us and how well we play and how hard we come in. I wouldn t have it any other way, he said. If someone told me four years ago I d be trying out for an NHL team and it s up to the way I play, I would have taken that and smiled. It s a pretty cool chance that I have and I m just trying to make the best of it. Note: Jake Virtanen, the sixth overall pick in June, is skating with the Canucks prospects but has not been cleared for contact after undergoing shoulder surgery in the spring. Canucks prospect Bo Horvat comfortable as shutdown man up the middle Cam Tucker, Metro Vancouver PENTICTON, B.C. There isn t anything flashy about the job of a shutdown centre, but Bo Horvat isn t shying away from its numerous blue collar responsibilities. Nothing new for Horvat, who the Canucks took with the ninth overall pick after dealing Cory Schneider to New Jersey in the 2013 NHL Draft. Horvat played the part, especially this past season with the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League, and with Canada s national junior team last winter. If I have to

6 be a shutdown centreman, then that s what I ll do, said Horvat on Sunday, after the Canucks prospects lost 5-4 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets prospects in Penticton. As a hockey player, you always want to get points, you always want to contribute that way but if I just play my game, the points are going to come. Horvat was on the ice for three goals against in the second period, as the Winnipeg rookies opened up a 4-1 lead. Two of those goals came in power play situations for the Jets, and the other seconds after the Canucks turned the puck over at the offensive blue line, causing an odd-man rush back toward the Vancouver net. I liked his game tonight, said Travis Green, the Utica Comets head coach and bench boss for the Canucks in this tournament. I thought some of the goals, there were some individual mistakes but he definitely had nothing to do with it. The third period was a different story for the entire Canucks team, with Horvat also on the ice for a pair of Vancouver goals. The comeback was on. The Canucks scored three times in the final 20 minutes, forcing the extra period. It started with 2012 first-round pick Brendan Gaunce cutting Winnipeg s lead to 4-2, as he snapped a loose puck into a wide open net on the power play. Curtis Valk got the Canucks to within a goal with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, and Hunter Shinkaruk potted his second of the game to tie it at four goals apiece with 39 seconds on the clock. For Horvat and the Canucks, there are only two options for the 19-year-old centre. Either he stays in the NHL, or he goes back to junior. He doesn t turn 20 years old until next February. The Canucks could still put him through a nine-game trial in the NHL this year without it counting towards his entry-level contract. The Canucks already have 13 forwards under contract on their roster, so earning a spot might come down to a simple numbers game. If he were to spend the year in the NHL, how much would he play? What kind of situations would he be put into? It would be a guarantee that, if he s sent back to junior, he d find himself logging heavy minutes, playing in all types of situations, including the power play and penalty kill. When it comes to physical stature, Horvat certainly looks ready for the NHL.

7 His speed might be the biggest question mark heading into training camp, which begins next week in Whistler. He s going to come to camp and he s got an opportunity just like everybody else, Canucks GM Jim Benning said last week. If Bo comes in and he deserves to be on the team through training camp and preseason, he looks like he s ready, we ll figure out a way for him to get into the lineup. He was able to get to Winnipeg defenceman at numerous times Sunday, forcing turnovers and allowing his wingers to try to turn those into scoring chances. That included one that eventually led to Shinkaruk s first goal. Another turnover resulted in a scoring chance with Nicklas Jensen. It would help Horvat s chances this year if he could do the same thing in training camp, forcing opposing players to make mistakes and transitioning his teammates to the attack. I try to play a 200-foot game. I want to be on the offence and on the defence all the time, said Horvat. If I could get back and get back on the offence quickly on our side, I think it s going to be a plus for us. The Canucks prospects wrap up the tournament against the Calgary Flames prospects Monday afternoon (5:30 p.m. PT) at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton. Dane Fox has a lot to prove Jim Jamieson, The Province Feisty left winger doesn t expect to get an easy ride with Canucks Dane Fox came to the Young Stars tourney here with a reputation for a crackling shot and a prickly personality. He showed off the first with a lightning-quick goal in Friday s opener with the Canucks prospects and demonstrated the second on Sunday with a second-period scrap that ended up costing him more than half the game which Vancouver lost 5-4 in overtime. Fox was tossed wrongly, as it turned out for dropping the gloves along with Jets prospect J.C. Lipon on the faceoff following a Winnipeg goal at 5:54 of the second period. The refs were apparently calling a WHL rule that calls for automatic ejection for a staged fight on a faceoff, a penalty that doesn t apply under NHL rules.

8 He s a good player and a physical guy, and after they scored, he kind of gave one of our players a tap, and I don t want him to think he can do that, Fox said. I m not a guy who goes looking for it, but if there s a good reason and the opportunity is there, then absolutely. We battled back (to tie the game), but I wish I could have been out there. Canucks prospects coach Travis Green could have used Fox s scoring later in the game, but defended his feisty approach. You can t take that away from players, Green said. For him to be an NHL player, he s going to have to play a fiery game. You don t want to take away his compete. I liked what he did. Fox is far and away the most intriguing Canucks prospect at the Young Stars tourney. The left-winger scored a dazzling 64 goals in 67 games with the OHL Erie Otters this past season, took a good share of the key faceoffs and was often in the face of the other team s top players. That Fox was passed over twice in the NHL draft and is in a Canucks uniform because he was signed last winter as a free agent bears some explaining, and perhaps lowering the bar to a more reasonable level for the Thamesville, Ont., native. First off, he was playing as an overager for Erie last season, which gave him a distinct maturity advantage. And he played most of the season with OHL scoring champion Connor Brown and the player who s a slam dunk to be drafted first overall into the NHL next season, Connor McDavid. He s also got some foot speed issues that have held him back. Still, Fox has been a good player in the OHL, but some unspecified off-ice issues which he won t discuss in detail were major contributors to him being passed over in both his draft years. I was a young kid in the league, making immature decisions and not focusing on playing hockey, Fox said. It was a wake-up call and I got one. I was told to go to the draft the first time (he was draft eligible) and I sat there the whole day and didn t hear my name called. Fox, 20, has been working to address the question marks that have been drawn around him. He s been working with a dietitian to clean up his diet and a powerskating instructor and feels quicker. He knows it s a work in progress.

9 The (Canucks) development camp (in July) was a pretty big eyeopener, he said. I met with a dietitian. Before, I was feeding my body crap fuel now it s good fuel. It s making me feel better on the ice. Fox finished last season with about 200 pounds on his six-footone frame. He s down to about 190 right now and feels much better. I lost a lot of body fat, he said. It was a good 10 pounds to lose. But it s a process. You don t just change your body overnight. It s going to take some time. Fox also knows he s still got to prove people wrong to get to the NHL, but he s up for the challenge. I m not going to get away from what I was doing in junior, just sticking to my role being a pest and contributing offensively, he said. I know the next level is going to be tough, but I m going to try my best to get there. 5 things to take from loss to Jets Jim Jamieson, The Province PENTICTON Five things we learned after the Canucks dropped their second straight overtime game at the Young Stars Classic tournament, this time to the Winnipeg Jets. Hunter Shinkaruk is the standout player for the Canucks, after the team has had two ragged outings that showed the best and worst of their group. Shinkaruk scored his first two goals of the tourney, to go along with an assist in the first game, and had lots of jump for the second straight game. Impressive, considering he hadn t played a competitive game since Dec. 1 due to hip labrum surgery. It s only my second game this season and I felt a lot better today, but it s the first time I ve played in a little while, said Shinkaruk, who had a team-leading eight shots on goal. I m just trying to get better and build on this game. Nicklas Jensen didn t get much done in the Canucks first game Friday, but was better in Sunday s game. He was particularly good in the first 10 minutes, generating some good scoring chances and doing the work on Shinkaruk s first goal, and at the end when the Canucks were pressing to tie the game. Brendan Gaunce, a first-round pick from 2012 (26th overall), had a much better outing Sunday than in Game 1 and looked comfortable in a more defensive role given him by coach Travis Green. He also scored a timely goal in the third period as the Canucks overcame a 4-1 deficit to send it to OT. Curtis Valk (no relation to ex- Canuck Garry) can produce offence. He s here on a tryout and the diminutive centre is wasting no time. He scored his third goal in two games. You can t give up this group for dead. They ve come back twice in third periods to get to OT. Their final chance for a win comes Monday against the Flames and flashy rookies Sam Bennett and Johnny Gaudreau.