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Two days after the Canucks were eliminated from the postseason, they were dragged out to sit in front of cameras to answer questions about their health and play and plans and thoughts. I’m sure most of them would rather not be there – they’d actually rather be in Dallas at the moment – but such is the life of a professional athlete.
For us bystanders, it’s easy to poke holes and look at things in hindsight. But one would assume professional athletes in a professional organization with professional medical staff might know a thing or two more than us.
Here are some worthwhile notes and quotes from players and management.
Patrick Allvin
Newly nominated GM-of-the-year Allvin set the stage for the team. He wasn’t angry, just disappointed they aren’t still playing.
"I'm not happy sitting here today. Definitely not satisfied. We lost our last game and it was only in Round 2. We're not satisfied at all. You don't know how many chances you're going to have to play in Game 7, and my message to the players is that this is something that's going to bear with you the entire summer. We lost our last game and it was only in Round 2 — it's just going to get harder."
“We’ve set a standard now. We’ve got to respect that. Game one next year is going to be hard — we won the division.”
When asked about Miky in the top 6: “It wasn’t his fault that he was put in a top-six position,” Allvin summarized, noting that it’s on the general manager to put players in a position where they can succeed. “It was my fault.”
On free agents: "The players expressed their interest to stay. We all know we have a salary cap, so we want to be a competitive team moving forward. There's only so much I can pay certain individuals and hopefully we can find ways to keep a lot of players, because I do think a lot of them have a chance to, with the coaches here, take their game to the next level."
“The more you have a player, the more you see them in critical games, the more you learn about them. I was impressed with a lot of them.”
Elias Pettersson
Petey revealed he was injured from January on, a knee injury that Tocc said was tendinitis. It got progressively worse as the season went on.
"It's been a nagging injury. The longer it went, the more pain I felt," Pettersson said. He said the injury doesn't require any further medical intervention, just "time to heal, time to rest."
“It will be nice to get a break from everything. Obviously, it's been a very noisy season in terms of contract and how (crappy) I've been the last three months. I'm just excited to get a little break here and then get back on the horse again and train hard and come in the best shape possible for next season.”
“It definitely has made me hungry to get back into playoffs. We have something good building here. But just, like on a personal level. . . I feel I can be better. I'll take those (playoff experiences) into my summer training, and talk to my trainers. Try to become an even better player for next year.”
Brock Boeser
It was a massively unfortunate turn of events for Boes as he had to sit out game 7 with blood clotting. After staging such a comeback season, it was another tough mental blow for him.
“My leg was feeling fine, but about a week later my calf was really hurting. I got it checked out and I had a clot in one of my small veins, which wasn’t an issue. So I was able to keep playing.
“Then I had another scan after Game 6, the next morning, and it showed that there was more clotting … I think I wasn’t expecting that going into it. I didn’t really understand, so it was an emotional morning for me to get told that news when you’re giving all of your energy for your teammates throughout the playoffs and really pushing and striving for that ultimate goal … to not be out there with these guys in Game 7 that really hurt.”
“Yeah, of course, I feel I can make a difference. I'm crushed. I wish I could have been out there with the guys. Obviously, a one-goal game. . . of course, I'm sitting there and saying, ‘Yeah, I could have scored in this game.’ You never know what would have happened if I played. I would have done anything to be out there. I asked if I could play and tried to push them, but obviously the risks are too big. I had to protect my future; I don't want health issues moving forward.”
Nikita Zadorov
I’m not sure the city has fallen in love with a hockey player as quickly as Z endeared himself to them in the playoffs. Dude is a beast, and he’s a quote machine. He wants to be back here.
"I can compare it to Calgary, but Vancouver has a bigger fanbase. I mean, Calgary isn't even the No. 1 team in Alberta. It was unbelievable. My family loves it here and I enjoyed every second."
“You get more obsessed with winning.”
Quinn Hughes
“Everyone's feeling tired or has something going on or a little soreness. But for me, I felt good — good enough to play at my best and that's what I tried to do.
"I liked my game in the playoffs, to be honest. I thought I played pretty solid. It would have been nice to pitch in a little bit more offensively and I think the main thing would be the power play and how we struggled there at the end. For the most part, I liked my game. I thought I was really solid defensively, didn't give much up and as far as the physical abuse (from opponents), that's just something that everyone's going to have to deal with. For me, I think it's just continue to be mentally tough, and learn about yourself in these situations and grow from them."
Rick Tocchet
The Jack Adams winner has a summer to rethink and rejig how he approaches the game. The players will grow from their defeat, and so will the coaching staff. There’s always room for improvement.
"You're looking at all options. The power play is something we need to look at. I think it's more a connection thing, I don't think it was plays. And that's on me."
"I've got to do a deep dive," says Rick Tocchet of the impact of systems on the club's struggles to generate offence.
"If there's a guy that's out there that we think is *the guy* that's something we'd look at, but I don't think that's the case, personally," Tocchet adds about the considering bringing in a PP specialist assistant coach.
Conor Garland
“Not playing well in Game 6 (against the Oilers) is probably why we’re sitting here today.
“(We) didn’t have the killer instinct we needed to close a team out. Going forward, if we’re given that opportunity again in the playoffs … we’ll have that lesson. Hard learned lesson, but we have to have that killer instinct.”
UFAs:
Elias Lindholm: "Next couple days, probably talk to my agent and go from there. It's still pretty fresh and I haven't really put a thought into it."
Tyler Myers: "I'd love to (return to Vancouver). What we've been able to build here the last year and a half, I think it's really special to be a part of. It's an unbelievable city, the fans were quite amazing in the playoffs, it was something special stepping out for every game and I would love to be back."
Dakota Joshua: "Obviously, I want to stay. I want to be here and build off what just happened. Obviously there's more things that go into it that are out of my control, but yeah, I want to be here."
There are more tidbits around, and feel free to post them in the comments. The dog days will set in soon. Until then, playoffs and free agency!
To the comments:
(Quotes from MacIntyre, the Province, Sportsnet, and Drance)
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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