Loading…
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Antoine Roussel continues to surprise us.
He is not only a hockey player and husband, an expert agitator and an apprentice maple syrup farmer, the Vancouver Canucks winger is also a philosopher.
And because his NHL team ended his longest winning series in six years on Tuesday by embarrassing himself with a 9-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who scored an unanswered touchdown in the last 25 minutes, we thought Wednesday was a good day was for some a philosophy.
Roussel did not disappoint.
“It doesn’t take anything away from what we’ve done before,” the 29-year-old from Roubaix, France, told Chicnet via Sportsnet. “It’s only one game. You can’t judge a team on one page. You have to read the whole book. Today it was a good habit. It’s a new chapter.”
Roussel is also something else: a leader.
He was one of veteran Canucks who told his teammates before the Wednesday practice in the suburbs Sunrise to take their chin off the ground and focus their eyes on the ice.
“We’ve had a few unique points this year, but that game, I don’t really know how to describe it,” said defender Troy Stecher. “You heard a pin fall on the plane. We came here (to the ice rink) and the emotions are a bit lower, but immediately a few older boys said: “Let’s be sharp today. Let’s be positive and have a good habit and try to get better tomorrow. “It was a good atmosphere there on the ice.”
After Tuesday’s humiliation, everyone on the Canucks thought they should practice on Wednesday, even if nobody wanted to practice.
Wednesday was provisionally planned as a day off. The team is staying here in a five-star hotel on the beach (Wednesday’s walk-up price: only $ 509 US per night). Players could go charter fishing or kite boarding or play golf or just hang out on the beach. It was 23 ° C and sunny. And have you seen the weather in Vancouver last month? Noah cannot keep up with boat orders.
Instead, the team bussed 40 minutes west to the edge of the Everglades to practice from the afternoon sun at the BB&T Center, which might even sell out for hockey if they allowed the alligators, for the Thursday game against the Florida Panthers.
And they enjoyed it!
“We have worked on some things, we have set our feet in motion,” veteran winger J.T. Miller said. “We don’t have time to sit around with boo-boo lips.”
That was a direct quote.
“We pushed each other, it was hard work, fighting,” Miller continued. “There is no pouting; you have to go further. It is embarrassing to lose 9-2. It absolutely hurt. You don’t want to give up nine goals. It’s crap. But like I said, there’s no time to get around. sit and pout. We had a good day today. “
House of the Canucks
Stream all 82 Canucks games with Sportsnet this season. Get over 500 NHL games, blackout-free, including Hockey Night in Canada, all outdoor games, the All-Star Game, 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and more.
“A day off was probably the worst (thing), because then you just sit in it and eat all day to yourself,” Stecher said. “It ate us last night. I think guys were excited to get back on the ice and just start a bit again. “
Winger Jake Virtanen said, “We were all eager to come to the ice rink and practice.”
It started with one of coach Travis Green’s longest talk-talks this season. No player blinked during the four or five minutes of the diagrams.
To freshen things up, Green swapped the right-wing Virtanen and Brock Boeser, bringing the latter to the third line with Adam Gaudette, while Virtanen was placed on top unit next to Miller and Elias Pettersson.
Gaudette was promoted to the first power play, while Boeser practiced on the second unit.
Goaltending coach Ian Clark got some extra work with Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko, who were ventilated in Tampa. Markstrom looked sharp on Wednesday and will probably start Thursday for the 13th time in 14 games since December 7.
It was a good habit to reset. Clean up the breakouts, take care of the puck, play immediately, win your battles.
“I think it was good that we got out,” said Green. “We were not sure if we were going to skate today, but after a match like last night it is important that the boys come back on ice.
“I know our team wanted to skate today. After such a game you want to go on ice. I think it helps you mentally to go out on the ice and just skate. As hockey players, this is the best way to feel ready to play the next game. “
The Panthers are just the second stop of a five-game trip with matinee back-to-backs on the weekends in Buffalo and Minnesota. The Canucks don’t skate Thursday morning and Green will probably have to release players on Friday, otherwise they will be Sunday zombies. The Canucks are in Buffalo on Friday. (Minus 5 C on Wednesday).
Despite seven consecutive wins before Tuesday, the first loss of the Canucks since December 17 dropped them from a play-off spot in the Western Conference.
“You can’t be too emotional about losing,” Roussel said. “It definitely stinks. At the same time … we must look forward to the next wave (of games) and go back to what we do best: play intensively for 60 minutes, do not give the other team too much and take advantage of our chances. “
And lose their day off in the sun?
“The weather is beautiful,” he said. “But we are not here on vacation.”
Loading…
Recent Comments