MONTREAL – Into another storm, Quinn Hughes returns.
Last season’s charmed Vancouver Canucks team rarely encountered rough water as it sailed to 109 points and the franchise’s best year in more than a decade. The Canucks’ success and the positive vibes and fan excitement it generated lightened Hughes’ burden as a first-year captain in the National Hockey League.
Hughes, of course, amassed 92 points and brought the Norris Trophy to Vancouver for the first time.
But as he practised here Sunday, getting ready to return this week on a pivotal road trip that starts Monday against the Montreal Canadiens, the seas around the Canucks continue to churn and heave.
Prior to a game shortly before Christmas – and before Hughes’ undisclosed injury caused him to miss the Canucks last four games – the 25-year-old spoke on behalf of the team about reports of disharmony between key teammates Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller.
As players flew east on Saturday, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada that the Canucks are taking trade offers on both players and that, as general manager Patrik Allvin told us in a sitdown interview last week, anything is possible with the struggling team.
“Yeah, definitely, a lot more challenges, more ups and downs,” Hughes said Sunday in a quiet conversation at the Canadiens’ practice facility. “For sure it wears you down. But that’s like any other year. I mean, last year I can remember feeling mentally exhausted after the season. Definitely this year has a little bit more of that.
“But I think my game has never been better, so I know it’s not affecting me (on the ice). As far as our team, I think all this stuff, it’s just going to make us stronger.
“Whatever we have going on, we’ll figure it out. And I know everyone in here wants to win. You know, it’s not as complicated as people make it seem. For me, my focus today would be: It’s my first day back with the team, so have a good practice. And from a group perspective, I know everyone’s coming here and they want to win tomorrow. That’s all.”
Like Hughes, Pettersson also had his first practice with teammates after missing four games with an upper-body injury.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet told reporters that lineup decisions on both players will be made Monday. But with the team leaning towards cautiousness, Hughes and Pettersson may not play until later in the five-game trip.
Forced to leave Thursday’s win in Seattle due to what Tocchet said were back spasms, goalie Thatcher Demko practised with teammates for about 20 minutes on Sunday before departing and yielding the crease to minor-league call-up Arturs Silovs.
The Canucks visit the Washington Capitals on Wednesday and face daunting back-to-back games in Carolina and Toronto, starting Friday.
Hughes is one of the most impactful, dominating players in the NHL so, of course, the Canucks have missed him, going 1-2-1 during his injury. Before he left the lineup, the Canucks had outscored opponents by 18 goals with Hughes on the ice at five-on-five, and been outscored by 10 when he was on the bench.
He is not only a Norris candidate again this season, but should be a Hart Trophy candidate, too, if the Canucks stabilize themselves, get healthy and start winning more games.
Hughes said it was “really hard” to leave the lineup in order to heal. Before this injury, he had missed only 11 games in his career.
“But I think, just the way I was feeling, I knew I couldn’t play,” he said. “I mean, I’ve played through a lot. I know when I can, you know, get through something and when I can’t really play the way I want to play.
“I just have a passion for the game and want to play. If I’m the captain or assistant captain or nothing, that never changes.”
Tocchet said the Canucks need Hughes in the dressing room nearly as much as they need him on the ice.
“As much as on ice, it’s just being around the room,” the coach said. “The way he acts around the guys, you know, he’s a calming influence on a lot of people. He’s a hockey nerd. He likes to talk hockey. That helps a dressing room. Obviously, on the ice, we know the impact he gives us, what he does for our team. But I think people don’t realize off the ice, what he does for our team is tremendous.
“I talk to Quinn a lot about what it is to be a captain, him being in this market, him being who he is. He’s got a pretty good handle on things. He’s a pretty smart kid. He asks a lot of questions. I love to communicate with him about this sort of stuff, and I’m pretty comfortable the way he is handling it right now with all the drama going on. I think he’s in a good frame of mind.”
Tocchet said the Canucks’ leadership group works to “shut down” any worries about trades from reports that seep into the dressing room.
“Coaches can help shut that down,” he said. “I’ve been on teams where it (trade rumours) has affected players because everybody talks about it all the time. So I think that’s the big thing you shut it down. This is just the world we live in, and you’ve got to block it out. I mean, everybody goes through it. Every team has it.”
Despite the slew of injuries and turmoil the Canucks have endured, Hughes said he is focused entirely on what is ahead and the 44 games remaining in Vancouver’s regular season.
“It doesn’t really matter how last year went, or what happened two weeks ago,” he said. “It’s a big road trip and we’ve just got to go day to day here.
“We’re still in a decent spot (in the standings at 18-12-8). Everyone has to just do their own job in here and play the way that they’re capable of playing. And then as a team, focus on what we’re trying to accomplish. That’s all we need to focus on.”
And the trade conjecture?
“I mean… that can’t be my focus,” he said. “I can’t worry about if they’ll do this or they’ll do that or if something crazy happens. All I can control is the controllables, and for me, that’s my effort and my mindset.
“I don’t know why we wouldn’t be focused. I mean, it’s January, we’re right in the hunt and there’s a lot to look forward to.”
