Patrick Johnston

Arturs Silovs was expected to play a key role for Latvia this weekend in an Olympic qualifying tournament.

Langley kid Danton Heinen looks like he might fit well with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, but so does Dakota Joshua

Arturs Irbe says Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs was simply overworking himself this summer but his knees shouldn't be a problem to start the 2024-25 NHL season.

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Canucks: Danton Heinen or Dakota Joshua? Who's the right fit for J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser? Canucks: Danton Heinen or Dakota Joshua? Who's the right fit for J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser? Langley kid Danton Heinen looks like he might fit well with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, but so does Dakota Joshua Author of the article: Article content Alex Burrows proved to be the perfect winger for the Sedin twins. Advertisement 2 Article content Canucks: Danton Heinen or Dakota Joshua? Who's the right fit for J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser? Back to video Danton Heinen grew up a fan of Burrows and the Sedins. Can he play the Burrows to a modern Canucks dynamic duo? When you pencil in the Vancouver Canucks 2024-25 lineup, it sure looks like Heinen will be lined up next to J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser A defensively responsible winger with a touch of scoring talent, Heinen is a fascinating add by the Canucks. He's mostly played as a depth winger for his three previous teams, the Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins, but he's still produced. Twice in the past three seasons he's hit the upper teens in goals. There's little doubt he's a perfectly suited third line winger, but could he be more? To play with Miller and Boeser means facing top-end opposition night in, night out, and being ready to be an aggressive forechecker. Advertisement 3 Article content Heinen admitted this week he's excited about signing for his hometown team but was modest in replying to a question about what it is the Canucks said they're looking for from him. “This is a good team. It's close to winning,” he said. But you know that the chance to play for a high-tempo team like head coach Rick Tocchet 's Canucks has great appeal for Heinen. “Can he be more” can also be asked of Dakota Joshua , the Canucks' incumbent left winger on the third line. His game is more rambunctious than Heinen's, but he's similarly smart in his own end and has a nose for the net as well. Joshua was on pace for 20 goals last season before breaking his hand in a fight. He was a quality third-liner for the Canucks, but given the growth in his game, could he be more? Advertisement 4 Article content The man himself thinks he can still do more. He's hoping to hit the ground running this season; last season he was criticized by Tocchet during training camp for not being as prepared as he should have been. The message landed then and Joshua quickly got himself up to speed. He doesn't want that to happen again this year. “Last year was great for the confidence. Building off that heading into this year, maybe not looking for my footing as much to start the year, but already rolling in there with the ability to do what I can,” he declared. After signing a lucrative contract to remain in Vancouver, a statement by the Canucks that he can repeat the success of last season, one might think Joshua is feeling pressure. He's not, he insists. Advertisement 5 Article content “I feel like my game has got to stay the same. So not so much pressure I wouldn't say, just got to show up every night,” he said, with his customary smile. The loss to the Oilers in the second round of the playoffs stung, as it did for everyone involved with the Canucks. “It doesn't go away. I don't know if it ever will,” he said of pushing away the memory of taking their rivals to a seventh game but not being able to find success. “But all you can do is get back there and give yourself another chance to right the wrongs. It's not a good feeling, but at the same time, you know, we're right there and very capable of a better outcome.” IRBE ON SILOVS Former Canucks netminder Arturs Irbe told Latvian news outlet Delfi that Arturs Silovs should be fine for the start of the season, despite the young goalie having to be held out of Latvia' Olympic qualifier this weekend in Riga with knee inflammation. “He had a very productive and busy summer, but unfortunately he got overloaded somewhere. You have to learn from it, you need breaks, but Arturs is a person who likes to work and who likes to feel a healthy fatigue. Obviously at some unfortunate moment some small discomforts started to appear. … Like any hockey player, he tried to get work through it,” Irbe said. Silovs took some time off, but that set his preparation back and so he wasn't 100 per cent ready to play this week, and so Irbe and his colleagues (and one suspects the Canucks) decided to sit him. Advertisement 6 Article content Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Canucks: Danton Heinen or Dakota Joshua? Who's the right fit for J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser? Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. 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Arturs Irbe says Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs was simply overworking himself this summer but his knees shouldn't be a problem to start the 2024-25 NHL season.

Even with worries about their goalies, the Canucks are treading cautiously in their roster-building approach for the 2024-25 NHL season

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Canucks want to avoid LTIR: Jim Rutherford Canucks want to avoid LTIR: Jim Rutherford Even with worries about their goalies, the Canucks are treading cautiously in their roster-building approach for the 2024-25 NHL season Author of the article: Article content Talking about injuries is never something Jim Rutherford is keen to do. Advertisement 2 Article content Canucks want to avoid LTIR: Jim Rutherford Back to video But with lots of questions swirling around the health of the Vancouver Canucks ' two main goalies, he is ever so slightly letting his guard down. “Fair to say that we will wait until they get their training camp physicals,” the Canucks' president of hockey operations told Postmedia on Wednesday about the status of Thatcher Demko and Arturs Silovs , who both have question marks hanging around them. Demko injured his knee in the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring and although he was close to a return by the time the Canucks were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the second round, he has reportedly made slow progress since in a return to full health. Silovs is dealing with “knee ligament inflammation,” according to the Latvian Hockey Federation. The Canucks' No. 2 goalie had been expected to play for his national team last weekend in an Olympic qualifying tournament, but was a surprise late scratch. Advertisement 3 Article content So far, the Canucks have been playing down the situation. But they have also put out feelers to free agent goalies Kevin Lankinen and Antti Raanta. Ideally, the Canucks would bring one in on a professional tryout (PTO), which doesn't bind the team to the player but would provide the Canucks cover in goal during the pre-season. Lankinen, it's clear, would prefer a full-on contract offer. Raanta's interests aren't known, but it is notable that the veteran Finn played for Canucks coach Rick Tocchet for four seasons while Tocchet was the bench boss in Arizona. Rutherford's commitment to playing down the situation even extended to himself, quipping that he didn't know if he, with long playing experience of his own as an NHL goalie, was an option for a PTO. Advertisement 4 Article content “Haven't had my physical yet,” he joked, when asked if his 75-year-old knees might be up to the task of a training camp, 41 years after he last suited up for a professional game. No matter the status of the team's netminders, the Canucks' front office is always discussing contingencies and possible other moves. You never know when a player might become available Overarching all this is the Canucks' cap situation. Rutherford did acknowledge that they don't want to have to use the salary cap relief measures available from putting a player on long-term injured reserve. “What we want to do is start the season without someone on LTIR,” he said. That's a notable admission. The Canucks were frustrated at the deadline last year by their cap situation — they were over the cap, with the bulk of Tucker Poolman 's contract shuffled onto LTIR. Advertisement 5 Article content At the moment, they are under the cap, even with Poolman placed on conventional injured reserve. And if they stay under the cap as the season progresses, the savings made will accrue and could make a very useful total come the trade deadline — they could add a veteran player for another playoff push. That wasn't possible last season because they had no cap space banked. If they had, there was a good chance they would have been able to add a defender like Chris Tanev or a winger such as Tyler Toffoli. In the meantime, questions will remain about the Canucks' goalie situation. Rutherford acknowledged to Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre that both the team's goalies are hard at work in preparing for the season. Demko apparently is back on the ice this week , although CHEK-TV's Rick Dhaliwal has previously reported that Demko's rehabilitation has been slower than expected, casting doubt he will be ready for the beginning of training camp on Sept. 19 in Penticton. Silovs was sat by the Latvians after his knee inflammation popped up last month, which the team attributed to overtraining. Rest now, so this doesn't develop into a chronic issue, they said. Latvian team officials , including goalie coach — and former Canuck — Arturs Irbe, said they expected Silovs should still be ready for the season and apparently training camp. Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Canucks want to avoid LTIR: Jim Rutherford Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

Vladimir Bure was an impressive athlete in his own right and built both his sons into elite hockey players.

No one has been under contract with the Vancouver Canucks longer than Guillaume Brisebois. When you cover a team, you don't cheer for the results.

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Canucks: Guillaume Brisebois feeling good after latest injury nightmare Canucks: Guillaume Brisebois feeling good after latest injury nightmare No one has been under contract with the Vancouver Canucks longer than Guillaume Brisebois. Author of the article: Article content When you cover a team, you don't cheer for the results. Win or lose, you have to work. And win or lose, you have to tell the story. Advertisement 2 Article content Canucks: Guillaume Brisebois feeling good after latest injury nightmare Back to video But you do find yourself rooting for players from time to time, because of personal challenges they've had to overcome. Guys like Brock Boeser and Troy Stecher, who lost their fathers and have managed to press on. Guys like Alex Biega, because they've just persevered, or Luke Schenn, because he rebuilt his game and saved his career. Or guys like Guillaume Brisebois, who are just kind and friendly and who have been through the ringer with injury after injury. Goalie Thatcher Demko has been in the organization the longest — he was drafted in 2014 but didn't sign until 2016 — but Brisebois is the longest-contracted Canuck. He signed an entry-level deal in December 2015, just a few months after being drafted. He's been a pro since 2017. Advertisement 3 Article content For his first three seasons, he was a pretty healthy guy. There were bumps and bruises here and there, but nothing to suggest the health battles he would face beginning in the 2020-21 season. That COVID-19-shortened season saw him play just one NHL game, spend a long time on the team's taxi squad, play nine games on loan with the Laval Rocket, then get moved down to the Utica Comets to close the season. In Utica he suffered an ugly leg injury, which required months of rehabilitation, only returning to action in the second half of the following season. He split the chaotic 2022-23 season between Abbotsford and Vancouver, playing in 17 games in the second half and impressing head coach Rick Tocchet with steady play. But even that season was ended early by an injury. Advertisement 4 Article content Last fall, he came with high hopes. He had done enough in that stretch under Tocchet to tell Canucks management he was worth a two-year contract, setting the stage for him to win a job as a depth defenceman. But late in training camp, he took a head knock that kept him on the sidelines for months. Rarely was he spotted around Rogers Arena. He didn't skate again until after Christmas and even then it was only intermittently. But after awhile, his face would appear in the hallways and he would smile and nod that, yes, he was feeling better. The team never confirmed officially, but it was clear that he was dealing with post-concussion issues. At one point Tocchet acknowledged Brisebois was going through “the protocol.” Eventually he recovered and was able to suit up in eight games for Abbotsford, as the AHL Canucks got ready for a playoff push of their own. Advertisement 5 Article content Recovered, or so he thought. The symptoms came back. He didn't feel comfortable. But after a long summer of recovery and patience, coupled with all the usual hard work a player puts into getting ready for the season, he's feeling good again. “Really good, thanks,” he said Friday at the University of B.C. after another reasonably spirited player-run skate with his teammates, two weeks before training camp begins in Penticton. “A good summer. It took a little bit to get back to normal, but then it ramped up a bit.” And the contact in the scrimmages so far has presented no problems. More than anything, he's focused in on how blessed he is to be playing a game he loves and to be paid well to do it. “That's the mentality, yeah,” he said. “This is so good. I'm so lucky.” Advertisement 6 Article content Handsomest man in hockey “Hey Nils, have you heard about this AI study that said Nils Aman is the handsomest man in hockey?” Nils Hoglander , about to walk out the door from the ProTrans Arena at UBC's Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, headed for the dressing room he and his Canucks teammates are using for their pre-training camp skates, pauses. He turns and smiles at the two reporters standing there, one of whom who asked the question above, grinning just as much as Hoglander now is. Hoglander points back toward the ice, to Aman. Hoglander: “Here comes the man himself!” Aman doesn't even hesitate. He knows what the conversation is. He smiles. And starts waving his arms back and forth. Then laughs. “No comment! No comment!” Advertisement 7 Article content It's very, very clear, the AI-driven study released by betting site Tonybet last week — which rated the Canucks on the whole as the NHL's best-looking and Aman the NHL's “most-desirable” individual player — has been a topic of conversation in the players' group chat. “They've been saying they've still got work do on AI,” Christian Wolanin quipped. “Well that's really good for him,” Brisebois said, laughing about the whole premise. Safe to say, this story isn't going anywhere. Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Canucks: Guillaume Brisebois feeling good after latest injury nightmare Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings