The Vancouver Canucks have been taking care of business all season, taking a firm hold of first in the Pacific Division and flirting with first in the NHL for most of the season.
A big reason why has been their business-like approach, something they have repeatedly emphasized throughout the season. The idea is that win or lose, they come in with the same attitude every single day: an attitude of professionalism that is entirely focused on improving their performance for the next game.
That all-business attitude has clearly worked and there’s obviously value in not letting the careening rollercoaster that is a typical hockey season get you too high or too low but it raises the question: are the Canucks letting themselves enjoy just how good this season has been? Is there such a thing as taking things too seriously?
For instance, head coach Rick Tocchet suggested that one of the keys to Elias Pettersson breaking out of the minor funk he’s been in recently is to lighten up and let loose a little bit.
“Go into Buffalo, go have some fun,” said Tocchet on Monday. “You’ve got a couple of fun linemates: just go do your thing. I think that’s when he’s at his best, when he has his mind clear.”
"We’ve earned the right to have some fun.”
So, are the Canucks having enough fun this season? At the very least, has it been more fun than previous seasons?
“Yeah, a little bit,” deadpanned Tyler Myers.
“It’s probably the most fun I’ve had in a season my whole career,” said Conor Garland.
Really, the Canucks this season are like a mullet: they may look all business in front but they're having plenty of fun in the background behind the scenes.
"We enjoy our time together as a group on the road," said Garland. "We're home right now, so we don't see each other as much, but we have fun at the rink. We compete hard at practice and game days are game days but we've had a lot of fun this year."
The winning certainly helps. The Canucks have won 42 of their 68 games so far, which ties the 2009-10 Canucks for the most wins in franchise history at this point in the season behind only the 2010-11 Canucks. It’s also more wins than they’ve had in any of their previous eight seasons.
“Winning is fun,” said Myers. “I think any team that’s in a position that we are, we’ve earned the right to have some fun.”
Veteran defenceman Ian Cole knows what it takes to win Stanley Cups from when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has played for some other talented teams. According to him, there’s a balance that needs to be struck between keeping things serious and light.
“You’re always kind of doing that dance where you want to be business-like — intense and focused — but we also want to enjoy our time because if you don’t enjoy it…” Cole trailed off for a moment and looked around the room. “I mean, I’m sure these guys can attest to it for the past couple of years, where it isn’t enjoyable to come to the rink, right? There has to be a level of enjoyment — a baseline of enjoyment from being here.”
"You've got to keep a good attitude. Otherwise, I think it can spiral a little bit."
While some of that enjoyment comes from winning another big part of it is the mix of personalities in the room. Every hockey team needs players who keep things light when the atmosphere starts to get too serious. That can even be part of keeping a team from getting too high or too low: cutting the team down to size with a quip when egos start to get too big for their own good or cracking a joke to lighten the mood when the team starts to get bogged down.
“I hope I’m one of the guys who can bring just a little lighter mood,” said Carson Soucy. “It starts with that, then it just improves my mood, even during the game and stuff when you go through some times that you’re not at your best. You’ve got to keep a good attitude. Otherwise, it can spiral a little bit.”
According to a couple of the Canucks, keeping things light is a group effort.
“It’s a lot of guys, to be honest. We have a pretty fun room,” said Myers. “We’re very business-like when we come in but we have a lot of fun within the dressing room as well. That probably includes 10-12 guys making jokes on a daily basis.”
“Everyone’s always in a good mood — or not always but a lot of the time — so there’s a lot of jokes and chirps flying around, which makes it fun,” said Teddy Blueger.
"Business time starts whenever the puck drops."
Even if it's a group effort keeping things light, there are always going to be some bigger personalities who are naturally more inclined to crack up their teammates.
“We have some really good chemistry in amongst our team but also just personalities in the room,” said Cole. “We’ve got guys that are a little bit more introverted, a little quiet. Guys that are certainly very gregarious” — at this, Cole exaggeratedly motioned to the stall next to him belonging to Nikita Zadorov — “It’s been a really nice mix. There is that ability to enjoy ourselves and be light and have fun, while also knowing that ultimately, business time starts whenever the puck drops.”
Zadorov is certainly a big personality and Canucks fans can likely guess at a few of the others, like Garland and J.T. Miller. Those louder personalities are well aware of their place in the room and recognize the need to keep things light at times.
“I would say that responsibility probably falls on Millsy, myself, Z — probably us three have to do that more than others,” said Garland. “But we also enjoy doing it.”
In many ways, that’s the nature of a locker room: good-natured jokes at each other’s expense are expected and can be a key part of building camaraderie. For some players, goofing around can be part of their process of preparing for games, as it eases tension and ensures that they’re relaxed as they head into a high-pressure situation.
All that Cole asks is that the jokes stop when the puck hits the ice.
“I don’t care if you’re not focused at 7:00, I don’t care if you’re joking around at 7:05, but when the puck drops at 7:07, you better be dialed in, right?” said Cole. “Be a pro, be ready to go as soon as that puck drops.
“However you get there for you, be an adult, be mature, you get there. Let’s enjoy our time outside of that and then as soon as that puck drops, flip that switch and let’s go.”
