Canucks Coffee: ‘That’s a hit we’ve got to get out of the game’

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Who needs very strong coffee? Who needs a good diversion?

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We could go on and on about everything that’s plaguing the Vancouver Canucks — especially with a horrible 3-4-3 mark at Rogers Arena after going 27-9-5 at home last season — and giving up the fist goal in 11 of their last 12 starts.

We could talk about J.T. Miller and why the centre only played two third-period shifts Sunday because head coach Rick Tocchet thought he had better options to try and come back on the Nashville Predators.

Alas, a 5-3 setback left another sour taste in the mouths of faithful fans who are losing their patience. So, we’ll let the game story deal with the dire details and move on to other meaningful    matters.

So sit back and sip.

FIRST SERVING: ‘You have to be responsible. That’s a hit we’ve got to get out of the game.’

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Hulking Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves was suspended five games without pay Sunday for his illegal check to the head of Darnell Nurse, just as the Oilers defenceman rounded his net to trigger the transition on Saturday.

Reaves was assessed a match penalty on the play and fined US$35,156.25. Nurse was dazed and bloodied from the impact as he fell to the ice — an obvious display of concussion-like symptoms — and eventually left the game under assistance.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety ruled that Reaves made the head the principle point of contact on his check when such contact was avoidable. In a video ruling presentation, the DOPS said: “The shoulder makes direct and forceful with the head and the head absorbs the majority of the force.

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“Reaves miss-times this play, choosing an angle of approach that cuts across the front of Nurse, missing his core and making his head the main point of contact.”

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All this makes you worry about how this could possible play out again at some point this season. After all, what’s the best way to negate Quinn Hughes from twisting, turning and pivoting away from trouble to escape his own zone? You target him.

You double team the Canucks captain — or make him the meat in a crunching forechecking sandwich — and that’s exactly what the Predators did last spring in a first-round playoff series. There was no intent to injure but getting the Canucks’ get-out-of-jail free puck wizard off his game did inflict some discomfort.

The Predators series reached a painful point in Game 5. Hughes was pounded in the defensive zone by Anthony Beauvillier and then jammed up hard between forecheckers Jason Zucker and Colton Sissons. He winced and was doubled over in discomfort and missed his next shift.

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Hughes was hit five times in the first two periods and was drilled more than a dozen occasions in the series.

“I felt good enough to play my best and that’s what I tried to do,” he said.

Hughes had 10 assists in 13 playoffs games as teams took time and space away from the fleet-footed, quick-thinking and laser-like passing blueliner. He will be a target again this campaign, but is better equipped to handle the scrutiny.

Hughes has always relied on a transition game triggered by spinning on a forechecker and finding other zone exit options. It was harder in the playoffs.

“It was a focal point for them (Predators)to be physical and quick, and you have to find a way to make that one extra play,” reasoned Hughes.

Tocchet was asked if he’s concerned that an aggressive opposition player might get Hughes in the crosshairs just as he attempts to round his net — much like Nurse — and deliver a devastating blow.

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“You’re have to have awareness obviously,” said Tocchet. “I’m not sure Reaves tried to do that (illegal check to the head) but you have to be responsible. That’s a hit we’ve got to get out of the game. I had to change the way I hit. I got a couple of suspensions with my knee. I wasn’t trying to knee a guy, it was just me skating style. I had to change it.

“Same thing no. You almost have to get lower, and even if you’re a bigger guy, to crouch down and target the chest. Or, if they’re too fast, maybe abort it (hit) and basically just have body position with stick on puck and play it that way.

“I know everybody likes big hits, but you may have to change some rules like the NFL in what you can’t do — the way you hit and the details of it.”

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SECOND SERVING: Hockey Fights Cancer: ‘My brother went though it and it’s close to your heart.’

Dakota Joshua is a go-to guy in the room because he always has something to say.

It’s often intelligent, witty and funny takes on anything and anybody in the game or outside the sporting arena.

The big and imposing Canucks winger can also dish devastating hits, score highlight-reel goals and crack some pretty good one-liners. It’s why Joshua’s offseason testicular cancer diagnosis was stunning and this return Thursday against the New York Islanders was such a delightful sight. Especially after clearing physical and mental hurdles

“He called me to know what happened and I was devastated,” linemate Conor Garland told Postmedia at outset of this season. “It’s a weird thing to hear, especially when someone is that young. It’s just being there for him if he needs anything.

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“He has to make sure he’s mentally and physically ready because he’s such a big part of our team. It (cancer) is a touchy subject with the seriousness of it all and you just try to get his mind off it.”

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Tocchet knows how meaningful Sunday was. His family has been touched by cancer.

“It’s the awareness and the NHL does a great job with that,” he said. “My brother went though it and it’s close to your heart. It’s nice to see the signs and who they fight for.”

And with what Joshua endured during his absence, the coach got to know the person behind the players and his will to return.

“It was tough to hear when Dakota got it, but he’s better now and doing something he loves and is grateful,” said Tocchet. “We’re grateful playing this sport, and sometimes when you’re in the doldrums and all that stuff, you get to think how lucky you are.

“Sometimes, you need these reminders and it’s nice to recognize people.”

bkuzma@postmedia.com

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