Day one at Canucks training camp: Elias Pettersson and the Russians show some snatching pleasure

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WHISTLER – They didn’t score in scrimmage, but Elias Pettersson’s line with new Russia wingers Andrey Kuzmenko and Ilya Mikheyev was very effective in midday scrimmage on day one of Vancouver Canucks training camp.

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Mikheyev’s speed is evident, while Kuzmenko’s intelligent play in tight spaces has a good chance of giving Pettersson even more room to work.

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“He’s such a smart guy and I hope we can use our speed,” Mikheyev said of skating with Pettersson.

“We just helped each other and then we started work today. Super great,” he said of learning his new team’s game systems.

Will he and Kuzmenko get Pettersson to learn Russian?

“Probably,” he said with a big smile. “We’ll try, but maybe we need Swedish.”

Kuzmenko came through his first English-language media session well. He spoke with Mikheyev, who served as a translator from time to time.

If they prove to be a trio early in the season, he thinks they’ll grow together quickly.

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“Very smart player with me and Ilya. And Pettersson is a very good attacking striker.”

The NHL game could prove to be a bit quicker than what he’s used to from the KHL, but he’s not worried, Kuzmenko said.

“I think hockey is a very simple game,” he said. “Adaptation is every day for me, every game gets better, better, better, better.”

He also said he’s excited to play on the smaller NHL rink. He figured it would be his instinct to play in traffic and how fast you are on the net. On the larger ice of the KHL, winning a puck fight does not provide an immediate scoring opportunity.

“I like it small because if you win one-on-one in a corner, you go shooting,” he said.

Mikheyev is also a new teammate for Kuzmenko. Mikheyev said he remembered running a few shifts with Kuzmenko for the Russia national team a few years ago.

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“I don’t remember,” Kuzmenko said, pulling out laughter in return.

Pettersson said he enjoyed skating with the Russians and said one of his good friends back in Sweden is Russian, so he knows some of the language.

“Just the bad words,” he joked.

He believed they had great potential as a lineage.

“Mikhejew is super fast. He opens up space for us and Kuzmenko, maybe we’re similar in our style of play,” said Pettersson.

Maybe the perfect combination of talents? “I’ve been thinking about that. I had a conversation with trainers and they want to try it. And I’m ready for it,” he added.

Pettersson was caught defensively in scrimmage, with Vincent Arseneau opening the goal for the opposing team.

“You can learn defense. I think it’s like an insult, it just happens. I mean, all three of us are competent. Today I think I was a little too excited for a break with the first goal. But it’s only small details like this that you can learn, and I’m not overly concerned about that. I know what we are capable of.”

In scrimmage, Cole Shepard also scored for Group C, which defeated Pettersson’s Group B 3-0 with an empty neter.

learn the place

Kuzmenko said he loves Vancouver so far. He is a big outdoor fan. And he lives in the Aquilini rental tower next to Rogers Arena and has seen quite a few concerts.

“The mountains, the oceans, the forest, I like it,” he said.

He was also at a Whitecaps game.

“Why not? It’s only 100 meters to the football stadium.”

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Lively Sessions

The first group on the ice quickly worked their way through a series of drills.

A new year, a fresh atmosphere.

And a new coach known for providing colorful feedback on the ice.

Tanner Pearson said the start of a new season remains exciting even after a decade of his pro career.

“You always have butterflies, don’t you? start of a new season. You know, wide awake at six o’clock this morning. And when you come down here, it’s kind of similar for everyone,” he said.

Boeser wants 30

Brock Boeser said this year was a mental reboot. The past year has been a real burden. His father’s ailing health weighed on him, and the burden that his father’s ailing health placed on his mother was doubly heavy.

“Since my father passed away, there isn’t that much to worry about anymore. So I can really focus on hockey,” he said.

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And yes, he knows 30 goals is the goal.

“This is the year,” he said.

line observation

While Boeser aligned with JT Miller and Tanner Pearson, Bo Horvat centered Vasily Podkolzin and Connor Garland. Those are three lines with a lot of potential to score.

The obvious fourth line, for now at least, includes two more summer signings: Dakota Joshua and Curtis Lazar, who joins Jason Dickinson.

Nils Höglander was thus left out as an early man. The diminutive Swede, who has just had groin surgery, was his usual peppery self in scrimmage but drove with Nils Åman and Linus Karlsson with two Swedes almost certainly destined for AHL Abbotsford.

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