Canucks: Culture isn’t a convenient cliche, it’s a pathway to playoffs

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The mere mention of hockey culture can create a conversation or a shoulder shrug.

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Culture is not a convenient cliche. It’s not only addressed when there’s nothing else to discuss because it’s an everyday evolution. And it can’t be drawn up on the practice whiteboard or reviewed in a video session because it can’t be taught.

Culture is a relentless will and it must come from within. It’s one reason why the Vancouver Canucks are coming off a 3-1 road trip and remain in what has often seemed like a long-shot pursuit of a National Hockey League wild-card playoff position.

Culture played a role, but it’s not something that Bruce Boudreau is going to bang a drum about.

The Canucks’ well-travelled bench boss is cut from an old-school cloth. To him, it’s simple. Do whatever you need during the day to ensure you’ll be ready to play at night. The coach can provide systems, match lines and juggle alignments, but the want rests with the players.

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So, is it really about culture?

“Oh, don’t ask me that question,” said Boudreau. “I hear it all the time. I refer to it as playing the right way and doing the right things. I don’t know if that’s culture or what. When I was playing, that word was never used. It was always about the right way.

“You have to live the right way and come to the rink the right way, and I guess today, that’s culture. I can’t teach them how to pass better. It comes in pre-preparation and readiness for the game.”

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Culture is often defined by leadership and the load that captain Bo Horvat shoulders is supported by JT Miller and veteran defensemen Luke Schenn, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tyler Myers.

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Miller is riding a nine-game production streak with 17 points (6-11) and was 11th in league scoring entering Sunday’s play. He was also tied for the NHL lead with three overtime goals.

Miller sets a culture by never being satisfied by personal accomplishments and his high-risk, high-reward focus puts the greatest emphasis on winning and playing a 200-foot game. Do that and everything else takes care of itself.

Culture is also carried by fourth-liners, who are expected to grind in measured minutes, but raise expectations. Free agents Juho Lammikko, Tyler Motte and Matthew Highmore have been good in matchups, the penalty kill and generating the odd goal. Motte has seven and Lammikko six.

The Canucks haven’t lost consecutive games since back-to-back setbacks at Tampa Bay and Florida in mid-January. And following a third-period rally Saturday in Toronto to spark a rare 6-4 victory in Scotiabank Arena — they haven’t won there since a 5-3 triumph on Dec. 17, 2011 — there’s something to be said for the manner is which they continue to find a way.

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Two of their four wins this season when trailing after two periods came on the last trip. It pushed Boudreau’s record since taking over the bench on Dec. 6 to an eye-popping 20-8-4. A coaching change is usually good for 10 to 12 games to prop up players and install new systems, but the shines wears off and reality often sets in.

It hasn’t here.

If the Canucks can make the most of a seven-game homestand that opens Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens — and accumulate 17 wins in their final 25 games to reach the 95-point bar — it will be because of what has recently occurred.

The Canucks won seven of their last nine by outscoring the opposition 41-32, scoring at least five goals on five occasions, going 8-for-29 on the power play (28.1 per cent) and having three games with perfect penalty killing. They also took just seven minors in the four-game trip and got goals from 13 players.

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It was the result of a culture that hasn’t wavered under Boudreau. A bad game is following by a good one.

Ekman-Larsson followed Shane Doan as captain of the Arizona Coyotes in 2018.

He saw first hand how the legendary leader handled the room, media and especially when expectations weren’t met for the struggling franchise. Aside from a three-year, post-season run culminated by reaching the Western Conference final in 2012, the Coyotes haven’t had much bite.

Ekman-Larsson knows that the culture term is tossed around like a hot potato. Nobody wants to handle it for too long because a proper explanation can be long-winded or short-sighted.

Canucks ownership said “culture is a winning attitude” in making sweeping hockey operations changes this season. What does Ekman-Larsson think? What is culture?

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“It was learning from Shane and it was pretty easy for me when I came into the league to get into that room,” he recalled. “It seemed like nothing ever bothered him at all, he was just the same guy day in and day out and it’s something I learned from him.

“It’s staying even-keeled and being the best person you can be. Bo has been really good for us. He’s a leader and a good player. He’s a little like Shane.”

OVERTIME— Olli Juolevi, the Canucks’ fifth-overall pick in 2016 draft, was put on waivers by the Florida Panthers and claimed Sunday by the Detroit Red Wings. Lammikko, acquired in Juolevi swap, looks like a keeper. It’s hard to find a big, fourth-line center who can skate, irritate and is good on draws.

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