Canucks Notebook: Rathbone Must Speed ​​Up To Up After Retirement

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Jack Rathbone’s first AHL adventure was full of flashes and racing.

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The Canucks rookie defender went from taxi squad practices in Vancouver during the compact 2020-21 season to a producer in Utica, NY, with nine points (2-7) in eight games for the Comets. He earned a promotion back to the big club lineup, where he teased again with three points from eight games, including his first NHL goal.

Rathbone’s last short two-game AHL test with the Abbotsford Canucks amounted to special teams deployments, four shots and one assist in a pair of one-goal losses last week in Stockton, California. However, it was more about what the 22-year-old had to accomplish without the puck to be a more complete defender.

He was put to the test on another level Thursday in Denver.

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Rathbone was retired Wednesday with Travis Hamonic, who was loaned to the Abby Canucks because his coronavirus vaccination status would have required a 14-day quarantine after the three-game road trip across the United States. And with Luke Schenn out of the game for weeks with a lower body injury that could be a knee ailment, the opportunity has come.

Rathbone was in a third matchup with Kyle Burroughs against Avalanche, and adjusting to a faster game almost meant understanding that an offense against club infractions could affect any smaller blueliner. Using speed and intelligence in retreat to gain control angles could be a problem. Put a stick in a defender’s pants and it could be in the box for a minor phantom cross-check.

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“I don’t think the verification affects whether you are a smaller player or a bigger player,” Canucks coach Travis Green said Thursday after the game day skating. “You have to learn to defend without doing cross checks and a lot of teams are preaching the same things in terms of closing fast, positioning the body and staying between your man and the net.

Obviously, elimination is something a smaller bodied man has to be aware of and work on. That’s where a bigger guy has an advantage, but the smaller guy has to use speed and have a fast, smart stick. “

Rathbone struggled a few nights before being reassigned and was pointless in eight NHL games with 10 shots and a minus 3 rating before Thursday’s departure.

“It was good for him to have a few minutes (AHL) and get a player to feel good about his game, but I never worry about his confidence,” Green added. “We think he’s a young defender capable of playing in the NHL and there are things he needs to work on, but he’s a smart guy. It’s a lot like the things I talk about with (Vasily) Podkolzin. “

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There is a school of thought that you still need size in the rear and a recent Schenn and Hamonic couple talked about that. Quinn Hughes and Rathbone are great cards to get out of jail with their quick transition and creativity in the offensive zone and shots, but can they defend consistently?

“There are a lot of examples in the league of smaller defenders defending well, and sometimes that takes time,” Green said. “It is not a fact that you are going to be one of those players. We hope Jack can become that type of player and Quinn is on a different level and is still learning that side of the game. “

LET’S NOT FORGET IT

On November 11, 2010, in Ottawa, the Canucks did not have a game day skating before facing the Senators.

Instead, they attended the national Remembrance Day service and it was a humbling experience for players, staff and the media to witness the procession of war veterans, marching bands and the solemn laying of flower wreaths.

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Sami Salo lost a grandfather in a conflict in the First World War and another in the Second. He was too young to understand what they endured, but a mandatory one-year stint in the Finnish Army gave the Canucks defender the perspective he needed. And going through basic training helped Salo understand what his grandparents sacrificed.

“It was a great experience and it taught me a lot about life,” he recalls. “We had simulated war games for 14 days. You were in the forest and there was no normal food, you only ate from your backpack. I can only imagine what those guys who are in a live battle are going through. “

Swedish winger Mikael Samuelsson could have put it better that day.

“This means a lot,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are Canadian or wherever you are from. They are human beings fighting for what they think is right. You’re so worried about the power play and not scoring and you go to this (ceremony). It’s a good prospect. “

On Thursday, Green echoed the sentiment to make sure we never forget the day.

“You try to take a moment out of the day to think about the people who have given up a lot to have what we have today,” he said. “I am proud to be Canadian and this is a special day to remember those who have made our country what it is.”

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