Pettersson, Boeser, and other returning Canucks hit the ice at UBC

Some familiar faces were on the ice out at the University of British Columbia today as Vancouver Canucks players have begun to arrive back in town.

It was a decently-sized group on the ice today. Here were some of the players we saw: Elias Pettersson (both of them); Brock Boeser; Evander Kane; Vitali Kravtsov; Jonathan Lekkerimäki; Marcus Pettersson; Kirill Kudryavtsev; Nikita Tolopilo; Arshdeep Bains; Kevin Lankinen; Thatcher Demko; Tom Willander; Vilmer Alriksson; Derek Forbort; Filip Hronek; and PO Joseph.

The group did some rush drills as they were joined by goaltending coach Marko Torenius and skills and skating coach Jason Krog. Following the on-ice session, newcomer Evander Kane spoke to assembled media for about five minutes.

On the opportunity to get to know teammates having arrived early:

“I think it’s a really good opportunity to do that, because I know when we go up to Penticton, you have that downtime and that free time to kind of get to know guys more, go for lunches, go for dinner. So I think that’s a nice foundation to kind of start from. And then obviously, once you get on the ice, building chemistry with guys on the ice and integrating your game with other people’s games, I think will help early to hopefully start the season off well.”

On his early impression of the group:

“We have a lot of young guys. We have a lot of guys especially at the bottom of our lineup, that are trying to establish themselves and showcase themselves, probably starting in training camp and [try to] build off what they did last year. So I think that type of competitiveness as a group will probably help us as we move on into the regular season.”

On the forwards specifically:

“I think we’re a team that’s gonna work really hard. I think we have some great skill up front. Obviously, you got Petey, you know, running down the middle there, and he looks like he’s come into this season, you know, with a bit of a new look and probably a slightly different attitude, which is obviously going to bold well for us, and it’s going to start with him, and it’s going to be on everybody to help him out. And, you know, produce offensively at a high level with our entire forward group.”

With the Jake Milford Canucks Charity Invitational Golf Tournament set for next Monday, the Canucks’ players will continue their preparation over the next two weeks, as training camp in Penticton kicks off on September 18th. The Canucks play their first of six preseason games on Sunday, September 21st, when they take on the Seattle Kraken.

The Canucks’ regular season opens at home against the Calgary Flames on October 9th.

Be sure to keep it locked on CanucksArmy all season long!