Just from watching the two of them interact, you can sense their mutual respect for one another. But that doesn’t happen right away.

“Just to build a relationship with him is huge for me because he didn’t know me, I didn’t know him,” Tocchet said. “There’s some system change, there’s stuff that he had to break the way we play and he’s chipping away at it. He trusts what we’re trying to do. He’s the captain of the team and when the captain trusts a coaching staff, it goes a long way.

“I think we’re still building that trust, but it’s something you have to work at. He’s a pleasure to coach. He’s a hockey nerd and he loves the game. You have to kick him off the ice. He’s just one of those guys you always want to be around.”

The relationship and respect between Tocchet and Hughes go both ways.

“He always says he’s not a coach, he’s a teacher and he’s trying to teach the guys to be the group that we all know we can be,” Hughes said. “He’s a players coach. You can always walk into his office and talk to him, the guys love playing for him.”

The on-ice success has helped the Canucks form a strong bond away from it.

“We set the bar for the first half of the year, so the expectations are high going forward,” said Canucks forward Teddy Blueger. “Going into every game, we expect that we should be winning. In that sense, the culture’s been good and I think you need to toe that line of putting in the work and being serious, but also having fun and enjoying it. It’s for sure similar to Vegas last year in striking that balance.”

The Hughes brothers have arguably become the most popular and lovable siblings in the NHL. But Quinn, Jack and Luke are all different in their unique ways. But one thing that all three have in common is their self-awareness. Quinn’s season has been outstanding, but he’s not allowing any outside noise or hype to creep into his day-to-day mentality.

“I went through a little stretch in December where I wasn’t playing my best hockey, but I think you just need to continue to push forward,” he said.

It’s a one-day-at-a-time mentality for Hughes, who understands the grind of an 82-game season.

“Things can change very quickly, we’re not even halfway through,” Hughes said. “I’m happy with how the year has gone individually and from a team perspective, but you just gotta keep going. Every game is a new challenge. I’ve enjoyed the success this year, but we have a long way to go.”

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