Canucks, Rossi poised for healthy finish after Olympic break

VANCOUVER – For the Vancouver Canucks, the greatest benefit of the Olympic break is simply time.

The mini-training camp that started Tuesday at the University of B.C. should help the team’s many young players better understand coach Adam Foote’s system. And certainly, a three-week break between National Hockey League games gives older players time to process the Canucks’ stunning plunge in the standings, and return with positive attitudes as the franchise undertakes its deepest rebuild this century.

But the biggest benefit to February’s NHL hibernation could be seen in the two, small practice groups of non-Olympians who skated Tuesday.

Marco Rossi (lower body), Brock Boeser (concussion) and Nils Hoglander (lower body) were full participants, as were Filip Chytil (neurological issues) and Zeev Buium (broken facial bone), although the latter two wore red, non-contact jerseys that exempted them from media availabilities. 

Boeser also did not speak to reporters, a team official citing illness, which is also why winger Conor Garland was not a Day-1-of-the-rest-of-the-season participant.

With five players at the Olympics in Milan, the Canucks’ full lineup could be seen only as a projection on paper. 

But with these injured players having time to heal and be ready for the resumption of the Canucks’ NHL schedule, Feb. 25 against the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Arena, Vancouver should finally have something close to a full team – albeit with starting goalie Thatcher Demko done for the season due to hip surgery.

More than two months since his inclusion in the biggest trade in Canucks history, Rossi told reporters he is only now fully healthy.

“It feels really good to be back to 100 per cent,” the 24-year-old centre said. “That’s how I feel right now for the first time since I’ve been here. So yeah, I feel really good and I’m happy to be back.”

Acquired from the Minnesota Wild in the Quinn Hughes blockbuster, Rossi played eight games for the Canucks before leaving the lineup after a Dec. 30 game against Philadelphia.

He revealed Tuesday he was unable to skate anything close to his best during those 16 days.

“That’s a huge part, especially for me,” he said. “I try to go left, right, left, right, and it’s hard when you can’t do that.

“But, of course, when you get traded, you’re so pumped up, you know? You want to show the team right away that I want to be here and, you know, I just want to play for this team. But sometimes, especially when you’re young, you think maybe differently (than you should). You just want to play. And, like I said, looking back, maybe it wasn’t the best decision. But I’m good now.”

Before the Dec. 12 trade, Rossi hadn’t played since Minnesota’s game against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 11. He had been playing hurt before then.

Including what will be an eight-week absence for the Canucks, the second-line centre has played only 25 games this season, managing just 15 points – two of them for Vancouver.

How certain is he that he is ready for the Canucks’ final 25 games?

“One hundred per cent,” Rossi said. “The last two years before, I played all the games. I didn’t miss one game. So that’s the same mindset I have now. You know, anything can happen; it’s a sport. But the last 25 games, I can’t wait to play every game.

“I’m really happy to be back and, you know, to not just show the fans, but also for myself. You want to be back to 100 per cent, and that’s how I feel right now.”

What he is returning to, however, is profoundly different than what Rossi left behind in Minnesota.

Turbo-charged by acquiring Hughes, the former Canuck captain and Norris Trophy winner, the Wild has gone 17-5-5 since the trade and is fourth in the NHL at 34-14-10. Minnesota is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

The Canucks won their first four games after the trade, but are 3-16-3 since then and have plummeted to the bottom of the standings at 18-33-6. Vancouver is on pace for its worst season since 1999.

“Yeah, for sure, it’s different,” Rossi said. “In Minny, you’re trying to go for the playoffs and, obviously, try to go as far as you can. Here, I mean, it is what it is, right? It’s a different situation for me; my first time (in a rebuild). But I think it’s important that we’re together as a group. We just have to keep building our game and try to get better day by day.

“Even as a team, you know, we can’t think about the standings and stuff. All we have to (do) is stay positive and just try to play our game and try to learn as much as we can as a group.”

ICE CHIPS — After splitting their small lineup for Day 1 in order to give players more puck touches and coaching support after nearly two weeks off, the Canucks will practise in one main group on Wednesday. . . With Demko out and backup Kevin Lankinen with Finland’s Olympic team, the Canucks recalled minor-league goalie Aku Koskenvuo to partner fellow callup Jiri Patera for the mini-camp. The franchise’s third-string goalie, Nikita Tolopilo, has been left for now with the Abbotsford Canucks to get in more American League games.