Anchoring it Down: Canucks’ Blue Line Steadies the Ship in Face of Adversity

Over the past few weeks, the Vancouver Canucks’ defensive group is finding its game together.

The Canucks faced adversity to start the season, but Head Coach Rick Tocchet says sometimes that’s a good thing because it builds character and fight in the team.

Under Tocchet, the Canucks have embraced a philosophy that emphasizes the defence as a cohesive unit rather than a rotating cast of individuals. The coaching staff highlights the importance of the defensive depth, noting that their success hinges on everyone’s contributions.

While missing Filip Hronek due to injury, the rest of the defensive group has elevated its individual play. No matter who is in or out of the lineup, Canucks’ Assistant Coach Adam Foote emphasized the need for consistency in their approach.

“It's mainly just the next man up,” Foote said. “And as a group, we always say to the guys ‘anchor it down, we’ve got to hold it together.’ Anchor it down means making smart plays, play inside the dots until we feel like we are we're protected by everyone, and our five guys are together.”

With a few new players on the team, adjusting to a new system can take time, but Foote feels encouraged to see the growing confidence and chemistry within the group.

“The last road trip we saw them have a lot more trust. They're not playing off their check as much and they're making more confident decisions,” Foote said. “I’ve been in situations before when you don't trust and you’re either too early or you pause, and you're caught in between. I think the whole group is a lot more comfortable.”

The Canucks focused on stronger starts and better game management, with their defensive group providing a steadying presence.

“They’re holding the fort; they're doing a great job,” Foote said, adding that staying patient is key – not forcing it and to let the game come to them.

“Sometimes it's a little loose, that’s normal, and sometimes that's just you're getting used to the opponent. We don't want to lose the game in the first five or 10 minutes, because we're pushing offence when we don't need to. There's really lots of opportunity if we wait it out – anchor it down. If it's there, go for it, but let's not over play situations.”

And sometimes Foote says you just have to let Quinn Hughes do what he does best: dance through the defence. Foote talked about Hughes’ impeccable knack for reading the play that has improved year-over-year, which is invaluable to both the defensive group and the team.

The Canucks had to weather the storm without Hughes against the Ottawa Senators (when a boarding penalty resulted in a game misconduct), and down to five defenceman they managed to secure a 4-3 win.

Tocchet praised Carson Soucy for stepping up as a steadying presence on the blue line after a tough start to the season. Soucy didn’t shy away from his early struggles but has found his groove over the last month, scoring the go-ahead goal – and his first of the season – against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

“He’s been one of our better players [over the last month],” Tocchet said. “He’s not running around, has a good stick and being out there against some top players in the league I think he’s done a nice job. When Souc has got a good stick, when he can be aggressive offensively, but to me, around the net he has a little more bite. Early on, he was feeling his way through the game and now he’s going right into it.”

Playing with different defensive partners makes it much more important to play to the structure and systems. Soucy agrees with Foote that everyone’s becoming more comfortable and seeing the results.

“I think we've done a good job stepping up in most games,” Soucy said. “I think there's still another level of consistency that we have, but as a group, I think we've done a good job and you just continue to play the same way no matter who you're with.”

Although they play to the same structure, adjustments are inevitable. Soucy talked about the balance between keeping it simple and staying aggressive, noting being without Hronek’s puck-moving ability required a collective effort to fill the gap.

“There still has to be a puck-moving, outlet pass mindset that I think we're kind of still getting better at as a team. We want to keep it simple, but there's still passes and plays to be made,” Soucy explained.

As much as they can elevate their game, it’s tough to replace a Norris Trophy winner. The group kept the ship steady when Hughes took a stick to the face against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but Soucy says dynamic changes when Hughes is on the ice.

“You see the impact when he comes back in, he scores right away,” Soucy said. “A big part of our game is having him create offence for us.”

As a veteran, staying confident is crucial to keep his play where he wants it to be and helping some of the younger defenceman. That confidence to control one play and the next compounds and build out strong 60-minute games.

“There's going be mistakes where it's not easy to keep that confidence, and that swagger that you need. It's easy to kind of go in a shell and chip pucks out, stay back, not be aggressive, but when a big guy goes down, you need to play smart but there's times where we still need to be aggressive,” Soucy said. “We need to control the play in their end, because that makes it easier as a group of five, if we're playing offense, staying up in their faces, and making good passes.”

Soucy says Kevin Lankinen and Thatcher Demko also give the group confidence to play aggressively.

"We need to be better for them, especially not quite easing Demko back into it unfortunately. He just makes unbelievable saves, he's awesome and Kevin's been unbelievable,” Soucy said. “I think we have another gear in front of them, just to make it so they're not standing on their head every night.”

Kevin Lankinen had his third shutout of the season against the Panthers on December 12th, and said the defence did a great job in front of him.

“I got to give them [the defence] a lot of credit, just making sure the sightline was there. Even if they were sending pucks, I could see the puck, clearing rebounds, clearing sticks,” Lankinen said. “I think we defended the house really well tonight, and really, really proud of the d-core and the team as a whole.”

The defence was stingy and as Tocchet called it “scrappy” against the Panthers. The Canucks' defensive group is proving they can rise to the challenge.

“That's one of the best teams in the league at getting to the net. They’ve got some really heavy guys, I thought a lot of guys did a nice job of boxing out and then when there was a save to be made, Lanks was there for us. He was obviously really good, he was seeing the puck. I thought the d were really sharp,” Tocchet said.

Anchored by veteran leadership, a resilient mindset, and the guidance of their coaching staff, the blue line is a stabilizing force. There is still room for growth, but the defensive core has laid a strong foundation for the rest of the season. Soucy talked about continuing to play their game, and for Vancouver, that game is only getting stronger.