The offseason is\u00a0an important time\u00a0for any professional athlete.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is no different for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen and forward Linus Karlsson, who both hope to take strides in their game by\u00a0preparing\u00a0throughout the summer months, and leading into the fall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year is different, every year is a new challenge. You\u00a0really never\u00a0know\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0ahead of you until\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0there,\u00a0so preparation is key,\u201d Lankinen said. \u201cFocus on what you can control, and that\u2019s my preparation, my getting ready for the season and even my mindset.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Karlsson, this year’s offseason will\u00a0be about the\u00a0details and\u00a0fine-tuning specific areas of his game that can lead to him taking impactful steps when he takes the ice in September.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can work more on your details.\u00a0I want to be stronger and faster and everything like that, so hopefully I can have a really good summer here and improve my offseason,\u201d Karlsson said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lankinen also hopes to improve in the smaller areas of his game, as he believes that it\u00a0remains\u00a0a pinnacle to building\u00a0a strong foundation\u00a0that\u00a0elevates\u00a0his skill development and increases his confidence on the ice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best players, they\u2019re the best because they do\u00a0small\u00a0things better than everybody else,\u201d Lankinen said. \u201cThat\u2019s my mindset too, if I can just hammer my foundation, keep making it stronger and stronger, my games\u00a0can elevate.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Karlsson spends his offseason training in Sweden, where he is part of a group of many NHLers that work together during the summer months and provide an environment with\u00a0a high level\u00a0of competition and drive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a good group, and we\u2019re pushing each other, so\u00a0that’s\u00a0[what] I think has helped me get to where I am today, so I am just going to keep doing that,\u201d Karlsson said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
While both Karlsson and Lankinen will be training hard this offseason, it is just as important for them to spend quality time with friends and family as they reset before the heavy travel of the seasons\u00a0starts\u00a0again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do believe there is a lot of potential where being home, being a dad, being a husband takes you away from hockey a little bit, and that saves you energy because when you show up to the rink you can be a hockey player,\u201d Lankinen said. \u201cI\u2019m\u00a0going to do everything I can, but\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0the other side I can balance it out with being a dad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Karlsson also has plans to spend time with his friends and family, as he splits his time between the south and north of Sweden.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI go down to my family far south in\u00a0Landsbro,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0probably\u00a0later during the summer when we start skating a little bit more, I\u2019m going to be more up north, but I\u2019m going to try to be in the early summer, try to be with my family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With only two months left of the offseason, both Lankinen and Karlsson\u00a0are\u00a0well into their offseason preparation, and on track for a new season of Canucks hockey\u00a0come\u00a0September.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Listen to this and much more as Karlsson and Lankinen join\u00a0Chris Faber on the latest episode of the Canucks Insider Podcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The offseason is\u00a0an important time\u00a0for any professional athlete.\u00a0\u00a0 It is no different for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-822251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}