Returning to regular programming in any National Hockey League city will be, by definition, a letdown from the addictive drama and thrilling emotions of the Olympics and a Canada-USA final that was one of the greatest hockey games ever played.<\/p>\n
Returning for the\u00a0Vancouver Canucks<\/a>\u2019 final 25 games? Well, you better bring a black umbrella and comfortable shoes because it has the potential to become a two-month funeral procession.<\/p>\n The Canucks can\u2019t let this happen.<\/p>\n As veteran\u00a0Teddy Blueger<\/a>, the Latvian Olympian, told us after the Canucks crawled into the NHL schedule break with lopsided losses in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas in early February, there is much more to play for than the standings.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not playing for nothing,\u201d he told Sportsnet. \u201cI think we\u2019ve got to find some character in our group. I know we have some good guys that want to win and know how to win and to compete and play hard, but I think we\u2019ve got to find it as a team. Just find, you know, probably some more respect for each other, some appreciation to be in this league (and) not take that for granted, not just go through the motions because we\u2019re last in the league. You know, come in and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n The final two months of the regular season \u2014 and especially the countdown to the NHL\u2019s trade deadline on March 6 \u2014 are massive for Canucks president Jim Rutherford and his management team as the organization undertakes its deepest rebuild this century.<\/p>\n Blueger, the most appealing of the Canucks eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, is likely to be traded. Potential UFAs Evander Kane and David Kampf are other candidates to go, although Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin have made it clear they\u2019ll listen in trade calls on almost any of their players.<\/p>\n And there is, of course, the ongoing on-ice development of a handful of first- and second-year players who have been forced by circumstance to make their learning mistakes at the NHL level.<\/p>\n The team will be encouraged by the return of most, but not all, of their injured players when the Canucks\u2019 Olympic break ends with Wednesday\u2019s home game against the Winnipeg Jets.<\/p>\n Cursed centre Filip Chytil, who was close to returning from serious concussion and migraine issues, suffered a facial fracture when hit in the face by a deflected puck on Wednesday and is now out indefinitely.<\/p>\n A better lineup should give the Canucks a better chance to win. But the team is so far behind in the standings, seven points adrift of the 31st-place St. Louis Blues, that it\u2019s safe to continue debating whether it should take Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg with the first-overall draft pick (even though everyone in Vancouver has been conditioned by history to believe fervently that the team will lose both draft-lottery draws and select no higher than third).<\/p>\n There is a lot going on that will affect the organization\u2019s future.<\/p>\n But these final games are important also for what Blueger was talking about \u2014 for the opportunity to start building culture and developing character so whichever players survive the rebuild won\u2019t be in this same position a year from now.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I understand what he\u2019s saying,\u201d winger Drew O\u2019Connor said. \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t doubt that we have character in the room, and we have the guys to fight and get through tough times. But I think it has to be different guys at different points. When you go through a stretch where you\u2019re not winning a lot, it can\u2019t kind of be the same voices always speaking up. We kind of have to lift each other up.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe focus has to be on playing the right way, building kind of a winning culture a little bit. Not really think about where we\u2019re at in the standings so much, but focus on the process of getting better every day and building towards something. I think we have to approach each game (like it) is meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the Canucks were aware what Blueger, a Stanley Cup winner with the Golden Knights three years ago, said after the 5-2 loss in Vegas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s right after a game where you lose, so emotions are high,\u201d veteran defenceman\u00a0Marcus Pettersson<\/a>\u00a0said. \u201cBut I agree with him. The one thing I felt going into the break, we were emotionally all over the place. You know, we\u2019d get frustrated, stuff like that. I think that we have to be better at being able to keep, like, the mood in the room (and) on the bench consistent.<\/p>\n \u201cCharacter-wise, can we find that maturity and be able to have a high ceiling but also do it in the right way. That\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about \u2014 the emotional part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n