Canucks hit the ice for the first time ahead of training camp: Two notable absentees
The NHL season is nearing closer, and for the first time, Vancouver Canucks players are together as a team and on the ice for the first informal skate of the year.
Canucks play-by-play voice Brendan Batchelor tweeted on Thursday morning that Arturs Silovs and Jiri Patera were on the ice working with Marko Torenius, and several players with hopes of earning a spot during preseason trickled onto the ice throughout the skate before some of the team's stars joined them.
Canucks' number one goaltender, Thatcher Demko, who is still recovering from an injury, and team captain Quinn Hughes were noticeably absent from Batchelor's roll call.
Stars like Elias Pettersson and JT Miller participated in the skate, and Batchelor said 17 skaters and three goalies were on the ice as activities got underway. The Canucks kick off their preseason against the Seattle Kraken on September 24 at home, while their regular season gets underway on October 9 when they welcome the Calgary Flames.
The official training camp for the Canucks is September 19-22.
| POLL | ||
How do you expect the Canucks to perform relative to last season? | ||
| About the same | 59 | 22.8 % |
| Deeper playoff run | 133 | 51.4 % |
| Step back in standings but still in playoffs | 58 | 22.4 % |
| Miss playoffs altogether | 9 | 3.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
