After Friday’s practice, head coach Jim Hiller discussed the expected returns of Dakota Joshua and Chris Tanev, Joshua’s size and net-front presence, the opportunity to clean up details in practice, his Vancouver homecoming, and Morgan Rielly’s play and leadership.
What does it mean to have Chris Tanev back and available?
Hiller: It’s great. I still have to talk to some other people, but I thought he looked pretty good in practice. It was a pretty intense practice, and he seemed to get through it just fine.
What goes into the decision to pair Tanev with Morgan Rielly?
Hiller: We really liked how McCabe and Raddysh have been playing together, so we don’t want to break that up. They’ve played together before. I think it makes a pretty easy transition for both of them.
You saw a lot of Dakota Joshua in training camp before his setback. Now that he should be available, what are you looking to see from him?
Hiller: The first thing I’ll tell you I noticed is how big he is, right? We all like that. You put him on the skates; he’s a big man.
It’s corner work, it’s wall work, and it’s in front of the net. I think all those areas are areas that we’ve maybe struggled at times. He can really fill a void for us there. He hasn’t played in a long time, but we expect him to be ready to roll and have a good game for us.
You had a longer practice, with probably no morning skate tomorrow. What were you looking to clean up today?
Hiller: We were saying that we’ve practiced maybe two or three times in the last month. It’s really been something that I believe has hurt our game. We took some time today to go a little slower and work through some things. November is going to set up pretty well for us that way. I’m not going to tell you what they were, but I think we made some progress in some areas that we’ve been struggling with.
One practice drill had players coming off immediately after the start. Is there something in transition on line changes that you’re seeing?
Hiller: Just line changes. Just cleaning up our line changes a little bit. It’s an important part of the game. When you go through chances, a good chunk of them come off of line changes — being organized coming out of it, and also getting on and off the ice quickly. That’s an area of the game we wanted to touch up.
You have a bunch of former Canucks on the team. In your experience as a coach, what impact does it have when several players return to face their old team?
Hiller: For some guys, it’s been two teams ago and stuff like that, but you always want to do well. There are lots of people here that they know. You still have some friends on the team — certainly in the community — and you always want to show well.
I think guys have a lot of pride. They always want to show well, but you really want to show well in front of your ex-fans because they treated you so well and cheered you on and all that kind of stuff. I think it’s always good to have a good game in front of them.
Rielly is another homecoming guy, in a different way. What role did you envision for him this year, and how has he fulfilled it?
Hiller: As I knew Morgan years ago, he was a skater — skate and shoot. Now we’re seeing him really move the puck well. He hasn’t scored yet, but he’s got lots of primary assists. He’s an offensive player, and we just want him to be solid defensively. I think he’s been both. He’s been a good offensive player and solid defensively, so he’s right on the money.
Off the ice, is Rielly the same kind of guy you coached the first time around?
Hiller: Yeah. Very popular with his teammates. Just a really good guy. Thoughtful, and thinks of other people.
He’s obviously been in Toronto for a long time. He’s really helped the new players with the adjustment. He’s kind of a guy you can just go to. He’s kind of seen it all.
Does it still mean something to return as a head coach in your home province?
Hiller: Yes, always. You talk about the Canucks — I grew up a Canucks fan, and I love being here. Friends, family, all that kind of stuff. I’ve got a lot of people in Vancouver that I know, too.
Who was your favourite Canuck growing up?
Hiller: Chris Oddleifson. Not many others would remember, right? He was a captain of the Canucks way back when. It was in the ’70s, I’m sure. He was originally my guy.
I grew out of that when Gretzky came to Edmonton. I started watching those games and was kind of on the fence there, watching Gretzky play.
My first NHL game was as a young guy. My dad brought me to the Pacific Coliseum. I remember that like it was yesterday. Pretty cool.
How difficult of a decision was it to go with Anthony Stolarz in the net tomorrow?
Hiller: There was no decision. He was scheduled to play.
Practice - October 30
Maple Leafs Lines
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After Friday's practice, head coach Jim Hiller discussed the expected returns of Dakota Joshua and Chris Tanev, Joshua’s size and net-front presence, the opportunity...
