Canucks give Virtanen some tough love
It hasn’t been all hugs and pats on the back of late for suspended rookie forward
Jake Virtanen hasn’t been feeling the love in what has been the toughest month of his professional career.
He was among a group of players Daniel Sedin recently and uncharacteristically called out publicly for essentially not trying often enough. He had his minutes choked by his head coach for “mistakes,” which may have been on the ice, off of it or both. And now he’s home in Vancouver, far away from the rest of his teammates, who are playing without him on their two-game road trip through California.
On Wednesday, Virtanen was suspended for two games by the NHL’s department of player safety for a late blindside hit the league claims was predatory.
If you were thinking the Canucks would take Virtanen’s side — considering he’s a first-time offender, injured no one and the hit Tuesday on San Jose’s Roman Polak was not a head shot — you’d be wrong.
Canucks management said it pretty much knew he’d get a game the minute it happened.
“It’s exactly the kind of hit the league is trying to take out of the game,” club president Trevor Linden said.
Meanwhile, Henrik Sedin, the team’s captain, said he thought the suspension was fair.
This, even though Brayden McNabb took a far more alarming cheap shot at Henrik earlier this season without any supplemental discipline.
The McNabb hit was from the blind side and it also included an extended elbow to Henrik’s head.
In January, Henrik suffered another cheap shot from Mikhail Grabovski, who ran him from behind into the boards. Injured, Henrik missed nearly three weeks and really hasn’t been the same since. By the way, that’s the precise moment the Canucks’ season fell off the rails.
The clear inconsistencies of the league’s decisions gave Henrik enough wiggle room to defend his teammate, even just a little bit. He passed on that opportunity. “They have a tough job,” Henrik said of the NHL’s department of player safety. “They’re going to make mistakes. I don’t agree with everything they do.
“I think on one of the two hits you’re talking about, I think they made a mistake. At least one of them was crossing the line. But it’s a tough job.
“I can only talk about Jake’s right now. I think it was late. I think the guy didn’t see him coming. I knew something was going to happen.”
Henrik made it evident he was not letting Virtanen off the hook, which is not something you see regularly from teammates.
Asked if this was on purpose to send a message, Henrik said:
“I don’t think so. I talked to him after the game and he said the same thing. It was a little late and (Polak) didn’t see him coming.”
That is what Virtanen told the media, but he also said he didn’t think it was significantly late, wasn’t predatory and was basically him finishing a check.
In other words, he didn’t think it clearly crossed the line.
Many will file this situation away as a teaching moment for Virtanen, but there are long-lasting implications.
From here on out, he’s a repeat offender and one who was suspended,not fined. This is troubling news for a player who, if all goes right, will have a 10- to 15- year career, much of it spent pounding opponents with big hits.
Some of his hits will be borderline because it’s impossible to avoid questionable hits, especially when you consider the ferocity with which Virtanen initiates contact.
How likely is he to get the benefit of the doubt on those? A lot less likely after this decision. Aside from some shifts with the Sedins, the Canucks have given Virtanen a lot of tough love in March.
He has not responded well and has been playing far below what he’s capable of for three weeks.
“Sometimes, it’s the sign of a young guy and when things are going too good you take them for granted a little bit,” head coach Willie Desjardins said this week. “I just think his habits have to get better.
“But I thought his play the last couple of games has been good.”
It was a nice little bouquet the coach threw in there at the end.
Judging by how Virtanen has responded to the negativity, maybe the team could throw him a few more.