Experience can be overrated, Roussel says
Gritty veteran advises youthful Canucks to ignore playoff expectations and ‘have fun’
No NHL post-season experience? No problem. That was Antoine Roussel’s response when the Vancouver Canucks winger was asked Tuesday to dole out sage advice to a roster dotted with young faces and little playoff experience.
Always one to accentuate the positive, the undrafted native of Roubaix, France is a hockey lifer who is always up for the fight — even when the mind is willing and the body isn’t.
Roussel was a naive 22-year-old with Dallas in the 2013-14 season when the Stars went on a 12-5-2 run, limped into the final wildcard spot, and dropped a firstround series to the Anaheim Ducks in six games. Two seasons later, the Stars finished second overall with 109 points and suffered a seven-game, second-round setback to the St. Louis Blues.
So, when Roussel sees bagels across the post-season board — zero games for Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, Adam Gaudette, Jake Virtanen, Troy Stecher, Tyler Motte, Zack MacEwen and just six games for Bo Horvat — he’s not worried abut how that might play out against the veteran-laden Minnesota Wild in the bestof-five qualifying series that could start Aug. 1.
“Sometimes, I think having no experience is best because you don’t worry about what you’re going to get — you just play,” said the 30-year-old Roussel.
“The second time (for me), I got hurt, and this could be my last chance in the playoffs. So have fun. You get into the league and you think you’re going to be in the playoffs every year. It’s a privilege and you better have fun. Don’t have any regrets.”
Roussel needs to follow his own advice because the pause in the season didn’t help his cause.
When the novel coronavirus became a pandemic on March 11, and the NHL shutdown the following day, he was just regaining lost traction. He was effective on a third line with Gaudette and MacEwen, but that seems like ancient history now.
He’ll have to get up to stride in a hurry, be strong on the forecheck, and be a pain to play against. It’s asking a lot after having ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery last April. He didn’t return to the lineup until Dec. 3.
After a spurt of three goals in his first two games, Roussel often ran on fumes, enduring 12- and 10-game goal droughts to finish with just 13 points (7-6) in 41 games.
Fast forward and Roussel is filled with more anticipation than angst with two seasons remaining on his four-year,
US$12-million contract. He knows a healthier Micheal Ferland and Jay Beagle means the bottom-six mix is far from set when camp opens Monday at Rogers Arena.
But he’s in a good place. Newborn son Leonard arrived a week ago to join brother Theodore, 3, and sister Raphaelle, 2.
His wife Alexandra and the kids will remain at the family farm in Quebec while the winger wraps his head around the new normal in the NHL.
Roussel arrived in Vancouver on Thursday; his eight-day COVID-19 quarantine ends Friday.
For now, it’s a hotel-to-rink bubble existence of voluntary skating and training.
“It’s OK, but it’s different,” he said of rooming alone at a downtown hotel.
“Usually, I’m really busy and I like it that way. But it’s also good because I’ve been go, go the last couple of weeks with the baby, and some time to rest is a good thing for me.
“I’ll be pretty happy when
I can go home. You don’t buy a place in Vancouver to stay at a hotel.”
For Roussel, the long pause in the season saw him scrambling to maintain his fitness level. He found a rink in midJune where he could skate three times a week.
For someone so dialed in to prolonging his career, testing and safety edicts at camp and in the Edmonton hub aren’t as much a concern as making his mark quickly.
“We just want to get going and that’s the part that sucks,” he said.
“We have to prep again with another training camp, and it’s taxing a little bit. You get ready for weeks and you could be done in one week.
“A lot is on the line for the play-in series and there’s a lot of pressure on everybody.
“Nothing is guaranteed in this business.”