Holm likely to make debut against Knights
Swede was willing to bide his time in AHL in the hopes of a call-up to Vancouver
It hasn’t been as clear to the Vancouver Canucks, but Philip Holm has always said his ambition this season was to make his mark in the NHL.
Now he’s on the verge of realizing that goal.
True, he invested more than four months in Utica, N.Y., this season attempting to convince the Canucks of his preparedness. And he’s spent the last 10 days hanging around Vancouver waiting for his shot.
But it now seems the 26-yearold Swedish defenceman will make his long-awaited debut with the Canucks tonight in Las Vegas, which means just one thing: He better not waste his time making an impression on head coach Travis Green.
“When I signed with Vancouver (last May), I said I was going for the whole season and I wasn’t giving up if I had to start in Utica,” Holm said Thursday following a Canucks practice and just before the team’s flight to Sin City. “We’ll see what happens.” Yes, finally we will.
Holm, you may recall, was signed amid some fanfare in the off-season after a breakout season with Vaxjo in the Swedish elite league and a solid turn with the national team at the world championship.
At the time, it was hoped he’d press for regular employment with the NHL club or, failing that, an internship in Utica where he’d adjust to the North American game.
As it happens, Holm would prove to be a quick study in the American Hockey League, which is more than you could say for the Canucks. In 42 games with the Comets, he produced 11 goals and 29 points as a top-pairing D -man on a playoff-bound team. Those numbers earned him a call-up in November and another 10 days ago, but, alas, they didn’t earn him an NHL start.
That will likely change in Nevada. On Thursday, Holm practised with Derrick Pouliot on what looked like a third Canucks pairing and saw some time with the first power-play unit.
“He wasn’t known as a powerplay guy when he came over,” Green said of Holm. “We thought he could play, be a puck-mover and a solid five-on-five guy.
“That’s the part of the game they’ve been stressing (in Utica). Defencemen in the AHL don’t make it because they’re good on the power play. They make it because they’re really good defencemen who can play in all areas.”
Which is what he’s been with the Comets.
“He’s got the tools, but the biggest thing is his sense for the game,” said Comets general manager Ryan Johnson. “He was our power-play quarterback and he’s been a great help to our young defencemen.
“He’ll play a different role with the Canucks than he played down here and that’s part of the adjustment. But he’s hungry. He burns to be an NHL player.” So why did it take this long ? The handling of Holm is one of those issues that tends to make the Canucks’ fan base twitchy. True, he didn’t get off to the fastest start in Utica, but despite missing 12 games this season, he’s still third among AHL defencemen in goals and ninth overall in scoring.
The Canucks, meanwhile, have continued to roll out a substandard NHL defence that includes several veteran journeymen. It’s a reach to suggest Holm deserved a permanent job on that blueline. It’s not a reach to suggest he deserved a look long before Game 61 of this NHL season.
“I’m going to try to bring my game from down there to up
here,” Holm said. “But I understand it’s different.”
Holm also represents the Canucks’ latest foray into Europe and let’s just say the Trevor Linden-Jim Benning management team could use a win in this area.
This category — great European never-do-wells in Canucks history — deserves a deeper dive, but thus far the current administration has given us, ahem, Ronalds Kenins, Philip Larsen and Anton Rodin to go with Holm.
You wouldn’t expect all of them to hit. But you’d expect one of them would turn into a player for the NHL team.
“I went in with the mindset of taking a spot straight away,” Holm said. “I wanted to play, but I realized I needed to get used to how you play over here. I think it’s been a process from the beginning, but it’s been better and better each month.”
He was asked about his future plans.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about next season. I just take every practice, every game as it comes. I know my contract is up. It’s always an option to go back to Europe. We’ll see.”