Talk of starting season lifts spirits of Canucks and centre Beagle
Jay Beagle is calling on his antiquated cellphone and the call display at the other end reads “Boise, Idaho.”
The line of questioning could have immediately shifted to how the Vancouver Canucks' centre plans to adhere to the mandatory 14-day quarantine period when he re-enters Canada.
However, there is no urgency for Beagle to pack and get across the international border.
He was dialing from his off-season home in Calgary and that call display notification has everything to do with being technology challenged. He prefers talking in person. He's terrible at texting. He doesn't know, or want to know, anything about electronics. After all, that cell is an iPhone 4.
So, Boise? What gives? “That's from my time with the (ECHL) Steelheads. I kept the number and I don't even know how long ago that was,” Beagle said with a chuckle Tuesday about an eightgame adventure in the 2006-07 season. “The guys call it my small phone. No need to upgrade. It works, so why upgrade?
“I hate technology. If I could talk face-to-face right now, I'd rather fly in and talk to you like that. I'm never on my phone and I mean never.”
What Beagle does know at age 35 and being off for four months is that training camp will demand Day 1 tempo. And he knows what best friends Braden Holtby and Nate Schmidt will bring to the Canucks on and off the ice.
As for the 2020-21 season, the NHL and the players' association are targeting early January for 10day training camps and no exhibition games, followed by a Jan. 13 start for a 56-game schedule. The season in waiting will include an all-Canadian division with teams hosting baseball-type series.
A board of governors call Wednesday will update progress as novel coronavirus cases continue to spike and some doubt lingers as to the actual season start. Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley said a projected mid-January commencement could “slide a week or two,” but is confident a season will be played. So are the Canucks.
“We're prepared on the logistics side,” said Canucks general manager Jim Benning. “We realize things could change a week, two weeks or a month from now.”
Beagle is also buoyed by progress toward staging a season because uncertainty took a toll.
“It's hard to wrap your head around it because we're all waiting,” he admitted. “It's definitely weird. You start ramping things up and it gets pushed back. And you can't keep bag-skating yourself for the whole summer.
“An all-Canadian division is going to be different, but being in that (Edmonton) bubble and going on that run was incredible. It was something that we all knew we could do and we weren't satisfied when we lost to Vegas. It was hard to get over.”
The Canucks had to get over the off-season loss of Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Tyler Toffoli and Troy Stecher to free agency, but Beagle believes the acquisition of former Washington Capitals
teammates Holtby and Schmidt will fill the void.
Beagle won a Stanley Cup with Holtby in 2018 and the goaltender captured the Vezina Trophy in 2016. Schmidt was establishing himself as a defenceman, but was lost to the Golden Knights in the 2017 expansion draft. What they bring to the Canucks is the combination of being good on the ice, good in the room and community.
Holtby, 31, is eager to make amends for an off 2019-20 season — 3.11 goals-against average, .897 save percentage and 2-50 post-season record — and he knows goalie coach Ian Clark has had great success refining franchise netminders. So, what are the Canucks getting in the stopper, who agreed to a two-year, US$8.6-million free-agent deal to pair with Thatcher Demko?
“It's really indescribable to tell,” said Beagle. “He's one of my best friends and he's just the nicest guy in the world. He's a passionate guy. He really cares about people, has a great heart and treats everyone the same.”
On the ice, Holtby needs to get back to his Vezina form (2.20 GAA., .922 save percentage) to help the Canucks take the next step.
“He's an elite goalie,” added Beagle. “He's one of the best in the league, if not the best. I have no doubt he'll be that way for us because of his work ethic and I've never seen someone work that hard. When practice starts, he's all business and we've had our battles. It will be fun to re-iginite that.”
Schmidt, 29, commanded post-season attention for his size, skating and ability to jump up into the play and make something happen. He became expendable when the Golden Knights acquired free agent Alex Pietrangelo and the Canucks gave up a 2022 third-round pick for the left-shot Schmidt, who can play the right side and is a good fit for Quinn Hughes.
“He's a competitor, but he likes to have fun and is really going to fit into our group,” said Beagle. “He just lightens the mood when it needs to be, but knows when to be serious and when to bring it. And he's one of the fastest skaters I've ever played with. It's a huge pickup for us.”
It's hard to wrap your head around it ... It's definitely weird. You start ramping things up and it gets pushed back.