Comets bank on role model Bancks
Utica captain guides Canucks’ top prospects and helps them get ready ‘for the next level’
TUTICA, N.Y. he call came five years ago for Carter Bancks and every detail of those few days is burned into the hard drive of the Utica Comets’ captain.
There was the feeling.
“It was like everything I’d done in my life, every long bus trip, every practice, had paid off,” he said.
There was standing on the blueline for the epic rendition of The Star Spangled Banner at Chicago’s United Centre.
“I’ve never had literally every hair on my body standing on end.”
And there was looking across at the Blackhawks, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup a couple of months later.
“There was (Jonathan) Toews and (Patrick) Kane and Duncan Keith, guys I’d grown up admiring. It was awesome.”
Bancks was 23 that spring and there he was, a kid from Marysville, B.C., playing in The Show. It was supposed to be the start of his NHL career. It was supposed to be the start of so many good things.
And, in many ways, it was. But Bancks, a 28-year-old career minorleaguer, now looks around the Comets’ dressing room and sees kids just beginning their journey, trying to learn to be a pro, trying to figure out how to make it in this unforgiving game.
Bancks’ NHL career consisted of two games at the tail end of the 201213 season, but those two games will stay with him for the rest of his life.
That’s why he’d like to help those kids get that same feeling, maybe just hold on to it for a little longer.
“I try to show them how to compete every night and get ready for the next level,” said Bancks as the Comets prepared for Wednesday’s Game 3 of their first-round American Hockey League playoff series against the Toronto Marlies. Toronto won the first game 3-2 in overtime and the second by a 5-2 count.
“I’m thrilled every time one of my teammates gets called up. I’m tuning in when they’re playing in Vancouver. It’s a different role for me and one I embrace.”
But a huge role for the Canucks. Bancks is the central plank in
a Comets’ leadership group that will be guiding and mentoring the NHL team’s top prospects during the next couple of seasons — Jonathan Dahlen, Lukas Jasek and Kole Lind have already arrived for the AHL team’s stretch drive and playoff season. Another wave is expected next season.
Collectively this represents the best group of prospects the Canucks have ever assembled, but their development, to a large degree, is dependent on their experience in Utica.
That’s why Bancks and others are as important in their roles as Dahlen, and others, are in theirs.
“We’re trying to find a balance between being a successful team and teaching the kids the right
way,” said Comets’ GM Ryan Johnson. “We have to be careful we’re bringing in the right (veteran) players, who are going to push the young guys the right way.”
That’s not as easy as it sounds. The Comets veterans still have NHL ambitions of their own and they’re being asked to help kids who might move ahead of them in the organization.
Michael Chaput, for example, has played 135 career games in the NHL including 68 with the Canucks last year. At 26, he’s been the Comets’ best player though the first two games of this series, but he didn’t seem especially eager to discuss his mentorship role.
“We’re in the playoffs,” he said. “That’s all I worry about.”
The Canucks, meanwhile, have other concerns. Dahlen arrived for the final two games of the regular season and dressed for the second straight playoff game on Wednesday. The organization and Canucks’ fans are excited about his presence in Utica. But he’s also taking the place of someone who’s been with the team most of the season and that can be awkward.
“We’re excited about the kids coming in,” said Comets’ head coach Trent Cull. “It’s your job here. You want to develop and win and they both go hand in hand.”
Cull was asked about Bancks. “The way he conducts himself on and off the ice, he’s what you want in that role,” the coach answered.
Cole Cassels is another member
of the Comets’ leadership group. At 22 he’s in his third season with the Comets, but has yet to break out of his role as a checking centre.
“We’re all trying to get (to the NHL) and everyone’s here to help each other,” he said. “(The younger players) can come in here and see how hard you have to work to get to the next level. They see the grind and how hard it is to get to the NHL. It can only help them.”
That, at least, is the plan. But as Bancks knows, things don’t always go according to plan.
“When you get to be my age, you understand your job, and how you can be the most valuable to the team,” he said.