Hungry Wolf bites into blue- line shot
Canucks call on Tanev to help settle struggling defencemen, plus move puck out of own end
One minute you are in the American Hockey League, wondering when you are going to get your next chance to prove you belong in the NHL.
The next, you are not only up with the big club, but all signs are pointing to a spot in the top four on the Vancouver Canucks defence skating alongside allstar Alex Edler.
Welcome to Chris Tanev’s world, which has turned very quickly over the last 48 hours.
Tanev says he’s happy to be back with the Canucks and we’ll have to take his word for it because the soft- spoken 22- year- old doesn’t exactly wear his emotions on his sleeve.
He is something of an emotional flatliner, which the Canucks think is one of his strengths.
He plays the game with a lot of patience and without many ups and downs.
Coach Alain Vigneault is hoping that Tanev, with just 29 regular- season NHL games on his resumé, can help settle down a Canuck defence that is suddenly having real trouble moving the puck out of its own zone.
“I am looking for a little bit better stability with the puck,” Vigneault said Thursday as he discussed Tanev’s recall.
“Our whole defensive group here has been making some plays that have cost us quality scoring chances against that we need to get under control.
“One of our strongest assets is our transition, our defence to offence, and it really helps our forwards and it really helps defensively because as soon as we get the puck we make the right play and it’s out of our end and in the other team’s end and we’re wearing them down.
“Right now, a lot of times the play that we are making is not the right play, we spend more time in our zone, we give the other team momentum, we give the other team scoring chances and we need to do a better job of that.”
The Canucks have been struggling to find a replacement for the injured Sami Salo, who normally plays the right side alongside Edler.
The Canucks tried moving some of their left- handed defencemen into that spot and the results were not good.
After Tuesday’s debacle, when the Los Angeles Kings had a seemingly never- ending series of odd- man rushes in the first period of their 3- 2 shootout win over Vancouver, Vigneault had clearly seen enough.
Tanev got the call Wednesday morning.
“We felt that bringing Chris up, a right- handed defenceman, would help our puck- moving ability,” Vigneault said.
“A lot of times the left- handed defenceman on the right side, it’s tough for him to see the opening, to see the cross- ice seams that are open there ... Right now, we are having some trouble with our puck movement on the back end and for those who remember Chris, he was a real solid puck- mover with a lot of confidence and really good reads ... so we thought we’d call him up.”
For Tanev, it’s another chance to prove he belongs, although he thought maybe he had done that in the pre- season. It looked like he had made the team, but the Canucks decided he’d get more work in Chicago and shipped him off to the Wolves.
“It’s hockey, it’s a business, you’ve got to get over things pretty quickly,” Tanev said Thursday.
“I wanted to stay with the team, but things happen, I am happy to be here now and I am going to try to take advantage of the opportunity.”
What made his pre- season demotion even more difficult was the fact that Tanev got hurt in his first game with the Wolves.
He suffered an abdominal injury after taking a hit and missed a month.
By all accounts he has been playing well with the Wolves since returning from that injury. He had no goals and 12 assists in 25 games with the Wolves and was a plus- five. With coach Craig Mactavish, Tanev has been working on trying to expand the offensive side of his game and has been seeing regular power- play duty.
But he seems to have a clear understanding that he will be judged here by the work he does in his own end.
“I am not going to try to force things, there’s enough guys in this room that know how to score,” he said.
“But if the opportunity is there I’d definitely be willing to try to contribute in that way.”
Tanev also knows he faces greater expectations than he did a year ago, when he was called up for the first time by the Canucks. Back then, he was very much an unknown quantity.
“There’s definitely a little bit more [ pressure],” he said.
“You are here to play and if I am in the lineup I’ve got to try to do my best and play well or else I won’t be here. There’s always expectations if you are playing and I definitely want to try to succeed.”
Tanev played mainly with Keith Ballard last season on the team’s third pairing.
If he plays with Edler — and coach Vigneault suggested that is likely when the Canucks meet the San Jose Sharks on Saturday — he can expect bigger minutes.
“He is a very good defenceman and I am just going to listen to him and learn and try to help him a little bit out there if he needs any,” Tanev said of the prospect of playing with Edler.
Tanev’s call- up also sends a message to the Canuck defencemen, particularly the likes of Ballard, Aaron Rome, Andrew Alberts and Alex Sulzer.
“Absolutely it does,” Ballard said.
“We have carried eight D- men all year and now with Sami down and Chris coming up there’s competition for us every night.
“As a group all 20 of us haven’t played very well recently. Chris has done well and has earned an opportunity to come and play.”