A NETMINDER’S LONG WAIT
Canucks’ Lack may finally get another start
Monday was Groundhog Day, which Eddie Lack can probably relate to better than most.
For what feels like an eternity, every day has seemed the same for the Vancouver Canucks’ personable backup goaltender — he practises, but does not play.
But tonight, after perhaps the longest three weeks of his life, that déjà vu all over again feeling figures to end as Lack is expected to get the start when the Canucks meet the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Arena.
Coach Willie Desjardins doesn’t like to name his goalie in advance, but acknowledged Monday there was a chance Lack would start against the Jets. And Lack, after initially professing not to know when his next start was coming, said “that may be a good guess” when a reporter suggested to him that he would start against Winnipeg.
It has been a trying season for Lack, who has played better than his record would suggest. He has won only three of his 11 starts this season, but there have been occasions when he has received little in the way of offensive support from his teammates.
“I am a competitive guy and whenever I play I want to win,” Lack said after Monday’s practice. “And when the wins haven’t come it’s tough. But I feel like I am pretty good at parking games, too, and moving on. Obviously, it was a little bit easier last year when I had like a day and a half between every start. But this is how it is right now and I can’t control it.”
Lack has had three weeks to think about his last start, which came Jan. 13 in Nashville. The Canucks lost that game 5-1, but Lack held them in it until the Predators blew it open with three goals late in the third period.
“You know what, I feel like I have been playing well,” Lack said. “There’s five minutes there in that Nashville game that I’d want back. Other than that, the last two or two-and-ahalf months I have been feeling really good. If you look at my numbers during that stretch, too, they are really good. I have been losing a lot of games like 1-0 or 2-1 and those are the kinds of games where you have to try and shut the door and give the boys that extra lift.”
Desjardins stated rather emphatically Monday that he has full confidence in Lack and suggested his lack of action recently has everything to do with how well starter Ryan Miller had been playing.
“I haven’t lost any confidence in him, for sure,” Desjardins said. “I’d characterize it as a tough season for him mentally. He is such a good team guy, he is so supportive. But it has to eat at inside him not to get a chance to play because he wants to play. He is a competitor and he is a good goalie. That is hard on him. He understands the role, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
Lack, who went 2-1-0 versus the Jets last season, has handled his situation well. Nearly always smiling, Lack is loved by his teammates, who appreciate his sense of humour, which is sometimes aimed at the media.
“Another tough day at the office,” Lack cracked to a couple of reporters walking out of the Canucks’ dressing room after Monday’s practice.
Lack acknowledged his recent inactivity has tested his spirits.
“It has been three weeks now and obviously I would have liked to play before that, but Millsie has been playing great. I am just trying to stay positive and think about what I can control and the rest is going to work itself out.”
Just how it all works out is anyone’s guess. The Canucks seem to have considerable depth in goal right now with Jacob Markstrom, Joacim Eriksson and Joe Cannata in the minors and highly regarded 2014 second-round draft pick Thatcher Demko playing well at Boston College.
It would not be surprising to see the Canucks move a goalie — most likely either Lack or Markstrom — before the March 2 trade deadline.
“I am trying not to think about it, but I understand that is part of the business side of hockey,” Lack said. “If I have the choice myself, I would like to stay and battle for my playing time, and battle for my spot here … I have been in this organization for five years now and this is where I always picture myself playing in the NHL and you know what, if I have to wait an extra year and half or two years to be a No. 1, then I am ready to wait for it. But if they don’t want me, then that’s another thing. If they want to move me they have every right to do so. It is kind of out of my control again.”
“I am a competitive guy and whenever I play I want to win. And when the wins haven’t come it’s tough. EDDIE LACK CANUCKS BACKUP GOALIE