Bartkowski banking on ending ‘slump’
CALGARY — The next goal new Canucks defenceman Matt Bartkowski scores will be his first.
It’s safe to say the Canucks did not sign Bartkowski earlier this summer for his offence, although he did manage a respectable 18 assists in 64 regular-season games with the Boston Bruins two seasons ago.
But in 131 National Hockey League regular-season games, Bartkowski has the proverbial goose-egg in the goal department. He vows that is going to change this season.
“I’ll just shoot every puck I possibly can,” Bartkowski said with a laugh before Friday’s pre-season game against the Calgary Flames. “One is bound to go in.”
The 27- year- old Pittsburgh native did score a playoff goal for the Bruins in 2013. STAYS AT HOME: Head coach Willie Desjardins did not make the trip to Calgary. After saying earlier in the week that he planned to travel with the team, Desjardins on Thursday said he’d have to follow his doctor’s orders. Apparently, the doctor said stay home.
Desjardins is recovering from recent hip replacement surgery. He spent one period behind the bench in Vancouver’s 4-0 pre-season loss to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday at Rogers Arena. Don’t be surprised to see him spend part of tonight’s rematch against the Flames behind the bench at Rogers Arena.
AU REVOIR: The Canucks are expected to send several players to Utica, N.Y., this weekend. The Comets are heading to Lyon, France for their training camp at the end of the month, so that is forcing the Canucks to make some early decisions.
The Comets are being joined by the Syracuse Crunch in Lyon, where the two American Hockey League teams will play a tournament with the city’s French league team, LHC Les Lions. NICE COMPANY: With a new son to entertain, winger Derek Dorsett didn’t get to play golf much this summer.
“My boy kept me busy, so I didn’t play much,” said Dorsett. “But I did play a couple of rounds with Jason.”
That would be Jason Day, the world’s top-ranked golfer, who has been on a tear of late.
Dorsett and Day have been good pals for a while. They both married Columbus-area women and have homes in the Ohio capital. Both are also members of Muirfield Village, the Jack Nicklaus- designed course that plays host to the Golden Bear’s Memorial tourney on the PGA Tour each spring.
Dorsett and his wife, Allison, welcomed their first child, Dylan, last December.
LET IT RIDE: His name is Richard Bachman, not Randy, but that hasn’t stopped the 28-year-old goalie from channelling a little Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
Bachman, who is expected to be the Utica Comets’ No. 1 goalie this season, has the words Taking Care of Business — the title of a huge BTO hit — on his mask.
Maybe he should consider adding, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.