This month has been a remarkable one round these parts — after a couple of years of poor-to-middling weather, we’ve quite literally basked in a glorious summer so far this year. YVR didn’t have a single drop of rain in the month of July, which made the trek to Rogers Arena for the 2013 Canucks Prospects Scrimmage a particularly odd way to spend a Thursday afternoon. Still, thousands upon thousands of people did it, including Samira Noor (@ChaoticAppeal on the mighty Twitter), who filed this piece with Pucked in the Head. Be kind, folks. Jordan Subban broke her heart, dammit.
Prospector Samira Noor, reporting for duty
Without hesitation I willingly gave up the sunshine to sit in that cold, familiar arena for a small dose of summer hockey. Prospects — young players drafted and/or signed by the Vancouver Canucks — hit the ice to a hesitant cheer from a crowd, and immediately the whispers began.
“Who is [insert player number]?”
“His name is what? Why have I never heard of him before?”
“Where is Bo Horvat? I’m only here to see him.”
The state of confusion was shortlived, as everyone (including myself) trundled out their phones to pull up a roster list. Even then, a sense of familiarity sunk in with only a handful of players. Nicklas Jensen, 2011 Canucks draft pick and mini Great Dane, was the easiest to spot. His competitive glare made the scrimmage feel like a regular season game, and his ability to shuffle the puck through defensemen woke up the overly polite crowd.
Frankie Corrado quickly became another favourite, spending every free moment he had near the boards interacting with folks looking his way. A wink or two, a few cheeky grins, a couple of pucks flipped over the glass. Soon enough, he had people making signs for him on their iPads and pressing them against the glass competing for even a second of his attention. It wasn’t difficult. This guy was drinking it up.
More after the jump.
Newest draft pick Bo Horvat was the focus of my attention the majority of the afternoon. (See whisper number three, above.) I’m a big fan of the OHL, but unable to watch regularly, so I was ecstatic to see one of the London Knight’s finest perform in person. Like a lot of Canucks fans, I feel he needs to prove himself worthy, but for me, it’s not because he played a role in the neverending goalie drama. It’s because was selected so early in the draft while Max Domi sat and waited. The number of times I’ve heard about Domi’s spectacular plays and on ice ability…? I was sorely disappointed when the Canucks slid past him to get to Horvat.
I have to admit, the prospects scrimmage didn’t completely convince me he was worth the #9 draft pick, but then again my expectations were so high that only Sidney Crosby in a Horvat jersey could have touched them. I did, though, see what some of the fuss could be about. Eager to please the brass who risked their nards to get him, he kept his eyes on the ice for the entire practice, much like Jensen. There were no playful, Corrado-esque episodes at the boards for Horvat.
He concentrated on the puck, with one eye on the bodies flying everywhere. Horvat’s speed blew just about everyone away. It seemed even his fellow prospects were in awe of his moves, at first — but later on, a couple of players trying to get some attention themselves took runs at Horvat for big hits. Our man Bo didn’t let up, though. Good sign.
The kid certainly has a long way to go before he’s fully in the good graces of the city of Vancouver, but it seems he’s well aware of that. If the scrimmage was any indication, he’ll contribute a few fancy plays at training camp and, hopefully, beyond. The flashier, the better, I guess?
Lastly, the player who won the Easiest to Recognize award was the one who wasn’t on the ice. Jordan Subban, little brother of Norris Trophy-winning Hab PK Subban and newest Boston Bruin Malcolm, sat out with an undisclosed injury. This didn’t stop anyone, male or female, from gushing over the d-man and trying to get his attention, however. Fan signs were raised in the air during every stoppage in play — if iPads and Sharpied construction paper are to be believed, Jordan is by far the “favourite Subban” of the lot, and “better than those other brothers combined.” At one point, I’ll admit, a friend and I teamed up to start a chant in hopes that he would look up. Much to fans’ disappointment, he barely acknowledged the attempts made at him. My heart may have broken just a tiny bit.
He was more than gracious after the scrimmage though, stopping to sign pretty much anything and everything thrown at him. He did that thing he’s supposed to do: pose for pictures with overly excited fans and accept well wishes for the future. He did seem a little intimidated by all the attention (there was a lot, okay? Leave him alone.) Subban made sure he hadn’t left anyone behind before boarding the bus. All the prospects did likewise, actually. Not one of the hockey-starved fans looking for summer signatures left disappointed.
It was clear to see they were surprised that anyone had stuck around after the scrimmage to meet them, but I’m hoping it was a humbling experience instead of something to stroke their egos.
Overall it was a lively experience, well worth losing a couple of hours of sunshine over. I’m already putting quite a few junior games into the fall day timer, just to see the progress these boys make.
I’ll be back with an OHL update or two in a few weeks’ time.