Day two of Vancouver Canucks training camp brought a different look than day one.
After spending the opening day establishing defensive habits and structure, the Canucks shifted their attention toward the offensive side of the puck, working on playing north, attacking with pace and getting into the offensive zone with purpose.
Assistant Coach Ryan Mougenel is leading the offence and power play, Assistant Coach Jason Krog working alongside Mougenel on offensive principles. Mougenel says the early days of camp are about establishing the foundation of their offence, and details and habits will be the cornerstones of their game.
Having someone like Krog in the fold is something Mougenel says is invaluable when it comes to the offence.
“He's had success at a lot of different levels in hockey, and I think his ability to share that and point things out to the players and the coaching staff is such added value,” Mougenel said. “The players trust in him, which is really important, and I just think that to have somebody like that our staff like that, we're lucky to have his eyes and ears and ability to teach; he brings a tremendous amount to our staff offensively.”
Head Coach Manny Malhotra praised his coaching staff for how they’ve been teaching and helping players learn. The entire coaching staff values the relationship building, which is an important part of training camp.
“They've done a good job of just laying the foundation for the guys, teaching them what we want to be about, and then that really shows in their communication skills, their ability to talk to guys and get to know them,” Malhotra said.
Mougenel is encouraged by how hard the groups have worked over the last couple of days, and he’s looking forward to keeping that going.
“The players want to have success, and they're an extremely determined group, even in the first two days,” he said. “We've been pleasantly pleased with how practices have been and the interactions with the players, it's been refreshing.”
The foundation of their offensive identity is to play to a 1-3-1 structure that has options, get the puck back when it’s lost, and make life difficult for the opposition once the Canucks have possession.
“We want to create anxiety by making plays to the paint, and then we want to be a team that attacks. We want to look at the net, we want to be at the net, and we want to arrive on time,” Mougenel said. “We want to play in the interior, that’s a big message, playing on the inside and hanging on to pucks – coming to the puck. Possession time is great, but it means nothing if you're not inside and making plays for the net.”
While the structure is there to create more opportunities, there’s also a balance the coaching staff is looking for between structure and giving players the freedom to play to their individual abilities. The goal is to give them a framework and allow them to use their instincts on the ice.
They coaching staff went over offensive details like how they want players to play the puck, how to get it back, how to reload, and how to come to the puck, and various other concepts that will give players more opportunity to have success in the offensive zone.
The player’s attention to the small details has stood out early, Mougenel was pleased with how the players executed the drills on day two.
“We understand there's going to be mistakes and there's going to be misreads, that's what this is about right now, but we've just been really pleased with the things that we're trying to accomplish and that everybody's bought in from young players to the veterans, they've been really attentive,” he said.
The coaching staff will continue to add details that will develop into habits as the preseason and season progress.
“It's layered learning. For us, the simplicity of it: stopping at the net, finding second shot opportunities, D finding the opportunity to get pucks past the first layer, these are all habit-based. Sometimes it's as simple as driving to the net and not opening up for a one-timer all the time. We can always add layers to our offensive game, and that's what it's about right now, building a strong foundation of how we want to play, why we want to play like this,” Mougenel said.
The layers will come, but the foundation is being built first.
The focus right now is on creating a clear picture of what the Canucks want their offence to look like, focusing on the details and developing good habits.
