Derek Forbort has played in 550 NHL games and is heading into his 11th season. After one season in Vancouver, he signed a one-year extension with the club and sat down with Canucks Insider Podcast host Chris Faber to talk about his re-signing, his career path, and the Canucks’ defensive corps.
In making his decision to return to Vancouver, Forbort liked the way the blue line jelled and what they were able to do despite the adversity they faced.
“One of the things that I really wanted to come back for was just the way we battled down the second half of the year. We were a team that had a lot of adversity. A lot of crap happened, and I felt like we just did a really good job of sticking together, just battling for each other and formed a good little brotherhood the second half of the year,” Forbort said.
“The thought of coming back and competing for a full year with that group, and especially the D core, we had such good mix of older guys and younger guys, and we all got along really well. There's real cohesiveness back there, especially with Footey. It was fun battling with those guys, so that was kind of a big part of it.”
He enjoys the guys in the room and the leadership on the back end with Quinn Hughes and Marcus Pettersson, which is something that has helped the blue line be consistent down the stretch.
The 33-year-old talks about things he learned as a young player from Robyn Regehr and Matt Greene playing for the Los Angeles Kings and uses those same drills today in his training routine, but also to help the younger Canucks defencemen.
“I'll make [Victor Mancini] or D-Petey do some drills with me after practice and sure, they're like, ‘what is this?’ and I'm like, ‘Don’t worry about it, just pass me the puck.’ It's fun to work with them and they're such great kids and they work really hard. They're eager to learn and it's fun when you get guys with that attitude,” Forbort said.
Forbort gives insight into why he thinks Adam Foote will be a great head coach and what Foote contributed to the team as an Assistant Coach last season.
“He's a really good communicator. When he'd run drills in practice, he did a great job with getting the energy up, and we knew what he wanted. He loves high-compete – that's how he played – and that's what he expects out of us. He'll be great,” Forbort said. “I know him and [Rick Tocchet] I'm sure have pretty similar philosophies on structure and stuff like that. He'll definitely have us competing in practice and going hard for sure.”
Forbort also played for Canucks’ newly appointed Defensive Assistant Coach Kevin Dean during the 2021-22 season and says it will be nice to see another familiar face on the bench and have another great coach to work with the defensive group.
"When he was in Chicago and working with a lot of young D, I know he did a great job with some of their young guys. We've got some young guys here that he'll do a great job with too. He's just a great human, too. I mean, guys love playing for him,” Forbort said.
After having played in L.A. for five years, he’s happy embracing the West Coast lifestyle once again, and he loves the passionate fan base in Vancouver. He talks about his introduction to Canucks fans after he put Nils Höglander in a headlock during the 2020-21 season.
“My first taste with Canucks fans was after I put Höglander in a headlock a couple of years ago; they were all up in my Instagram comments,” Forbort laughed. “So it's good to mend that fence and they're awesome. You see people around and everyone's just so enthusiastic about the team, and people care so much. It's really fun to play in a market where people are that into it.”
He says the infamous headlock incident is even funnier since he’s had the chance to get to know Höggy and also shares that it was all in the spirit of the game and there’s never been any hard feelings.
“I realized how big of a goof he is. Even after that whole thing happened, we'd be at the faceoffs and he'd just be smiling at me and laughing, and I’m like ‘Who is this kid?’ But it's good, he's a really funny guy. Me and him have a really good relationship and we're always making fun of each other, and we laugh about it all the time,” Forbort said.
Forbort is also a big Survivor fan, and shares that he and Jake DeBrusk debrief about the show every week. He gives his picks on who would walk away the sole survivor in the Canucks locker room.
“I think Fil Hronek probably. I could see him catching a wild boar and eating it like no problem,” he said, adding “I think Fil would play a pretty straight up game. He would get his alliance, and he would stick to it, I don't think there'd be much backstabbing there. So, it’d be a pretty elementary game for him, but I think he could do it.”
Watch the latest episode link here:
