BLOG: Perspective, routine powering Desharnais to NHL success

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Little moments and memories are keeping everything in perspective for defenceman Vincent Desharnais on his path to becoming an NHL regular on the blue line for the Edmonton Oilers.
Four years ago, the 6-foot-6 blueliner was sitting on the couch alongside netminder Stuart Skinner during the 2019-20 ECHL season -- his first professional campaign with the Oilers former minor-league affiliate the Wichita Thunder after four years at Providence College in the NCAA.
The Thunder had just been hammered 8-2 by the Utah Grizzlies on home ice to fall to 12-12-5 on the year with their second consecutive loss by giving up five goals or more. Desharnais was minus-2 on the night, and Skinner had allowed all eight goals on 33 shots in a pair of poor performances from the Oilers draft picks, who were both early into their professional careers.
They didn't know how their careers were going to turn out at that moment, and if their NHL dreams would turn out to be just that -- a dream.
"Is that it?" Desharnais recalled saying. "Are we done playing?"

Flash back to present day, and Desharnais has been in the NHL for nearly one full month since his January call-up from the Bakersfield Condors. Stuart Skinner is an NHL All-Star now as well, and both have become invaluable to Edmonton's push to the postseason.
Desharnais recorded an assist in a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday for his fourth helper in nine career NHL games, while being a physical force in a fiery affair both in scrums and defence to make good on his 'Seaweed Man' nickname for his ability to get a piece of every member of the opposition who tries to attack Edmonton's zone.
"I would say that in the coaches' room, that used to be what we would talk about all the time," Head Coach Woodcroft said of the nickname. "Trying to get to the net was like swimming through seaweed, or swimming through kelp, with the implication being that some piece is going touch you as you're trying to get to that area."
On the bus after the victory, the two former Wichita and Bakersfield players recalled the conversation they had on the couch in the ECHL all those years ago and thought of how far they've come, and hope to go, as members of the Edmonton Oilers early on in their NHL careers.
"We shared some great memories and we're building memories here," Desharnais said.

Over the course of his first month in the NHL, Desharnais has been a creature of habit when it comes to his routine that helped prepare him for his first chance at cracking the big leagues. It's paid off in droves so far, with his arrival in Anaheim to make his NHL debut with the Oilers on Jan. 11 coinciding with an 8-0-1 stretch for the Blue & Orange.
"I think things have gone pretty well," Desharnais said of his first month as an Oiler. "I'm getting better and better every game, every practice and I'm not changing my mentality. I try to wake up in the morning, put a smile on my face, and just go to work, get better. I'll try to keep that for the rest of my career and it's been working for me.
"That's what got me here, and I won't change it. But right now, the most important part is getting two points every night."
The Laval, Que. product keeps to the rigid routine that he established as far back as when he was a member of the BCHL's Chilliwack Chiefs, including keeping a journal to record his thoughts, feelings and lessons learned from every day of the journey.
It's helped carry him all the way to the NHL, where he carries on with his working routine and deep-lying perspective in new rinks like Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where the Oilers face the Flyers on Thursday evening.

"I try to stick with what works, what makes me feel good, and I started doing that when I was in juniors in the BCHL," he said. "I always try to take a couple of minutes before the game or morning escape to kind of look around and enjoy it."
Coach Woodcroft, who heard the name 'Vincent Desharnais' for the first time at a development camp before the defender's time at Providence College, has seen that perspective and drive in the 26-year-old rise up with him through the ranks.
"I see someone who's really comfortable with his own game," the bench boss said. "He knows what he is and he's adding to an area that we felt we could get better at, which is down-low defensive coverage, net play, being hard in those battle areas, and he's a good penalty killer. He's been a big addition to our group."