Despite 3-2 start to season, coach feels some players still struggling to grasp concepts message
Rick Tocchet loved the result on Saturday in Florida. And he liked a lot about the way his team went about achieving the 5-3 victory. But it's also clear that not everyone in a Canucks uniform is playing the way Tocchet wants yet.
After a brisk practice on Sunday in Nashville, Tocchet revealed that he feels his message has only reached half the team. Simple math tells you that leaves the other half that still has plenty to work on. The coach, however, was not naming names or singling any particular players out.
"Through the neutral zone, we're allowing too many shots," Tocchet explained when asked about his chief areas of concern. "Half the guys are doing pretty good, half the guys are still not getting it right. They're skating backward when the pressure hits. In the third period there, I felt a lot of guys were skating backwards when we should be skating forward. We want to press up. We don't want to back off and I feel some guys are backing off when we get the lead. We've got to shake that mindset. It's early and that's why we're chipping away at that stuff."
The Canucks were outshot 19-4 by the Panthers who erased a 3-1 deficit. To Vancouver's credit, however, the Canucks responded with the go ahead goal just 62 seconds after Florida had tied the game 3-3. The Canucks then salted the victory away with an empty netter.
Monday was a full team day off for the Canucks. They'll get back to work on Tuesday night in Nashville to conclude a five-game road trip.
RELATED ARTICLES: