Three coaches, two GMs, captain traded, long-time teammate bought out. Garland has endured a lot
Conor Garland has seen just about everything in his two years with the Vancouver Canucks. Everything but the playoffs, that is.
As the veteran winger returns for his third season in Vancouver after being acquired by the Canucks at the 2021 National Hockey League draft, he hopes the the chaos and turmoil that has enveloped the organization during his time here is a thing of the past and that he and his teammates can finally start to make some headway in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference playoff chase.
In the span of 156 games in Canuck colours, the 27-year-old from Scituate, Massachussettes has played for three head coaches (Travis Green, Bruce Boudreau and Rick Tocchet) and a pair of General Managers (Jim Benning who traded for him and now Patrik Allvin). On top of that, he watched as longtime captain Bo Horvat was dealt away ahead of last season's trade deadline and then saw his longest-serving teammate Oliver Ekman-Larsson bought out by the hockey club in June. Oh, and if that's not enough, his name has been floated in trade speculation for more than a year now. Really, it's just been non-stop noise and distractions around the entire organization since Garland arrived.
But Garland says now it's time to lower the noise level around the hockey club and up the team's point total.
"I feel like the stability in the organization and around the team is probably the highest it’s been since I’ve been here and you can feel that as a player," Garland said after pre-camp skate at UBC this week. "So it’s exciting times, you want to get going and we understand that last couple of years we’ve had those playoff aspirations, but really never acted upon them I would say. We never really practiced like it or trained like it in training camp. But this year, you can feel the difference. You can feel the optimism, but also the focus around it especially with Huggy and Petey and Millsy and Demmer kind of carrying the way, so everybody can sense it."
For his part, Garland knows he hasn't lived up to his own expectations in his two seasons in Vancouver. In his first year, he registered 19 goals and finished with a respectable 52 points in 77 games. Last season, despite a hattrick on the final night of the season against his old team in Arizona, his goal total dropped to 17 and his production fell to 46 points.
There have been factors that have prevented Garland from reaching the 20-goal mark in Vancouver. He's been limited to primarily a third-line role and hasn't played with particularly gifted centres. He has also seen very little power play time. But Garland isn't looking for excuses. He knows he can be better and he knows he has to be.
"You have to control the controlables and my play is something I can control and it hasn’t been where I wanted it at a consistent basis at all since I’ve been here," he said. "It’s been there, just not on a consistent basis. I had a good summer this year and I feel good and I feel confident. I never don’t feel confident, but this year I feel much more confident in my abilities to go out and be the player that I can be for a full season. I’m excited to get going."
With Ekman-Larsson no longer in the fold, Conor Garland is the only Canuck that has experienced a Rick Tocchet training camp. So he knows what to expect when the team hits the ice in Victoria later this week.
Garland had his best NHL goal-scoring season under Tocchet in Arizona when he potted 22 goals in 67 games in 2019-20. He backed that up with 12 goals in 49 games -- and was on pace for another 20-goal season -- in the 2021 COVID season.
"Everybody’s talking about the need to get off to a good start," Garland said. "We’ve got a tough schedule out of the gate, but I’ve been in Tocc training camps before. They're hard and you’re ready to go. I’ve always got off to a good start under him because you feel ready to go. You feel the intensity and the competition at camp right away. And that’s a necessity."
And Garland believes the 36 games Tocchet had behind the bench after taking over in January will pay dividends for the Canucks starting this week as the team lays the foundation for the long season ahead.
"I was excited when he came in, just knowing what he brings," Garland added. "I played my best hockey under him. And Greener, really, too, who are both kind of similar. But I loved playing for Tocchet and I’m glad he’s back. It’s good for everybody to understand the system and to understand the standard he wants because it is a standard where he doesn’t care if you’re at your best, but you better compete and better play hard and you better be 100 percent for the team all the time because he sniffs that out. He’s just somebody I love playing for and all the guys here loved playing for him. We’re eager to get going and get some real games under him at the start here."
For Conor Garland, he's certainly hoping the third time is the charm and that his third season in Vancouver is unlike the first two -- on so many levels.