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Canucks: 3 takeaways from Brock Boeser’s radio interview

By Zaahid Lalani

VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 22: Brock Boeser #6 of the Vancouver Canucks skates with the puck during NHL action against the Ottawa Senators at Rogers Arena on April 22, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 22: Brock Boeser #6 of the Vancouver Canucks skates with the puck during NHL action against the Ottawa Senators at Rogers Arena on April 22, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /
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It’s been a long summer, but the Vancouver Canucks are finally gearing up for the start of the 2021-22 season.

With training camp set to kick off on Thursday, it was no surprise that players have already returned to Vancouver in preparation for the new hockey campaign, including winger Brock Boeser, who joined Bik Nizzar and Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 radio yesterday afternoon.

Boeser, who made the trek from Minnesota to British Columbia about a week and a half ago, spoke to Nizzar and Batchelor about a number of different things heading into his fifth full season with the Canucks, getting fans more and more excited to see “The Flow” return to Rogers Arena.

Without further adieu, here are three takeaways from Boeser’s interview:

Return to normalcy, personal goals

Like all NHL players, Boeser is excited for things to go back to the way they were.

Earlier this summer, the league announced that all 32 teams would be returning to a full 82-game schedule, in addition to their pre-pandemic division formats. In other words, teams won’t be stuck playing the same seven or eight teams over and over again, which was a big relief for Boeser.

"“Last year sucked”"

Of course, there’s a lot behind this statement when it comes to the Canucks, especially if you look back at their position in the standings. They finished the shortened season with a record of 23-29-4, good for 24th in the league and dead-last in the all-Canadian Scotia North Division. For Boeser, he knows that the team has extremely high expectations coming into this year, and he’s hoping that the Canucks can bounce back in a big way.

“We didn’t play up to our standards at all last year,” Boeser noted.

The 24-year-old is hoping that he can be a big part in that bounce-back, and it sounds like he has put in the work over the summer to help the cause. Specifically, Boeser spoke of his commitment to reducing his upper body movements while skating to reduce energy, and to increasing the power of his shot.

“I’m playing with confidence right now,” Boeser answered when asked about how he finished off last season. “I feel like I can be a difference-maker for this team”.

Winning percentage aside, Boeser is also looking forward to travelling outside of Canada and playing in front of fans again. As of right now, most NHL teams are preparing to host games at full-capacity. Here in B.C., we are still in Stage 3 of the province’s re-opening plan, meaning that all major sporting events, such as the Whitecaps, Lions and Canucks, can only host games at 50% arena capacity. As a result, it’s expected that all pre-season contests will have to adhere to that guideline, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of a full Rogers Arena come mid-October.

Regardless of how many fans will be in the building, it’s safe to say that all Canucks players, including Boeser, are looking forward to hearing the noise again.

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