Canucks: Myers knows his mind is willing, but post COVID-19 body may not be
Tyler Myers faced another challenge Sunday.
For the veteran Vancouver Canucks defenceman, this one wasn’t the brutal body malaise and mind-numbing experience of recovering from the coronavirus.
It was adjusting on the fly to a previous pairing with Alex Edler — following the trade-deadline departure of partner Jordie Benn — while attempting to remain competitive and disciplined following the club’s 24-day hiatus from an NHL game.
The long and arduous absence was driven by the March 31 shutdown after a COVID-19 outbreak that affected 22 players and drove home the point that health and safety trumps everything — even playing.
However, Myers and his teammates vow to make the best of a bad situation. That’s admirable. And taxing.
It won’t be easy to grind out 19 games jammed into 32 days to complete a 56-game slog that will invite further fatigue and injuries. And even though the mind is obviously willing, the body will be lagging behind.
How bad did COVID-19 strike Myers?
“Very similar to other guys,” he said Sunday before facing the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Arena. “I had a rough first three or four days, then it progressively got better. I had a lot of things — eight to 10 symptoms — like headaches, body aches, fevers, chills, fatigue, sore throat and congestion.
“Some guys are still dealing with those to some extent, but certainly better than the start.
“The hardest part was when all the families got it. I was fortunate that I go it first and went through the first two days before they got it. We had some preparation for them and I calmed down a little bit. It made me anxious, but it seemed the kids handled it better than the adults and that made a lot of us feel better.”
Not sure how facing the high-octane Maple Leafs will make Myers and his teammates feel Sunday and Tuesday.
Could they ice respectable lineups and keep up to the North Division leaders? Or, would they be reaching holding, hooking and high-sticking to slow down Auston Matthews, who took a league-leading 32 goals into the Sunday matchup?
“It’s going to be a challenge for sure and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t,” added Myers. “I don’t think the guys have gone through anything like this, but the mindset is the same. It’s going to be important to keep it simple and not try to force things. We know how we have to play and we have a lot of competitive guys.
“The extra two days (to prepare) helped quite a bit and we had a pretty good last two skates. You could tell guys were trying to push through the fatigue.”
The Canucks were leading the league in penalties before they lost 5-1 to the Winnipeg Jets on March 24, their last outing before the NHL-mandated, six-day break and virus shutdown. At that time, Edler was third overall with the most infractions (16) and Myers was tied for fourth (15). The Canucks had also been assessed eight bench infractions for too many men on the ice, second most in the league.
Foot speed is everything in today’s game. If it’s missing, or if you’re a bid-bodied guy like Myers who must work hard to manoeuvre into down-low defensive positioning, it can be a struggle to not take a penalty while impeding the opposition and not being in peak condition.
However, even with a small margin of error, don’t expect coach Travis Green to cut his club any slack, especially if it leads to turnover and penalties.
“There’s no leeway when it comes to discipline,” he stressed.
Myers understands the thought process, but this isn’t a normal transition to returning to play.
“It’s tough — it’s such a unique situation,” he said. “As players, we want to get to a level we’re used to. But we also have to acknowledge what we went through. Even in a normal world, you don’t want to be a step behind and grabbing guys.
“We’ve got to stay out of the box because they have a lot of guys who can make plays.”
AVS VACCINATED, CANUCKS NOT
The red-hot Colorado Avalanche have been cooled down by COVID-19.
With four-straight victories, nine in 10 and a league-leading 30-9-4 record that includes a 21-3-3 run since Feb. 26, the West Division club is living up to the hype of being a bonafide Stanley Cup contender.
Then came one, two and now a third roster player on the league’s COVID-19 protocol list. When Joonas Donskoi tested positive to join former Vancouver Giants star Bowen Byram and Philipp Grubauer, games against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and Sunday were postponed, along with a Monday meeting with the St. Louis Blues.
Unlike Canada, where there’s a slow rollout of vaccines to keep the Canucks in a waiting line, Avalanche players and staff were vaccinated last week, but some developed post-vaccine illness.
Canucks captain Bo Horvat tested positive for the virus and an earlier vaccination could have helped. However, those in the organization are not deemed an essential service by Vancouver Coastal Health.
“It’s a little bit of a slower rollout here in Canada,” said Horvat. “We’ve got to get the essential workers done first. That’s out of our control and I guess we have to wait our turn.”
bkuzma@postmedia.com
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