Canucks' Kuzmenko had perfect response after brief benching

Bob Frid/USA TODAY Sports

If you blinked you may have missed it, but Andrei Kuzmenko was briefly benched during Monday’s Vancouver Canucks win at Rogers Arena.

The 27-year-old Russian winger played 17:45 in the game, fourth-most among Canucks forwards. So he wasn’t exactly stapled to the bench all game.

But he did miss a shift or two late in the second period, with head coach Rick Tocchet opting to double shift J.T. Miller instead of letting Kuzmenko skate with linemates Elias Pettersson and Anthony Beauvillier.

Tocchet confirmed after the game that he was sending a message to the first-year forward after some careless plays with the puck.

It was apparently very well received.

“Kuzy turned the puck over three times in a row, so I just sat him for a little bit,” Tocchet explained post-game.

“He understood. He said, ‘Coach, my bad.’ So he sat for a little bit. But I got him back out there. He had a couple chances there in the third.”

Kuzmenko has received some tough love under Tocchet, as he saw his ice time reduced from a 16-minute average under Boudreau to 14:07 in the first seven games of the new coach’s tenure. That stretch saw Kuzmenko score just three points in seven games and included three straight contests where Kuzmenko played under 12:17.

Since playing just 10:35 on February 11 in Detroit, Kuzmenko has excelled under his new bench boss, scoring 12 points (7-5-11) in 10 games — including an assist last night.

It can be a fine line between teaching and alienating players, and given how many points Kuzmenko piled up under Boudreau, you could understand if he was a little reluctant to receive pointers.

But the happy-go-lucky Kuzmenko appears to have the right attitude.

Banana-for-stick

Speaking of Kuzmenko, it’s no wonder he’s become such a fan favourite.

He traded his stick for a banana during warmup last night.

As we know — BIG banana guy 🍌 pic.twitter.com/Fluebtku3j

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 7, 2023

No, he didn’t eat it in-game this time.

1 goal = 1 🍌 for Andrei Kuzmenko#Canucks pic.twitter.com/lDsEX2ONZQ

— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) February 19, 2023

Podkolzin has bright future, according to his coach

Another player showing a great attitude this season is Vasily Podkolzin.

Unlike Kuzmenko, Podkolzin hasn’t had a good season, and that’s putting it mildly.

He didn’t pout when he was sent to the AHL and spoke highly of his time in Abbotsford on Monday night. He said the coaching staff, as well as Henrik and Daniel Sedin, helped him.

“Confidence, first of all,” Podkolzin explained about what he gained with the farm team. “It’s been an important time in my career, this year… I needed to spend time there. Just [gain] confidence, that stay-strong mentality, and do the little things.”

“I just want to say thank you to coaching staff.”

Instead of taking a step forward following a promising rookie season, the 21-year-old winger has taken a step back, at least in terms of production.

But perhaps that’s changing.

Podkolzin has two goals in his last four games. That gives him just six points in 30 NHL games this season — which is well off last season’s pace (26 points in 79 games). And late in overtime against Nashville on Monday, Podkolzin was on the ice.

Tocchet is seeing good things from the Moscow native and views him as an important player going forward.

“We need wall guys. We need inside guys — and he’s the prototypical guy,” said Tocchet. “That’s why I’m so excited to work with him. This team needs those type of players. We’ve got to find more. [In] crunch time, those big plays on the wall or get to the net, get body position on a big defenceman to deflect — that’s going to be his pedigree… He’s only going to get better, I think.”

We need to talk about Quinn Hughes

Somehow, Quinn Hughes is still underrated.

If you don’t believe me, consider this:

Hughes making history.

Congrats to our guy, Quinn Hughes, on becoming the fastest defenceman in @NHL history to 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career assists. pic.twitter.com/lFc034sHgE

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 5, 2023

That’s right. Quinn Hughes just became the fastest defenceman in NHL history to record 200 assists.

NHL history includes the likes of Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, and Paul Coffey, you know. It includes players that played in the high-flying ’80s where goals were a dime-a-dozen.

And Hughes is ahead of them all?

He’s only 23 years old and is top-10 in all-time Canucks defenceman scoring. Barring injury, he’ll pass the likes of Ed Jovanovski, Sami Salo, and Kevin Bieksa to climb into sixth place by next season.

Hughes is climbing the all-time Canucks defenceman scoring list

So no, we don’t talk about him enough.

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