Right now, the Vancouver Canucks are in a stretch where the little things are turning into big problems - and the players know it.
Brock Boeser, now one of the more seasoned voices in the locker room, laid it out plainly. “As a younger player, you’re still learning and trying to learn the right way to play the game,” he said.
“You have to work each and every night. Consistency each and every night.”
That’s not just a veteran sounding off - it’s a guy who’s been through the grind, seen what it takes to survive and thrive in the NHL. Boeser’s message is clear: success in this league isn’t just about talent.
It’s about mastering the details, night after night, shift after shift. And with a young group around him, he knows those lessons don’t come easy.
Right now, those details are slipping. One mistake is bleeding into the next.
A missed assignment turns into extended time trapped in the defensive zone. A slow line change becomes a missed opportunity at the other end.
It’s a domino effect, and it’s costing them.
Tyler Myers, now in his seventh season in Vancouver, has seen this movie before. “Mental lapses can lead to less offence,” he said.
“Play the right way, get in front of guys. Make good changes.
I think all that stuff adds up.”
It’s the kind of stuff that doesn’t show up on the scoresheet but makes all the difference in a game. Good habits lead to offensive zone time.
Smart changes give your top lines more rest. Clean breakouts lead to chances the other way.
It’s all connected - and right now, the Canucks are feeling the weight of those connections going the wrong way.
Myers has talked about the importance of those details more times than he’d probably like to count. And that’s the thing - when you’re losing, it’s always the little things that come up in postgame interviews.
When you’re winning, those same details are still there, but they’re part of the rhythm, not the problem. For Myers, the stretches where he hasn’t had to talk about breakdowns and missed coverages have been few and far between.
The Canucks aren’t lacking effort. What they’re lacking is execution - the kind that comes from five guys on the ice pulling in the same direction, shift after shift. And until they start stacking those good moments, those smart plays, those clean sequences, the snowball effect is going to keep rolling the wrong way.