VANCOUVER – The 40th player to wear a Vancouver Canucks jersey this season, goalie Nikita Tolopilo said Monday that the National Hockey League is a long way from his home town. He is from Minsk, in Belarus.
But, really, the NHL is a long way from wherever you’re from.
The best league in the world is just a fantasy, an impossible dream, for most players growing up. It’s an incredibly difficult destination to find, and even harder to stay for those lucky enough to get that opportunity.
On Monday, a week past his 25th birthday, Tolopilo, the undrafted “project” who spent this season and last in the American Hockey League, stopped 15 of 16 shots in his NHL debut as the Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in Game 81.
Abbotsford Canuck defence prospect Kirill Kudryavtsev made the short drive with Tolopilo, his AHL roommate, to Vancouver and also played his first NHL game.
Another late-season recall, Aatu Raty, won two key draws in overtime to give the Canucks possession before quickly scrambling off for a change, including just before Jake DeBrusk’s game-winner with 18 seconds remaining.
Linus Karlsson, who came up from the AHL four weeks ago, tied the game on a rebound at 9:03 of the third period as the Canucks rallied to win after North Vancouver’s Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks’ outstanding rookie-of-the-year candidate, put a puck bar-down behind Tolopilo in the second period.
The players on Canuck media-relations post-game menu were Karlsson, Tolopilo and Vittorio Mancini, another rookie defenceman already auditioning for a roster spot next season.
Vancouver’s lineup included seven players who spent swaths of this season in the minors.
So, yes, garbage time feels a little different at the end of an NHL regular season. (The Canucks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoff race five days ago).
But these are like playoff games for the prospects, and most of them will advance to another one Wednesday when Vancouver’s season officially ends against the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Arena.
“This is like playoff games for me,” Karlsson, a 25-year-old who has spent most of three seasons in the AHL, said after his third goal in 22 NHL games. “I love to play in the NHL, and I try to show that every game. Yes, these games are important, for sure.
“I’m just trying to find a role to make the NHL, and right now they need net-front guys and I’m trying to be one.”
Strong on the puck and along the boards, Karlsson scored from Teddy Blueger’s rebound to cap a three-on-two rush that was started by 21-year-old defenceman Elias Pettersson, who suddenly arrived in the NHL in January and doesn’t look like he’ll be going back to the American League next season.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of Abby guys,” Raty said. “Abby’s had a great season so far, so a lot of guys are getting the chance to show for next year, which is great. I’m sure it’s a little bit different here than the end of last year because we’re not playing for the playoffs anymore. But I mean, these are huge games for everyone to. . . make an impression. And obviously, making your debut in the NHL is an unbelievable feeling.”
Tolopilo and Kudryavtsev, who blocked three shots during 13:33 of ice time, were the fifth and sixth Canucks to play their first NHL game this season.
“I wish my parents could watch the game, but it’s so complicated for us to get a visa,” Tolopilo said. “But I think they enjoyed the game at five in the morning back home in Minsk. I think my mother was so nervous, more than me, for sure.
“I’m just so glad that I get a chance. Like, it was a long journey for me. I’m so happy, like, what I’ve done before. Now. . . even more, put in hard work in the summer. We’re not done in Abby (for the AHL playoffs). I want to have a long run there, too. Just to build from this game, I think it’s going to give me a little bit more confidence, for sure.”
Tolopilo said he was told on Friday that he would start against the Sharks, and insisted his game-day preparation was the same as always: skate, sleep, eat, play.
“My hotel, it was a little bit loud upstairs,” he told reporters. “I don’t know what happened, so my nap wasn’t long enough, but still good.
“I don’t think you need to find a lot of motivation; the NHL, it’s the best league. Like, I was dreaming about that since I was a kid. I watched highlights, tried to watch the (games) online. My hometown in Belarus is far away from here. You just, like, want to play here.”
Raty, who spent most of the last two seasons as Tolopilo’s AHL teammate, said: “One of his strengths is just nerves of steel. I don’t think he’s ever been nervous in his life. And he’s really big out there.”
The six-foot-six goalie was strictly organizational depth when the season began, the projected backup in the minors. But his form – and the unexpected struggles of Arturs Silovs, last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs hero for the Canucks – has allowed the Belarusian to play 34 games this season.
“Tolopilo, I thought he was big, he was good,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “You know, he didn’t have a lot of action, but sometimes it’s harder to play those games. I thought he did a nice job.
“It’s good they’re getting a taste. But nothing’s guaranteed. This is something that, you know, they see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now, where are you? What are you willing to do this summer?”
• With the second assist on the winning goal giving him 409 points in the NHL, Canuck captain Quinn Hughes tied Alex Edler for the franchise record for points by a defenceman. It took Edler 925 games to amass that total; Hughes has played 432.
