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Tyler Myerswe understand, is a player who likes to talk. He is always ready, and apparently happy, to answer journalists’ questions. When the team was struggling, which was common during the first four years of his time in Vancouver, he was always there, trying to explain what he was and wasn’t seeing in the team’s performance. the team.

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Now that the team seems to have found its way Rick Tocchetthere is much less explanation of the negative and much more explanation of the positive.

It’s something that Elias Pettersson was highlighted Saturday night when asked what Myers, the man of 1,000 games, had taught him about being an NHL player.

“Oh, a thinker,” he said of the question. He paused for a moment, then noted Myers’ perspective on life.

“Always come to the rink and have fun, no matter what happens. You live a good life,” Pettersson said.

As an athlete, Myers is at the pinnacle of the sport. Even when he struggled, he remained among the best hockey players in the world. It’s not something to forget. He gets paid to play a game.

And of course, he is also the parent of three children. He loves being a dad.

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His eldest, Tristan, is a bit of a miracle baby. He was born five weeks early, via emergency C-section, because he had stopped moving in the womb. It turns out he had lost 80 percent of his blood. During the first 24 hours of his life, he suffered a pulmonary embolism. He almost died. He was saved by the NICU of a Winnipeg hospital.

It took 12 days before his parents, Tyler and his mother Michela, were able to hold him. These early life challenges caused Tristan to suffer from cerebral palsy. But he’s thriving, Dad Tyler said. Cochlear implants in both ears helped him learn about the world.

It’s a kind of perspective. This explains the passion that Myers has always shown. When you’re a parent, you want the best for your children. Your view of the world changes once you become a parent, whether your baby has an easy or difficult entry into the world.

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Myers stands out as a leader is logical. He has also learned to make an impact in what he says, clearly. And more often than not, he does it with a wink, a smile, and a laugh.

“He still has a good voice. He always brings humor. He has always been a good teammate,” Pettersson said.

Don’t read it

I remember when my friend Mike Burak first joined the Canadian national rugby team twenty years ago. At that time there was no social media, but there were message boards and the Canadian rugby message board at CanadianRugby.ca.

And some comments were detached.

It was a lesson for Mike: you just shouldn’t read what people say about you. You don’t need it.

Twenty years later, we discovered that social media was a disaster for society. Most of us have terrible, reckless thoughts. We do not need unfiltered access to this information. And then there are bad faith actors, who seek to stir up division and madness in society – sometimes for their own benefit, sometimes just because they do it.

Social media has fried our collective brain. This reveals that many of us are unable to distinguish reality from fantasy.

There is now a direct line between fans and players – but only if you want it to be.

The advice is the same today as in 2004: don’t read the Internet. And don’t tolerate your friends sending you stuff.

The guards are voodoo

Kevin Lankinen is increasingly pointing out how NHL teams strangely value goaltenders.

Why sign a guy to an eight-year contract if you can be smart and find guys like Lankinen?

So keep that in mind when thinking “is this really the list?”

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Because Binnington-Montembeault-Hill isn’t exactly a trio of faded goalies. It’s not Brodeur-Joseph-Belfour, that’s for sure.

But maybe that doesn’t matter? When you’re playing a tournament with the best players in the NHL, it’s what happens in front of the goalie that matters most.

And back to the Canucks: you’re looking at the team that is seventh lowest in expected goals against this season. It’s a solid defense. This is how you become a contender for the cup.

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