VANCOUVER — For a guy who is still younger than most coaches just starting out in professional hockey, Jeremy Colliton has been through a lot.
The former Chicago Blackhawks head coach, left to publicly answer all the tough questions about the organization’s disgraceful handling of sexual assault in 2010 by former video coach Brad Aldrich on prospect Kyle Beach, was fired in November when what remained of management , came out of hiding after the team’s 1-9-2 start.
Colliton’s first day on the new job was Monday when the Vancouver Canucks summer development camp opened at the University of British Columbia
On July 1, general manager Patrick Alvin, who had been in talks with Colliton for months, named the 37-year-old Canucks minor league coach to Abbotsford.
“I feel good moving forward and I’m excited about the opportunity,” Colliton said after Day 1. “But you’ve got to take (the layoff) personally, right? Taking a step back was tough (in Chicago). It was a tough situation. There have been many challenges every year, right from Day 1 to the end. It was a lot.
“But in saying that, I feel like I’ve grown a lot since going through it. You grow much more from adversity than when things go smoothly. We’ve had a lot of that, so I feel like I’m fully prepared for the next thing.”
The former Prince Albert Raiders junior star, who spent most of his eight seasons as a pro playing for the New York Islanders’ farm team, coached just over a year in the American League before the Blackhawks fast-tracked him to the NHL in 2018 to take over from Joel Quenneville.
He was an NHL head coach at 33 – younger than some of the players on the aging team he succeeded.
Colliton said there were other coaching opportunities he could have pursued, but chose to return to the AHL with the Canucks.
“I was willing to wait and just spend time with my family,” he said. “I wanted to make sure it was the right thing. It wasn’t so much the position as the people and the feeling that they really believe in me and I believe I can make an impact here. Talking to Patrick specifically about his long-term vision for the Canucks, that was really interesting. It felt like a good fit.”
It should at least fit better.
TWO POINTS OH THANK GOD
New Canucks draft pick Elias Peterson, they call him 2.0 because the original Elias Peterson already plays in Vancouver, wants the English pronunciation of his first name to be used in North America. So it’s Ely-us, not Illy-us, which will help keep everyone from getting them confused if the Petterssons end up in the same line-up.
“My friends call me EP,” he said.
Yeah, that probably won’t work with the Canucks. But we can’t help but confuse the Petersons as players. The rookie, who looks bigger than his six-foot-two, 185-pound draft listing, is a physical defenseman who still skates well and can handle the puck. Just 18 years old and three days removed from being selected No. 80, Peterson’s competitiveness was noticeable among the 37 players in development camp.
“I try to be tough and play hard out there,” he explained. “I think that’s also one of my strengths in the game.
“Last year I played in the SHL with the big boys. My coach told me to be tough out there. I learned so much last year. . . stand up for myself and be tough out there.”
Petersson is under contract with Orebro of the Swedish Hockey League for the next two seasons and has an option to move to North America for the 2024-25 campaign.
He said he hasn’t spoken to the other Elias, aka Petey, but he did respond to the Canucks’ star goaltender’s social media meme of two Spidermen facing each other.
“I’ve seen it so much,” 2.0 explained. “I said thank you. It was fun.”
BOBBY ORR? WHO IS THIS?
Top draft pick Jonathan Lekerimaki, the scoring winger selected 15th overall on Thursday night, found his first Canucks jersey with No. 4 on it. He did not respond when the name Bobby Orr was mentioned to him by a reporter.
Lekerimaki wears No. 88 for Dürrgardens in Sweden, where he will return under contract next season, although the Vancouver Giants claimed his junior rights in the Canadian Hockey League’s import draft.
His coaches at the camp include Swedish legends and newly elected Hockey Hall of Famers Daniel and Henrik Sedin, whom Lekerimaki met on Sunday.
“Special,” he said. “Very special.”
TO STAND OUT
The Swede who stood out the most on the opening day of development camp was forward Linus Karlsson, understandably so.
Many of the prospects in Vancouver, including 13 undrafted invitees, are trying to begin their journeys in professional hockey. Karlsson, 22, has spent the last four seasons in professional hockey and was named SHL Rookie of the Year last year after scoring an impressive 26 goals and 46 points in 52 games for Scheleftea.
A third-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in 2018, Karlsson was traded to the Canucks in 2019 in exchange for Jonathan Dahlen. Karlsson is significantly stronger and faster now, according to Canucks staff, and the team signed him in May to a two-way NHL contract that will likely have the winger playing in Abbotsford next season.
“It wasn’t easy at all,” Karlsson told reporters, showing maturity off the ice as well as on it. “I played in the Swedish second league for about three years. My last year was in the top league. So it’s been a tough road, but I’m proud of it. I still have some time. I want to play in the NHL. I want to work on the same things. . . and try to do everything better.
No one is suggesting that Karlsson will turn out to be the best NHLer out of this group of prospects, but he may be the closest to playing in Vancouver.
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