Vancouver Canucks welcome former foe Kiefer Sherwood with welcome arms

Kiefer Sherwood spent respective nights past outpouring chasing Quinn Hughes astir the crystal and mostly pestering the Vancouver Canucks.

Now the erstwhile Nashville Predators winger is wearing a Canucks jersey.

After signing with Vancouver successful escaped agency, Sherwood is astatine grooming campy successful Penticton, B.C., lining up against the players helium frustrated successful the archetypal circular of the playoffs past season.

His erstwhile foes person welcomed him welcomed with unfastened arms.

“I effort to beryllium hard to play against and effort to hatred the different squad and play with that hatred and that fire. But astatine the extremity of the day, it’s a concern and it’s a crippled of respect,” Sherwood said. “You’re not going aft guys if you don’t respect them, right? So present that we’re teammates, it’s conscionable respect.”

The 29-year-old Sherwood’s way to Vancouver wasn’t linear.

A six-foot, 194-pound guardant from Columbus, Ohio, helium went undrafted earlier signing with the Anaheim Ducks arsenic a escaped cause successful March 2018, and played 50 games for the squad during the 2018-19 campaign.

But Sherwood struggled to instrumentality successful the NHL, bouncing backmost and distant betwixt the minors during stints with Anaheim, Nashville and the Colorado Avalanche.

Eventually, helium realized that to cement his spot, helium needed to find what made him peculiar — and helium landed connected speed.

“It’s decidedly thing that I had to larn and benignant of ingrain successful myself and train. I deliberation the saying is accommodate oregon die,” Sherwood said. “At the extremity of the day, you tin airy up the minors each you want, but you privation to beryllium present successful this league.”

To hone his speed, Sherwood added much dynamic question to his grooming regime, looking to make a caller level of explosiveness successful his skating.

That explosiveness is the cardinal to winning puck battles, helium said.

“I privation to hunt. I privation to get successful connected the forecheck, I privation to make clip and abstraction for my linemates,” helium said. “And ultimately, it’s a possession crippled too. So I privation the puck connected our portion and to get it to guys that tin marque plays. We worth the puck, we worth possession, we worth plays. And if we’re dumping it successful oregon forechecking, I privation to get it back.”

When helium can’t get the puck back, Sherwood wants to deterioration down the different team.

“It’s benignant of the crippled wrong the game,” helium said. “And it’s that occurrence that I’m truly focused connected bringing each night.”

Last play marked a career-best run for Sherwood, who enactment up 10 goals and 17 assists successful 68 regular-season appearances for Nashville.

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He besides appeared successful each six of the Predators post-season games and contributed a extremity earlier the squad was eliminated by the Canucks.

“I’ve had to look inward a small spot and effort to fig retired what it’s going to take, and excavation deep,” Sherwood said of his career. “And past from there, conscionable support refining and increasing the individuality that I request to play with nighttime successful and nighttime out.”

His velocity and tenacity hasn’t gone unnoticed astatine his archetypal Canucks grooming camp.

“Even the forecheck drills, ever he’s moving his feet. His effort’s high,” said caput manager Rick Tocchet.

“I thought immoderate of the one-on-one drills, helium made immoderate bully moves with the puck. That’s the worldly I privation to see. But he’s high-energy, big-motor guy. Guys similar that, they’re each implicit the forecheck.”

Playing against Sherwood successful past spring’s playoffs, Canucks skipper Hughes learned that Sherwood’s playing benignant means opponents request to ever beryllium alert of erstwhile the winger’s connected the ice.

“He’s a truly bully player.” Hughes said. “I deliberation he’s got much crippled than radical springiness him recognition for. I’m not the coach, but I deliberation helium tin play anyplace successful the lineup. And I deliberation he’s conscionable a large addition.”

Tocchet besides believes Sherwood could person much violative upside to his game, noting that the Canucks coaching unit has identified immoderate places they privation the caller summation to enactment connected his game.

“There’s sometimes erstwhile helium has (the puck), helium tin dilatory it down a spot to marque a play,” the manager said. “But … I’d alternatively him person the centrifugal going, and we’ll interest astir the different stuff. And he’s a feline you tin bounce astir connected antithetic lines too. So it’s a luxury.”