Noah Juulsen has had a remarkable renaissance. A story on the hard-rock defender.
The opponent may not have been having the greatest season, but there was little doubt the Columbus Blue Jackets came to play that night.
They pushed the Canucks hard, held a lead to start the third period and it took an extra gear for the Canucks just to pull the score back level, let alone find a way to win eventually in overtime.
It was tooth-and-nail, no-quarters-given hockey.
The Canucks won because their best players — led by Brock Boeser’s hat trick — did what they do best by scoring goals.
But one of the best players on the undercard, the game within the game, was Noah Juulsen.
Juulsen, the hometown kid now in his third season with his hometown squad, grinned when his efforts were noted by a reporter after that Jan. 27 game at Rogers Arena.
It was a surreal experience, he admitted.
“When you’re a kid growing up, you’re into it, games like that,” he said. “That third period definitely felt like it (the playoffs). The atmosphere in the building. It felt like the fans were into it.”
Drafted by Montreal in 2015, he’s had to overcome serious facial and eye injuries just to keep his NHL dream alive. He was never the fleetest of foot, but in Vancouver he’s found a way to keep himself in the mix as the team’s seventh defenceman.
Head coach Rick Tocchet has raved how Juulsen took the bull by the horns in his own game, figuring out the flaws and working to improve on them. Early this season, Juulsen had some struggles. He lost his spot in the lineup to Mark Friedman.
But once he got back in, he’s rarely been out.
When he was in the lineup he made a difference. He’s proven to be an outstanding penalty killer.
“I’m proud of Noah,” Tocchet said, then noting the connection Juulsen has made with assistant coach Adam Foote.
“The way he played tonight, it just goes to show you (why) he’s one of Footy’s favourites: he listens to Footy. He’s like a sponge. You tell him to do something, he does it,” he added.
“I just like his character. He was terrific tonight. A couple of nice hits, too.”
Juulsen was only credited with two hits by the NHL’s stat-keepers, but both were impactful.
One of them saw him rock Adam Fantilli into the Canucks bench.
Conor Garland said Juulsen was one of the guys he first got to know on the Canucks. Juulsen was picked up in a trade by the Canucks from the Florida Panthers a few months after Garland arrived from Arizona.
And when Juulsen got a regular run with the Canucks in the second half last season, they spent a lot of time together. They were staying at the same long-term residential hotel, along with Sheldon Dries and Phil Di Giuseppe.
“Happy to see him doing well. He deserves it. He works hard and he lays his body on the line for his teammates. It’s nice to have those guys come and add a little bit of oomph to your lineup,” the forward said.
Juulsen turns 27 in April. For much of his youth, Canucks and playoffs went hand in hand. It’s no surprise that he’s cited Kevin Bieksa, the swashbuckling former Canucks blueliner, as his favourite player growing up.
Juulsen doesn’t have the offensive game that Bieksa did, but he has the hard-rock element.
Against Columbus, even as his team fell behind, Juulsen’s ability to deliver the right hit at the right time was uncanny. He kept the energy up during the game.
Which is exactly what his role calls for: Know you’re likely to be a scratch but also be prepared to step in at a moment’s notice.
And be ready to make an impact when the moment presents itself.
“Obviously it’s tough when you’re going in and out, when you don’t play for 10 days or so. Sometimes it does take another game or two to get it going again and find that rhythm and have that confidence again. When five games go by it can be a lot,” he admitted about the role. But he’s figured his way through that challenge.
“The biggest thing is staying positive. Obviously a lot of shit happened to me in the past, but just staying through it, working through, staying positive and looking forward to the next day,” he said.