Canucks Coffee: J.T. Miller, Rick Tocchet shoot from lip on playoff ...

It’s here and it’s there. And it’s everywhere.

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And it’s hard for the Vancouver Canucks to ignore.

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With the hype meter on high, and constant reminders of what awaits after ending a four-year NHL playoff drought, it’s hard to live in the moment.

The Canucks are supposed to own the day, but they can’t wait for the day their second season commences.

J.T. Miller knows the road to redemption is right around the corner. Rick Tocchet knows he was banging the drum too long and loud of what to expect in the second season because the first concern is supposed to be about now.

Good luck with that.

His players talk of a single-game focus. It’s admirable, but it’s too close to the playoffs to not be consumed about clinching home-ice advantage in the first round and who they may face.

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So, here we are.

Four regular-season games remain and a 4-3 playoff-like victory Monday over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights was proof they can get back to owning the day and not sway from the task at hand.

So sit back, take a few sips and take some tips from those who have been to the big dance and what to expect:

J.T. Miller tests Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson from the slot during Monday’s matchup at Rogers Arena. Photo by ETHAN CAIRNS /THE CANADIAN PRESSFIRST SERVING: Miller: ‘You don’t get it until you experience it. It’s just the facts.’

Miller knows playoff joy and pain.

It’s why he spoke Monday of the experience of being so close to the Stanley Cup final and so amped to return to the real playoffs. When you get as close as he did, and were probably too young to understand the magnitude of the moment, it only increases the hunger.

Miller was a brash 21-year-old in 2015 when the New York Rangers lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final at Madison Square Garden. Three years later, his Tampa Bay Lightning lost Game 7 of the conference final on home ice.

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“You don’t get it until you experience it. It’s just the facts,” said the Canucks centre. “We can talk about the right things to do, but it’s until it actually happens to you. What I’ve learned in my playoff experience is an astronomical amount. I had no idea what was going on.

“I learned what it takes and you have to go through and experience it.”

Miller also knows that the Canucks have earned their lofty status and shouldn’t lose their way because the second half of the season has been a tougher slog. The hunters became the hunted and playoff-style matchups down the stretch bode well for sharpening their game.

“With the amount of talent and the way our group plays, there’s no reason why we can’t go in there (playoffs) with the standard we’ve played to,” stressed Miller. “We’ve proved we can play with anybody in the league when we’re on our game, and that’s all I worry about.”

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Six current Canucks played in the 2020 playoff bubble experience, but those 17 games weren’t played before raucous crowds amid COVID-19 protection protocols. Thatcher Demko amazed with stunning performances to push the Golden Knights to seven games in a second-round matchup.

Other than that, well, let’s let Miller explain.

“We had some special times as a team,” he recalled. “That’s the only thing I’m really going to take away. The intensity was in the games but there was just no emotion in the building obviously, which is a gigantic part of the playoffs. 

“I’m not going to discredit teams that went far because it is a grind. We had our own battles to deal with in being away from family and locked in a little bit of (COVID) prison, if you will.”

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Fast forward and Miller knows what’s happening in the room. Players are already pondering the playoffs.

“We’re trying to say all the right things and do the right things,” he added. “The leadership and guys who have been through it before have to step up.

“It’s going to be hard for a lot of guys to stay 100 per cent focused when the crowd is rocking and in you’re in an away building and you can’t think straight or haven’t had the puck for five minutes.

“It’s hard. But it’s a learning experience. But it’s also the best feeling when you can get an opposing building to be quiet. That’s something you learn along the way.”

Rick Tocchet has reached key players to exact maximum performances on most nights this remarkable NHL season. Photo by Nam Y. Huh /THE ASSOCIATED PRESSSECOND SERVING: Tocchet: ‘A couple of weeks ago, I was probably the main culprit.’

We all know the mantra from the man behind the bench.

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His non-negotiable staples call for daily diligence to ensure sustainability and avoid vulnerability. And to his credit, he got the buy-in from Day 1 because of respect for a former formidable player who became a coach who never stopped learning.

And aside from all the strides to become a competitive team that can contend and not pretend, he’s now in new territory here. His players have crammed for the final exam and that required energy and promoted exhaustion. Telling them how tough that final test is going to be doesn’t always help.

“A couple of weeks ago, I was probably the main culprit,” Tocchet admitted Monday. “I wanted guys to understand the next level and what it’s going to take and I was pounding that in their heads. After a while, I had to stop doing that because we were really successful this year with the day-to-day.

“If you start to talking too much that way as a head coach then guys get nervous and antsy. The message is worry about today.”

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