VANCOUVER – Sometime after fans in Vancouver began chanting J.T. Miller’s name above all other Canucks, an evolution in the fan-player relationship that would have been unthinkable two or three years ago, the team’s emotional leader tried to deflate the adulation.
“If I start playing bad, it’ll be ‘J.T. Booo!’” Miller smiled during a quiet chat one morning.
But even when he was away from the Canucks on a leave of absence for mental-health reasons — this warrior of a National Hockey League player who had missed only seven games in five years — fans at Rogers Arena still chanted his name.
It began at a wrestling event in Vancouver when the team was still on the initial six-game road trip without its best forward, and continued when the Canucks returned home last week.
“J.T. Miller! J.T. Miller!”
It will be deafening Thursday when Miller, after taking 10 games off because he needed to, returns for the Canucks’ home game against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
On Thursday morning, Miller started his first press conference since his indefinite absence was announced on Nov. 19 by asking reporters not to ask about his reasons for leaving.
“I just want to say something,” he began in the Canucks’ dressing room after an optional team skate. “I am playing tonight, and I really would appreciate if we just stayed away from the reasons why I wasn’t here. You can ask all you want, but I’m not going to dive into the reasons why I wasn’t here the last three or four weeks. So I’m here with the team, and I am ready to look forward to what’s going to happen in the future, not necessarily what has happened in the past.
“I know you guys are going to ask no matter what, but I’m just going to say, I’m not talking about it.”
Miller has been generous with us over several years discussing his emotional tug-of-wars, his constant struggle as a player not to let anger or other negative feelings affect his play or his team. Without these emotions, he has said, he couldn’t be the player he has become. And he certainly wouldn’t be the leader he is on the Canucks.
Maybe at some point, he will want to talk about his leave because everyone struggles with something and the fallibility — the humanness — of people thrust upon pedestals and held hostage by fame makes them relatable and can help others.
Miller absolutely has his right to privacy, so maybe he won’t.
But the Canucks are elated that he is back to help them.
“I’m excited,” coach Rick Tocchet told reporters. “He’s excited. The players are excited. You know, he’s one of the best players in the league, so when you get a guy back in the lineup like that it means a lot.”
Will Miller be the same player, applying all that speed, power and skill with the emotions that have always fueled him?
“A hundred per cent,” Tocchet said. “You know, he plays the game the way it should be played, with a lot of fire. I don’t expect anything different. The overall fire thing, yeah, I love it.”
“Just getting him back around the room, we’ve missed him,” friend and linemate Brock Boeser told Sportsnet on Wednesday. “It’s been a lot different without him. He’s a big voice in our locker room, a good leader. We’ve had to make adjustments. Guys have stepped up and guys have spoken. But me, personally, you know I’ve played with him for so long, so I’m excited to see him out there and get that (chemistry) going again.”
Boeser was swamped by emotions for most of two seasons due to the illness and death of his father and the complicated grief that followed. The veteran winger, who plays his 500th game for the Canucks tonight, said no player can be his best without physical and mental health in alignment.
“I’ve been through it,” Boeser said. “I don’t really know what he’s going through, but I’m sure there’s some similarities and differences. It takes courage to get that help, especially when everyone knows about it. It was something I went through and tried to battle through, and obviously I had a pretty bad year. It was hard to push through that. It takes courage, for sure.”
Canuck defenceman Tyler Myers said this morning: “He’s such a big piece to our group. But, you know, sometimes there’s things bigger than hockey. Props to him for stepping away and taking care of those things. It seems like he’s doing really well and we’re just really glad to have him back.”
Miller said he appreciated the outpouring of support he received during his leave, but claimed he was unaware his name was chanted inside Rogers Arena during his absence.
“I don’t think a lot of guys have that much experience with guys stepping away (for personal reasons),” Myers said. “So for sure, you wanted to give him his time and space and give him what he needed, and just let him know that you’re there to support him if he needs it. We all were there for him from a distance and hoping he was doing well.”
Miller said he maintained his physical conditioning during his leave.
“It sucks, no matter what it’s for,” the 31-year-old said of time missed. “You know, this is the family away from family here, and you miss the guys and I’m just excited to be around them and get back and compete.
“I’m sure rust is expected. I think this weekend is four weeks (since I played), so. . . just literally try to make it easy on myself. Try to keep it simple, try to play physical. You know, things that I can control.”
