At training camp, Vancouver Canucks players describe how off-ice interests help them reset mentally for hockey seasons.
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At this stage of the Vancouver Canucks season, the focus at training camp is squarely on hockey, with players spending most of their time preparing for the next game. But several members of the roster say the sport can become all-consuming, and that getting away from it is essential—especially once the training and travel schedules settle into a longer rhythm.
Marco Rossi said his offseason routine is built around leaving the rink mindset behind. He described the feeling of life being dominated by hockey while he’s in Vancouver during camp, adding that it’s important to return to home life and spend time with family and friends. Rossi also said he’s eager to get outdoors in B.C., pointing to hiking as his preference, even though he has not yet gone hiking anywhere in the province since arriving midseason.
Rossi’s comments came as he reflected on the personal side of returning home, including time with his wife, family and friends. As someone from Austria—where, he said, there are many mountains—hiking fits naturally with his idea of a fresh mental start. For Canucks fans, the practical takeaway is that even players arriving from elsewhere can look to local outdoor options as part of their offseason reset.
Tom Willander described a different kind of break: reconnecting with friends from his earlier life rather than focusing on hockey during downtime. He said those relationships help him feel like a teenager again because the people around him do not see him primarily as a professional athlete. Willander, who is 21, said he values being around people who have known him for a long time and can therefore bring a more normal perspective.
Other players mentioned using activities such as golf or fishing to quiet the hockey part of their minds for a while. For some athletes, the goal isn’t to completely detach from the sport, but to shift attention long enough to preserve energy and reduce the mental churn that comes with constant focus. Zeev Buium, for example, said he doesn’t necessarily want distance from hockey, describing himself as a “hockey nerd.”
Buium said he enjoys watching hockey even as a way to take his mind off other hockey pressures. In his view, staying engaged with the sport is itself a form of relief, particularly because it allows him to look forward to the return of the game and to keep his attention in a place that feels familiar. That perspective underscores how “off-ice” interests can vary from full disconnect to simply reframing how hockey fits into downtime.
Adam Novotný said he still turns to sports with his friends, including golf, but he also highlighted darts as a pastime with roots in his home region. He described darts as popular in Czechia, especially in smaller towns where local pubs may have darts teams. Novotný said he is from Hradec Kralové—also the hometown of Canucks teammate Filip Hronek—and that he has experience playing darts from a small village where it was common.
Novotný said he spent about a year playing darts with a village pub league team in a low division and has occasionally continued for fun. He also indicated he would be curious to find out whether any of his teammates are interested, saying he has no clear sense of how good others might be, but that he feels confident about his own ability. For supporters, the darts detail offers a clear example of how Canadian NHL offseason habits can coexist with very specific local sporting cultures from players’ backgrounds.
Liam Öhgren said his go-to method of stepping away from hockey is video games, which he plays primarily with his brother. He described that approach as a way to take hockey away for a bit and focus on something else, naming FIFA and Call of Duty as examples. Öhgren also said he is looking forward to the new Grand Theft Auto VI, while noting that at the time of speaking he was playing NHL online and using a personal “card” rated at 99.
Öhgren said he has been interacting with the NHL game in a way that creates connections with the real hockey world, since other players recognize him through the online profile. He said that results in messages after games and that he finds it entertaining. He also commented on the realism of the game’s face scans, saying his looks “not too bad,” with the main issue being related to hair, which he said he actually likes overall.
Kevin Lankinen’s approach to resetting is anchored in reading rather than sport or gaming. He said he travels with a book on long road trips and also reads at home to help him fall asleep. Lankinen framed reading as a mental switch that preserves energy when he’s stepping away from hockey and then allows him to be “dialled in” again when he returns to the rink.
Lankinen said he has started reading Game of Thrones, returning to the story after being a fan of the TV show “years ago.” He described the book series as A Song of Ice and Fire and said five of an expected seven books have been published, each around 1,000 pages long. He also referenced author George R.R. Martin’s continuing work on the next volume, The Winds of Winter, situating his current reading as part of a series still in progress.
Jake DeBrusk described an offseason passion for Pokémon cards that has endured even through busy schedules. He said he loves the trading aspect and the negotiation involved, describing the hobby as both niche and nostalgic. DeBrusk said he attended multiple large events in the Calgary or Edmonton area and emphasized that he enjoys participating in those “big shows,” connecting the hobby to a broader community beyond the rink.
He said the nostalgia predates the animated series and video games, dating back to recess trading as a kid. DeBrusk described a period of moving around that led to his cards being discarded, and said he later got back into collecting and trading because his girlfriend wanted him to find a hobby other than hockey. At training camp, he also said he stopped into local shops in Penticton to look at Pokémon cards, and he noted that other players have begun exploring the hobby too.
DeBrusk said there are different ways to engage with Pokémon cards, including an investment-focused approach and a more fun-oriented route such as completing a collection or chasing a favourite character. He said he enjoys meeting people who share the hobby and that trading has always been the core of what draws him in. For Canucks fans watching training camp unfold in Vancouver, the range of off-ice interests—from hiking plans and darts leagues to reading and card trading—offers a window into how players are balancing high-performance routines with activities that keep them mentally grounded for the season ahead.
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