Jake DeBrusk had a bit of an unfamiliar feeling as he prepared to hit the ice with his Vancouver Canucks teammates Thursday — butterflies.
The 27-year-old winger is no stranger to NHL training camps, but after seven seasons with the Boston Bruins, Thursday marked his first time skating with a new team.
“It was actually pretty nerve wracking. I was a little nervous going out there,” DeBrusk said after the Canucks’ first day of training camp in Penticton, B.C.
“It kind of caught me off guard, actually. But it was good. The guys are competing and it was fast out there. Trying to get chemistry and things like that, so it was exciting.”
DeBrusk inked a seven-year, US$38.5-million deal with the Canucks when the league’s free agent market opened on July 1, and was quickly pencilled in as a linemate for Vancouver’s star centre, Elias Pettersson.
The duo skated together …