Official Site of Darcy Hordichuk

Darcy Hordichuk hits the street with Fin to hand deliver season tickets to a few surprised fans.

Well that didn’t take long. What a way to start off your Canucks debut. Most figured Darcy would have dropped gloves before scoring his first goal.

Hordichuk scored a tying goal in his Canucks debut against the Oilers. After Edmonton forward Kyle Brodziak opened the scoring with a shot during a power play, Darcy banged in the tying goal seven minutes later.

Then rookie Michael Grabner scored a power-play goal early in the second period, and Vancouver swept a home-and-home preseason series over the Edmonton Oilers with a 2-1 win on Tuesday night.

This is my first trip here to Whistler but what a beautiful place. To have training camp up here is pretty exciting. Unfortunately we’re only here for a couple of days so we haven’t had the chance to go around very much. This is definitely a place where I’d like to come back to in the future and I can only imagine how beautiful it is in the winter.

We’ve got out and done a little bit of exploring, but it’s tough with the practices and everything is so intense and at this point that pretty much everyone just wants to get back to the hotel to rest and get focused for the next day focus. Especially for a new guy like me – I’ve got a lot to prove here.

My roommate is Bernier. He’s a guy I used to run every time I played against San Jose. Now we’re roommates. He’s a good kid, down to earth. That’s what you look for in a teammate.

I guess he’s not too upset about the past year or two. We’re actually getting along great. We’ve got our routine working: get up, get breakfasts together, hit the bus and off to the rink.

We found the hot tub the first day and we’ve been hanging out there after practice. It’s been a good couple of days but too bad it’s ending.

There’s been one hitch though: Bern says said that I’ve been snoring but I don’t believe it. I’m not a snorer. Maybe he’s hearing something through the walls or maybe he’s trying to squeeze a little guilt out of me. I’m not biting,

Mostly we’re on the same page though – shutting it down at the same time, and watching the same TV. Sometimes though, he likes to do little things and I have to just rough him up just to put him in place. I have to let him know, right?!?! Intimidation’s the key with roommates, I think. No, seriously, I think he’s great and hopefully I can get someone who I can get along with like that for the rest of the year.

I feel bad because his English is actually really good but my French on the other hand… I took it for nine years in school and sometimes I can pick up the odd French word but I’m still struggling with that. If you don’t use it, you just tend to lose it. And I’ve lost it.

There’s one upside to a short camp like this – it’s intense and it’s easy to get into it right away. The last couple of days have been pretty up-tempo. I’m impressed by how fast it is and how great the passes are. Everybody seems to be ready and they know it was only a couple of days.

The other things is I like the fact that you don’t have to run your own teammates and you don’t have to fight your own guys on the team. That’s not good for anyone. With camp being so quick, we can focus on pre-season and take it out on some of the other teams. You always hate to see guys get hurt, especially on your team, so I’m glad about the way they’re doing it this year.

I’m not playing tomorrow night in Edmonton, so I’ll have to wait another day or two, but I’m excited to play again.

Being the new guy in town is always hard but coming here was maybe one of the best moves we’ve had. My wife, our two dogs, and I came into Vancouver at the end of August, found a place real quick and now we’re pretty much settled. I mean, we’ve still got furniture coming in everyday but for the most part, we’re pretty much situated and this is home now.

My wife loves it here so far but the move has been a little tough with the pregnancy, it’s her first trimester and she hasn’t had as much energy but she loves it. She’s originally from Fresno, California but she’s lived in Phoenix for the last 10 years so she’s finally getting a chance to experience Canada.

We’re very excited about having our first child and when people ask me if I want to find out if it’s going to be a boy or girl, I just have to know. It’ll be like an early Christmas present and then I’ll wrap it back up but I have to know. We’re coming up on that time so we’ll find out in the next few weeks.

It’s very exciting and I keep asking her if she feels like a mom but she’s not showing too much right now. I don’t feel like too many things are different but we’re definitely excited and hearing the heartbeat just made it that much more real and exciting – it’s a new experience for both of us so we’re enjoying every minute of it.

I hear a lot of the guys here had babies last year so w can definitely lean on them for some advice and stories. But we also benefitted from a lot of the other guys last year in Nashville because a lot of guys were having babies at around playoff time. We’re due in March, so we kind of planned it that way to have it all happen before playoffs.

Vancouver’s incredible so far. It’s just such a good experience and especially the last few weeks we’ve been here, it’s been sunny everyday so we could get used to this. I haven’t had to deal with the rain too much but I hear it something we’ll deal with later on.

Obviously whenever we play, we’d fly in here but being from Saskatchewan, we didn’t really come to Vancouver that much so honestly, I didn’t really know a ton about the city.

It’s so funny because when you’re in the States, everybody’s always saying how Canada’s so beautiful and they’re always talking about British Columbia. Now that I’ve got to experience it for the last two weeks, I know exactly what they’re talking about.

In comparison to Nashville, the cities are definitely different, in that you get the four different seasons and it’s little hillier in Nashville. The people are friendly like here and you don’t get the ocean or the mountains, but I mean both cities are beautiful but I think Vancouver’s got the edge (and I’m not just saying that).

The biggest difference I’d probably have to say is the country music scene. I’ve always loved country music growing up in Saskatchewan – there’s generally a lot of country music out there and you gain quite an appreciation for it – so being in Nashville wasn’t a huge transition for me as far as that was concerned. Once you land in downtown Nashville, it’s all about country music and every bar or restaurant plays it and it’s some of the best music you’ll ever hear.

I’m very excited about the season starting and I think just getting to meet all the guys and getting together for the first time again is the best part. For me, especially getting traded, just getting used to the new lifestyle. Getting ready for my first game with these guys, it’s going to be exciting. I can’t wait.

Darcy Hordichuk is eager to aid the Vancouver Canucks goaltender.

“I’m just kind of feeling out the situation with the coaching staff and see what they want me to do in situations like that,” said Hordichuk, who played with Luongo in Florida.
“Maybe I run their goalie or whatever they want me to do. I’m looking forward to it and some do it [crease crash] more than others. Those are the guys you key in on as a target.”

Just like new Canucks centre Ryan Johnson, who also played with Luongo on the Panthers, Hordichuk knows the value of Luongo who often found himself in a Florida shooting gallery.

“The good thing about him was also bad,” recalled Hordichuk. “A lot of guys let up because they knew Roberto would be there for the big save and you kind of cheat in the offensive end. We’d get outshot 50-25 and win 2-1. It was pretty special to have a guy like that in net.”

Full Story: Former-now-new teammates have fond memories of Lu – [Canada.com]

Video interview with Darcy from Canucks TV.

For a National Hockey League tough guy, new Vancouver Canuck Darcy Hordichuk has an unpredictable taste in dogs.

His on-ice role calls for ferocity and size yet his pets are itty-bitty Shih Tzus named Chandler and Franklin.

Chandler and Franklin? What gives?

“They are to protect my wife,” Hordichuk winked. Wednesday after a skate at Burnaby 8-Rinks. “They’re two big killers. Twelve pounds each. We named Chandler when we lived in Chandler, Ariz., and Franklin when we lived in Franklin, Tenn. They’re loving it here in Vancouver, walking up and down the streets of Yaletown meeting all the other dogs.”

It’s apparent that Hordichuk, the pride of Kamsack, Sask., has retained his sense of humour despite his numerous hockey fights. He realized early on he didn’t have Gretzky-like moves so he embraced the enforcer’s role.

His parents, he admitted, were chagrined. His father is an X-ray technician and his mother a nurse. They weren’t terribly athletic and their other child was a girl, Darcy’s older sister. So this fighting stuff was new to them.

“My parents used to cover their eyes the first 60 fights I was in,” said Hordichuk, straight-faced. “I think they’re used to it now and they know I can hold my own.”

By his own account, Hordichuk was in 73 fights during his two seasons of major junior with the Saskatoon Blades.

In his first professional campaign with the Orlando Solar Bears of the defunct International League, he collected 369 penalty minutes to lead the league.

The Solar Bears won the IHL title so he must have been doing something right.

He understands there is a following for what he does and has his own web site, appropriately named darcyhordichuk.com.

“I knew my role early on in junior,” explained Hordichuk, 28, who signed with the Canucks for three years at $750,000 per season. “I knew if I wanted to make it to the next level I’d have to drop the mitts. I knew that you have to be good at what you do and you have to be willing.”

“I was more than willing.”

Hordichuk isn’t particularly large by enforcer standards. He is listed at 6-1 and weighs 218 pounds. But he has technique and has trained with the likes of mixed martial arts star Chuck Liddell.

“It doesn’t matter how big you are,” he noted. “I throw with both hands. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The first time I got called up [by Atlanta], I fought Bob Probert twice. After that, it was if you could fight Probert, you could fight anybody.

“I think it’s a great role. I’m looking forward to it here in Vancouver. I’m looking forward to playing in Canada.”

Originally drafted by the Thrashers 180th overall in 2000, Hordichuk has also suited up for the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators. The Canucks are his first team in the north and his first team in Canada since junior.

He is pumped.

“I’ve been in the south for a while so playing in Canada is something I haven’t done yet and it’s going to be exciting,” he predicted. “I wanted to come to Vancouver. From what I hear, it’s one of the best places to play. Now I have to show what I can do.”

Hordichuk, by the way, is of Ukrainian heritage so perogies and borscht and “all that great stuff” were among his food staples growing up.

His grandma makes sure he has plenty to eat when he visits during the summer.

“My grandma cooks and I put on about 10 pounds,” he said, smiling. “Then I have to lose it.”

That’s the only kind of losing Hordichuk hopes for as a Canuck.

Source: Elliott Pap – Vancouver Sun

His website greets you with a ‘DH’ emblazoned on a puck that’s enveloped in a swirl of cosmic blue and white.

The ‘DH’ stands for Darcy Hordichuk, but for the new Canucks enforcer it could just as well mean Designated Hitter.

Not only has Hordichuk promised to punch it up with the baddest boys on the NHL block, the fourth-line winger worked with Ultimate Fighting Championship star Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and trainer John Hackleman this summer to put more spring in his step and power in his punch.

At a place called The Pit in San Luis Obispo, Calif., Hordichuk endured twice-daily workout regimens for two weeks after his wife, Lisa, parlayed her friend’s familiarity with Hackleman into a training invitation.

“It’s all about confidence and just seeing how those guys work — they train, then they’re meditating on the beach and running in the hills — was kind of neat and a good experience,” Hordichuk said Wednesday following an informal skate at Burnaby 8-Rinks.

“Obviously, it’s lot different than training on the ice. It’s violent, but it’s a controlled violence and there are things you can learn from hitting the bag with them, wrestling and other stuff to get your stamina up a bit.

“Like your angles coming into a fight. I’ve had my style for the last 15 years and it has worked for me, but I can do some different things.”

Hackleman believes that Hordichuk’s punching power will be five times as effective because of UFC training that involves the hips and shoulders.

“I hope so,” replied Hordichuk. “Hockey is so different than the UFC and it’s difficult to turn your hips when you’re on the ice. But there are ways to get your hips behind it and make your punches more powerful.”

Full Story: Canada.com

Related: Ground and Chuk