Lankinen, who signed with the Canucks a week ago, will be playing his first game for the Canucks vs. the Kraken.
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Kevin Lankinen is set to make his Vancouver Canucks debut.
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Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said Thursday that Lankinen, signed by the Canucks last weekend to be Thatcher Demko’s backup, would start against the Seattle Kraken Friday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
Arturs Silovs, who is expected to share the Canucks’ crease with Lankinen to start the season while Demko recovers from an injury to his left knee, will start Saturday in Calgary.
“I’m ready to go, I’ve been preparing all summer,” Lankinen told a handful of reporters Thursday after practice at the University of B.C.’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
“I’m excited to put on the Canucks’ jersey.”
The past week has indeed been a whirlwind, he admitted. He was training on his own in Helsinki until last weekend. Then he signed with the Canucks. Then he had to fly halfway around the world to Vancouver.
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But he knew as his situation stretched out over the summer, looking at the options in front of him — Vancouver wasn’t the only team interested — that once he signed things would happen fast and furious.
“Thankfully I’m prepared and I’m excited for the opportunity here,” he said.
He’s still wearing his Nashville Predators-coloured pads and a Predators-themed mask but he’s hopeful his new gear will arrive soon.
“That’s probably the second thing I did after I signed,” he said with a laugh.
His mask may take more time but he was open to whatever will get it done the quickest.
He’s been using Dave Gunnarsson, otherwise known as DaveArt, for his masks the last few years, but also knows the Canucks have some local options as well.
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“I’m gonna have the discussion with equipment guys and whatever they feel comfortable with, I’m good to go,” he said.
pjohnston@postmedia.com
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