PITTSBURGH – Asked after Tuesdayâ€s morning skate here about the most difficult part of his long journey back to the Vancouver Canucks, Joe LaBate paused as he was ambushed by emotion.
“Just different setbacks,†he said. “You get momentum, and then you get a setback. Just stuff that happens. But no, man, I love this game. I love hockey. I love how hard it is. Like, never once has it crossed my mind to stop. I always had that goal to make it back to the NHL and just do whatever it takes.â€
More than 8 ½ years since LaBate, 32, played the last of his 13 games with the Canucks – and with only six National Hockey League games in between – the physical six-foot-five forward is expected in the lineup Tuesday when Vancouver plays the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Signed as a free agent by the Canucks on July 1, LaBate was recalled from the American Hockey League on Monday after Canucks Filip Chytil, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Teddy Blueger were all injured in Sundayâ€s 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals.
Brock Boeser also left the team that day for personal reasons and was not at the morning skate here.
LaBate and Boeser are from the same hometown, Burnsville, Minn., and their older brothers are best friends.
“His older brother’s Paul, and my brother’s Peter, and they’ve been best friends since early in high school,†LaBate said. “We did a guys trip every year. I’ve known Brock probably since he was, like, 12. Being at the same camps or training facilities (in Minnesota), and then together in the summer. So Iâ€ve known Brock for a long time. Great guy, and it’s pretty awesome to be on the same team again.â€
LaBate skated Tuesday morning on the fourth line beside fellow callup Nils Aman and Drew Oâ€Connor.
His last NHL game for the Canucks was on March 28, 2017 when he logged 5:55 in a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Willie Desjardins was in his final weeks as Vancouverâ€s coach. LaBate had been drafted six years earlier by general manager Mike Gillis.
“It’s funny because after the game, I got an email from the (video) coach sending me highlight clips of how I played,†LaBate recalled. “And they’re saying, ‘This is exactly how you need to play, this is what we need.†And it was my last game. I just remember (Ryan) Kesler wanting to kill me and, you know, just playing a hard-nosed game. That’s the game I remember. It’s been a while.â€
LaBate required major hip surgery after that season and spent “seven or eight†months recovering.
“I had to learn basically how to skate again and all that stuff,†he said.
After three years in the Canucks†system, the University of Wisconsin graduate spent three seasons with the Ottawa Senators†farm team in Belleville, Ont., and then an AHL season in Milwaukee, and another one in Chicago.
When LaBate moved to Astana in Kazakhstan to play the 2023-24 season in the Kontinental Hockey League at age 30, it had the potential to be a one-way ticket out of North America.
“I got a ton of opportunity in a very good league,†he said. “I just grew my game a lot, I think, and it helped me a lot with adversity. The way that I went into it was, you know, kind of like a revamp, a refresh. Let’s see what I can do and go from there. Obviously, I had goals to make it back to the NHL, but I think going over there was like… let’s make a change and grow my game. See what happens.â€
It earned him a two-way, one-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, for whom LaBate played six NHL games last season.
That earned LaBate interest from several teams, he said, including the Canucks. There had been a mountain of organizational turnover since he left the organization, but one trusted figure remained: Vancouver assistant general manager Ryan Johnson, who had run the Canucks farm team in Utica, N.Y., where LaBateâ€s career started.
The Canucks signed him to a two-way contract that pays $775,000 in the NHL and $350,000 in the minors.
“I saw a good opportunity here for a player like me,†LaBate explained. “And, you know, I’ve known R.J. since I got drafted. Obviously, management has changed, but R.J. has been here, and some other guys have been here that I’ve played with. So there were connections there. We just saw an opportunity for a hard-nosed player to come in and make an impact.â€
Eleven years as a pro, LaBate has played 460 games in the AHL and 19 in the NHL. Tonight, he will have a chance to score his first NHL goal in Game 20. At age 32.
“It’s incredible,†he said. “I mean, honestly, it’s hard to put into words. If I think hard about it, it’s emotional. Yeah, it’s been a journey. But I’m just so happy to be here and help this team. Iâ€ll do everything I can.â€
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