Canucks: Joe LaBate is the Everyman every fan should know

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There is 100 per cent one thing left to do on Joe LaBate’s professional hockey to-do list: score a goal in the NHL.

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“Yes, absolutely,” he says with a knowing smile, his eyes lighting up as well. And, yes, he’s come home.

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“Oh yeah man, full circle,” he laughed about signing with the Canucks seven years after he left. “They feel like the right fit. They’ve got some openings and they need what I bring. Some grit. Some sandpaper.”

He’s not a name that jumps off the page, and he’s likely headed for Abbotsford to start the season. But there’s little doubt that if he does make it back to Rogers Arenahe’ll quickly remind everyone why he was a bit of a cult figure in his first NHL go-round with the Canucks, nine seasons ago.

In a career that’s seen it all, that’s one thing that stands out about LaBate. He’s long known the value of hard work and of knowing your role.

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Long ago he worked his tail off to make the NHL. Along the way he suffered a near-career-ending hip injury in the AHL. He also learned to be a fighter, figuring that would help him stay in the league.

Then he spent eight years away from the show, including a season in the KHL. A season in Russia for a team that won 14 games — but at least he got to be a first line centre for a bit.

Wait, what?

“That was really fun,” he recalled, of his one season playing for Barys Astana in Kazakhstan. The team wasn’t good, but he got to play a ton and experience the world.

To say the 32-year-old LaBate has been around the block and is more than happy to be back where it all started is a bit of an understatement. The Canucks drafted the 6-foot-5 Minnesotan in 2011. Then he spent four years playing collegiate hockey with the University of Wisconsin before beginning to chase the NHL dream in 2015. It took him just over a season to make it to the NHL: 13 games over three call-ups for Willie Desjardins’ Canucks in 2016-17.

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He didn’t pick up a point but he did drop the globes and skate his tail off. It’s the wheels that got him to the NHL.

And then near disaster struck. A hip injury in February 2018 nearly ended his career.

“You’re right there, trying to make yourself into an everyday NHLer, and then your body just fails and you got to kind of climb back,” he said, looking back at the hip injury. “And it makes you realize how quick things can change. It turned me into an everyday, very detailed professional. And I’ve grown a lot from it.”

But he found his way back to health and signed on with the Belleville Senators. He played three years there, then started to bounce around a little: a season in Milwaukee, then one with the Chicago Wolves. Then he tried out Kazakh cuisine.

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“I got to play 20 minutes a night. First line centre. Power play,” he said of his time with Astana. “That was really good for me.”

Then the Columbus Blue Jackets came calling, looking for exactly what the Canucks are looking for this year: a guy who has some miles on his resume, who knows the meaning of everyday professional.

His hard-working season earned him a late season call-up and six more games in the NHL.

“I just love hockey. I’m obsessed with it. I love the chase,” he said. “I think it was 2,886 days between games? It was pretty special to get back in it.”

He admitted to having some tears in his eyes when he got the call last spring. He called his fiancée Clara, then his parents. He got to play for a team that was dealing with all kinds of emotional trauma, but one that found unity in the wake of the Johnny Gaudreau tragedy.

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“It was obviously a very hard year. But I think as an organization, as a group, everyone came together, and it made them stronger. Once I got there. Everyone was super welcoming,” he said.

For the record it was 2,888 days between games, but that’s impressively close enough. And in a sport where the word “special” gets overused, this was a very good use of the word.

Special, indeed.

And now he’s back where it started. He’s playing for a team run by Ryan Johnson, a guy he’s known since he was just a prospect. Johnson was hired by the Canucks to work as a development coach in 2013, when LaBate was starting his third year at Wisconsin. And now-Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra was in his first season as a development coach when LaBate made his NHL debut. He’s pumped to work with the defending Calder Cup champion.

“I know he’s a phenomenal coach, so that’s a huge plus. And then obviously the organization as a whole, you know, the Sedins are here; I used to play with them! RJ and me, we go way back. Yeah, a lot of ties here. So it just felt right.”

And yeah, he wants to get that first NHL goal.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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