The night of Oct. 29 marked the start of a difficult few days for Vancouver Canucks defenceman Chris Tanev.

Tanev took a penalty that night against the Dallas Stars. Six nights later, he was whistled for another one against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The goon.

Mind you, he hasn’t had another one since. Tanev, who averages nearly 22 minutes a night and is usually on the ice against the opposition’s top forwards, has four penalty minutes this season.

Tanev doesn’t hook, he doesn’t hold, doesn’t hack, doesn’t whack. Instead, he relies on his strong skating and solid positioning to stifle the opposition.

His teammates are amazed, even if Tanev is not.

“It’s an incredible stat,” fellow defenceman Dan Hamhuis says. “It shows his skating ability, for one, that he is not having to hook and hold, and his stick abilities, to be able to poke pucks off guys and check guys with your stick without tripping them or getting it in their hands.

“That’s a really difficult skill. Just overall, he’s a very smart player. It is incredible for a D that plays against all the other team’s top players and the minutes he plays. It’s amazing.”

The soft-spoken Tanev, with his typical aw-shucks attitude, said he’s simply never been a guy who takes many penalties.

“I just try to move my feet all the time and be in proper, good defensive position,” he said. “Most of the stick penalties guys take, I feel like you’re getting beat or you’re on the wrong side of the puck, which can happen to anyone.

“But obviously, I am not as physical as some other guys, so I am more unlikely to take an elbowing penalty or a boarding penalty or that sort of thing. I just try and stay out of the box. If you are not going to be overly physical, then you can’t be taking a lot of penalties.”

You’d think a guy who takes so few penalties would remember them. But Tanev has trouble recalling his two minors this season.

“I think one was a roughing penalty with (Dallas winger Antoine) Roussel. I can’t remember what the other one was.”

It was a hooking minor versus the Penguins. Tanev has been clean ever since. For those who are counting — and Tanev insists he is not — that’s 37 games since his last penalty. The guy should get time off for good behaviour the next time he is whistled for an infraction.

“It seems every time I end up in the box I feel like the other team scores or something bad happens and it’s a horrible feeling when you are stepping out,” Tanev said. “So I just try and stay out of there.”

No NHL defenceman who has played at least 30 games this season has fewer than Tanev’s four penalty minutes. Carolina defenceman Jaccob Slavin also has only four minutes this season, but has played only 35 games. Tanev has played 50. The closest comparable would be Calgary defenceman Kris Russell, who has six penalty minutes in 49 games this season.