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“A lot of it, I just let go in one ear, and drift out the other,” Juolevi said, smiling.

Juolevi claimed he was nervous heading into his debut. When it was pointed out that it sure didn’t look like it, he volleyed back with a pretty interesting thought not many 18-year-olds would have come up with.

“I don’t think you were nervous when you were asking me those questions, but how would I know?” Juolevi said. “What matters is, you love your job and I love mine.”

What also matters, Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins is going to love him, even before he puts on the 15 extra pounds he’s probably going to need to compete nightly in the NHL.

Any coach would.

“His game is one of those where you might never look and say ‘Wow, that was some end-to-end rush,'” Green said. “It’s just going to be a nice quiet game where he controls the puck.”

Asked if players like Juolevi are a coach’s dream, Green immediately said he was.

“Anytime you have a defenceman who you don’t really have to talk to at all, that’s kind of what you like,” Green said, before pointing out that this tournament may be the most difficult games for Juolevi to really show what he’s capable of.

“We were talking about him the other night with some of our scouts. I think those kinds of defencemen are better when the game is better, cleaner.

“His game is going to be better suited for an NHL game. Where everyone’s timing is on, and it’s not as scramble-y.

“He’s going to be a helluva defenceman.”

Until then, it’s not going to be easy for a lot of people to pick out where Juolevi is excelling. But it wasn’t easy to see how good Dan Hamhuis was when he first arrived in Vancouver, either.

“(Juolevi) has got a lot of poise. He reads the game well. His hockey sense is a premium.

“Somethings you just don’t have to teach really good players.

“It’s not going to be if he plays (in the NHL). It’s just when.”

As soon as now?

People will have to wait for main training camp before trying to answer that one.

jbotchford@postmedia.com

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