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“When the coaching staff talked to me at mid-season, they told me the only thing that kept me in the lineup was my defensive game,” he said, during a brief break from behind bars at the East Vancouver pound.

“It’s been a long time since I’d heard something like that. So hearing that and knowing that I was able to play really well defensively and be out there in important situations, that gave me more opportunities. That started helping me get my chances and I was able to make a lot more plays and there was a lot of confidence that came with that.”

The key now for Baertschi is to find a way to pick up next month where he left off last season. Slowed by a knee injury that prevented him from playing the final five games of the season, Baertschi was unable to train for a month after the season, but he says there are no lingering effects. He returned to the ice earlier this week and will start ramping up his off-season workouts in the run-up to training camp which starts Sept. 22 in Whistler.

On a team that struggled mightily to put pucks in the net, Baertschi represents one of the Canucks few true scoring options. His 15 goals left him fourth on the team in that department behind Daniel Sedin, Jannik Hansen and linemate Bo Horvat with whom he forged undeniable chemistry. Unfortunately, it took longer than expected for those two to click and Baertschi realizes if they play together again there will be pressure to perform from Day 1.

“It was good to have a strong second half, but obviously the first half is the one that really bugs me,” he says. “Consistency is doing the same thing and working hard every single day so that it becomes automatic. The first half of the season if I look back, there was a lot of not quite going to the net. I was around the net, but not actually going there.