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As if trying to make it to the NHL weren’t difficult enough, the Vancouver Canucks taught their newly drafted rookies and several other prospects a difficult lesson during an annual rite of passage.
Vancouver began its annual development camp on Wednesday and it started as it always does, with a run up the Grouse Grind.
What is the Grouse Grind? Good question. The grind is wildly difficult 2.9-kilometer (1.8 miles for our American readers) hike up Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. In those 2.9 kilometers, hikers will climb over 850 meters (about half a mile), making for an average gradient of over 29 percent.
The climb takes an average hiker 1.5-2 hours, while prospects often complete it in 45 minutes to an hour. But there’s a catch. At least this year, Vancouver placed prospects in groups and stated that all members of the group had to finish at the same time, testing not only endurance, but also teamwork and a willingness to sacrifice for your teammates.
The Canucks social media team also spoke with prospects before and after the clim, and needless to say, the players looked a good bit worse for the wear after motoring up the mountain.
Vancouver’s top pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Braeden Cootes, was one of the first ones to the top of the mountain. But Cootes also had a 10-minute head start on legendary Canucks duo Henrik and Daniel Sedin. The Sedin twins, who both played their entire careers in Vancouver, were known for their incredible stamina during their playing days and still complete the workout with the team.
In fact, last year, the twins were faster than every Vancouver prospect up the hill and in 2023, Sedin completed the trail 11 times in one day as part of a charity challenge.
Safe to say, the Canucks prospects need to step up their game if they want to reach franchise legend status.