How Vasily Podkolzin Learned to Make Mistakes and Grow from Them

Development is never linear.

Its only constant is time.

Evolving takes self-reflection and having the right support to assist you on your path. Fully believing in yourself requires sacrifices; sometimes those sacrifices do not show immediate success.

And sometimes, you need to reset, trust in the process, and let your work ethic be the straw that stirs the drink. Podkolzin acknowledges the role that Abbotsford Head Coach, Jeremy Colliton, has played on his development journey.

"I have to thank Jeremy for trusting me and helping me develop my game,” said Podkolzin. “It’s pretty good when you aren’t caring about your ice time. You will play a lot, and on the power play, and have trust [from the coach]. I give a response to that.”

Seeing time and effort come to fruition can be extremely gratifying and that is what Vasily Podkolzin is experiencing right now after spending the first five months of the season in the AHL.

The 22-year-old has learned a lot in those five months but as much as his game has improved, his thought process and planning for the future has been aided by some long stretches of reflection and the realization that nothing comes easy in professional hockey.

Besides the ability to look inside to assess and analyze things to improve on the ice, the young Russian winger has also been able to connect with other mentors and family members to talk about life both in and out of hockey. That list includes his parents in Russia, whom Podkolzin says he calls almost each and every day.

The commitment to his craft has never waned and this is not the first time in Podkolzin’s professional career that he has had to re-evaluate his own game to have success.

As a 17-year-old, Podkolzin made the jump from U17 hockey to the professional ranks in Russia. He played in the KHL and quickly was not the top dog anymore. Those KHL years assisted Podkolzin in growing as a player and a person.

Podkolzin looks at those three years as a period in his life where he was learning how to learn. When you are 17 years old, development is not about getting better every day. It’s about learning how to get better every day.

Even with three years of professional hockey in Russia under his belt, Podkolzin had a lot to learn about North American hockey. The journey has not been easy for him, but he isn’t the first player to face some adversity trying to find a pathway to play in the top league in the world.

Podkolzin was evolving right in front of our eyes at the Abbotsford Centre. He grew his self-confidence and from there he became a volume shooter – something we have never seen him be before in his six years of pro hockey.

Podkolzin began believing in his abilities with the puck on his stick.

Or with the puck on its way to him for a one-timer...

Being defensively responsible was something driven into him during his seasons in the KHL. Some nights, we would see Podkolzin play for three minutes due to an early mistake and other nights, we would see him be the best player on his KHL team and he would play 20 minutes a night.

“It’s hard for me because I don’t want to make mistakes,” said Podkolzin. “I like to play responsible and clean and make the right plays and be responsible for my position, but Jeremy [Colliton] and the other coaches told me that you are going to make mistakes and it’s true, I made mistakes. It’s all about how you react to it and that was a big lesson to me.”

“It was out of my comfort zone because I wanted to prove to myself and the coaches that I can be an NHL player and learning to deal with mistakes was a big point for me.”

There is still plenty of room for Podkolzin to grow his game and he has been impressing the coach with his physical play.

Podkolzin learned an important lesson from his time in Abbotsford about being physical and being forceful. Colliton told Podkolzin that he needs to finish every hit with authority because if he does this on every shift, the defencemen will have to move the puck a half-second earlier. Podkolzin’s strength has shown in the past, but it is something that the 22-year-old is beginning to show a little bit more at the NHL level.

In each of his last three games, Podkolzin has led the Canucks in hits, and this is exactly what Colliton was talking about in Abbotsford. He has taught Podkolzin something that is now paying dividends in the NHL.

At just 22 years old, Podkolzin believes there is a lot of room to improve and advance his game. He is continuing to pick up lessons wherever he can find them and his ability to let himself learn from a mistake is only going to help him as he looks to raise his skill level in the coming years.

Besides growing into a hockey player, Podkolzin has grown up a lot since having a baby and getting married. Though he had a good laugh about being stronger after he was explained what ‘dad strength’ is, Podkolzin believes that having a strong wife who manages his home life and gives him no worries is incredible for his mentality and ability to focus on hockey.

“On the ice, I’m never thinking about other things, it’s just hockey because at home, I know everything is good.”