Canucks excited about return of JT Miller: “Really glad to have him back”

VANCOUVER – Sometime after fans in Vancouver began chanting JT Miller’s name in front of all the other Canucks – a development in the fan-player relationship that would have been unthinkable two or three years ago – the team’s emotional leader tried to to weaken admiration.

“When I start playing bad, it’s like, ‘JT Booo!'” Miller smiled during a quiet conversation one morning.

But even when he was on leave from the Canucks for mental health reasons — this fighter of a National Hockey League player who had missed just seven games in five years — the fans at Rogers Arena were still chanting his name.

It started at a wrestling event in Vancouver while the team was still on its first six-game road trip without its best forward, and continued when the Canucks returned home last week.

“JT Miller! JT Miller!”

It will be a deafening Thursday when Miller returns to the Canucks’ home game against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers after being forced to sit out 10 games.