VANCOUVER — If you were watching U-15 boys lacrosse in Barrie, Ont., on Monday and thought you heard a joyful whoop unrelated to the game from the parents’ section of the visiting Mimico Mountaineers, it was only Manny Malhotra celebrating his new job.

The 46-year-old was being a dad, supporting his son, Eli, at lacrosse when his contract to coach the Vancouver Canucks was finalized.

With another son and potential Canuck draft pick, Caleb, at the National Hockey League scouting combine in Buffalo, Malhotra’s week has been an emotional and physical whirlwind.

“There's been no quiet time for a celebration dinner,” Malhotra smiled Thursday, having flown to Vancouver from Toronto for his introductory press conference. “The next night, we had to go to lacrosse practice, I think, so they got a pie at home for me after practice. A celebratory pie, they called it.

“There's so much happening right now — all the messages and what's going on with my family — but, yeah, I just find myself, it sinks in here and there as I'm walking around and there's a rush of: ‘This is amazing.’ It's a really cool experience, and then I’m just very happy that it's happening here with these guys.”

The guys are general manager Ryan Johnson, who has been at his new job for three weeks longer than Malhotra, and new Canuck co-presidents Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

Malhotra was the last piece of the, uh, pie that would have seemed too good to be true when the Canucks’ dismal season ended in April with the start of a rebuild and a new regime to guide it.

Still, it’s easy to overlook how naturally the foursome came together like flour, milk, butter and sugar, and, especially, the Malhotra ingredient as a first-time NHL head coach.

Remember, the Canucks are the organization that tried in 2012 to force Malhotra into retiring as a player, then convinced him in 2016 to test-drive a player-development role even though the former centre felt he could still play and was unsure about a new profession in coaching.

After a subsequent four-season stint as an assistant coach with the Toronto........

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