Article content Coach Dave Tippett suggested “don’t read too much into it” when discussing the pairing of Koekkoek with Ethan Bear during Monday’s practice, but… this makes two days in a row with Game Day tomorrow, so I’m gonna go ahead and read it anyway. Hard to imagine the coach would be giving Koekkoek the reps with Bear if he wasn’t the coach’s first (available) choice to start the playoffs. Koekkoek missed 35 games and nearly three months with a broken collarbone after being hammered with a high check by Sam Bennett, then of Calgary Flames (and currently under suspension for a different nasty hit). He made his return to action in Saturday’s season finale against Vancouver, a nothing game for most of his teammates though anything but for Koekkoek himself. He stood out in that otherwise-desultory affair with an energetic performance, jumping into the rush for a terrific early scoring chance and overall posting the best shot shares on the team. At the time it seemed like a “good to get a game under his belt in case he’s needed later” situation, but by all subsequent appearances “later” happened fast.