Out of left field, we learn today that Linden Vey has been involved in some intense family drama, as his father is about to go on trial for an alleged conspiracy to murder his mother as the result of an affair.
The trial is getting underway on May 24. I'm amazed that we didn't know about this sooner. The charges were laid back in the summer of 2013, right after Vey had his breakout season with 22-45-67 playing with Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson with the AHL's Manchester Monarchs.
Click here for the original story from the
National Post, with the details of the affair as they were known—and the warning that the big question here is whether or not there's enough proof to show that Curtis Vey and his co-accused, Angela Nicholson, were serious about the plot and truly planning to go through with it.
The Canucks acquired Vey one year later, at the 2014 draft. How could he not have been impacted by the situation?
Here's how Vey describes his current relationship with his dad, who coached him up to pee-wee hockey:
"I don't talk to him a whole lot, but I do here and there," Vey said. "It's a tough situation. We were a super close family."
And his mom?
"My mother and I are super close," Vey said. "She came on the mothers' trip with me and she comes out quite a bit.
"My family — my brother and my sister — we're all tight. This is a time where we need to stick together as much as possible now."
Vey says he will be at the trial to support his mother.
My mind boggles. It's one thing say that everyone has family troubles, but this is a completely different level. All I can do is offer my best wishes to Vey and his family as they prepare to go through this very difficult time.
Expansion Draft Notes
With most of fans' recent focus on the upcoming draft and free agency period, we haven't spent much time dissecting the still-strictly-hypothetical expansion draft that may or may not occur in June of 2017 if Las Vegas and possibly Quebec are welcomed into the NHL.
Never fear: Iain MacIntyre has broken it down:
If MacIntyre's suppositions are correct, he believes the Canucks won't have to worry too much about losing an important part of their team if an expansion draft takes place.
Yes, the no-movement clauses for Daniel and Henrik will take up two of the seven protected spots for forwards, but MacIntyre's assessment is that the Canucks will even have a little bit of wiggle-room on their protected list, depending on who's in the fold next season:
Forwards Danny and Hank, Brandon Sutter, Jannik Hansen, Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and possibly Markus Granlund; defencemen Alex Edler, Chris Tanev and a top-four blue-liner still to be acquired in trade or free agency; and goaltender Jacob Markstrom, assuming the Canucks re-sign him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2017.
That leaves Derek Dorsett, Luca Sbisa and Alex Biega as the three Canucks who are currently under contract into the 2017-18 season that wouldn't be protected, and current RFAs Linden Vey and Emerson Etem in limbo. If either of those players re-signs and then excels next year like Baertschi did this season, or if the team acquires a couple of quality UFAs who would suddenly need to be added to the protected list, things could get a little more complicated. If anybody gets real good, real fast, as Willie might say—the plot will thicken.
Victory Day
It's approaching 7 p.m. here in St. Petersburg. I'm going to head to the rink soon to catch Finland/Hungary and see if Patrik Laine can get his mojo back after a tough game against the U.S.
It was a bit overcast today—some dark clouds, but no rain, and the sky has cleared again. We still have about three hours of daylight before the sun goes down...for a minute. It starts to get light around 3:30 a.m.
I'll wrap up today with this link—an incredible overview of what the Russian Victory Day celebration is all about and why it means so much to the citizens here. Take a minute—this is well worth the read!
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