We have reached the point in the summer where the talk has turned to subjects of crucial importance—like which retro jersey the Canucks will wear for select games as they celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2019-20.
I'm partial to the Flying V—because the design remains wildly unique in the history of pro sports, and because it's the jersey of record for the Canucks' first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup final, in just their 12th year of existence.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not as much of a jersey nerd as many fans. But we already saw that brief throwback to the Flying Skate uniform a couple of years ago—February 13, 2016 to be exact, when the Canucks fell 5-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was Vancouver's first home loss to Toronto in 13 years, although the first career NHL goal by future Canuck Brendan Leipsic did prove to be the game winner.
In recent years, that early-90s flying-skate era has gotten quite a lot of love. Now that Trevor Linden has moved on, I think it's time to shine the spotlight more brightly on one of the other eras.
I'll look forward to reading your arguments for and against. Make sure you sound off and vote in the official Canucks poll!
Other than that, we've got a little bit of non-news regarding Brock Boeser's contract extension:
Brock Boeser’s agent Ben Hankinson on if he could get a new deal done this summer, “Possibly, we will talk and see where it’s at. There is no rush, whenever it happens it happens, Jim and the talks have been good so far, a couple of quick chats." #Canucks
Hankinson on if there is a deadline to get a Boeser deal done, "You don’t want to be a distraction but there is no deadline , no deadline on it. I won’t say we won’t talk during the season if we don’t get something done (this summer) but it’s too early to say ." #Canucks
Agent Ben Hankinson is one of 'da brains,' if you will, behind Da Beauty League. Boeser added one more goal and three assists to his totals in his game on Monday, but without regular netminder Alex Stalock guarding the cage, his Team Bic suffered its first loss of the season to RBC by a score of 8-6. Boeser's now up to 18 points in four games—and has never had less than four points in a game.
With three games left before playoffs begin, Team Bic remains tied with Velocity at the top of the standings with a 4-1 record. Bic faces Velocity for the first time on Wednesday, with the game running at 4:45 p.m. PT, available as usual on YouTube.
I am still sorting through all my interview clips from the Summer Showcase, so I have a few more tidbits still to come on Quinn Hughes, Michael DiPietro and Toni Utunen. If you didn't catch this story on Jett Woo, it's worth a read:
Meanwhile, the next crop of young talent continues its showcase at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Alberta. Canada, USA, Sweden and Russia are undefeated through the first two games of their preliminary rounds, which sets the four teams that will reach the playoff round this weekend. Canada plays Sweden and the U.S. plays Russia today, with both games at 6 p.m. PT, for first place in their respective groups. Thursday's a day off, then the semifinals go Friday and the finals on Saturday.