I'll start today by wishing Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning a happy 57th quarantine birthday!
Coincidentally or not, Benning is also the guest on the latest episode of the NHL's Executive Suite podcast. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. You can click here to read the show notes or have a listen on Apple Podcasts.
Benning is celebrating by completing a tidy bit of business. Wednesday morning, the team announced that it has signed 2019 second-round draft pick Nils Hoglander to a three-year entry-level contract.
Nils Hoglander, welcome to the #Canucks! The 19-year-old Swedish forward was signed a three-year contract today. 🇸🇪🙌https://t.co/biYLhnS7OB
"Nils is a dynamic player with a high skill level and a strong work ethic," said Benning in the Canucks' press release. "He's a creative playmaker with great hands and goal scoring abilities. We're pleased to sign Nils today and look forward to seeing continued development in his game next season."
The signing has been rumoured to be imminent for awhile and came down one day after the NHL announced the extension of its player development agreements on Tuesday.
A handful of other Europeans have also now inked their entry-level deals. The Canucks were rumoured to be in on 25-year-old Swedish free-agent winger Mathias Brome, but he chose to sign with Detroit.
In the year since Hoglander was drafted, he has made a positive impression on Canucks fans — a standout as part of the bronze-medal-winning Swedish team at the World Junior Championship and the scorer of the Swedish league's top goal of the year.
Hoglander doesn't turn 20 until December. Though he's undersized at just 5'8", he's strong and stocky, and has skills for days.
Rogle BK Angelholm general manager Chris Abbott had this to say about Hoglander: “He has an insane amount of talent. His puck skills are very high-end. I feel he has the ability to execute at the highest level. His one-on-one skill is there for the NHL.”#Canucks
Also on the Canucks front, Alex Edler was the latest current player to check in via Zoom call on Wednesday.
Edler has stayed in Vancouver during the NHL's pause, and says he's working out daily and spending time with his family, including his two children. He says he helps his older daughter with her schoolwork, which can sometimes be fun and sometimes frustrating — for her as well as for him.
He says he does what he can with his home gym, but hasn't sourced out any rollerblades or looked to do anything to keep his skating stride intact. He says that normally, during offseasons, he stays off the ice until at least late July so he's treating this pause in a similar fashion and will cross that bridge when he comes to it.
Phillip Danault of the Montreal Canadiens caused a bit of a stir on Tuesday when he expressed apprehension about the idea of being isolated from his young family for a potential period of several months if the NHL does resume play later this summer. When asked for his feelings, Edler was non-committal, admitting that he wouldn't be keen on being away for a long period of time but that there are still too many variables at play to get worked up about the issue.
Asked who he'd like to be quarantined with, he said unsurprisingly that he'd be happy with any or all of his Swedish teammates, "Marky, Loui, Oscar or Elias." He declined to pick someone he wouldn't want to bunk up with.
Finally, on the hockey front, I was very excited to have the chance to have a long conversation last week with former Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell about his life after hockey.
Willie Mitchell has challenged himself in a whole new way since retiring from the NHL — serving as operations manager of the resort he co-owns and now guiding it through the uncharted waters of COVID-19.
As you may know, Mitchell partnered up with Dan Hamhuis and Vancouver Islander developer Andrew Purdey not long after he retired in 2016 to purchase and fix up a resort property in Tofino. What you may not know is that Mitchell and his wife and son have been living in Tofino full time for the last couple of years, where he has been serving as the property's operations manager. He's hands-on, and they were doing a terrific job of growing the business until they got cut off at the knees in March by COVID-19.
With the resort and marina currently operating with a skeleton staff of five people, Mitchell had to lay off 70 staff members when the property closed down, but says they're in good shape financially and have plans for both operations and sales & marketing that are in place and ready to be implemented as soon as they get the green light to start rolling again.
Mitchell, of course, is an avid outdoorsman. He says he doesn't watch TV and barely follows hockey these days, although his three-year-old son is starting to take an interest. He has been getting some updates on the NHL's pause, of course, during his weekly calls with his partner Dan Hamhuis.
It was impressive to hear how deeply engaged Mitchell is in the day-to-day details of all aspects of the resort's operation, and how well they've done in a very tough industry.
And to wrap up today — don't think I haven't been noticing all the music and movie talk that has been going on in the comment section. Here's a contribution from me.
Last night, I watched "Jeff Beck: Still On The Run," which is available for streaming on Crave.
Released in 2018, the documentary charts the many, many phases of Beck's career, with plenty of words of praise along the way from fellow guitar greats like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry and Slash.
My entry-point into music really was through those 1960s British Invasion bands, particularly The Who, but because Beck was mostly known for his instrumental albums when I was learning the genre, I overlooked him to some degree. Later, I got to know him through early Rod Stewart tracks like "I Ain't Superstitious," among other things, and explored more of his catalogue when I DJed shows for guitar gods like Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa, Zakk Wylde and others.
This doc does a wonderful job of tracing his history, explaining both his talent and his influence, and documenting his longstanding love of cars. Now 75, he still looks great — and his playing is still exquisite.
Well worth a watch and I have to say after watching this, if we're ever allowed to go out and see live music again, I'd see Jeff Beck if he came to town.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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