After speaking in Toronto at last week's Coach's Conference, Vancouver Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins has made his way to his home province of Saskatchewan for the Star-Powered hockey camp, which is also a fundraiser in support of prostate cancer treatment.

While in Saskatoon, Willie reminisced about his hockey roots and about the Canucks' tough run in 2015-16.



Meanwhile, now that Auston Matthews' entry-level contract is signed, sealed and delivered with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canucks' Olli Juolevi is the only player among the top six of this year's draft class who has not yet been signed.

Juolevi's currently in Finland, where he's working out with his World Juniors teammate and soon-to-be Edmonton Oilers foe Jesse Puljujarvi.

Huikee reeniviikko takana ja varsinkin tänään puntti. Kiitos Esport! 💪🏻

A photo posted by Jesse Puljujärvi (@puljuuu) on Jul 15, 2016 at 11:10am PDT

I like how they're both wearing their NHL gear. We can see, though, that Puljujarvi, who's listed at 203 pounds, does appear to have more meat on his bones than our 179-pound Juolevi.

Meanwhile, Thatcher Demko is hard at work on the design for his first set of Utica Comets goalie pads.

When you ask your dad for help with designing pads for next year... pic.twitter.com/Hh7su2bs2D

— Thatcher Demko (@tdemko30) July 19, 2016

Also on the topic of goalie equipment, it'll be interesting to see which NHL goaltenders are most impacted by the more form-fitted goalie pants that'll be the standard next season.

With his lanky frame, I thought Ryan Miller might be a netminder who could struggle with the new equipment, but this article in In Goal Magazine indicates that the change could be significant for Markstrom, who's also pretty lean at 6'6" and 196 pounds.

For all the talk of Miller and chest protectors, Markstrom’s loose-fitting pants were singled out behind the scenes as part of the NHL directive to slim down equipment next season, an effort that will include no more laces in the front of the pants for goalies to leave untied, more “spandex-like’ materials to keep the fit tight, and could trim as much as six inches from the big Swede’s profile at the waist.

The Canucks' goalies won't be the only ones affected, but it could be a big change for both of them this fall.

Meanwhile, as prickly as Miller can be with the media during hockey season, he's very endearing when he's with his family, as he was this week in Los Angeles.

Bodhi's first time on the ice with his own skates! He was pretty excited!! So was dad. pic.twitter.com/Ln6GFQga8o

— Ryan Miller (@RyanMiller3039) July 22, 2016

And, finally, the legal proceedings continue for Evander Kane after his draft-weekend incident in a Buffalo bar.

#Sabres forward @evanderkane_9 getting cuffed in downtown Buffalo. Photo by @kwiatkowskiBN https://t.co/T53wUWMhTp pic.twitter.com/WFNWcesvAP

— Aaron Besecker (@AaronBesecker) July 22, 2016

Reading, the article, I had a crazy sense of deja vu. Yes, Evander's lawyer, Paul Cambria, is the same man who defended the other Kane—Patrick—on his sexual assault charge last summer.

Evander Kane's lawyer is Paul Cambria, same lawyer used by Patrick Kane. pic.twitter.com/CBqRLxmBTw

— Eric Macramalla (@EricOnSportsLaw) July 2, 2016

Cambria emphasizes that the charges against Evander are non-criminal. Word is that he'll be due in court in about 10 days for the next stage of the proceedings.

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