I have a few minutes before I'll need to board for my flight home and re-enter the real world, so I'll check in quickly with the latest odds and ends from Canuck-ville.
Stepping away from World Championships for a moment, let's start with yet another end-of-season award for Adam Gaudette:
.@GoNUmhockey's Adam Gaudette named USA Hockey College Player of the Year #HowlinHuskies https://t.co/cV8QHzBJtP
— Northeastern Huskies (@GoNUathletics) May 22, 2018
Also of note: 2019 draft prospect Jack Hughes won the junior player of the year.
Canucks' prospect Michael DiPietro also added another honour while he was across the pond with Team Canada:
2017-18 #OHL 1st Team All-Stars:
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) May 17, 2018
Forwards: LW @RussianRocket13, C @_morganfrost_10, RW @JordanKyrou.
Defence: @nichague14 & @EvanBouchard02
Goaltender: @miketendy
Coach: @drew_banny1 pic.twitter.com/zY1P5TL4xP
Sounds like the World Championship was a great learning experience for him:
DiPietro: Got to talk to Bo a lot and learn about the Canucks some more. He's such a professional off the ice too - picked his brain a lot about how the Sedins impacted him and learn more about what it means to be a Canuck. Proud to be part of this team. #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) May 22, 2018
DiPietro: The older players were unbelievable to me. Connor McDavid introduced himself and brought me in to break the ice. Can't say enough nice things about the time and can't wait to return the favour to someone else that may be in my situation. #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) May 22, 2018
I noticed that some of the guys have stayed in Europe. Smart!
Pierre-Luc Dubois headed straight for Ibiza:
Connor went to Amsterdam:
And not to be left out even though he wasn't on Team Canada, Troy Stecher has landed in London:
London was calling and @troystecher answered! â˜Žï¸ pic.twitter.com/EEM8lAoz43
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 22, 2018
I wonder if he made it to the Royal Wedding?
Of course, the biggest and best celebration happened on Monday in Stockholm:
What a rush for Anders Nilsson and Elias Pettersson!
Here's more on Pettersson:
Via text with Swedish national coach Rikard Grönborg on Elias Pettersson : "Elias was outstanding and should play in the NHL. He is skilled and will get bigger and stronger. He will play next year or the year after." #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) May 22, 2018
And more on Nilsson...
Anders Nilsson didn't start the #IIHFWorlds as Sweden's starting goalie, but seven wins in seven games, including three shutouts, had him back @Trekronorse to gold. 🇸🇪 🥇 🎉 https://t.co/6vVkuRRWDR
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 22, 2018
One other note from the tournament: Sunday's IIHF Hall of Fame induction ceremony is becoming one of my favourite events. It's pretty small, and there is opportunity to do interviews with the inductees, who are relaxed and in great moods.
Last year, I got to chat with Joe Sakic and Teemu Selanne. This year, I quizzed Daniel Alfredsson on what he has been up to since leaving the Ottawa Senators' front office last year and had a wide-ranging conversation with Rob Blake about Hockey Canada, the Olympics and building a team—which led us to a discussion of those wacky Vegas Golden Knights.
Here's my story:
IIHF Hall of Fame inductee Daniel Alfredsson 'happy' in retirementhttps://t.co/9zKARXWd9U pic.twitter.com/RRk98Qf9jS
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) May 20, 2018
After a day to decompress, I had a major tourist day on Tuesday. First, I took the half-hour train raide over to Malmo — my first time in Sweden. It's so beautiful!
Then, it was back to central Copenhagen, where I sought out The Little Mermaid:
Last day in Copenhagen!
— Carol Schram (@pool88) May 22, 2018
My phone says I logged more than 22K steps on my sightseeing binge that included a side-trip across the bridge to Malmo, Sweden.#IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/6W6TEXxyli
For a 'non-hockey nation,' Denmark did an amazing job as organizers and hosts. The original target was 300,000 tickets across the two venues. They ended up with 520,481 tickets sold, making this this seventh-best attended event in World Championship history. Especially phenomenal, when you consider that Herning was the smallest host city in World Championship history.
If you get a chance, come! Baseline costs aren't cheap, but there are plenty of ways to economize. There's lots to see and do and it's not overrun with tourists like you see in other big European centres like Paris or Italy.
A huge thumbs-up for my first visit to Scandinavia!
...and with that, the screen says it's time to me to go 'to gate,' so I had better sign off. Once I get back on the ground in Vancouver, I'll start digging into the draft and the Canucks' free-agent options for the 2018 offseason.