I want to start today with Gary Bettman doing the Ice Bucket Challenge. It's probably the most unguarded that we'll ever see the Commissioner.
I like his next round of nominees: Brian Burke, Rob Blake and Brendan Shanahan. Those would all be worth seeing.
We also have video of Ryan Miller participating, apparently for the second time, and nominating his wife's "Anger Management" colleague Charlie Sheen:
brichardson15 @jwinch18 @smatthi7 Daniel and Henrik you are on the clock! Good Luck!… http://t.co/U5CfyJDMhk
— Shawn Matthias (@ShawnMatthias) August 14, 2014Haven't they done enough this week with their ongoing twin-vs-twin challenges on Canucks.com?
In other philanthropic news, Thursday was Dairy Queen's Miracle Treat Day. Canucks alumni Jack McIlhargey, BJ MacDonald and Darcy Rota helped out for the cause:
From blizzard lessons to the upside down test, the #Canucks alumni are serving treats like experts. #MiracleTreatDay pic.twitter.com/9W7XkioqjK
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) August 14, 2014Jason Garrison was also a participant in Vancouver:
Stop by DQ Yaletown! Serving blizzards from 4-5pm! #MiracleTreatDay #DairyQueen
— Jason Garrison (@J_G_5) August 14, 2014Who Wore It Best?
Lots of room for debate at No. 15. Our poll gave the edge to original Canuck Rosaire Paiement, nicknamed "Cracklin' Rosie" for the Neil Diamond hit of the day, if memory serves.
Rich Sutter got some support as a write-in vote, which also has some merit. I remember Sutter as such a mucker. His numbers are better than I recall, but offensive output was so different when players like Gretzky and Lemieux were putting up 200-point seasons in the late '80s. In four seasons with Vancouver, Sutter had 61 goals and 61 assists for 122 points, including a 20-goal season in his first year with the Canucks, 1986-87.
Sutter was acquired from Philadelphia in a multi-player trade, with J.J. Daigneault the key piece that headed the other way. Daigneault also wore No. 15. He played just two seasons in Vancouver, but went on to have a long NHL career and was named to the All-Star Team in 1991-92 as part of the Montreal Canadiens.
I do give Sutter credit for helping to establish a good work-ethic on a bad team in the late '80s, which eventually helped build a stronger Canucks franchise in the early '90s. Sutter was traded to St. Louis, along with Harold Snepts, at the 1990 trade deadline, in exchange for Adrien Plavsic (who also wore No. 15 for a short time before switching to No. 6) and a first-round pick that became Shawn Antoski.
Though Harold Druken placed third in our poll yesterday, he was the pick of the day over at Canucks.com. They've highlighted that overtime-winning goal that pushed the Canucks into the 2001 playoffs:
Even if Trevor Linden wasn't our current boss, there's really no competition. Here's the list of the Canucks' other No. 16s from the pre-Linden era:
• Per Olov Brasar • Brad Gasoff • Dan Hodgson • Mark Kirton • Stu Kulak • Don Tannahill • Ted Taylor • Barry Wilcox • Jim Wiley
If you have any particularly vivid memories of any of these players, please share them in the comments. Otherwise, we'll give this one to El Presidente in a unanimous decision.
I found a new interview with Linden on an all-female sports website called StatsStyleScore.com, from a recent charity event in Toronto.
Not too many fresh thoughts, but Linden does offer props to some of his old teammates for helping him develop into the leader he became. "I think you always rely on good people, that support you, and I think of guys like Doug Lidster, Garth Butcher, Stan Smyl and Harold Snepsts."
Nice that three of those four are still members of the Canucks organization. Lidster's a new assistant coach, Smyl's in the front office, and Snepts is part of the scouting staff. Butcher's also not far away—he lives in Bellingham.