Canucks pull on the ’ 70s
NHL Akin to a ‘boutique hotel,’ the old uniforms came out against Boston
CANUCKS NOTEBOOK Being a movie producer and thus one involved in the creative arts, Canuck right winger Anson Carter seemed the perfect player to issue a fashion statement on Vancouver’s throwback uniforms worn Sunday night against the Boston Bruins. The Canucks wore the blue, green and white threads from 1970-78 before switching to the Halloween colours with the Doubles Vees. They adopted the current Free Willy version in 199798. “These uniforms are almost along the lines of, like, boutique hotels,” Carter said of the vintage duds. “Boutique hotels are simple, with simple furniture and not too much on the walls. The old- school Canuck emblem reminds me of that.” Carter was unaware that the “ stick- in- rink” logo also represented a stylized “C” with the stick being the middle part of the letter. “Really?” he responded. “ I didn’t know that. Being the hockey historian that I am, that piece of information somehow snuck by me. I can only think of it as a hockey stick on an ice rink.” Defenceman Steve McCarthy likes the ’ 70s uniforms so much he wishes the Canucks wore them for 82 games, not just the three they will this season. “These are my favourites for sure,” said the Trail native. “ It’s simple, it’s basic, it’s tradition, it’s great. I love them.” SICK BAY WATCH: Centre Josh Green injured his hand playing for the Manitoba Moose on Saturday so was not available to be called up for the Boston contest. Right winger Josef Balej, the player obtained from the New York Rangers in the Fedor Fedorov deal, was summoned instead. Green was hurt in a first- period fight with Rochester’s Jeremy Swanson and did not finish the game. The Moose beat the Americans 2- 1 behind the 23-save performance of new goalie Maxime Ouellet. “ I don’t think Green’s injury is serious but they’ll know more in the next day or so when it settles down,” said Canuck coach Marc Crawford. Meanwhile, left winger Jason King said Sunday he could be practising with the big club in the next week or so. King, who suffered a serious concussion last March 7, has been skating with the Vancouver Giants and the UBC Thunderbirds. “We’re getting really close,” King reported. “There’s been some great progress. It’s day- to- day, which is a good thing, because day- to- day has never been in sight until now.” SUPER SAMI: To no one’s surprise, except maybe his own, defenceman Sami Salo successfully defended his title Saturday as the Canuck with the hardest shot. Salo won the SuperSkills competition with a blast of 101.6 miles per hour. It was his third win in three tries. “Since the first day of training camp, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep my title,” Salo said Sunday, tongue in cheek. “When I saw that Bryan Allen and Mattias Ohlund looked all bulked up, I got a little nervous. But I came through.” Centre Ryan Kesler took the crown as fastest skater, covering one lap of the GM Place ice surface in 14.514 seconds. Right winger Richard Park captured the puck control relay while Daniel Sedin was a perfect 4- for- 4 in shooting accuracy. Steve McCarthy and Wade Brookbank won “Dupe of the Day” honours when they received whipping cream pies in the face. Kesler “pied” McCarthy while Nolan Baumgartner nailed Brookbank. “ I had heard about the tradition but I thought only rookies got it,” McCarthy lamented. “ It may be a little uncomfortable for the guy who got me. It’s a long year. A long year.” epap@png.canwest.com