Wake With Elias: Bieksa Is Back! (For One Day)

Canucks News

• The Canucks announced that Kevin Bieksa has signed a one-day contract with the club so that he can retire a Canuck. It’s a well-earned distinction. Bieksa was not only a very solid defender for many years, but was a huge part of the community and scored one of the biggest goals in franchise history in his game five winner against San Jose in 2011. For my money, he’s an easy Ring of Honour guy. So, folks, let us know your favourite Bieksa moments in the comments!

• It was a mixed bag on opening night for Canucks fans, and as one could assume, there’s a lot of arguing and debate. Some say it’s too early to draw any conclusions. Some see it as a definitive sign of worse things to come. I probably draw more from the first camp, though admittedly, I do have my concerns — mostly because the loss hit on predictable vulnerabilities in the defensive structure and special team. Here’s to hoping the optimists were right and it really was a one off.

• You’re gonna be shocked when you hear this, but Darnell Nurse took a cheap shot at someone (Kyle Burroughs, this time). He’s been fined five grand, but man, you have to wonder when this guy’s going to clean up his act a bit.

• One of the bright spots of the night with Andrei Kuzmenko, who scored in his NHL debut and put himself among a fairly short list of Canucks to do the same. Kuzmenko looked really solid, and like a legit NHLer last night. If he can keep it up, they'll have a weapon one their hands.

• People were pissed at Bo Horvat last night, but I can’t help but think it has more to do with overall contract tensions than people having hot takes on his play. His agent spoke on Donnie and Dhali and it sounds like talks are still progressing. We’ll see where they go. My money’s on it getting done before Christmas out of nowhere, similar to the JT Miller situation.

• The Canucks announced a helmet sponsor. Looks fine. I don’t hot advertising takes, beyond that I don’t want us to end up like European leagues. This is classy and simple enough.

• In case you missed this from a couple days ago, Connor Bedard thinks the Canucks will win the Cup. Listen, I’m not saying tank for this guy, but if game one is a sign of things to come...

• And the Abbotsford Canucks have named their first captain: Chase Wouters. From everything I’ve heard, this seems like an excellent pick, and hopefully he has a future in the organization. Congratulations, Chase!

Hockey News

• The National Women’s Hockey Team has made a statement if light of this week’s Hockey Canada news of the board resigning. It’s a first step from the organization — let’s see what comes of it.

• Travis Sanheim is looking at an extension in Philly. He’s a solid player, but my gut reaction is that’s pretty pricey.

• Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 with some Avs analysis. This is relevant because Blink is coming to Vancouver on their reunion tour! They’re a bit before my time so I’m not super familiar with their work, but it made a lot of people on my Twitter timeline very happy.

• And an interesting fun fact — Arber Xhekaj of the Habs became the first player in NHL history to have a last name with an X in it. How neat!

BC Place Bulletins

BC Place Bulletins is a Friday WWE feature summarizing scores and news from the local Vancouver sports scene.

• Some injury news from the BC Lions, as defensive lineman Steven Richardson is out for the year. The Lions play Saturday at 7 PM against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

• Stephanie Labbé was named for the new GM of Women’s Soccer with the Whitecaps:

• And the latest episode of Giants This Week on Sportsnet 650: