Assistant coach Newell Brown joked with Daniel Sedin that the Swedish Mafia was involved in a little shootout collusion, but Danny was quick to set him straight. "Are you kidding?! I made an offer and they both said no!"
Moving along.
Vanek has himself, Jacob Markstrom & Anders Nilsson and Sam Gagner to blame for his fresh wardrobe. He didn't score, the tenders did their jobs and this was all Gagner's idea. There's no disputing its positive affect on team moral.
Watch: Youtube Video
"It's fun," said Stecher, beaming he scored. "It's cool that we do it this year, guys get a kick out of it."
Do they actually?
Vanek was the second to last shooter, and he missed. That set the stage for Brandon Sutter: score and Vanek loses. He did score and leaving the ice he told the trainers "That was the most stressful moment of my career!"
"You get nervous, you get the sweats, you're running out of moves…" explained Stecher. "All the guys are giving it to you too; you just kind of hit the panic button."
Stecher scored on his third shot, eliminating him from back-to-back "wins." His relief was obvious and was shared by everyone except Vanek.
"All I was thinking was that I had to score early and take that pressure off," laughed Gagner, who bought the shirts early Monday morning. "It's definitely a nice feeling."
Gagner said there's some sympathy for guys going into the later rounds, especially veterans. No one wanted to see Vanek in Hawaiian, he added, saying the target was on Horvat or Virtanen.
In an odd twist from the turtleneck shootout, goalies were not able to "win" this contest, whereas previously if they allowed three straight goals, they got the punishment.
"I didn't change the rule and I'm okay with the change," said Markstrom, "but those shirts are actually nice. I'd wear those anyday!"
Talk to Vanek, I'm sure they'll be up for grabs next Monday.
