Afternoon Headshots: June 19th

This comet whale thingy is Kevin Yu’s idea for a Utica Comets mascot. No words.
Via Pass it to Bulis.

Today at CanucksArmy we looked at the teams need for better defensive depth this upcoming season, and more importantly: unveiled the finalists for the "CANUCKARMY GEAR T-SHIRT DESIGN COMPETITION." So far it’s @TheStanchion’s fetching "It’s a Riot" design leading @YYJordan’s wicked Tan Man design. Go vote for your favorite t-shirt now, and stay tuned for purchasing details!

More Canucks news and such after the jump.

Pass it to Bulis has held a "Utica Mascot Design" contest and the results are hilariously terrible. Just how terrible exactly? The best suggestion – and it wasn’t even particularly close – was Tom Sestito. [Pass it to Bulis]

Laurence Gilman is a busy man and the Vancouver Sun is on it! [Vancouver Sun Blogs]

Alain Vigneault will address the media at Radio City in New York on Friday. He might also hire Newell Brown, his drop-pass loving former colleague with the Canucks. [NY Post]

Ben Hankinson, Keith Ballard’s player agent, went on the record today with Brad Ziemer and essentailly let it be known that his client would welcome a change of scenery. To Ballard’s immense credit, this is the closest he’s come to making waves about his circumstances in Vancouver, even as he endured being a regular healthy scratch over the past three seasons. [Vancouver Sun]

Rob the Hockey Guy has a bit of a hockey crush on hot dad John Tortorella. [Rob the Hockey Guy]

Speaking of crushing, Nucksmisconduct’s Zanstorm would like to see Dan Hamhuis do more of it. Zanstorm’s assessment of Hamhuis is otherwise spot on, but I’m not buying that he needs to make a point of playing a more physical game. After all, Hamhuis is one of the league’s best, under-stated two-way defenceman. I’d even argue that he excels in large part because he doesn’t need to rely on playing physically to be "tough to play against." He accomplishes that, instead, with his dead on positioning, superb awareness and a quick, disruptive stick.

The big hits and physical play are still a part of Hamhuis’ toolbox, but I think he’s more effective when he’s just turning the opposition’s top-wingers the other way in his usual, nonchalant style. Take this Dustin Brown quote about Hamhuis for example: "Playing with Kopi, [Hamhuis is] always matched up against us. He’s pretty solid and is hard to play against, in the sense that he’s always in really good position and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes." Sometimes just being an excellent two-way player is every bit as punishing as playing like a bonesaw. [Nucksmisconduct]

Finally, according to Latvian media, the Canucks have extended a prospect camp invite to 6,3 Dinamo Riga forward Miks Indrašis. Indrašis recorded fourteen goals and twenty-six points as a twenty-two year old rookie in the KHL last season. [Hokej.lv via google translate]