#aatu räty

[makarshughes]

Canucks @ Lightning \ October 15, 2024. Minor for interference.

[ruinix]

räty goal then räty jailed

(Vancouver Canucks @ Pittsburg Penguins, November 27, 2024)

[babygirlboeser]

rats is ahl player of the week :’)

[yyouaremysunshinee]

went to my first bridgeport game since aatu got traded and it just didn’t feel the same

there was no one who would look up during warm ups and smile at me or look over at me before i even saw him (i mean a few of them would smile, but only because they recognize me and my family)

please give me my bestie back vancouver

[juhollamago]

[just-teal]

I made a bunch of Canucks Christmas bobbles over the last few weeks and I didn’t know where else to post them.

[tc9972]

Nils Höglander random textpost

1, A happy place for avid hunter Nils Höglander is quietly stalking a moose in the northern wildness of Sweden.

2, This ten-minute long video is mostly delightful. Höglander is pretty quiet and reserved with the media, largely because he’s dealing with not only a new team, but a new country and a language with which he’s still not fully comfortable. The video gives some insight into his personality and how his teammates view him.

But then, about two minutes into the video, there’s a moment that defies comprehension.

Höglander takes a water bottle and sprays both his socks and the inside of his skate before putting it on.

3, “I guess I have to say hockey is the hardest,” said Hoglander. “But if you’ve never been out in the forest or anything, it’s kind of hard to know what to do. If you bring Petey (Elias Pettersson) he would have no idea what to do, he’s a city boy.”

4, Q. Do you have a hidden talent? Music or cooking?

A. I’m not into music at all in doing it by myself (instrument). I would always say something outdoors. I’m a big unicycle guy. I have one. That’s my hidden talent.

5, Nils Höglander pulled in a decent crop of votes for the team’s biggest Swiftie, as he was nominated by Erik Brännström, Aatu Räty, and Elias Pettersson. He later claimed that “Love Story” was his favourite song by her. Höglander’s history with being a fan of Swift dates back to a TikTok posted last year, in which he said he’d rather meet her than her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

6, Nils Höglander Spotify Wrapped- “Viva La Vida” by Soppgirobygget

I don’t know what I expected but it certainly wasn’t this.

I guess I expected this to be a cover of “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. Instead, it’s a dance track that interpolates “Misirlou” by Dick Dale, then throws in a bridge that’s basically just the chorus of “Whoomp! (There It Is)” by Tag Team.

This is a straight-up party song and it’s a lot of fun, even if the lyrics are hilariously crass. While mostly in Norwegian, there are a few English phrases thrown in, like “Bitch, make it clap.”

Here are a couple choice phrases from the song translated into English via Google Translate: “Big babes, big drinks, big asses make me happy,” “Shake the bum and I’ll post it on Snap,” and “I have a skull fracture and proven gonorrhea.”

7, Then there are the unicycles. Höglander has a knack for juggling while unicycling, as well as stickhandling while on a unicycle. It’s a talent shared by Pettersson, whose dad could ride a unicycle, so he taught himself to do it as well. 

“The unicycle thing is just for fun,” said Höglander. “I haven’t seen Petey yet, but I will have a match with him.”

“We haven’t had a battle yet,” said Pettersson, “or done it face-to-face but from the videos I’ve seen, he’s better. Sucks to say, but...”

8, There is no doubt about who is responsible for the cooking at the Pettersson/Höglander home.

– I take on the cooking, otherwise it won't be as good on the table, says Pettersson.

– He is careful about that so he has to be responsible for it, says Höglander.

What do you stand for then? – Put away the dishes. Luckily we have a dishwasher so it's easy, says Höglander. (Elias has also said that Hoggy used to cook rice like pasta, not measuring water or anything, b4 he stepped in to teach him better but I can't find the video)

9, "My friend found Höglander on Tinder... guess this means he’s in Vancouver already?"

10, It’s Hoagie, not Hoggy

Note the umlaut. It means the first syllable of the rookie’s name rhymes with brogue or doge, not log or dog.

11, And finally, here’s a fact that is bound to make many of you feel very old: Höglander’s birthday is December 20, 2000, making him the first Vancouver Canuck born after the millennium. Remember the Titans came out before he did; Gladiator and Almost Famous, too.

12, n the northern wilderness of his tiny village of Brocktrask, Sweden — population 20 hearty outdoor enthusiasts — you first have to stalk the very large and imposing moose. And that could take a lot of time.

13, The name “Nyssa” has many meaning, including “goal” (Greek) or “friendly elf” (Scandinavian). It is also Nils’ nickname with his SHL teammates. While Hoglander’s size may make him elf-like, he’s more feisty than friendly, taking a five-game suspension earlier this season for throwing a reverse elbow. Since the suspension ,he has been very productive as a 19 year old in the SHL, scoring four goals and three assists in 12 games.

14, So I was just texting with Nils Höglander and he has agreed to not score any goals against Canada at the World Juniors if we can find him some good fishing spots around Vancouver. — Chris Faber

15,

Achievements

Two-time SHL Goal of the Year (2019, 2020)

Won a bronze medal with Team Sweden at the 2020 World Junior Championship

16, Funny story. A couple of my friends who are into fishing decided to randomly invite Hoglander out fishing on the Vedder river during his rookie year through a DM on instagram. He ended up replying and saying he’d love to go. They ended up meeting up and spending a day out on the water and had a successful trip. They go out fishing still to this day"

17, "It all started back in Skellefteå, in northern Sweden, where he moved at age 11. The forward from Burträsk, who turns 18 on Thursday, spent much of his spare time with wheels under his feet.

”We spent almost every night during the summer playing street hockey. We played at the rink when the ice was melted for the summer, and placed hockey nets on the concrete. We had goalies and arranged tournaments. Sometimes we stayed until way past midnight”, Nils Höglander recalls.

The janitor of the small arena often didn’t know that Nils and his friends were there, they weren’t really allowed to hang out in the building as late as they did. When they couldn’t play at the rink they used a tennis court instead.

“It really was the highlight of the summer.”

18, Pettersson's gaming hobby didn't keep him from having a career year and he's certainly not the only Canuck to spend time playing Call of Duty. His fellow Swede, Nils Höglander, evidently also spends a fair amount of time playing Call of Duty. He proved as much in a collaboration with the Seattle Surge, a professional Call of Duty League (CDL) team that is co-owned by Canucks Sports and Entertainment.

Höglander faced off against Amer “Pred” Zulbeari, who is one of the best Call of Duty players in the world. When the Surge won the CDL 2022 Major III Grand Final, Pred was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, then was named Rookie of the Year for the 2022 CDL season.  

With that in mind, it’s at least a little bit surprising that Höglander — decidedly not a professional e-gamer — managed to hold his own in a 1v1 match against Pred.

Höglander, playing under the handle “HitTheDeke,” seemed to legitimately catch Pred off-guard with how well he played, as the power forward matched him kill for kill at first. At the 2:40 mark, Pred looks legitimately taken aback, looking towards the camera crew as if making sure he’s not being pranked by being secretly matched up against another pro.

19,

VANCOUVER – Not only has he a dream job, Nils Hoglander has a dream commute to go with it.

Each morning the Vancouver Canucks are home, the Swedish rookie leaves his 22nd-floor apartment that overlooks the city, gets in an elevator and rides down to the bottom of the Rogers Arena. That’s his commute. No car, no transit, no rain.

This is rink-rat heaven.

“Taking an elevator to get to the rink would be like a dream for Nils,” Chris Abbott, the Canadian general manager of Hoglander’s former team, Rogle BK, told Sportsnet. “You’ll have to turn the lights out to get him to leave. You’ll never find a guy who wants to be on the ice more. I’d be out for a run and I’d see him skating on rollerblades with a bunch of kids in the middle of nowhere. He loves being around the rink and loves his teammates, and I think that goes a long way for him to focus on what he needs to do to stay in the NHL.”

20, Hoglander said he is accustomed to living on his own. He misses the camaraderie of teammates away from the rink, but spends his afternoons FaceTiming his family and friends in Sweden. His mom, Maria, is a teacher and his dad, Anders, a professional test driver for auto-makers.

“Cool job,” Hoglander said.

He also spends a lot of time with friends and teammates playing video games online. Call of Duty is his favourite, and Pettersson and Canuck Adam Gaudette are regular gamers, he said.

21,

When did Nils' interest in hockey arise? (asking Nils' parents) – He was probably no more than two and a half years old when he started skating. He could skate straight away, which is almost crazy. So did Tilda. – Before that, both of them had skied quite a bit, both downhill and cross-country. Both of them competed a lot on skis and we often had to throw them in the car straight from the podium to go to a hockey match.

22,

Nils Höglander seems to be a very strong person and his parents believe that this may be due to the tough times he experienced growing up. – Yes, but if we look back at how he was during his youth, he was, as we say, a “squirt”. He was everywhere and nowhere. Much like he sometimes is on the hockey field, laughs Höglander’s parents and continues: – I think everything he has been through, both with Tilda and the Skellefteå time, has been built on this Norrland-like stability. None of us parents can otherwise put our finger on why he has become so strong within himself, because we also feel that he is.

23,

And always with a smile on his face… – It takes a lot for him not to smile. When he smiles, he has fun. You have to be humble about life and the world. All people are different, but you should try to treat everyone well and not get carried away too much.

24,

When Brännström came to the Canucks, one of the faces he recognized was Nils Höglander.

The two Swedes have known each other for over 10 years and their first memory goes back to a hockey camp in Sweden where Brännström’s dad was the coach.

At that camp, Höglander was playing forward but the surprise came when Brännström told us that he was a goaltender at the time. Brännström said he was either 11 or 12 at the time and he was playing goaltender when he was playing up an age group.

25, Who's more likely to be a cool parent? Elias Pettersson: "I like to think I would be a cool parent, but I'll say Nils Hoglander. He's from up north in Sweden. He's just a very funny guy."

26, Who's more likely to be a cool parent? Elias Pettersson: "I like to think I would be a cool parent, but I'll say Nils Hoglander. He's from up north in Sweden. He's just a very funny guy"

Who's more likely to get lost in a road city? Quinn Hughes:"Probably Hoglander"

27, Who on your team is most likely to get lost on the road? (asking Quinn Hughes) Quinn: "I feel like Hog-man. (You're such a good person!) No, I'm gonna explain myself. He is literally from a town in Sweden with like 15 people. Like, grocery story 2 hours away"

28, Höglander was voted the worst golfer last year…

[hughesybear]

it’s the Räty duel in the AHL tonight! Aatu Räty is playing against his older brother Aku Räty as the Abbotsford Canucks play the Tucson Roadrunners :)

this is them before one of their first games against each other at the Abbotsford Centre on Jan. 12, 2024!

they were teammates for three seasons in the Liiga, and they were teammates for the 2020 WJC, where their line combined for three goals in an 8-1 win over Slovakia in the preliminary round!

[goalhofer]

2024-25 Vancouver Canucks roster

Wingers

#6 Brock Boeser (Burnsville, Minnesota)

#8 Conor Garland (Scituate, Massachusetts)

#9 J.T. Miller (Unity Township, Ohio) A

#20 Danton Heinen (Langley, British Columbia)*

#21 Nils Höglander (Sorsele Kommun, Sweden)

#23 Jonathan Lekkerimäki (Huddinge Kommun, Sweden)**

#44 Kiefer Sherwood (Columbus, Ohio)*

#74 Jake DeBrusk (Edmonton, Alberta)*

Centers

#24 Pius Suter (Wallisellen, Switzerland)

#40 Fredrik Pettersson (Sundsvall Stad, Sweden) A

#53 Teddy Bļugers (Riga, Latvia)

#54 Aatu Räty (Oulu, Finland)**

#81 Dakota Joshua (Dearborn, Michigan)

Defensemen

#7 Carson Soucy (Wainwright Municipality, Alberta)

#17 Filip Hronek (Hradec Králové, Czech Republic)

#26 Erik Brännström (Eksjö Stad, Sweden)*

#27 Derek Forbort (Duluth, Minnesota)*

#43 Quinn Hughes (Manchester, New Hampshire) C

#47 Noah Juulsen (Abbotsford, British Columbia)

#57 Tyler Myers (Calgary, Alberta)

#73 Vincent Desharnais (Laval, Quebec)*

Goalies

#31 Artūrs Šilovs (Ventspils, Latvia)

#32 Kevin Lankinen (Helsinki, Finland)*

#35 Thatcher Demko (San Diego, California)

[cellythefloshie]

;; The Trade Chapter One of Alone With You Dedicated to @miracleonice87

Table of Contents Playlist «« 🏙️ »» Chapter Two

Summary: With the New Yorks Islanders' acquisition of Bo Horvat, they have traded away Anthony Beauvillier. Forced to say goodbye to his best friend, and his baby sister Estelle, Anthony begins the next stage of his career - but it's not without the help of Mat's sister, Dani, who is more than happy to welcome him to Vancouver. Word Count: 4411

New York City. 

The headline broke only minutes after Anthony Beauviillier had received the phone call from his agent. Its ring had been unexpected and haunting as his sister Estelle had been sitting on the floor of the apartment he shared with his teammate and best friend,  Mat Barzal who was seated up on the couch beside her brother. She had watched him out of the corner of her wide brown eyes, pretending to be transfixed on the comedy show the guys seemed to be enjoying, as his phone had illuminated his features and sent his skin pale. Then he was gone, lost in the next room for a moment of privacy and leaving her alone with Mat in the living room. 

Mat had been friends with her brother since the draft, but Estelle and Mat? They were never more than acquaintances since she moved to New York for school. She had become the third wheel in their friendship, but even then, as Anthony stepped out of the room the pair exchanged concerned glances. Rightly so. When Anthony returned, his eyes glossy with the threat of tears and his skin so pale he looked as if he were on the verge of vomiting, he broke the news to them. He had been traded across the country to Vancouver - and then the news broke. Estelle’s phone lighting up with the headline. 

Islanders acquire Canucks captain Bo Horvat in trade for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty, 2023 draft pick

The headline had been etched into her mind since then, the shock was still heavy on them all as they had helped Tito pack up what they could and prepared for the long drive to the airport. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic going both ways. Typical New York City. The lights glimmered above, catching the snowflakes as they drifted down from the clouds. The sight alone was usually enough to leave Estelle with a smile on her lips, but there was no joy to be felt as the three of them were packed into the car together. With Mat and Tito in the front seats, Estelle was cramped into the back between hockey bags and her brother’s luggage. It would have been easier just to send him out in a car, to say goodbye at the apartment and go their separate ways - but Estelle wanted to be there when he left - and Mat had insisted the same. 

Their insistence didn’t stop the quiet disappointment of the car ride, with nothing but mere glances exchanged between them - and from the center of the back seat, Estelle could see everything. One glance at her brother and she knew everything she needed to know. The disappointment of the news was still heavy on his shoulders as he sat slouched in his seat and his eyes were still bloodshot from restless sleep even if he did try to hide it from them as his gaze was lost out the window as he admired the city that he had come to call home for the first time. 

Mat, who sat in the driver's seat, was a little harder for her to read. She hadn’t known him for a lifetime like she had her brother, the mere seven years since their draft was nothing in comparison, yet she could see it when she looked at him long enough. Estelle could see how his sharp jawline was set, and his large hands were wrapped around the steering wheel, perfectly resting at ten-and-two, so tight his knuckles paled. His dark eyes were fixated on the road in front of him as if they were driving out on an open freeway and not almost kissing the bumper of the car in front of them. Yet, the more he avoided looking at his best friend in the passenger seat, or at her through the reflection or the rearview it only became more clear. He was upset, trying desperately to hide it and failing - but Estelle wasn’t going to give him a hard time about it, especially when she had tears silently streaming down her cheeks in the back seat. 

Saying goodbye to her brother had always been a difficult thing, ever since she was a kid, they had been the closest of the Beauvillier siblings and he was the very season her parents let her pursue an education in New York - and now she was going to be alone. Worst of all, she knew how strong the friendship formed between Tito and Mat was. Drafted together, they became more like brothers than they were friends - as they did everything from live together to vacation together during the off-season - and that too was being broken by a trade so unexpected that it had blindsided them all. 

It shouldn't have been so great of a shock - not when trades happened so frequently all across the league that someone being a franchise player was becoming a rarity. And not when Lou was so determined to get the Islanders back into a playoff position - but no one wanted it to be Tito. Not her, not the fans, and sure as hell not his best friend Mat. 

The ease of the breaks pulled Estelle from the stare she held on Mat, her gaze quickly cast to her dirty white sneakers with the hope that he hadn’t caught her staring. She glue her eyes there, looking over her wet laces, and at the frayed at the end where she had lost an aglet getting off the subway. Estelle kicked at it as she listened to the car doors on each side of the front seat open and close. Then came the door on her right, the rush of her brother’s hockey bag dragging against the leather seat. The chill of the winter morning infiltrated the car, leaving Estelle to shiver and draw her camel coat a little tighter around her frame. Yet, her eyes remained trained on the ground as she did her best to ignore the footsteps, and the rustling of equipment - but that didn’t change what was happening around her. Within the hour, her brother would be leaving New York City, and flying across the continent. To another country. Another city. Another team. 

“Alright,” Tito muttered softly in French as his silhouette crept into the car as his body hung off the back door, “come out and say goodbye.” 

Her denim jeans dragged against the seat as she shuffled across and out the open door. First, Estelle was embraced by the wind. Its cold touch tossed dark hair into twirling tendrils that fell into her face and her coat whipped at the back of her legs leaving her wishing she had been wearing something more to keep her warm. Then, came Tito’s hug, his arms wrapping around her and surrounding her with his warmth. The two of them were not all that different, not really. Looking at them both you could tell they were brother and sister. They shared the same brown hair that was somewhere between curly and straight unless you took the time to style it, they shared the same wide toothy grin and they both stood tall - Anthony at 5’11, and Estelle only three inches shorter. It was in their eyes where they differed, his eyes bright as blue sea water, and her eyes dark and warm. While their stares countered each other so effortlessly, there was no hiding the emotion them as Estelle pulled back to look up at her big brother. 

“No tears,” he told her, “we play Vancouver soon.” 

We. The word hurt her more than it should, and she could see him wince at the realization of what he had said. He wasn’t a part of the Islanders organization anymore. He would be playing against Vancouver, he would be playing for them. 

“You know what I mean,” Tito sighed, his arms dropping from his hold on her, “you know the city now. You don’t need me here.” 

Estelle crossed her arms over her chest firmly and watched as her brother pushed past her to move for Mat who was placing Tito’s last bag on the curve. “That’s the last of it,” Mat told him as he slipped her hands into the pockets of his coat jacket, “you need a hand carrying it in?”

“I think I got it,” Tito assured and made no effort to grab his bags. Instead, he stood there, his hands in the pockets of his own coat as she looked at his best friend, his brother. Estelle watched as they shared crooked smiles, casual shrugs of their shoulders, and for a moment she thought they were going to leave at that but soon hands were slipping from deep pockets and arms were thrown around the other. The two had never shied away from a hug - and Estelle wasn’t going to stop them from saying their farewells. 

“You have her number?” She heard Mat say to her brother. 

“Dani, yeah. In my phone,” Tito assured, reaching back around him to pack his ass pocket where his phone rested. 

Dani was Mat’s baby sister. Estelle had met her a few times, but didn’t know her better beyond exchanging a follow on Instagram and the occasional text during a big game - but when they had finally accepted that Tito was going to Vancouver Mat had gotten her on the phone, and arranged for Tito to stay with her until he got his own place situated. 

“Good, you text her when you land. Don’t let her make you take a cab,” Mat pointed to him and spoke firmly. 

“I won’t, I won’t,” there was a hint of a laugh in Tito’s voice as he reached down to pick up his bags, loading them up onto each shoulder and in each hand before he looked to them both with that dorky smile that was the signature of her brother. Then with one final wave, she was left alone with Mat, the two of them standing an arm’s reach apart as they watched the doors for a little too long - almost as if they were hoping they had forgotten something, or if it had all been some cruel joke but he didn’t come back. Anthony was off to Vancouver. 

“Com’on, let’s get out of here,” Mat’s voice was sullen as he pushed off the car he had been leaning against and began to circle around to the driver’s side. 

Out of habit, Estelle reached back for the handle of the back seat only to hesitate. Tito was gone, she didn’t have to sit in the back seat anymore. Sighing, she let it slip from her fingers and her feet tracked through a puddle of slush as she came to the passenger side and climbed into what was always deemed her brother’s seat. The leather was still warm, and while she was sure it was because Mat had already started up the car and turned on the seat warmers, Estelle couldn’t help but cringe at the thought that it had been warmed by her brother’s butt. Gross. 

For a moment she considered stepping out and moving into the back seat, but instead, she reached back for her seatbelt and settled in for what she hoped would be a short right back. Looking down into her hand, she let her cold hands join there, her fingers picking aimlessly as her own nailbeds as she spoke; “you can just take me home.” 

Home was a little hole-in-the-wall apartment in Brooklyn. No bedroom, small bathroom, and enough kitchen and living room space to live comfortably. Tito had insisted that she get something bigger - or that she just moved in with himself and Mat - but she liked having her own little place to study. But now, with Tito on his flight and her friends restricted to those she called her classmates, her alone time would be a lot more frequent. Her relationship with Mat - if you couldn’t even call it that - started and ended with her brother. The last thing she was going to do was build on it now that he was gone. 

The drive home was quiet, Mat assuming the death grip on the steering wheel and his eyes out on the road that was still congested with traffic. The symphony of car horns, the screeching of tires when someone happened to get going faster than the traffic allowed it was the soundtrack of her life as Mat failed to reach out and turn on the radio. He must be the suffer-in-silence type, she thought to herself, giving him a quick glance as he came to a stop not too far from her apartment. 

“You can let me out here, I’ll walk the rest of the way,” she assured him as her hand was already dropping to eject her seatbelt, “you’ll be able to take the next turn to head back to your place-”

“You sure, it’s only a few more blocks,” and the snow was coming down, but walking beat sitting in traffic. 

“Yeah, it’ll be fast this way,” she assured him and reached into the back seat for her crossbody bag made out of old band t-shirts before reaching out for the car door, “thanks for taking Tito to the airport,” was her final goodbye before she stepped out into multiple lanes of traffic. 

The honking of horns only grew louder, as she obstructed the road in front of one car after another. Her hand raised up, giving each driver a quick, apologetic wave on her way to the sidewalk. That same hand came to clutch the breast of her coat, holding it shut as the snow continued to flutter down onto the city in the cold embrace of the northern winds. It built up on the sidewalk in a watery mess, caught somewhere between water and ice, and it seeped right through her shoes. The chill it brought left her shivering as she came to the entry of her apartment. Cold, slender fingers struggled with her keys, dropping them once before she was in through the front doors. A quick walk up three stories worth of stairs had her at her front door, but before she could enter she could feel the vibration of her phone against her hip. 

Her hands dipped into her bag, drawing out her phone quickly. Maybe Tito’s flight had been delayed by the snow - maybe he would get to stay just one more day. Estelle’s hopes were squashed with the bright notification at the top of her screen. The message had been from Mat, who she was sure couldn’t have driven more than two blocks since she had left him.

Her heart sunk at the sight of the text. Mat had an entire roster of teammates he could text to meet up for dinner, and here he was texting her. Why? She couldn’t think of anything beyond the simple fact that she was Tito’s baby sister.  Estelle knew she should say no. That hanging out with her brother’s best friend without him was all kind of weird, but she felt sorry for him. 

Leaning against her door, she unlocked the door and pushed it open just enough to reach in. Finger hooked around a pair of Blundstone boots and pulled them out into the hall. She kicked off her sneakers and peeled off her wet socks with the support of her door frame to keep her upright before tugging on her boots. With her feet slowly beginning to warm, Estelle tossed her wet sneakers inside and locked up her door once more, and made the descent back down. Waiting for her just outside the doors, his hazard lights on, was Mat parked along the curb. He had to make no effort to turn around because was already there. 

Vancouver. 

The flight from New York City to Vancouver was a five-hours if you managed to secure a direct flight with no layovers. Most of the season, it wouldn’t have been easy but in January, when taking vacations to escape the cold was at an all-time high, flights between the two major cities were easy to come by when you needed nothing more than a single seat. It would have felt like any other flight if Anthony hadn’t been alone. He spent his time listening to his favourite playlists and podcasts watched one of the movies that they had available on the flight and even managed a brief nap before the turbulence of landing rattled him awake. 

His hands shot straight to his seatbelt, his large hand grasping around the flimsy fabric and fastening it in place around his hips. Then his hands fell to the arms rests of his middle seat, the luxury of being booked last minute on a practically full flight, and grasped at it with his knuckle-white grip. Anthony didn’t hate flying, he didn’t hate the turbulence, they were not the source of the anxiety that hummed deep in his chest like volts of electricity through power lines. The way his hands threatened to shake, and his uneasy breath as the landing gear contacted the tarmac, it was all still because of the trade. 

It hadn’t been something he requested, and it had been far from expected. He had been on pace for having a career year with 9 goals and 11 assists in merely 49 games, but it hadn’t been enough for Lou and the New York Islanders organization to want to keep him. It only added to his trade value - but even then it wasn’t a one-for-one trade. He was nowhere near the superstar-level asset that was Bo Horvat that the Islanders felt they needed to make their playoff push. As a result, he would be joining a team that had been struggling in more ways than one. They had a revolving door of coaching staff, the state of their locker room atmosphere was always called into question and wins were far and few in between. Worst of all, they were done. The team he would meet tomorrow wouldn’t be the team he ended the season with. The players he was most excited to play alongside could be gone, lost to the trade market like he had been for Vancouver were sellers and not buyers going into the trade deadline that was still 32 days away. 

Anthony did his best not to let that bother him as he slung his carry-on over his shoulder and made his descent into his new city, his new home - but first, a pit stop in hell where he had to claim his baggage. Waiting for each bag to come around that carrousel, piling it up on the baggage cart he had managed to come by, he was convinced it took longer than the flight itself thought it couldn’t be more than an hour before he was digging his phone out of his pocket and turning it off from airplane mode. 

It flooded with notifications in his palm, and he ignored every single one of them. His thick thumb pushed them all aside as he went straight to his contact to the number in his phone he hadn’t texted even a single time before. Dani - Mat’s Sister. Fingers hesitated over the keyboard before he typed something up, would delete it before typing something up again. 

Anthony didn’t know if he should feel bad or relieved when he saw the three ellipses signifying her typing pop up in an instant. 

Stepping out through the doors, Anthony looked up and down the length of the pickup lane that was flooded with families coming back from their vacations. When he didn’t see her, he began to walk up the length of the sidewalk. It was between two SUVs packed with kids that he spotted her. Standing just up on the curb with her arms crossed over her chest, Dani was leaning back against the passenger door in that signature Barzal lean. She was dressed in a long leather trench coat, light wash denim, and a plain white tee and her sandy blonde hair pulled back and fastened with nothing more than a claw clip. She looked so casual she looked cool, and he couldn’t be more relieved to see her. 

“Dani!” He called out to her, a single hand raising to wave as she looked up from her phone. 

“Tito!” 

For a second he thought she might drop her phone as she pushed up off the car in a hurry. She fumbled with it as she tucked it away in her pocket and took quick strides to meet him halfway. Her body met his in a gentle impact, her two arms wrapping around his middle in a hug that Anthony hadn’t expected but welcomed - and he hadn’t realized how much he had needed it. Her wrapped a single arm around her tiny waist, his large hand gripping the damp leather of her coat. It was raining, just a drizzle, and he hadn’t even realized that until then as he held her. With his cheek pressed into her hair, He held her there in the middle of the sidewalk, shutting his eyes for a moment as the weight of it all hung over him. 

You don’t have to do this alone, he thought, you’ve got the Barzal’s. 

You’ve got Dani. 

When he pulled back, Anthony offered her a soft smile, “Didn’t make you wait too long did I?”

If he had, Dani didn’t tell him. 

“Don’t worry about it,” she waved him off instead and pushed past him just enough to start unloading his bags from the luggage cart. 

“Dani, you don’t have to-” But there was no stopping her. She already had her hands full, a bag in one hand and a bundle of his sticks in the other as she moved to the car. 

He had heard stories about Dani from when she and Mat were little. About how she would insist on helping him with his hockey bag until the other boys started teasing him about it. They had called her Mat’s own personal equipment manager. For a time he thought of it to be a family fable, but as he watched her load his things into the back of her coup as if she had done it a million times before, he knew it to be true. Anthony even insisted that he help her, and proceeded to do most of the heavy lifting for her, but she took the extra minute to make sure everything was packed away just right. 

When the trunk was full, her body stretched up with his to reach for the trunk of her hatchback. Her t-shirt raised up, barring her sun-kissed skin to the elements and his gaze. Anthony really shouldn’t have noticed, or let himself notice the toned curve of her abs as they played peekaboo from beneath the thin fabric that peaked at her breasts where her nipple piercing teased the fabric and while he averted his gaze in an instant, there was no unseeing it. He could only silently chastise himself. This was Mat’s sister. The last thing he should be doing was ogling her - and when the fuck had she gotten those done? 

Swallowing hard, Anthony let his gaze return to her and tried to fight back the heat of blush that threatened to take his cheeks. 

He forced an awkward smile. 

Dani noticed.

“Don’t look so excited to see me Tito,” she teased him as she rounded her car to the driver’s side. It was as she hung off the driver's side door and gave him an apologetic look that her tone softened. “Hey, it’ll be okay. Besides, I’m more fun than Mat anyway.”

His head shook slowly, a small laugh escaping him as he took to the passenger side. He hated how easy it was for her to make him smile - to make him really smile. While he had the reputation of being a rather happy guy, finding a reason to smile had been difficult since the announcement of the trade. He put one on for Mat and for Estelle to try to put them at ease - but with Dani he had managed a real genuine smile. 

“There it is,” she matched his smile, hoping in place before sliding into the driver's side and out of the rain that was coming down a little harder on them now. 

Anthony lingered just outside the door, his smile spread wide across his face as he looked up at the sky. Rain in January. He would have to get used to that - he would have to get used to a lot of things. 

A sigh rocked his shoulders as his hand dropped to the handle and he let himself inside her car. It was some fuel-efficient hybrid thing he didn’t know the name of and with all his things piled into the trunk and over the folded-down back seats Anthony was left cramped and chuckling as he looked across the median of the car and to Dani who was trying to stifle her own laughter as she sat in the driver's seat. 

“I’m sorry,” she told him, but her smile told him she wasn’t all that sorry for how funny he must have looked with his long legs nearly pressed against his chest as if he was about to do a rep of a leg press. “We will go drop this stuff off, make you a little more comfortable. Then, I’m taking you out to dinner.”

Anthony went to speak, but before he could even manage a single word to protest his hand was already on the dial of the radio, bringing the car to life with the sound of music. With her eyes on the road, as they pulled out of the loading zone, Dani had thrown her phone at him the small brick hitting him in the chest and giving him full control of the playlist. It kept his hands busy and his mind distracted as she drove him through the unfamiliar city and Anthony was thankful for that. Just the little things like the music, and how she so shamelessly sang along to the words - even if she didn’t know them - put him at ease and he was sure that in time Dani would help make Vancouver feel like home. 

[ruinix]

RÄTY GOAL

(Vancouver Canucks @ Pittsburg Penguins, November 27, 2024)

[babygirlboeser]

RAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!

[technicalmarinedisaster]

Aatu räty recalled???? and demko was on the ice at practice today??? it’s a good day!?!?

[yyouaremysunshinee]

bestie got called up!!! i can’t wait to watch him play

[toffoliravioli]

WHAT?!?!?!

[juhollamago]