Halloween is one of the few times of the year where the hockey world really seems to embrace the personality of their players. For one night (or the weekend before that one night) hockey players are encouraged to embrace their inner child and get dressed up in a wacky costume.
Sometimes players’ costumes go awry, whether it’s a minor misstep, like dressing up as a currently controversial political figure, or a massive misstep, like leaving the house in full-on blackface. But for the most part, it’s a lot of fun to see players flash a little creativity off the ice.
Some teams have full group photos with their entire team in costume, but the Canucks neglected to post such a photo, though they did share a few costumes. Here are the Canucks costumes I could track down via social media, as well as a few fun surprises at the end.
I have to start with the best couples costume: Sven Baertschi and his girlfriend Laura as the two emojis that make up his name on Twitter. Canucks fans have frequently referred to Baertschi with the bear and cheese emojis online and the two brought them to life in an awesome way. Also, bonus points for dog.
Speaking of couples costumes, here’s Chris Tanev and Markus Granlund with a spot-on Wayne and Garth. I particularly appreciate Tanev’s DIY Wayne’s World hat.
Troy Stecher and his girlfriend will never grow up as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell.
If not for the beard, Erik Gudbranson would be nearly unrecognizable in his Austin Powers getup, with his girlfriend Sarah as Foxxy Cleopatra at his side.
Sam Gagner and his wife Rachel looked super classy in their skeleton makeup.
Brock Boeser and his girlfriend went as the Red and Blue Rangers. I have to say, she didn’t quite get the look of Billy Cranston…
One of the best Canucks costumes was one Canuck dressing up as another. Jake Virtanen went as Michael Del Zotto, specifically in his part-time job as a DJ. You can see in the side-by-side shot that Virtanen really nailed the look.
Here’s another picture from the Canucks instagram, which shows that Virtanen was toting around roses and a Playboy magazine, I assume as part of his costume.
Alex Biega and his wife, Diana, went as lumberjacks, and they’re okay.
And finally, the last of the Canucks costumes comes from Bo Horvat’s trusty pal Gus, who dressed up as Hotdog Horvat. Again, bonus points for dog.
That’s it for costumes from the Canucks, but I have to give a shoutout to one of the best costumes of a Canuck that I’ve ever seen. This guy dressed up as the iconic Bure-in-rollerblades hockey card.
The perfect #Canucks #Halloween costume doesn’t exis-
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 31, 2017
NAILED IT! pic.twitter.com/L7cdrs8OjV
Look at the attention to detail: his roller blades even have red laces!
With that, we bid farewell to Brocktober and hello to Bovember — I’m assuming that Horvat will erupt this month because his name lends itself most easily to a November pun.
And I'm done! Happy #Halloween #Canucks fans! It's #Brocktober! cc @Canucks @BBoeser16 pic.twitter.com/2hZw2y1KjI
— Bruce Ng (@transcendwebs) October 30, 2017