Well Caps fans, it’s official.
Braden Holtby took the ice with the Vancouver Canucks for their first day of training camp on Monday after signing a two-year, $8.6 deal with the team over the offseason.
Holtby’s iconic red number 70 sweater is gone and has now been replaced by a blue number 49; Canucks forward Tanner Pearson wears number 70 with the team.
By Eliza Kravitz 2 weeks ago
Former Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby was spotted in Vancouver on Monday. The Holtbeast visited the Canucks team store around noon Pacific Time. According to Vancouver sports fan Azadeh, Holtby was browsing the hat aisle for some new Canucks’ knit hats.
Outside the store, she asked to take a selfie with the team’s new goaltender.
“Bumped into a lovely Mr. Holtby at the Canucks store 🤠,” Azadeh wrote on Twitter. The photo has received nearly 1,000 likes since being posted a little over an hour ago.
Braden Holtby hasn’t played a game for the Vancouver Canucks yet, but he’s already gone viral for two off-the-ice stories. First, in November, Holtby was trapped behind the US/Canadian border because he didn’t have the proper paperwork for his family’s two tortoises, Honey and Maple. Friday, Holtby’s new thunderbird mask for the Canucks was released by Swedish airbrusher David Gunnarsson. The design was criticized for appropriating First Nations artwork.
Holtby addressed the controversy on Saturday with CTV News and said he will not be wearing the mask next season. Gunnarsson also deleted imagery of the new bucket off his social media pages and did not respond to requests for comment from the news outlet.
“I wanted to make sure I apologize to anyone I had offended,” Holtby said to CTV News. “It was definitely not my intent and I definitely learned a valuable lesson through this all and will make sure I’m better and moving forward, do the things that help the community the most.”
Braden Holtby is a member of the Vancouver Canucks and it’s getting really real now.
On Friday, Holtby’s longtime mask painter, David Gunnarsson, debuted the Holtbeast’s new bucket for his first season in The Couve.
According to Gunnarsson, the design of Holtby’s mask is based “on the myth of the Thunderbird, a Canadian northwest coast myth. The huge Thunderbird is flying over the mountains to the ocean to catch orcas with his huge claws. A totally perfect story to create on a Canucks mask.”
Tim Hortons sent the Holtby family a gift package on Wednesday officially welcoming them to their new home in Vancouver.
Brandi Holtby shared photos of what they received and the gifts are incredible.
Our long international nightmare is over. On Friday, Brandi Holtby revealed that after two days stuck behind the border and away from his family, former Capital Braden Holtby was welcomed into Canada after not having the correct paperwork for his two tortoises.
Saturday, Brandi posted an image of the family’s two beloved pets back at home. A distinguished Honey Holtby proudly posed in front of the Canadian flag while Maple had some stage freight.
Braden Holtby went viral earlier in the week after his wife Brandi revealed that the goaltender couldn’t cross the Canada/United States border because of not having the proper paperwork for his two now-famous tortoises Maple and Honey.
According to Brandi, the couple had an import permit for the pets but did not have an export one from the United States Fish and Wildlife Services. After a bunch of press (you’re welcome), Holtby was able to rejoin his family two days later in Canada after the USFWS reached out to the family to expedite their pets’ permit.
Braden Holtby signed a two-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks worth $4.3 million per year on the first day of free agency in October, officially ending his long tenure in DC. Since then, the Holtbys have acclimated themselves to their new Canadian city, but two of their family members had to tragically stay back in DC.
Honey and Maple Holtby, the family’s two tortoises, have been unable to cross the border, along with dad, due to some red tape at the US Fish and Wildlife Services. Brandi asked for help on her Twitter account on Wednesday so they can swiftly reunite the family.
“We miss our boys!” Brandi wrote.
By Ian Oland 2 months ago
Over the offseason, the Vancouver Canucks signed Braden Holtby and acquired Nate Schmidt from the Vegas Golden Knights. The two transactions reunited Beagle with two of his former teammates from Washington – one of which he won the Stanley Cup with.
Tuesday, Beagle and Schmidt joined the Sports Celebrities Festival live stream and the veteran center commented for the first time on the Canucks’ prized offseason acquisitions.
By Ian Oland 2 months ago
Mike Emrick ended his legendary play-by-play career after 50 years on Monday. The Hockey Hall of Fame announcer called over 3,750 hockey games and 22 Stanley Cup Finals.
The NHL made a tribute video featuring some of Emrick’s best calls. Not only will the montage give you chills, but it’ll also give you goosebumps as it features the greatest moment in Capitals history.
