Worth the squeeze

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about #3 in your program, #1 in your heart, Grimsby Ontario's finest Kevin Bieksa, or 'Juice' to his teammates.

There's a face that can't pay for a drink in the 604, and tomoro he'll probably enjoy a few more free ones when his #3 is raised to the Ring of Honour inside Roger's Arena, celebrating an historic career in Vancouver.

His on ice accolades are as fun to revisit as they were to live in the moment. Big goals, one in particular that we'll run back tomorrow, huge hits, legit KO power as a middleweight & a bulletproof reputation.

Bieksa was your favourite player's favourite player.

What some may not see when they see Bieksa's rugged game, is his passion off the ice to continue shining a light on men's mental health in the honour of his late friend & teammate Rick Rypien.

Rypien took his life in August of 2011, sending shock waves through the NHL & in particular through the Canucks locker room. Bieksa & Rypien were close having both played in Winnipeg as part of the Canucks' AHL squad, the 'Moose'.

Now, years later he has developed a foundation that has helped shine the light on men's mental health. Earlier this year Bieksa & Sportsnet updated everyone on the latest with project MindCheck.

Huge, HUGE respect to Kevin Bieksa, definitely one of the best to ever do it on the Canucks blue line, and somehow an even better guy off the ice.

Look for a trio of Bieksa stories to honour #3 tomorrow, hopefully this team has a Bieksa-esque effort to get him a W. Congratulations Kevin, too bad you couldn't suit up for 8 to 10...to 72 games.