The Shirt is back.
It was one of the funniest moments of the Vancouver Canucks' 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff run: J.T. Miller took to the ice for practice not in his team-issued practice jersey but in a salmon-pink t-shirt with purple, black, and white paisley swirls on it overtop of his hockey gear.
The shirt belonged to rookie goaltender Artūrs Šilovs, who was up with the Canucks after injuries to Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. Šilovs has always had a flair for fashion — he wore a sharp-looking bowtie with his draft suit — but showing up that morning in a pink paisley shirt was a step too far for his teammates.
In an effort to keep things light in the stressful situation of the playoffs, Miller jumped on the opportunity to poke a little fun at the fashion faux pas and his teammates joined in the gentle ribbing.
"I mean, he has to know better," said a laughing Nikita Zadorov. "He’s not going to a nightclub in Riga."
Šilovs took the lighthearted prank in stride, quipping, "It looked good on him, you know?" Meanwhile, head coach Rick Tocchet was delighted, praising Miller for helping to "loosen the guys up."
The shirt, which was from Hugo Boss, quickly sold out as Canucks fans snapped up their stock, leading to the Canucks Team Store selling their own knockoff version, adding an unexpected new hue to the cornucopia of Canucks colours in Rogers Arena for the playoffs.
Clearly, Šilovs remained unfazed by all of the attention, much like he remained cool and calm in the Canucks net during the postseason. In fact, he embraced the shirt's notoriety and brought it back for a sponsored post on his Instagram.
"After the end of the electric NHL playoff season, returning to Latvia I had the opportunity to test and enjoy the new, fully electric Porsche Taycan," reads the caption, according to Google Translate.
It's a smart move by Šilovs — or perhaps Porsche Latvija — as the notorious shirt will certainly get the Instagram post more attention than if he was wearing a drab suit. It worked to get it in this article, after all.
Either that or this is the moment where the pink paisley shirt officially jumps the shark and wearing it around Rogers Arena will now be seen as gauche.
