We're over a month into the 2018/19 season now, and one of the biggest surprises and storylines that's made headlines in the hockey world is the Vancouver Canucks.
Sitting second in the Pacific Division entering Tuesday's slate of games, the Canucks have been led by rookie sensation Elias Pettersson and his 15 points in 9 games, and the Canucks' young core of players.
While Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser have enjoyed solid starts to the season, Virtanen has kicked off the campaign with 5 goals in 15 games. Whenever Virtanen threads the mesh, Canucks fans take in the #ShotgunJake challenge, which involves shotgunning a beer to honour the 21-year-old right winger. Started by TSN 1040 hosts Jason Brough and Mike Halford, you can see how the hashtag has blown up on Twitter, like this one below:
A brewery in Abbotsford B.C. -- a city approximately 70km outside of Vancouver that Virtanen hails from -- has joined in on the action by adding a shotgun target to one of their brews with the words "Jake scores!!" circled around it.
Canucks fans, if you're unsure whether you should just chug a beer of stick a knife or a screwdriver in a beer the next time Virtanen scores, then why not support a local brewery in the Vancouver area and pick up a case of Clearbrook just to be clear how the rules actually work?
There's also a website now available with a Shotgun Jake t-shirt available if you'd like to down a beer in style.
Virtanen's output in goals this season has bumped him up to the team's first line, as it appears he'll be joining Tim Schaller and Bo Horvat for their Tuesday night matchup against the Detroit Red Wings.
(h/t Clearbrookbrewing)
