In first game since back injury, Canucks' Boeser scores Da Beauty League hat trick

Rudi Schuller

In first game since back injury, Canucks' Boeser scores Da Beauty League hat trick image

Brock Boeser appears to be OK.

The Vancouver Canucks forward returned to the ice on Wednesday after suffering a fracture in his back on March 5 that cut short his first full season in the NHL. Boeser had been a revelation prior to the injury, racking up 29 goals and 26 assists in 62 games during the 2017-18 regular season.

With the injury behind him, Boeser was named captain of a team in Da Beauty League. The Minnesota-based summer circuit consists of six teams filled with current pros and college players, with the 4-on-4 format creating the kind of wide-open play that favours a player like Boeser.

On Wednesday, Boeser's "Team BIC" took the opening game 6-4, with the 21-year-old notching a hat trick.

His first of the night came on a breakaway, with Boeser rifling the puck into the top left corner of the net.

Boeser followed that up with a wrist shot through the legs of an opponent that fooled the opposing goaltender.

He completed his hat trick with a hard one-timer from the slot.

Boeser and Team BIC will play seven more games before the league's playoffs, which take place in mid-August.

Rudi Schuller