[UPDATE: Seems it'll actually be Trevor Linden as the new President, according to TSN. Fall back or first choice?]

When Bob Nicholson stepped down from his Hockey Canada presidency, travel considerations were one factor. He’s 60, the international hockey thing meant traveling internationally, a lot. So, perhaps, his next move would keep him closer to home.

Home being Penticton, British Columbia.

An hour flight from Vancouver.

Say, do the Canucks have any openings?

Ken Campbell of The Hockey News reports that Nicholson is in negotiations to become the next president of the team, speaking with Francesco Aquilini, the chairman of the Canucks, about the position.

He also speculates that Trevor Linden, who was initially mentioned as the next president of the Canucks, would become his general manager.

The interesting twist here is that Nicholson apparently received an offer from the Washington Capitals to take over their franchise, and that “it’s believed the Capitals offered Nicholson substantially more than the Canucks would pay him, but his heart is apparently with the Canucks.”

Obviously with the Canucks in some level of turmoil, Aquilini needs a PR coup as much as he needs a qualified hockey man running the show. In Nicholson, he’d have both. Gold medal(s) have a funny way of boosting one’s cache.