Dream of Playing Hockey Comes True

Tomorrow, I will make a life long dream come true. I will be suiting up under my lucky No. 7 to play my first hockey game on ice as a member of team Magnum of the Ice 604 league. I’ve played a lot of road hockey and rollerblade hockey since I was a kid, but never the real thing. I always wanted to, but hockey is an expensive sport to play, especially when you’re a growing kid. Plus, I don’t think my mother was too keen on her little boy getting smacked around on the ice. But, this desire to play has never diminished, and yet I didn’t find or take the time to scope out a league for a novice skater like myself. Until I ran into Ray at a BBQ this summer. He’s been playing in the Ice 604 league for four years now. He was starting up a new team this fall to play in the beginner’s tier and asked if I wanted to join. All the excuses started running through my head – “too busy”,”the start times… 11:15pm weekdays are way too late”, “I don’t have skates”, “I don’t have gear”, blah, blah, blah. I sound like an idiot. Then I felt a sudden rush with the image of me skating down the ice on a breakaway, faking the goalie to one side and deaking him out to score the winning goal. “I’m in.” We’re all allowed to have fantasies, right?

I can still remember to this day the moment that I was turned on to hockey. It was the spring of 1982, and a Vancouver Canucks team that resembled the Bad News Bears made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals on the coattails of my childhood idol, goalie “King” Richard Brodeur. I was always the goalie in our neighborhood road hockey games and I loved emulating the style of King Richard. Now, I enjoy playing forward. This might have more to do with my back getting soar from staying in the crouched position while playing in net that reminds me all too well that I’m getting older.

Last week, I felt like a fat kid on a Smartie. I hopped on over to Sports Exchange on Burrard, walked in and said to the first guy working there, “Hi, I need everything.” They were great – highly recommend – pointed me in the direction of decent gear but at good prices. I was able to get my helmet and cage, one-piece composite stick, shoulder/chest pads, elbow pads, hockey pants, jock, knee/shin pads, hockey bag, and practice jersey for just under $500. I then went over to Cyclone Taylors on Oak Street to get fitted for quality skates – they bake them to mold to your foot. Cost $200. Now I’m set and anxious to get on the ice. The games are at Burnaby 8 Rinks and run through until March. Referees, stats, playoffs, trophies, suspensions are all included. Can’t wait.

P.S. A special “thank you” to my friend Victor for designing our team logo with such short notice!

Canucks New Uniforms Are Good, Not Great

Just returned from the unveiling of the new Vancouver Canucks hockey jersey at GM Place. Free hot dogs and drinks for anyone willing to stand in the gigantic line. No way. Got inside, took in the pre-show, enjoyed the hype video and then the moment of truth… team captain Markus Naslund skated out with the new uniform. What do I think? What do you think? I love the colours. I like the overall cut of the uniforms, very sleek. But, I’m having a problem with the “Vancouver” wordmark in combination with the Whale logo – seems way too cluttered. Each is quite strong on its own, together they seem to be fighting one another. Also, having a horizontal border along the bottom of the shirt which now is cut similar to a dress shirt (tapers up the side seams), seems just wrong. Overall, don’t love it, but don’t hate it. I’m a Canucks fan, so I’ll live with whatever they come out with, but I’m surprised there wasn’t a little more forethought in the overall design. Here are some pics from the event. By the way, very well attended on a spectacular sunny day. A lot of fans in this city, that’s for sure.

I Believe in Luongo

A Mondonation “i believe” T-shirt ordered by a PEER 1 employee stating his personal belief through our staff Birthday gift program. Enough said. Go Canucks, go!

My NHL Playoff Predictions – First Round

Let’s see how my picks will stand up against Maggie the Monkey’s first round NHL playoff predictions at TSN. Game on!

Maggie the Monkey’s Picks

1. Detroit Red Wings over Calgary Flames
2. Minnesota Wild over Anaheim Ducks
3. Vancouver Canucks over Dallas Stars
4. Nashville Predators over San Jose Sharks
5. Buffalo Sabres over New York Islanders
6. New Jersey Devils over Tampa Bay Lightning
7. Atlanta Thrashers over New York Rangers
8. Pittsburgh Penguins over Ottawa Senators

My Picks

1. Calgary Flames over Detroit Red Wings
2. Minnesota Wild over Anaheim Ducks
3. Vancouver Canucks over Dallas Stars
4. San Jose Sharks over Nashville Predators
   
5. Buffalo Sabres over New York Islanders
   
6. New Jersey Devils over Tampa Bay Lightning
7. New York Rangers over Atlanta Thrashers
8. Ottawa Senators over Pittsburgh Penguins

Canucks Give Me a Chance to Gloat

On October 5th, 2006 I wrote a post “Call me crazy… the Canucks are Stanley Cup contenders“, that was received with a lot of scepticism, or in the case of Bronco who commented on it, angry harsh cynicism. Well, six months later and with four games remaining until the playoffs, the Canucks are in the top ten league-wide, top three in its conference, and tops in their division. And who have been the catalysts for such a remarkable run of success? Luongo, The Sedins, and the new coaching staff – all the people I cited in my pre-season post as my reasons for optimism. I love the way this team plays. And for the first time in a very long time, they play as a team and will be a real threat in the playoffs. That prediction may have seemed a little loco at the time, but you got to be if you’re a die-hard Canucks fan. And that I am. See you in the playoffs. Go Canucks, Go!

Sedin Twins, My Favorite New Commerical

If you haven’t seen this new TV ad and follow the Canucks or NHL Hockey, you’ll appreciate how hysterical this is. I’ll set the scene: A bachelor party is well underway when the doorbell rings and the guys go wild in anticipation of the ‘Swedish twins’ they have called up to provide the night’s entertainment. Well Swedish twins do show up, just not the ones they quite had in mind. Check it out.

Vote for Rory Viral Campaign is Winning

An update to my earlier post NHL All Star Voting Has a Viral Storm on its Hands, the Vote for Rory campaign is winning. When I last wrote about this viral phenomenon on December 4th, journeyman hockey player and current Vancouver Canuck Rory Fitzpatrick was ranked#12 on the All Star list and the only “write-in”. Just three weeks later, Rory has shot up to the #2 position – ahead of all star defencemen and future hall-of-famers Niklas Lidstrom and Chris Pronger, and just trailing Scott Niedermayer. What seemed like a small nuisance is quickly turning in to a bad dream for the NHL brass. Barring any interference from the NHL, Rory Fitzpatrick WILL make the final All Star roster. Whether he will show up or not, remains to be seen although he has made comments that suggest he will. Rather than fight it and get all upset, the NHL should just embrace it. Acknowledge the whole Rory campaign as passionate hockey fans using the power of the net to get an unexpected player in to the line up. Poke fun at themselves, change the rules for next year, and get Rory to do some fun on-camera work at the All Star game. Show him joking with players, interview his peers, profile the campaign, and just have some fun with it all. In the end, isn’t that really what the All Star game is suppose to be about? The NHL’s current slogan is “My NHL”. Well, it appears my NHL as well as others will see Rory at the game.

NHL All Star Voting Has a Viral Storm on its Hands

This year, the NHL is using the Internet to allow fans to vote for 12 players to its All Star Game taking place Jan 24th in Dallas – 6 players from the Eastern Conference and 6 from the Western conference. Voting is unrestricted and unlimited. The usual cast of NHL superstars are on the ballot like Scott Niedermayer, Joe Sakic, and Jarome Iginla. But, there is also a place where you can “write-in” a player who is not on the current ballot – see here. This is where it gets interesting. 22-year old Steve Schmid, a Buffalo Sabres fan has launched a site called VoteforRory.com where he is calling upon hockey fans to vote ex-Sabres and current Vancouver Canucks defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick to the All Star game. Rory who? Yes, that’s the point. Although Rory Fitzpatrick has been around for a while, playing back and forth between the NHL and AHL, he isn’t a “superstar” by any stretch and wouldn’t ever be mistaken for Chris Pronger or Niklas Lidstrom by his own admission. Nevertheless, the hockey forums are all buzzing with the “Vote for Rory” campaign, and it’s picking up a lot of steam. Some online fans are committing to “Rory Diets”, where they will do nothing else for 24 hours but sit in front of the computer and vote for Rory as many times as they can. As of a Nov 27th NHL press release, Rory has 31,310 votes and is the ONLY “write-in” player on the list. The voting ends Jan 2nd.

Fans are posting Rory Fitzpatrick montages to YouTube and bringing “Vote for Rory” signs to games. His current team, the Vancouver Canucks, has issued an official post on its site and their support for the movement. In fact, the Canucks have started selling “Vote for Rory” t-shirts inspired by the Napoleon Dynamite movie and it has already become a hot seller. Even his teammates are getting in on the action wearing the t-shirts and expressing their support in media scrums.

So what is Steve’s motivation? Is it to show a flaw in the NHL’s new Internet-based voting system? Publicity? Or, is it because he just happens to be a huge Rory Fitzpatrick fan. Well, according to his site, it appears to be a little bit of everything:

Everyone has their reasons for voting, but the general consensus is that Rory is the perfect representative for all the players who work hard “behind the scenes” and never get any recognition. Myself and many others view the All-Star game as an exhibition for the fans. That said, the fans want to see Rory Fitzpatrick… simple as that!

I don’t think this is what the NHL brass quite had in mind when they decided to let fans vote through the net. But, since I’m a long-suffering Canucks fan, any time we have a chance at winning something, I’m behind it. So, Rory you’ve got my vote. Clear your calendar, you’re going to Dallas! If you would also like to see Rory at the All Star game, vote now.

Call me Crazy… The Canucks are Stanley Cup Contenders

People who know me know all too well that I am a HUGE Vancouver Canucks fan… have been since I was 10 years old and watched King Richard Brodeur almost take my beloved team to the promise land. Then in 1994 Bure, Linden and group did the same and got even closer by taking the New York Rangers to game 7 in Madison Square Garden. But, alas the lads couldn’t close. In the new millennium, we’ve had a cast of characters that together were arguably the best team assembled in Canucks history. Despite their excellent regular seasons and loads of promise, they couldn’t muster up anything worth talking about in the playoffs. And to make matters worse, last year they didn’t even qualify. So here we roll in to season 36 with a Canucks team that has been dismantled and restocked with less talented and unproven players. Should I give up hope? No way.

I like the fact that nobody expects big things from this team. The team of the last few years, seemed to crumble under the weight of expectations and ultimately couldn’t deliver. Last year, we saw two teams in Carolina and Edmonton play with no expectations make it all the way to the finals. Also, there is the emergence of the Sedin twins who look awesome! I had a chance to seem them in pre-season action against the Ducks, and they were by far the most dominant players on the ice. I believe the combination of a new coach, renewed work ethic, hardworking veterans, and hungy youngsters will contribute to a much improved team play this year. And, oh yes, did I mention our new goalie?

This team may not be as titillating as before and will likely not score as many goals, but they won’t allow many either and that’s why I have faith. So don’t worry fellow Canuck fans. Just remember, WE ARE ALL CANUCKS.