Canucks & Beyond

In Defense of Dany Heatley (sort of)

by Alanah McGinley on 07/02/09 at 03:32 PM ET
Comments (10)

One thing I was struck by yesterday as speculation unfolded on various signings, is that hockey fans and journalists are often very willing to believe the worst things about hockey players, and usually without any substantial confirmation that those things are true.

The Dany Heatley drama appears to be a grand example of this. Ask nearly any fan today what he thinks of Mr. Heatley and odds are he’ll tell you that the guy is a lying sack of waste who screwed over his team for greed and some kind of internal drive to subject the world to his brand of pure evil.

Here’s one comment found on this website yesterday…

I think I can say, without Hyperbole, that Heatley is worse than Hitler.

...maybe even Yashin.

Well, at least Senators’ fans can still muster a sense of humor. Nontheless, most of the rhetoric floating around seems to go off the charts.

Filed in: nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: dany+heatley,

Sedin’s Agent Not Optimistic About a Vancouver Deal, but is Anyone?

by Alanah McGinley on 06/26/09 at 04:57 PM ET
Comments (4)

“We’ve been negotiating for more than a year, so it’s hard for me to say I’m optimistic. We haven’t really made a lot of progress in a year. We’re going to have to address the gap that we have - but we’ve only got five days to do it.”

-- J.P. Barry, Henrik and Daniel Sedin’s agent, speaking with Sportsnet today.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Mike Gillis has never been strongly motivated to sign the Sedins. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s not a “fan” and when he sits around late at night counting change in his salary-cap piggy bank, he can think of far better ways to spend his money.

Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: daniel+sedin, henrik+sedin, marian+gaborik, pavol+demitra,

Mike Keenan Joins the Canucks?

by Alanah McGinley on 06/09/09 at 01:47 PM ET
Comments (9)

For real? Joe O’Connor of the National Post runs this opening paragraph…

The media release from Sherry Quan was brief, detailed and to the point: Michael Keenan was joining a team in Vancouver. Strangely, there was no mention of Canucks coach Alain Vigneault in the release, and not a word said about how Roberto Luongo, the Canucks netminder, who had a somewhat rocky relationship with the NHL bench boss known as Iron Mike while the pair were in Florida together with the Panthers, might react to him joining the squad.

Not that I’m a huge Vigneault fan, but sweet geezus, this is a terrifying turn of events!

Or is it?

Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink

GM Place Keeps its Name; Disaster Averted

by Alanah McGinley on 06/01/09 at 09:20 PM ET
Comments (0)

General Motors’ historic bankruptcy filing should not affect the company’s significant investment and presence on the Vancouver sports scene, according to Vancouver Canucks and Vancouver 2010 Olympic officials.

GM Canada signed a 20-year, $18.5-million deal with Canucks owners in 1995 to call the team’s stadium General Motors Place through 2015.

-- Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun

Vancouver can breathe a sigh of relief then. We still get to keep the relatively cool nickname ‘The Garage,’ and it seems there’s no danger of something terrifying happening along the lines of ‘Gaylord Entertainment Center’, etc, in the near future.

Still, it was a close call. Two big local businesses were bidding fiercely for the right to put their name on the side of the Canucks’ posh arena, and both might have presented some controversy.*

Filed in: dumb stuff | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink

What’s Trevor Linden Been Up To?

by Alanah McGinley on 05/30/09 at 02:50 PM ET
Comments (0)

With some guys, you definitely get the sense that retirement is a hard thing, that they don’t quite know what to do with themselves when they pull away from hockey. But not so, Trevor Linden.

The video below (thanks to Buzz Bishop) is a brief Q&A with Linden when he stopped off at the Future Shop headquarters to pick up his new TV. An odd scenario, to be sure, but probably a hoot for the staff that had a chance to talk to him.

Anyway, it sounds like his first year off the ice has been full of fun and adventure—cycling in Belgium, week-long trips to Whistler, and much more. As he describes it, he’s “like a guy getting out of jail.” And he says he’s still a Canucks fan.

Here’s the vid:

Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: trevor+linden,

Sundin Positioning Himself For a Job

by Alanah McGinley on 05/30/09 at 01:04 PM ET
Comments (6)

“Yes, it is actually impossible to predict, but I hope and believe that Detroit wins. And they do in six matches.”

-- Mats Sundin, Vancouver Canucks (quote via Nucks Misconduct)

Translation: “Dear Ken Holland: I’m desperate to sign with your team this summer. Let’s talk!”

Although someone did just rip off a supply of his signed Canucks’ jerseys not too long ago, so if he wanted to stay he can at least assume that he’s still popular with Vancouver fans.

Well, to those comfortable with committing crimes, anyway.

Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: mats+sundin,

Poking a Stick at the Enemy

by Alanah McGinley on 05/29/09 at 06:40 PM ET
Comments (10)

On playing against Marian Hossa: “There’s nothing I’d like more than to be able to shake Marian’s hand at the end of this series, look him in the eye and say, ‘You chose the wrong team.’”

-- Maxime Talbot (translated from French and quoted in the Detroit Free Press)

Ah, the joy of ‘friendly’ competition in the playoffs, where one of the more entertaining pleasures for us outsiders is the good-natured trash talk between the teams and fans.

But still, two dudes named Maxime vs Marian going at it? I keep flashing on rival Barbie dolls about to end up in a celebrity boxing reality show.

Filed in: obnoxious hockey blogging | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: marian+hossa, maxime+talbot,

Interview with Matt Sundin’s Left Skate

by Alanah McGinley on 05/28/09 at 03:13 PM ET
Comments (6)

In the crush of the Stanley Cup Finals and all the related pandering, whining and moaning—about everything from NBC broadcast schedules to the importance of stopping criminal octopi from littering Pennsylvania, etc—it’s easy for the really important Canucks stories to get lost in the shuffle. That’s why when we had a chance to find out about Mats Sundin’s future this week, we weren’t going to miss the opportunity to talk to the source. Or rather, to his feet… or to be really specific, to his left skate.

Some hockey news providers might consider such an interview ‘unconventional’, or ‘lacking professionalism’ or ‘crazy-as-snakes’, but Canucks & Beyond doesn’t discriminate in rampant ways against stray pieces of hockey equipment.

We are, as always, unflinching in our search for truth.

Interview is transcribed below.

Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: mats+sundin,

Randomly…

by Alanah McGinley on 05/27/09 at 06:44 PM ET
Comments (4)

I’m awfully late with this, but that’s the kinda thing that happens when a girl has a couple of weeks away from hockey-ish things. I totally miss out on idiocy like this:

The Weather Network clearly has no idea who they’re talking to, (which is probably a surreally-awesome experience for Luongo), but it makes me worry about what else I’ve missed on the Weather Channel. Has Barack Obama ever come jogging by? Stephen Harper? Little green men visiting from Mars… perhaps too polite to point out that, “Geezus lady, we’re little green men visiting from Mars!”?

I definitely need to watch more TV, not less.

(Thanks to my friend Josh for mentioning this vid to me!)

Filed in: obnoxious hockey blogging | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: roberto+luongo,

Rypien Extended 2 Years with Canucks

by Alanah McGinley on 05/27/09 at 05:59 PM ET
Comments (1)

The Vancouver Canucks have signed forward Rick Rypien to a two-year contract extension with the club through the 2010-11 NHL season. Rypien has played five seasons with the Canucks.

‘’Rick plays with intensity and energy every time he steps on the ice,’’ said Canucks general manager Mike Gillis. ‘’He is an important part of our team and a valued teammate.’’

-- courtesy of TSN

Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: rick++rypien,

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next »

Page rendered in 0.9733 seconds
Total Entries: 35651
Total Comments: 158412
Total Members: 1911
Total Logged in members: 12
Total guests: 184
Total anonymous users: 0
The most visitors ever was 1347 on 02/26/2008 03:41 pm

About Canucks & Beyond

Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.

She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.

Email:

Alanah’s Twitter: Not really hockey-ish. [LINK]