Canucks & Beyond

Category: nhl-general

In Defense of Dany Heatley (sort of)

by Alanah McGinley on 07/02/09 at 03:32 PM ET
Comments (11)

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,

Who Will Canadians Cheer For?

by Alanah McGinley on 04/13/09 at 02:43 PM ET
Comments (17)

“Hockey is the Canadian metaphor.”
Bruce Kidd and John MacFarlane, from The Death of Hockey.

That quote was cited in this posting by Scott Russell today on CBC, where he pointed to the importance of playoff hockey in Canada’s national story, as it unfolds in the coming weeks.

This season, it’s the Canadiens, Canucks and Flames who carry the burden of a nation’s expectations and for the next seven weeks or so, we’ll all be watching these three standard bearers night in and night out as they conduct a Canadian crusade to recover the most precious of national treasures. Even the national news on the public network will accommodate the unfolding plot. And so it should, because in Canada there is little that matters more to the country’s sense of itself than the pursuit of what we believe is ours.

Hockey takes on enormous consequence in both news and watercooler talk during the playoffs in Canada, and not simply for the fans of teams at play but for hockey fans of all clubs.

Given that, which team will most Canadians get behind in the first round? Who is the favorite Canadian team (sentimental or otherwise) across the country to open the 2009 playoffs?

Filed in: nhl general, playoff hockey, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink

Beware the Canucks and Flames

by Alanah McGinley on 03/26/09 at 05:54 PM ET
Comments (4)

Earlier today, the news was buzzing about how fearful the Calgary Flames should be as the Canucks nip their heels in the Northwest Division race. Vicki Hall at the Calgary Herald made that point pretty clear, with a touch of humor:

Calgary’s preoccupation with everything Vancouver just escalated into an outright obsession.

So take those Sedin voodoo dolls out of the closet, Calgary fans. Deface that Kevin Bieksa pin-up poster. Vent your frustration by hurling that mini Roberto Luongo goalie mask through the garage door.

But now (and this should be much consolation to the Flames and their fans) Bill Clement at NBC Sports fires a warning shot towards Detroit and San Jose instead:

Filed in: nhl general, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink

Time to Expand the NHL

by Alanah McGinley on 03/05/09 at 02:44 PM ET
Comments (7)

Yes, you read that right. Franchises losing money? Bah. Franchises losing fans? Double-bah!

Quotes from the Weekly World News indicate Gary thinks the NHL is BACK. And with a vengence, baby.

“I know there are reports that 11 of our 30 franchises, lost money last year”, said Bettman. “But honestly, we thought that number would be closer to 20, so we take that as a positive”.

Long ridiculed by hockey fanatics, for his lack of marketing and PR prowess, or understanding of the game itself, Gary is now being hailed by some as one of the few sports commissioners who situated his league well for an economic recession.

Clearly, the next logical step is expansion. Here’s the plan:

Filed in: dumb stuff, nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink

The Hockey Media’s Conflict of Interest

by Alanah McGinley on 02/25/09 at 01:54 PM ET
Comments (8)

Sports reporting is news reporting, and if you doubt that, I would argue that you’re not paying enough attention. But while much is made of the roles of new media and their (or ‘our’) impact on the standards in journalistic coverage, very little is ever mentioned about the accepted standards within the mainstream media itself.

And there are some potential conflicts of interest that should be demanding more attention.

That’s why ~~Lisa Smedman’s~~* Fiona Hughes’s article in the Vancouver Courier today is worth a mention. She was spurred to write about potential conflicts of interest in Canucks broadcasting coverage after witnessing the last Canucks/Habs matchup back on February 15th. She outlines the problem as she saw it, here:

Filed in: nhl general, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: cbc, media, sportsnet, vancouver+canucks,

Curse of Europe

by Alanah McGinley on 02/23/09 at 05:03 PM ET
Comments (5)

From the Hockey Drunk, an observation about the fate of all coaches that led their teams in Europe a few months ago:

This came up in a discussion and I found it interesting enough to blog about. Of the 4 Teams that played in Europe before the 2008-2009 season officially started this year:

Ottawa: “Unable to turn around a team that reached the Stanley Cup finals in 2007, Hartsburg was fired as coach Monday just 48 games into a season in which the Senators have the NHL’s third worst record.”
Tampa Bay: “The Tampa Bay Lightning fired Barry Melrose after just 16 games in his return behind the bench, and associate coach Rick Tocchet will take over as interim head coach.”
Pittsburgh: “Michel Therrien, his team fading in the Eastern Conference playoff race less than a year after making the Stanley Cup finals, was fired as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ coach on Sunday night and replaced by minor league coach Dan Bylsma.”

And now today, of course, ends the tenure of Tom Renney with the New York Rangers. That’s 4-for-4 fired.

Hmmm… and who’s going to Europe to open next season? That would be Chicago, Florida, St. Louis and Detroit. And their fate?

Filed in: nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink

Catching Up on the Hockey News

by Alanah McGinley on 02/23/09 at 02:53 PM ET
Comments (5)

Having disappeared from the hockey world for a week, it takes some major reading to catch up with the times. While I’ve got a long way to go, a quick skim through the past week’s news didn’t turn up much, but a few random observations.

Here’s my list—but feel free to supplement my 168 hour hockey information deficit with anything you think I gotta know.

__________

-- Some dooofus actually had to contact Brian Burke to confirm that this wasn’t Burke’s Twitter account. Geezus. How drunk do you have to be to have thought that it was??

Filed in: nhl general, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink

Facebook Ain’t Vegas…

by Alanah McGinley on 02/10/09 at 10:06 PM ET
Comments (11)

...ergo, what happens on Facebook doesn’t stay on Facebook.

Photos of good times past, courtesy of one of Ray Emery’s Facebook friends:

Filed in: dumb stuff, nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: daniel+alfredsson, facebook, ray+emery,

Trade Deadline: 30 Day Countdown to Crazy

by Alanah McGinley on 02/04/09 at 02:19 PM ET
Comments (14)

While most rational people would consider a 30 day lead-up time to the trade deadline to be a bit excessive, hockey people are another breed. Some might say we’re just fastidious, knowledgeable folks, focused on the details and anticipating the future. But I have another theory: hockey fans are drama queens.

We like to celebrate/freak out/rant about trades that haven’t happened yet and probably never will. Probably 95% of hockey writing online is driven by that basic concept, is it not? That concept being “making crap up.” We like the drama.

So, who’s on the trading block? That’s easy. Everyone.

Filed in: nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: trade+deadline, trade+rumors,

Addressing Non-Calls for Head Hits

by Alanah McGinley on 01/29/09 at 02:55 PM ET
Comments (6)

Last night’s Canucks/Predators game was a nasty debacle about which I can’t form coherent thoughts without losing rational judgment. (i.e. The Canucks seem to be sapping my will to live; so you can see how “rational judgement” isn’t a big part of the thought process right now.)

So instead I’m going to set that whole mess aside and concentrate on something that occurred to me during that game, on the topic of head-hits. It’s an issue that demands serious analysis (not exactly my bailiwick, admittedly) but I’ve decided to take a shot at it.

Canucks and Predators fans will remember that Mattias Ohlund took a hit to the head in the second period, an elbow from (I think) Joel Ward. I’m not going to judge that hit in particular, but want to consider the procedures in place to make that call during a game.

Filed in: nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: head+hits, nhl+discipline, officiating,

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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]