Canucks & Beyond
Next entry: Ryan Kesler as TRON
Previous entry: Dear Vancouver: When All is Going Well, Be Sure to Find Something to Whine About
Odds & Ends From Canucks Land
by Alanah McGinley on 03/25/09 at 01:10 PM ET
Comments (12)
Apologies for not being around lately. I’ve been busy bailing my basement out from under three feet of water. More on that below, but the short version is this: Life Sucks.
Anyway, some odds & ends notes.
- Last night’s game against the Dallas Stars. Stars fans and Canucks fans should both just agree that we can each hate Darcy Hordichuk and Steve Ott (depending on our preference) with equal fervor. And speaking for myself, after years of watching Marty Turco make opposing teams miserable as he wanders far from his net to play the puck, Hordichuk’s run at him last night (“I was just going for the puck!” ...uh huh…) was a moment of high comedy. Now, now… don’t get all offended about it. Barely hit him and certainly didn’t hurt him, but probably scared the beegeezus out of the guy. Watching Marty scurrying back to his net, I kept imagining I could hear him yelping like a smacked puppy, all the way back to his “safe place”.
- Canucks Hockey Blog’s perspective. J.J. considered how the media handled the Roberto Luongo quotes from Saturday night, and scores them with a ‘fail’. He mentions the words “slippery slope” and I wonder how soon till some of them hit bottom? To be fair, I think Vancouver has one of the more principled media hordes of the NHL, but their adaptations to the internet and the importance of immediate information—ironically by their apparent efforts to compete with non-journalists—is sometimes leading them off their high ground of ‘journalistic standards’ and into the gutter. At least, that’s my worry. The Garrioch Effect is nearly a viral disease these days
- Mom & Me: The night the flooding began—last Thursday—I took my mother to her very first hockey game. (Dear St. Louis, thank you for losing.) Mom has lived in Canada for nearly 40 years, but has just this week moved back to England. I felt it was my duty to educate her enough to help spread hockey propaganda in the UK. Not sure if the mission was accomplished though. I need to find her some team near Manchester to cheer for…
- From Elliott Pap via the National Post, news regarding Ryan Kesler:
Vancouver Canuck forward Ryan Kesler has been admonished by the NHL Players’ Association and asked to keep his lip buttoned on the matter of players - other than himself, that is - taking below market value contracts to be part of a winning team. The Canucks rising star suggested last week that he and his mates should emulate the Detroit Red Wings and maybe take a little less to keep their lineup intact. NHLPA director of player affairs Glenn Healy apparently set Kesler straight in a recent phone call. “I am told by Glenn it was a very good conversation, and a fairly brief conversation,” said NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly, who was in Vancouver Tuesday. “Glenn just wanted Ryan to understand that sometimes we make public comments that might get misinterpreted - to the extent he was encouraging other players to take pay cuts. That’s not a message that he wants to present. I think Ryan and Glenn worked it out.”
I’m curious about that “admonishment”, but imagine it amounts to nothing more than the actual phone call. While the union is understandably justified in wishing Kesler—and others—wouldn’t say such things, there’s nothing they can do about it. It’s just Kesler’s opinion and it’s not likely to cause anyone any grief but himself, next time he’s negotiating a contract.
About my 3 feet of basement water… it’s a big basement, and thus, a bazillion gallons of water had to be pumped out, but not before destroying everything in range. Some of the stuff was not too useful, I’ll admit (i.e. that giant Barbie Camper I got c.1980 had to go sometime...) but other things were a bit more painful. Like all the hockey stuff.
The equipment can be replaced, but other stuff is impossible. Aside from the loss of many old books (nothing incredibly valuable down there, but Stan Fischler and friends, we’ll miss you!) I think one of the worst things lost was an 1976 Canada Cup souvenir program. ‘Twas very cool. On the other hand, a lot of old Toronto Maple Leafs programs were destroyed, and there’s bound to be something to smile about with that. 
Another sad loss was a 1970s edition of Strat-o-Matic Hockey strategy game. Did you ever play that thing? It looked something like this…
Sigh. R.I.P. hockey memories. And Barbie, too.
Filed in: dumb stuff, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Comments
Thanks for the sympathy. (And I’ll take the Jeep! Ha…)
I was just thinking about why the heck there was never a Hockey Barbie. So I took a look on Google and this disturbing image came up:
Clearly, I’m long-overdue in starting a boycott of Barbie…
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 03/25/09 at 01:39 PM ET
Turco’s done far worse things to forwards standing in front of his. I welcome any physical play towards the goalies, it doesn’t hurt them and reminds them that just because they wear a funny helmet, doesn’t spare them from the fact hockey is a contact sport!
It boggles my mind that people are so protective of their goalies whenever one was touched. All of us in Detroit would always get mad anytime Hasek would flail with the dramatic soccer-player-esque reaction anytime someone touched him. They have the biggest friggin’ pads of anyone out there, for crying out loud!
Remember the days of old when goalies didn’t wear masks, they’re pads were there for protection, not stopping the puck, and thus were the toughest guys on the team! Now we have to pretend that they’re made of glass or something and get all up in arms when someone nudges them a little?
Please.
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 03/25/09 at 01:40 PM ET
“I need to find her some team near Manchester to cheer for…”
The Manchester Phoenix of the British Elite League (possibly the finest misuse of the term elite you will ever find, btw)? The standard of hockey is… poor, to say the least (Wade Belak was a star player when he came over during the lockout), but there’s goals and fights aplenty. Plus a chance to see Tony Hand, the British Gretzky!
Only trouble is, they actually play a fair way out of Manchester, in Altrincham… which I’ve never been to, and wouldn’t have a clue how to get to. Though I wil mange it before I leave uni here!
Posted by fredster from manchester on 03/25/09 at 01:42 PM ET
Shitty deal about the basement, hope you can replace some of the stuff.
Posted by Spec7ral from Vancity on 03/25/09 at 01:58 PM ET
Animal Drew—It’s a good point, and I’ve never thought that a goalie outside his crease should be untouchable. I figure, if you’re going to wander that far from the net, you’re no longer a goalie… you’re a defenseman.
Fredster— Thanks for the suggestion. And it’s good to be informed about the “British Gretzky”!
Spec7ral— Thank you for the note. We just keep reminding ourselves, “it could have been worse…” Grrrr…
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 03/25/09 at 02:21 PM ET
Alanah, at the bottom of the NHL.com main page, there is a link to the UK Elite League. They have a different way of scoring in the standings.
Locally, as fredster mentioned, there is the Manchester Phoenix and currently, they’re sixth in the standings.
Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 03/25/09 at 02:47 PM ET
Glenn Healy admonishing Ryan Kesler? There’s your epic fail.
Posted by Yankee Canuck on 03/25/09 at 03:12 PM ET
SYF—Thanks for the link. It seems I may be learning more about UK hockey in the future.
Yankee— Ha!
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 03/25/09 at 03:53 PM ET
eh>? I thought it was burrows who talked about the hometown discounts and the redwings. Didn’t kesler say he wasn’t going to give a hometown discount and was gonna seek fair market value? http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=272410
Posted by Luongo-is-my-hero on 03/25/09 at 07:54 PM ET
Both Kes and Burrows got into the issue last week originally. Then Kesler’s agent made that statement you linked, in the fallout of Kesler’s original comments.
Bit of a mess.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 03/25/09 at 08:17 PM ET
Hordi hitting Turco was a funny sight. If he is that far out his crease then he is fair game. Goalies dont have diplomatic immnuity from being hit, even if your name is Turco or Kipper or Loungo. You want to play in open ice, expect to be treated accordingly.
I hope Hordi got extra ice cream as a bonus!
The Manchester Phoenix are the nearest team. Although I have heard a rumour they might might not be in the Elite league next year, due to money problems.
http://www.manchesterphoenix.co.uk/
Tony Hand has built a good team, with many Canadian and US imports as well as many decent home grown talent. They have not won much recently, with most of the honours going to Sheffield Steelers and Coventry Blaze.
With the credit crunch biting, many British teams are struggling for next season. Rumours are rife of teams dropping out the Elite league http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/
and dropping down to the EPL
http://www.eplicehockey.net/
Luckily many of the EPL teams are built on pretty sure foundations. This is due a history of overspending in the past and now have got there house in order. With restrictions on the number of imported players and nurturing home grown players, the EPL is of a good standard and a pretty secure league. This season has been especially compeditive, with no “sure thing” wins. Peterbourgh Phnatoms winning the league with only 4 games remaining from my team, Milton Keynes Lightning.
http://www.mk-lightning.com/
Ive kind of gone off topic, but I love talking uk hockey.
Posted by steve-uk from Paisley, Scotland UK on 03/29/09 at 06:27 AM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
The Odds on Vancouver Goaltending
Canucks Tribute Video to Rick Rypien
About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading “parenting for complete idiots” during every spare minute) 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 was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
So that’s me. Who the hell are you?
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Alanah’s Twitter: [@alanah1]
When learning from experts it’s best to learn personally from them, or from their blog. We can provide that with poker lessons blog, your home to learn poker personally.
Do you get shocked from the luck in the game of poker? Stop getting shocked and start being a Poker Shoker
I might have a camper and jeep that includes horse trailer or would you rather my Daddy Warbucks manison?
I’m sorry! :(
Posted by Cameronf from Boston on 03/25/09 at 01:24 PM ET