Category: Vancouver Canucks

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Off-Season Games

There’s a lot happening in the NHL that would stem to peak the interest of a lot of Canucks fans right now. It might be early to start thinking about making any moves until the Stanley Cup is all over with, but I can’t stop myself from wondering.

Quinn’s out of the job in Toronto. Leafs don’t make it to the playoffs, he can’t lead Canada to the medal rounds of the Torino Olympics, and the fearless leader took a nasty puck to the face early in the season. Pat hasn’t had the best year. Nonis has stepped forward to say that the GM is for sticking with Crawford, but it would be an interesting move to bring Quinn back to Vancouver. I can’t say I know all the history and stats, but if you are one of those Canucks fans screaming to have Crawford fired, then here’s a great replacement.

The other thing is that Keith Tkachuk’s contract is up with St. Louis. I have never cared for the guy, but exceptions can be made if a move were to be made to bring him to Vancouver. The Blues had an awful year, and Tkachuk’s numbers from this season are not the greatest. Look at the record St. Louis had this year; you would too. He might make an interesting addition as a forward if the Blues don’t come to an agreement with him first.

With all the talk about shaking up the team for next year, we are well off to the races for post-season transaction speculation without the playoffs even starting yet.

Update: Blues optioned up for Tkachuk.  Darn. 

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San Thornton

Talk about a painful way of watching our hopes of making it to the playoffs come to an end. I’m not sure that it could have come in any better fashion, but the fact that there wasn’t a shootout allow my blood pressure to remain low and pants not be peed in.

Canucks lost tonight to Joe Thornton and his San Jose Sharks, Edmonton and Colorado get their places secured for the playoffs, and I’m left with an all too familiar feeling of waiting for next year.

I have to say thanks to Dave for part one and part two of the Canucks Outsider for helping me understand the history of what tonight led up to. It’s been a long time of fighting tooth and nail to get into that last playoff spot, only to not shine very brightly once the Canucks got there.

As a Cubs fan(that’s baseball), we know how this feels. I dare to make a comparison, but is that what being a Canucks fan is like? It won’t change my dedication either way. I’m all about next year.

However, there’s one last game to play on Saturday. I’m all about making that one a good party! That is, just as long as I don’t have to hear the name Joe Thornton during the broadcast a hundred times.

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And Now For OT In Game 7

The Canucks needed to win last night.  It was considered game 7 of a playoff, but the game was over in the first period.  Now we head into sudden death overtime in the next three games, and it will not be easy.

Coming up, back to back games with San Jose, and then Edmonton.  Could we make this anymore of a nail bitter?  Yes, we can!  We’re going to need help in the forms of losses for Edmonton and Colorado.  Everything needs to slide into place for Vancouver to make the playoffs.

If we don’t, what happens next?  Crawford, Nausland, and Bertuzzi are names people keep talking about in very negative terms.  I’m not going to point any fingers now or later, but you have to think that something is going to happen.  The league has changed a lot this season.  Don’t be surprised when things shift in your own neighborhood.

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Canucks PPV Isn’t My Favorite

We were planning our night tonight all around the Canucks and Kings game tonight. Deciding what we wanted to get for dinner, when we’d make it, and so on. And then we got home. While loooking to set a reminder on the digital cable box, I figure out that the game is not on Rogers Sportsnet or TSN. It’s another pay per view game.

Yes, the coverage of the PPV games is outstanding. Yes, John Shorthouse does the play by play. Yes, it is all Canucks for nearly three hours with hardly any commercial interruption. I’m not disputing that it’s great for anyone who calls themselves a Canucks fan.

What I don’t care for is that there are so many of them in the playoff stretch. I think that next season, they could knock the number of PPV games to fewer. Of course, I say this because we are a newly married couple with not a lot of cash to spend while enjoying a nice pint and dinner at good place to catch the game. I might be singing a different tune this time next year when I’m able to have a job, but it kinda sucks.

If you want to see the game on TV, you gotta pay about $12, after taxes and everything. See it at a pub, that’s about $20-$60, depending on food and beverages enjoyed. And if you want to see the game at GM Place, that’s at least $100, give or take $30-$150, depending on who the game is against, and how desperate you are for tickets.

Excuse me if it seems like I’m bitching, but I just wanted to see some hockey tonight. That’s all I’m saying.

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Shorty On 1040

CKNW Control RoomI’m not so new to Vancouver to know that the word about CKNW losing the contract for broadcasting Canucks games to Team 1040 is big news. To me, it’s huge. I’ve interviewed for jobs at both of those stations in the short time that I’ve been here. They both have very respectable operations going on with really great facilities.

David, chief engineer for CHUM Radio Vancouver, had a lot of projects on his list that he told me about during the few hours that we met. The combining of a couple transmitter sites was of peak interest to me, but that’s the broadcast engineer in me talking. It wasn’t until tonight that I recalled something else that I noted.

There was one studio that was in the process of being vacated that David took me through. I was excited when he told me that he would be completely gutting the room and rebuilding it so Rogers Sportsnet could simulcast programs from there. Of course, I was excited because there was a possibility that this guy could be hiring me and I’d get to help. It was for the I.T. position, but I could tell that David saw my RF experience being handy for situations such as these. Sadly, my work status in Canada prevented me from partaking in said fun, but they did check my references.

Team 1040 put themselves into better position to win the broadcast rights from the Canucks. CHUM looked like a good investment to the Canucks with the investments that CHUM made into itself. Corus, who owns CKNW, loses a long time legacy, but I don’t believe that their programming was hurting so much as to not get the contract renewed. The competition just presented a better, overall product.

I have come to really appreciate John Shorthouse doing play-by-play. He’s good. For those back in Iowa who remember Ron Gonder and the legacy he had with the Iowa Hawkeyes on the radio, Shorty is that to Canucks hockey. It’ll be weird to hear him say, “You’re listening to Vancouver Canucks hockey on Team 1040.”

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They’re Not THAT Lousy

I understand that people are upset with the current skid that the Canucks are on. It doesn’t make sense that we are able to come out of the Olympic break and strengthen the defense only to have this heartbreaking manner of play perpetuate. No goals in the first period for the Canucks since before the break? And it’s been the Sedin/Carter line to pull us through so far.

Still, it’s senseless that someone found themselves so disgruntled that they sent a letter to GM Place addressed to Bertuzzi with a “mysterious white powder” in it. I mean, come on. There is the fact that you have to have such a low IQ to laugh at a prank like that, but the other element to the story is that the team is on a road trip right now. Do you even think that a letter sent to GM Place would be hand delievered to Bertuzzi?

Instead, you freak out the staff who work there, fearing for their life. I have certain feelings about how the team is doing and how particular people are playing, but that’s just stupid. And if it’s about the lawsuit, you’re hurting Moore’s case more than helping it.

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Coffee, Cookies, and the NHL Trade Deadline

Three sports channels covering the last minute details of the NHL trade deadline. Some interesting moves so far, and the Canucks added Brown from New Jersey to their defensive line for 4th round draft pick. We woke up this morning to The Fox giving the news about Monteal sending Theodore to Colorado for Aebischer in an all out goalie swap. This is pretty exciting.

Today is a good day to be living in Canada. Rebecca made oatmeal peanut butter cookies last night. That makes today uber good. And now back to the couch to catch more.

Update: Check out Rebecca’s post from today to get the low down of how things ended for the Canucks.