Category: Sport

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Canucks 2006 broadcast schedule

J.J. over at the Canucks Hockey Blog posted an update to an older post about catching this season on TV. If you check out his post, you can get the full run down of when and where you can catch all the Canucks games this season. Well, not all of the games.

Bumping this up now that Sportsnet and the Canucks have agreed on a multi-year deal. I’ve updated the Canucks broadcast TV schedule above to include all Sportsnet and pay-per-view games this season.

80 of 82 games are going to be on TV this season, the first time in recent years that not all Canucks games will be shown. The two games not on TV are: the Oct. 21st game @ Nashville and the Apr. 7th game @ San Jose. [canuckshockeyblog]

Another intesting detail that many fans would be interested in that that the number of pay-per-view games appears to be 17. One would think that the two dates not being televised would get ear marked for PPV, but looks like we’ll be listening to Shorthouse on the radio for those games.

Lord knows that people would probably pay for it, but two more games would make buying all the PPV games in one package a tad more expensive. You can always get those special cable or satellite packages to catch games in other markets if those two games are that important.

This year’s regular season TV schedule once again includes 45 broadcasts on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific, with 13 games on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, 17 on Canucks TV and five games on TSN. Jim Hughson and John Garrett will once again be calling games on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. [canucks.com]

I like Jim Hughson at the helm for play-by-play, and it’s hard to contest Shorthouse, be it on the radio or TV. It might just be me, but the color commentators often make me cringe, whoever they bring in for any game. “Roll up the rim to win!” is not the first thing that pops into my head when some one scores a goal, and “I like, I love it, I wanna see more of it” is just… well… need I say more?

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Change is a constant element to the NHL now

Even with the pre-season around the corner, nothing is for certain with the Canucks. I’m not sure that we can have a sense of being settled on the faces on the bench for the coming season, yet alone for the next few years. Movers and shakers is the phrase that comes to mind.

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) – The massive overhaul of the Vancouver Canucks doesn’t faze left winger Daniel Sedin.Fourteen players may be gone from last year’s roster, but the Swede says the new-look team may surprise some people.

Sedin admits it’s sad that linemate Anson Carter is gone but he feels Jason King or Jan Bulis could be a good fit with the twins.

Despite Markus Naslund being mentioned in trade rumours with Philadelphia for Simon Gagne, Sedin says the captain is looking forward to coming back. [cknw]

There’s a lot there to kind of take in for Canucks fans, but the keywords of “massive overhaul” is something we can all be pretty used to by now. Granted that the team has been thrown into a rebuilding phase, I can’t be too sure that things like this will stop anytime soon. It’s the new league, and we’re going to have to adjust.

I’ll admit my ignorance and say that I haven’t paid enough attention to other teams in the NHL to compare any similarites with what is going on within the Canucks organization. Sure, players are shifting around, but the way we have, no one knows what to expect. New coach and lots of new players, I’m totally scratching my head.

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It’s just been one of those years

Cesar Izturis is now, officially, a Cub.

The Chicago Cubs on Tuesday placed shortstop Cesar Izturis on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring.

Izturis left Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh inning with the injury.

Acquired in a trade-deadline deal that sent four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Izturis is batting .246 with one homer and 17 RBI in 49 games this season. [tsn]

Welcome to the the black hole, Cesar. Wrigley Field seems to be the place where talent is sucked out of your soul. Gremlins move at the speed of light to do all that they can in order to make sure that you are never healthy, and that is only after the evil overlord deems you to be having a decent season. You’re an even bigger target if the word “prospect” or “hope” is mentioned in reference to your name.

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Minor league baseball in Vancouver

I had my first experience of catching a baseball game in Canada over the weekend. That was this past Friday, and we promptly caught a second one the next night. We got hooked up with some free, Vancouver Canadians box seats for Friday’s game, and we had such a good time that Rebecca scored us some more tickets for Saturday night’s game.

It was for the best that for our second trip out to Nat Bailey Stadium[wiki] was under the lights. Friday’s game was a 1:00 PM start time, and Rebecca is still treating a sunburn. I did ok, but one of my arms has a much worse famer tan than the other now. We’ll never head out to another day game without bringing the sunscreen with us.

I know that there is a matter of respect that must be payed when it comes to cheering for the local team, but I could not do it. You have to understand, the Boise Hawks are a branch of the Chicago Cubs farm system. Vancouverites, I apologize to you and this great city. My heart has forever been with the Cubs, and it will take a hell of a lot to get me to stop bleeding Cubbie blue.

Nat Bailey is a great, little ballpark with overpriced everything that you would come to expect with catching a professional baseball game. Beer was almost $7 for the good stuff, $6 for the suds and water. Hotdogs are four bucks a pop, but, like I said, it’s to be expected.

The seats are very hard to argue with. Hardly a bad seat in the place. Check out their website for more details on pricing, but it is very much a family friendly venue.

Just remember to tip the waitress in the event that you sit in a section with such a luxury. That thought didn’t really cross our minds until after paying the chick for our first round of Granville Island Pale Ale. After the second time, she ignored us while returning about five more times to the group of folks in the row directly behind us. Call it a lesson in etiquette, and I have a few choice names that I’d like to call that waitress.

Saturday’s game was particularly interesting. It was “Mexico Night”. I can’t recall how many times I heard the “Mexican Hat Dance” played, be it over the PA or by the classy-looking mariachi band that was wandering about the stadium before and during the game. They were also giving away a trip for two to Mexico that we didn’t win. That’s about as Mexican as it got.

We still had a lot of fun. It made me excited to see the Cubs logo on the sleeves of the Boise players. The chances of those guys getting up to Wrigley Field[wiki] are against them, but with the horrible year the Cubs have been enduring, I’m sure some of them might get scouted for a solution to the problem.

And of course, during each singing of Take Me Out to the Ball Game[wiki], I sang, “Let’s root, root, root for the Cubbies…” I then received an elbow in my side from Rebecca.

Check out the pics from the games on Flickr.

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Gives whole new meaning to cold war

There was a lot of “Where in the world is Evgeni Malkin” being played last week[espn], but the fallout from the whole ordeal has the Russians pretty ticked off.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has declared an all-out war on the National Hockey League (NHL), accusing the North Americans of stealing its best players.

Russian hockey officials were up in arms after several top players, including teenage prodigy Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ number one pick in 2004, walked out on their contracts with Russian clubs to pursue a career in the NHL.

The Malkin case has been front-page news on both sides of the Atlantic since the young Russian secretly left his club Metallurg Magnitogorsk at Helsinki airport earlier this month.

Malkin, considered the best player in the world outside the NHL, vanished for several days before resurfacing in the United States last week and declaring his wish to play for Pittsburgh. [reuters]

The article continues to show how upset the Russians are, demanding that there will be legal action that will go after “a lot more” money than they wanted for a transfer deal on Malkin[wiki] prior to his dissappearance.

It’s a situation that echoes times long gone, and the fallout might be worse as time goes on in terms of relations between the two leagues. Malkin was more the able to leave the Russian league, but the Pittsburgh Penguins would have had to pay a few million dollars for him, much more compared to the $200,000 that gets dished out to other European nations who already have an agreement for such transfers.

As pissed off as Russia is now, I’m not sure we’ll see them come to an agreement anytime soon. For the longest time, their league has been considered second place to the NHL in terms of the players of their respective leagues. It makes you want to say, can’t we all just get along?

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RadioZoom Episode #108 – Hockey Talk: VancouverCanucksOpEd.com

A very special episode because this episode was a very fun one to record.

A Skype interview with blogger Alanah Downie from Vancouver Canucks Op Ed, Rebecca and I find out more about the history of the blog, thoughts on the coming hockey season, and plenty about our favorite team, the Vancouver Canucks. It’s one of our daily stops for the latest news and discussions about the team, so having Alanah on the podcast was a lot of fun and a real treat. We hope it won’t be the last time.

This is another venture using Ubercaster, as well as the first Skype interview in the history of the podcast.

47:36 minutes
radiozoom.net

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October came early this year

I knew the season wasn’t going well for the Cubs, but this is the nail in the coffin. Declare the season over and get ready for next season. Maybe Maddux[wiki] and Normar[wiki] can compile notes to write a book on the black hole that seems to hover over Wrigley Field[wiki].

The Chicago Cubs dealt Maddux to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Cesar Izturis ahead of the 4 p.m. ET deadline, agent Scott Boras said.

Maddux waived his no-trade clause to join the Dodgers.

Maddux began the season with a 5-0 record but the 40-year-old has won just four games since. He is 9-11 with a 4.69 earned-run average in 22 starts.

Maddux started his career with the Cubs before leaving after the 1992 season as a free agent to join the Atlanta Braves. He spent 11 years with Atlanta, where he won four Cy Young Awards as the National League’s best pitcher, before rejoining the Cubs in 2004. [cbc]

Start warming up your chops now. Ready? Now say it with me… Next year is- ah just forget it.

Edit: I missed the news of Todd Walker being traded to the San Diego Padres[tsn] in exchange for a minor league pitcher.  Good luck, Todd.  You served us well, but why a minor league guy?  Rumor had it, we almost got Morgan Ensberg from Houston for Walker.

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Bring back the old because the new bites

The recently leaked, new Buffalo Sabres logoI realize that the statement that I am about to make might make me seem incredibly judgemental and like one of those people who are against change so much that I should just relax and take it like a man. I really don’t care. I don’t like this new logo.

The Buffalo Sabres are apparently ditching the threads they have been wearing since about 1996. The original colors are making a come back, which I’m not totally against. I also think it’s great that they are bringing back the original blue and gold digs for their third jersey for the coming season.

This logo, to me, stinks. I like the one they’ve had for the past ten years, but perhaps change isn’t the worst thing to happen after that long of time. But Reebok designed this, and it’s the best they could come up with? It makes me think, “Wooosh!! Buffalo!!” I might toss in some spirit fingers and glitter, too.

I’m not the only one kinda depressed by the design. Fix The Logo is a website devoted to getting it changed. Sign the petition if you please. I can’t say I’m a Sabres fan by any means, but their fans deserve something better than… that.

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Bring the Salmon Kings under the Canucks

Aside from the news about next season’s schedule being released[vancouversun] for the Canucks, the other news of interest about the team is that we are in the business of finding a new ECHL affiliate after cutting ties with the Columbia Inferno in South Carolina.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (CP) – The Columbia Inferno of the ECHL announced Monday that the team is no longer affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks and Manitoba Moose.

The Inferno had been linked to the organization for the past five years. Goaltender Alex Auld and forward Alex Burrows are among the players who spent time in Columbia before playing for the Canucks. [cbc]

A story I caught the other day[vancouversun] painted the likely picture of the Victoria Salmon Kings becoming the new choice. The idea was being tossed around prior to the seperation with the Inferno, but the deal is far from being final for the team in B.C.’s capitol.

I’m all for it. It’d be wonderful for the folks on the island and a great marketing move for the team. On top of that, it brings the kids coming up to the NHL much closer to the parent organization that they are working so hard to get to. It’d be great for folks in Victoria to see the team grow and move on to GM Place. That might make them want to hop a boat and check out more games in Vancouver, not that there is any weakness in drawing fans to the games around here at all.

Bottom line, I just like the idea a lot. I would even go as far as saying that I’d be more interested in checking out a Salmon Kings game while vacationing in Victoria if I knew that they were linked with the Canucks.

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The off-season has some excitement to it

The last time I updated anything about the Canucks, it was about the contract with Luongo. Lots have happened since then. Let’s see if I can sum up who else has come and gone from the organization.

Vancouver Canucks – Acquired right wing Tommi Santala and a 2007 fifth-round pick from the Atlanta Thrashers for a 2007 fourth-round pick; signed center Brandon Reid, who had been in Switzerland; signed center Brad Moran, who had been in Switzerland; acquired goaltender Roberto Luongo, defenseman Lukas Krajicek and a 2006 sixth-round pick from the Florida Panthers for right wing Todd Bertuzzi, defenseman Bryan Allen and goaltender Alex Auld; signed defenseman Willie Mitchell, who had been with the Dallas Stars, to a four-year contract; acquired a 2007 second-round pick and a 2009 conditional pick from the Los Angeles Kings for goaltender Dan Cloutier. [allsports]

Other changes to note, Ed Jovonoski found a new home in Phoenix with Gretzky and Roenick. Baumgartner headed east with the Flyers, and Keith Carney found a multi-year deal with the Minnesota Wild. Jarkko Ruutu (sadly) grabbed a nice deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Anson Carter at the game we went to against the Chicago Blackhawks last seasonFor the most part, that brings us up to date. If it seems like a core of the team is no longer with the Canucks, then you’re not alone in feeling that way. One name that hasn’t been mentioned, and is still, as of this post, a free agent, is Anson Carter. The salary cap says that there is no room in the inn for him, and we most likely won’t see him return. It’s a damn shame, too. Not only is he my favorite player on the team, but he was the key to, what I like to refer to as, “The Brother Line.”

A 33 goal season just didn’t happen for Carter. He fit the mold. After trying so many combinations with the Sedin twins, those three clicked. That type of teamwork led to a great season for that line. For the most part, everyone expects Carter to take a deal somewhere else.

After that, it’s really unknown as to what to expect this coming season. The guys coming in have promise, we’re already in love with Luongo (or so it seems), and the kids coming up through the ranks are starting to make some noise. Some of the Canuck’s top prospects were in town recently to strut their stuff, but nothing to really be said of them until the pre-season gets going. Once again, there is promise, but I’m still scratching my head over what’s up at top to work with.

The national anthems at the game we went to against the Chicago Blackhawks last seasonGM Nonis says he isn’t done shaking up the team, but I could have swore that we just got a new head coach. Not a lot has been said by the new guy, and I have yet to really discover a whole lot about what to expect. Vigneault had some success down in Manitoba, and if you are coaching a team that had Ouellet in goal, that means you must be something good. I was never impressed with that guy protecting the net instead of Auld.

Speaking of goalies, with Auld gone, that puts our trade from Buffalo, Mika Noronen, in at back-up for Luongo. This sounds great, but Noronen wants to be a starter in the NHL. As much as they are paying for Mr. Roberto, it’s not likely to happen. We only got the very best of Mika Noronen in the final game of last season. I’ve heard lots of good things about him, so it makes sense. Dude’s in a really tough spot though.

So, even though we are in the off-season, there is a crap load of stuff going on that is exciting to keep tabs on. I’m keeping close track of my RSS feeds, but if you really wanna know what’s going on with the Canucks, check out Vancouver Canucks Op Ed and HockeyNW.com. I love this stuff, but these folks live, eat, and breathe it.

I can’t fail to mention that Rebecca can talk the talk a hell of a lot better than I can.