Sunday 31 July 2011

Getting to Know You - Cory Schneider

Our Flavor of the Week - #35- Cory Schneider aka Schneids. Cory is 25 years old and is a very reliable backup goalie for the Canucks. He is from Marblehead, Ma and was drafted by the Canucks in 2004.



Cory Stats -
Cory played 25 games in the 2010/2011 season, winning 16 of those games. He had 1 shutout and got himself 3 points which helped win him and Luongo the William M. Jennings trophy. Cory proved himself to be a mature, hard working, solid backup /tandem goalie this past season and we are lucky to have him on the team. 


Cory Clips - 
Cory Mic'd up for the Win - this video is amazing for so many reasons. Cory says there was a lady screaming into his mic;).. I think he was just so damn excited !
Cory .. or Jannik ? - the vid speaks for itself.. haha
Cory in Action - his confidence shines through. Great saves !


A Few Cory Facts -
In 2009 Cory won the Aldedge Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's outstanding goalie. Out of all the Canucks players, Cory would least like to face Kes in a shootout.  Cory is a mature guy with an awesome sense of humour and if ever on American Idol his song of choice would be " We Didn't Start the Fire' by Billy Joel.  I wonder .. can Cory dance ?








~ No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.  - John Donne
















Due to Corys great goalie skills, he has caused quite the controversy amongst fans over who should be the starting goalie for the Canucks.  I tend to lean with Luo.. and will be posting on this subject in the future :)

Friday 29 July 2011

Caption The Canuck

Backup goalie Cory Schneider looks like he was saying something interesting in this shot...
I know he was definitely not talking bad about Robbie Luo ;)



~ "Ooooh look, sparkle!"
    - by FireflyFaery ( Province Sports' Legendary Canucks Chat)

~ "Did you SEE that save Luo made ? !! Amazing !!
    - by Me :P  


~ " I swear it was the woman behind me screaming like a girl when i was mic'd in game 7 "
    - by Me 


~ "you talking to me?"
    - by Canucklelion 


Add your caption for Cory in the comment section below !! :)

Thursday 28 July 2011

Jannik Hansen Signs !

Good news for Canucks fans !

Jannik Hansen will remain in a Canucks uniform !  Today, just a day before his arbitration date, JanHan re-signed with the Canucks... 4.05 million over 3 years. :)

It is said that Mike Gillis does his best work on Thursdays, so why change it up .. Happy Thursday to us !!

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Canucks Rumour of the Day

I woke up this morning to the rumour that the Canucks are close to signing another big winger.
Brad Winchester- 30 yrs old, 6'5, 230 lbs. Left wing but can also play right.  In the 2010/2011 season Brad played 57 games in a Blues uniform and 19 games as a Duck , with a total of 10 goals and 6 apples.


This is just the rumour of the day , it has not been announced nor confirmed .. I will update as needed.
Do you hope this rumor is true ? Would Brad be a welcome addition to the Canucks ? .. stay tuned & find out if the rumour is true.. or false ;)

Monday 25 July 2011

Canucks sign Byron Bitz

Canucks Roster

Canucks announced today , the signing of Byron Bitz.
6'5, 215lb Right Winger..  Byron is known as a tough and gritty type of player... Is this the 'grit' people have been asking for ?




Finally, a little bit of Canuck news for us to play with :)

Getting to Know You - Keith Ballard

Our Flavor of the Week - #4 Keith Ballard , aka Ball, Bally, KB4 or as my sister likes to call him, Mr. Thighs ;) . Keith is 26 years old and comes from Baudette, Minnisota. The Canucks acquired this left shooting defenceman from Florida in 2010.

Stats on Keith - Keith played 65 games in the 2010/2011 season, scored 2 goals and got 5 assists. In the playoff run, Keith played in 10 games with zero points.

Keith Clips -
Keith & George - this video shows Keith's humour. It's so one of my favorites of him. I'd hate to meet George in a dark alley on a rainy night.. especially with a Pupperoni in my pocket ;)
Derailing the TooToo - Clipping 5 yard penalty ! .. o wait, this isn't football .. wtf was officiating thinking ?
McGinn Payback - haha payback's a bitch eh McGinn;)
Flying Miller - nice hip Bally ! 
There are so many wicked hip checks by Keith, it's hard to pick just a few favorites.



 The Keith Controversy -  Was Keith's lack of ice time during the playoffs due to A.V's hate on for him ? or was it due to the fact that Keith forgot to shine when he was given the chance ? Many fans believe that coach Alain doesn't like Ballard very much and that is why Ballard didn't play more than 10 games in the playoffs. The jokes and debate that would go on about this was extremely entertaining.
Ballard supporters say - he wasn't given a fair chance and wasn't given enough ice time to get himself back up to top quality after coming back from an injury. Or maybe it was because A.V loves Rome too much to play Ballard instead of Rome ;) Or maybe it's because A.V. likes players that remind him of himself and Keith just doesn't have any 'Alain' in him. Keith is being payed far too much to not be playing. Keith and Alain must have had a huge fight causing Alain to bench Ballard as much as possible.... and on and on it went.
Personally, I feel Keith was given as much of a chance as any of the others. When he had the chance, he didn't shine and going into the playoffs is not the time to wait and see if he ever would.  Alain had his reasons for playing who he played, he got our team to the final game, I'm sure he knew what he was doing. I could go on about how Alberts had more hits with less ice time than Keith had, and how we all know that size and strength were something we needed in those final rounds...I could bring up how Tanev took the opportunity to shine while Keith unfortunately didn't...  but I won't ;)  I like Ballard and I hope he gets his confidence back & we get to see him lay many more of his wicked hip checks in the season ahead .


And last but not least, the reason Keith is also known as Mr.Thighs...
Great Thighs !!

Friday 22 July 2011

Off-Season HumDrums

The off-season is hard enough to get through but when mother nature gives us rain and clouds , it makes these 2 whole months even that much harder !  The other day I was thinking how training camp can't get here soon enough, and then i said to myself " Self, with hockey comes winter, and we do not like winter weather , so don't wish it here too soon".. but really, with the weather as it is, what's the damn difference ?! I want Hockey !!

Usually it's pretty easy to fill the hockey void during the off-season. The beach, the lake, camping, bbqs & beers, bon fires & smores, fishing, golfing, laying by the pool.. all fun summer things to do to fill the void. We just have one problem. Summer forgot to visit us this year. :(  So now what ?
The Canucks social media world & the Province Legendary Chatroom have rehashed the season, debated Bieksa, argued about Hoffer, dramatized Duco, and covered every other aspect of the Canucks, over and over and over again. Every day we hope to hear a bit of news from the Canucks.. something to feed the hunger and fill the void, something different to debate.. and we get nothing. So we can keep rehashing all the old Canucks' news , or we can find new creative ways to fill that Canucks void, while we wait for the sun .. or training camp. ( my bet is training camp comes first ! ;) )

Some creative ways to fill the hockey void -

-Go Canuck stuff hunting ! We hit thrift stores to see what fun Canucks merchandise the fake fans toss out. It's amazing what people get rid of. One man's trash is another woman's treasure .
-Bake Canuck cookies . Just a tip though.. blue food coloring and brown icing, do not mix to make Canucks blue . Next up is Canuck ice cream. That should be fun .
-Buy new shelves & wall units for all you're Canucks' stuff . We know with a new year brings new merchandise so why not prepare for it now 
-Debate and discuss the what-ifs of the 2010/2011 season. ( something i don't much care for :P )
- Start new trends on Twitter like #reasonswelost and then spend your day thinking up obscure reasons.
-Watch old games, videos & highlight reels. This seems to be a favorite amongst the Canucks social media fans. So I guess i'll hop on board & share a few... ...
or not. LOL I just went on a hunt for my favorite moments ( was going to post Luo's shut-outs ).. but I got sidetracked...

Kevin Bieksa - Juicin' up the room pre-game. I love the fact the guys let us in on a little bit of their locker room time. 
Game Prep - I wonder if Luo needs help with that sanding.. I could so do it !! ;)
Pre Pre-game - I just have to say , we have the most handsome team ever !
Walk with 'em -  so cool !
Luo - okay this one makes me cry.. I love the way the guys treat each other .. it's soooo cute ! .. and to see Luo get the love.. *sigh*




Is it October yet ?!!??





Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.  - Carl Sagan

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Caption The Canuck

Even though Raffi is gone, he still gets a Caption The Canuck page in my blog :) 


Max & Raffi during practice

~ Raffi: "Whoa...did you know he could do that?"
   Max: "Not a clue....."
    - by FireflyFaery ( Province Legendary Chat ) 

~ Max : " Bags packed yet Raffi ?"
   Raffi : " Huh ?!? "
     -  by Me

"Did you see what Hansen just did? He's the best player in practice."
     - by  Canucklelion ( Province Legendary Chat )

Leave your Caption in the comment section below ! :)

Monday 18 July 2011

Back to the Basics -2

Back to the Basics - Positions - ( ha no not those kind of positions ! )

Each team has a 23 man roster, with 20 dressing for each game. There are 4 lines, with 5 players per line.  A line consists of 3 forwards & 2 defense . The forward line has 2 wingers and a center.


The Center - The centers job is to do it all ! Sorta kinda ;). He covers the middle part of the ice from end to end. The center is usually a stellar passer as he is the guy setting his wingers up for goals. The center also takes most face-offs. On defense, the centers job is to disrupt the opposing teams play as much as possible. If your a center like our Ryan Kesler is, you will be superman & do it all !

Right/Left Wing - I would think it goes without saying but I'll say it anyways.. The right wing plays on the right side of the center & the left wing, on the centers left side ;) .  The winger mainly covers his side of the rink and works with his center to carry the puck into the opposing zone.  The winger takes passes made by his centerman to set up shots on goal.  Defensively the winger breaks up the opposing teams plays .. as much as possible. Wingers also block shots made by the opposing team.

Defensemen - The defense usually plays behind the forward line to keep the puck out of our end & in the opposing teams end. You may hear the term " pinching' quite often, that's a Dman doing his job.. keeping the puck in the opposing zone and not allowing the other team into our end. The defense blocks shots ( Ouch ! ) and he helps keeps the puck clear from his own goalie. Offensively, the dman gets the puck to his forwards and follows the play into the attacking zone.

The Goalie - The goalies job is pretty obvious ;) He needs to stop the puck ! He needs to stop every shot the other team makes on our net . He can kick it, catch it, poke check it, catch the puck with his face.. whatever it takes to stop that puck from going in his goal. Some goalies can puck handle well so they may leave their net to get the puck up ice quicker, this happens more on a powerplay than during 5 on 5 play.

Next Back to the Basics will cover Hockey lingo, terms & phrases used in the hockey world.

Saturday 16 July 2011

Getting to Know You - Maxim Lapierre

Our Flavor of the Week -# 40, Maxim Lapierre, aka Max or Lapi. This 26 year old was born in Saint-Leonard, Quebec. He came to the Canucks late in the 2011 season in a trade with the Ducks. Max is a 6'2 right-shooting centerman and just re-signed with the Canucks for 2 years, which made me very happy =)


Max Stats - Max played 19 regular season games for the Canucks in the 2011 season, scoring 1 goal. He scored 3 goals and got 3 assists in the playoff run with one of those goals being a game winner.


Favorite Max Moments on Video -
Max scores on Thomas - Not only is this an awesome play by Juice & Max, but the way Max celebrates makes this video worth watching.. a few times ;)
First goal as a Canuck - Nice pass from Higgs from behind the net .
Can Max name the Provinces ?  - This podcast is way too funny ! Max is sooo cute in it. Points to Burrs & Schneids for their knowledge but half a point to Max for his.. cuteness :P

Max & his Dimples

 Max may be known through-out the league as a chirper, a diver and a trouble maker but when he came to the Canucks, he drank the kool-aid and played whistle to whistle like A.V asked him to do.  Max stepped it up and played 3rd line when Manny was out with his eye injury and he earned the respect of many Canucks fans.
His dazzling smile and pure sexiness has made him a favorite amongst the lady fans. I know of one fan who calls herself 'Mrs. Lapierre' and would do anything to let him know how awesome he is.  I guess we can say that Maxim has become a great addition to the Canucks team in more ways than one ;)








~Hockey players have fire in their hearts and ice in their veins. - Author Unknown

Thursday 14 July 2011

Canucks Sign Duco

Any news is exciting in the land of Canucks these days and with the latest Duco Drama , this news is post worthy .
Canucks signed Mike Duco .. details not released yet but I will update when I hear them.
Speculation ??? I'm guessing a 1 yr deal .

Welcome to the Canucks Duco !  Glad you dumped the whole twitter thing ;)

Caption The Canuck

Roberto Luongo & Keith Ballard 
Use the comment section below to Caption The Canuck =) Feel free to leave more than one caption & please feel free to laugh at or comment on others. 
 

A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself. ~Unknown




A couple of captions from the Province Legendary Chatroom - 

~ Ballard: "Tell me a story, Lou. I'm so sad AV doesn't like me" Lou: "It's ok buddy, take a load off. There once was a Prince ....." -by Nucks on the Street

~ "Time to start carrying this team on your back Lu!!!" - by Merlyn

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Alex Burrows Sighting

It's the middle of July... do you know where your Canucks are ? Nah neither do I ;) .. but I do know where Alex Burrows was today ! He took time out of his summer holiday to spend a few hours signing autographs and posing for pictures for the fans.
I was unable to attend but being so lucky to have a teen who is in love with the Canucks,  I did get to enjoy the experience through BBMs and pictures :)


Alex & Alex


She says he is even more beautiful  up close & out of Uniform ;)



Just happens that Alex`s favorite player is Alex Burrows, which makes this even more fun ! This was the first meet & greet we have been able to partake in.. but it won`t be our last ;)






Adrian & Alex
 We met Adrian ( Super Fan aka Bieksa freak lol ) at a UBC practice early in the playoffs. We would run into him at the airport & other fan functions and became friends with him. You`ll probably see him lots in TheIcingonthePuck. Today he was meeting & greeting Burrs along with what seemed like a million other fans.
 




Alissa & Alex
 Alissa is a friend of the teens. She is also a Canucks fan and comes to the fan events with us. We accidentally made her our official photographer as it turned out she was usually the one with the best pictures.  ( Many of the pictures used in my blog were taken by her ).. but as you can tell from the picture, we do let her out from behind the camera sometimes ;)

   

                         
 A huge thank you to Alex Burrows for sharing your time today !


Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows.- Robert Green Ingersoll

Duco Drama

Okay so once again, I find myself writing about something that I was going to refrain from, but I just can't not have my say.
The Vancouver Canucks recently acquired the rights to Mike Duco from the Florida Panthers. Duco played in 12 career NHL games with zero points and 60 penalty minutes. So pretty much, he is a nobody in the NHL. He isn't a superstar, he isnt an up & coming big name rookie, he isn't a vet and he didn't come from a top team. Yet the Canucks fans and some media, have been ripping this guy apart. Why ? Because of some tweets the guy made.


Tweet #1 - "Big Games tonight.. I'm gunno go with Montreal, Philly and Chicago!"
Tweet #2 - "2-1, let's go san jose! what is luongo thinking coming out of his net like that?"
Tweet #3 - '"sick of watching the sedins dive and lay on the ice"
Tweet #4 - after game 6 of the finals Duco said "Ha.. solid night Luongo"


 So the guy said what thousands of other people were saying. I would have been the first one ripping him apart & defending my boys had i followed his twitter at the time because I always defend my boys.. . But do I feel he should be raked over the coals for it like he is ? Heck no !  I far from agree with his tweets or his thoughts, but I am fairly realistic in thinking that not every player in the NHL/AHL are Canucks fans.
I guess some people feel that any and all NHL/AHL players are supposed to love, adore and support the Canucks players ? Are our egos that big that we feel every player is supposed to like all our players & support our team ? I'm not seeing the big deal. The guy was not a part of the Canucks organization at the time of his tweets. There is no written rule in the NHL book that says all players must love the Canucks players and if we are honest with ourselves, we know that not many in the NHL organization do like & support the Canucks ;)


Sure Duco should know better than say certain things in a public forum, just as any NHLer should, but at the time, I am sure he had no idea his rights would be traded to the Canucks.  He probably didn't know how hungry for drama some Canucks fans are and how they pounce on any slice of information .. for their own gain ? enjoyment ? DRAMA !!! :P  And I am most certain he didn't get the memo stating that all players in the NHL/AHL must love the Canucks, support the Canucks and never speak badly about them ! .. Poor Duco .
I would think maybe Duco was jealous ? Envied the Canucks as many other teams & players did heading into the playoffs. Maybe it was peer pressure to follow all the other Canuck haters out there ;)  The Canucks had an amazing season and as we hear all the time, players love to play here, but we also hear a ton of hate from other teams, players & the media from other cites.


'A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction than praise, provided it smacks of jealousy.' - Jean Baudrillard


As a Canucks fan, I almost feel ashamed at how he is being treated on twitter and in the social media. All playoffs the Canucks fans complained about how hated we are as fans, noone can understand why... well hey, here you have it ! The guy, was NOT a Canucks player, was not a part of the Canucks organization, he was just a 'fan' watching the game , and OH EM GEE he didn't root for the Canucks ! OH NO he didn't like Luongo or the Twins ! How dare a player of another team not like our team ! *sigh*  All this drama over.. not much.

I may be going out on a limb here, but I doubt the Canucks players are hating on the guy as much as some fans are . I am sure that this is something that will be dealt with in a private, mature matter between Duco and the guys , if Duco does play here.   Duco took steps to apologize & mend fences as soon as the trade happened , which is big of him but obviously not enough because the Duco Drama continues.


Monday 11 July 2011

One is the Loneliest Number

Being an NHL goalie has got to be one of the loneliest positions to play. When the team wins a game, they win because someone scored the winning goal and became the games hero. When the team loses, it's because the goalie didn't make that key save to keep the team in the game.
As many of you know and for those new to 'me', I am a huge ( HUGE ) Luongo fan and I tend to pay slightly more attention to this type of stuff.   I can get quite passionate when discussing the goalie position .. and if I'm being really honest, anything to do with Luo. :)

Luoooooo

There are 6 players on the ice for the Canucks ( unless of course we are on the PK ), which means for the puck to get to Luo, it must go through 5 guys. So if the puck gets past the 3 forwards and the 2 defencemen and then Luo, why is it all Luo's fault ? Common sense says it's because he is the goalie and his job on the ice is to stop the puck, but hey, there are 2 Dmen who have a job out there as well, and we often see forwards blocking shots.. just ask Higgs(Chris Higgins) and his foot about that ... so yes, while it is the goalies job, he shares that job with 5 other guys.
Goalies can't be the hero and score goals. They cant take the puck down ice and take a shot on net. They can't score the overtime goal. So when the team is not scoring , all a goalie can do is sit , all by himself, at the other end of the ice, and have faith that his teammates will put the puck into the opposing net . Yet even when the Canucks lose with zero goals scored by them, Luo gets the blame.  I think that comes with the thought that if Luo plays amazing and stops everything thrown at him ( even breakaways & 5 on 3s) then the guys will feed off it and start to score goals. I see it from the other perspective though.  If the team scores a goal and is playing well in front of Luo, he will feed off that and make amazing stops, like we have see him do , many times.

Quite often we have seen Robbie Luo kill off early penalties and early 5 on 3s, sometimes consecutive, to keep the Canucks in the game... and the boys up front miss open nets , fan on passes and don't pull through with a goal to help Luo out.. then Luo let's a goal in and BAM! it's all his fault.
                       
A goalie spends much of the game in one end by himself , and unless he is a great puck handler who comes out of his net a lot, he can go many minutes without even touching the puck. When his team scores a goal, he doesn't get to celebrate with the others.  Even the guys sitting on the bench get to be involved with high fives & fist punches, but not the goalie. The only time he gets to celebrate with the team is when his team wins.  That's got to suck sometimes. ( I wonder if I'm the only person who notices things like this ? haha )
Nice Save.. Great Memory

And last but not least .. Luongo was part of a team that won an Olympic gold medal overtime game , he had an amazing regular season which resulted in the co-winning of a nice piece of hardware and he made a beautiful save in overtime game 7 vs the Hawks. Those were some pretty big wins he took part in, so the whole ' Luo chokes in big games' thing is getting old ;)
Roberto Luongo does not win or lose games.. the Canucks win or lose games and like him or not, he is a Canuck, he is our goalie, he is part of the team and he is damn good ! :P



With me as a fan, One isn't the loneliest number ;)

  

Saturday 9 July 2011

Getting To Know You - Andrew Alberts

Our Flavor of the Week - Andrew Alberts #41 . Also known as AA to some but we like to call him Albs or Albsy in this house. Andrew came to the Canucks from Carolina, has been with us for two years and just re-signed for the next two years.(Yay!)  He plays defense, with .. well whoever happens to be beside him at the time. We even saw him on the first line with Juice when Hammer was out in the playoffs. 
Layin' the smack on a Hawk


Some Alby Stats - Andrew played 42 regular season games in the 2010/2011 season, and he played 9 games in the 2011 playoffs run. Albs had 1 goal & 6 assists in 42 games last season.


A Couple Alberts vids-
 First goal as a Canuck
An Albsy Fight - I guess Andrew conformed this season because his fighting vids are few & far between from the past yr. Before he came to us tho, it seemed like he scrapped everyone and anyone.


Some Albsy Facts - Andrew comes from Minneapolis and graduated from Boston College with a degree in Communications.  He played on Team USA with Kes and Ballard. Albs is hard to get a smile from when snapping a picture, but when you do get a smile, it's a sweet one !




 A signature with a smile.











Andrew isn't a top liner but he is a solid. The Canucks can count on him to play smart and do his job when he plays. A few fans I know would cry foul when Albs got the call over Ballard this past playoffs.. they questioned A.V's smarts.. and let me tell you.. that didn't sit well with this chick. Alberts deserved every minute of ice time he got this playoffs, he has grown over the past year and comparing him to Ballard is like comparing elephants to oranges. ;) Andrew may not be the fastest guy out there but he is definitely a solid.. and I like solids ! :P





( a buddy contacted me to let me know he follows my blog, and to ask me if I have a nicname for every player.. haha My answer " Of course !" That's something my teen & I do together...watch for the Nic Name Blog ;) ) 

Thursday 7 July 2011

Canucks Pre-Season Schedule

The Canucks released the 2011 pre-season schedule ..Sept 20th is a long wait.


Tues., Sept. 20th vs Calgary - 7:00 pm
Tues., Sept. 20th @ Calgary - 7:00 pm
Thurs., Sept. 22nd @ Edmonton - 6:00 pm
Sat., Sept. 24th vs Anaheim - 7:00 pm
Sun., Sept. 25th vs San Jose - 6:00 pm
Wed., Sept. 28th @ Anaheim - 7:00 pm
Thurs., Sept. 29th @ San Jose - 7:30 pm
Sat., Oct. 1st vs Edmonton - 7:00 pm

More Here 

Wednesday 6 July 2011

A Few Favorite Moments

The 2010/2011 season was one ride I will never forget . It didn't end as we wanted, but wow what an amazing , fun, exciting, emotional experience it was.  How can I not relive it & share some of my favorite moments ? :P 
( a great way to pass time while we wait for Hansen to re-sign .. arbitration sucks ! )


We were lucky enough that the guys let us in on a few Locker room Celebrations.. 

-a few of my most faves-

~ Luo gets busted, bustin' a move - OH Em Gee way too cute ! If you don't get a chuckle out of this , I have a sense of Ha ha to sell ya ;) & for TG .. All we do is Win Win Win no matter what ! 
~ Goin to the Finals Baby ! - i could watch this one a million times.  So proud of the guys.. then & now 
Teach me how to Dougie - hahaha - another that makes me laugh. I wonder if Romer knows how to Dougie yet ? ;)




Going to a few practices was just one of the amazing experiences we had on this wild ride.. not sure who was more excited, the teen or me. 
Alex was at the practice when Manny was first spotted on ice practicing.. we accidentally scooped the story because Alex got there sooo early.. lol ooops , sorry media guys :P .   ( I'll save the vid for Manny's 'Getting To Know you ' blog )





Not the best picture quality .. but what a thrill it was to see him out there .. Such an inspiration ! 
Love the smile



 

Simply .. W O W !




The first day Alex went, she didn't know she was going, so all Burrs had to sign was her arm.. The second day .. she got Burrs stick. Can we say Holy Crap ! ?? !! BEST day ever !!!! Thank You Canucks !







Luuuoooo
                   

Watching Luo this close, I felt like I was at my own private game. Was so surreal.




Assuming this was the Sharks bus, we flipped em the bird for good luck. It worked !!


You Rock Max !

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Jannik goes to Arbitration

Jannik Hansen opts for arbitration along with 22 other NHLers through-out the league. It could be days before we hear any news on this, or it could be weeks. *sigh*
Just sign already Jannik !

Monday 4 July 2011

Trades & Re-signing & New Guys.Oh My !

Well it's summertime, which means no Canucks hockey games on my Tv :( , but it does mean new and exciting stuff happening in the Canucks locker room. Some good, some not so good.
I think i'll start with the good stuff first, then a lil of the not so good, with some more good to end it out. Always best to leave on a happy note ;)

Players re-signed
Sami Salo - 1 yr - I had heard Sami wanted to stay in Vancouver and although I worry about our 'frail fin', I'm happy he is still a Canuck.
Andrew Alberts - 2yrs - Ha Told ya so ! .. The guys kept telling me Albs would be gone, I was adamant he would be back and oh how I am happy to be right. A solid player on D, improving every year & good looking .. Yes,  I'd say we are good to go with Alberts :)
Kevin Bieksa - 5yrs- another guy i said would be back and the nay-sayers told me I was sniffing good glue. LOL This is why women are good with hockey ;).. While the men were armchairing it, I was paying attention to the silly stuff. I figured if Kevin was just blowing smoke when he stated he wanted to stay in Van, then the guys ( k17, M21 & B14 ) would have just hogtied him & 'helped' him sign anyways.. so the odds were with me on this one.
Maxim Lapierre -2yrs- a great ( yummy ) addition to the Canucks ! This guy stepped it up when we needed him to and i'm happy to call him a Canuck.
Chris Higgins - 2 yrs- I'm happy Higgs is back. The guy played 5 weeks of playoff hockey with a broken foot. That's the kind of guy I want on my team ! 
Nolan Baumgartner -  depth on the D is always a good thing but does the Baumer have what it takes and is he what we need ?

Still waiting for Hansen to re-sign. Waiting with fingers crossed that he does. Hurry the heck up MG & JanHan !!!!

Players we lost -
Raffi Toress - to Phoenix .. and this one hurts. I grew to adore Raffi & his hits .
Christian Ehrhoff - now in Buffalo making 18m in the 1st 2 yrs of his 594 billion yr contract.  Torn on this one... i'm sure Hoffer had his reasons coughcashcough, but it hurt knowing he wanted to move on to be on a 'winning team' as his agent stated. Where's the love Hoffer ? Ouch !
Tanner Glass - to Winnipeg which is okay. I'll miss TanTan as a Canuck but can't say much for his gameplay.
Guillaume Desbiens - to Calgary. Yuck at having an ex Canuck in Calgary but we didn't see much of Desbien in the 2010/2011 season so not a huge loss.
Rick Rypien - to Winnipeg. I love Rypien ! I was hoping he would come back up to the Canucks once he was ready so I could watch some more of his classic scraps, but I am very happy he is getting a fresh start with Winnipeg and I hope he does well. Treat him right Jets fans !
Alex Bolduc- to Phoenix . he can keep Raffi company when they feel like the Noobs ;)
Jeff Tambellini - to Europe ?

Players we picked up - 
Mark Mancari - I like this guys size. A 6'3, 225lb right winger.. could be interesting.
Steven Pinizzotto - another big right winger. 6'1, 200lb. Is he tough ?
Marco Sturm - all I got here is 2 words " Bad Knees".


We re-signed a few key guys and I am sure Mike Gillis is not done yet . Those of us who enjoy the anticipation and speculating probably have a few more weeks left before MG makes his 'money move'. Have faith , good things are coming !

Sunday 3 July 2011

Canucks Sign Winger

The Canucks have signed right winger Steven Pinizzotto . The 6'1, 195 winger comes to us from the AHL Hershey Bears .
Learn more about Steven here 

Welcome to the team Steven ! :)

Friday 1 July 2011

Canucks Glass is... empty.

Tanner Glass signed with the Winnipeg Jets for 1 yr @ 750K.  We'll miss TanTan  in Vancouver. He showed the city lots of lurve while he was here. Good Luck to you in Winterpeg Tan.. hope you packed your earmuffs !

Welcome Marco Sturm

  Vancouver Canucks signed Left winger Marco Sturm to a 1 yr deal @ 2.25mil.
Learn more about the 32 yr old Here

Welcome Aboard Marco ! ( He's a cutie ladies ;) )

Ben Kuzma on Strum - Read Here

Alex Bolduc packs his bags

   Bolduc has left the Canucks organization and signed a 1 year, 2 way contract with the Phoenix Coyotes.  Good Luck Alex, hope the shoulder holds up for ya =)

Canucks Sign Mark Mancari

  At 6'4 and 225 lbs, could this young winger be what Kes needs ? How will he fit on the team? Does he have what it takes for the NHL or is he stock for our Chcago Wolves ?  I guess we will find out seeing as the Canucks signed him today.  Mark played 20 games for Buffalo last seasons scoring 8 goals. he spent the majority of the season in the AHL.
More about the newest Canuck Here

Goodbye To Raffi

  Okay this one I am sad over :(. I liked Raffi Torres and will miss him bunches. Raffi signed with the Phoenix Coyotes for 2 yrs @ 1.75M a yr.  Good luck to Raffi even tho it hurts me to see him go. (hope we pick up a bigass winger for Kes now !)
Raffi stretching his stuff

See you in Phoenix Raffi

Gettin Higgy With It

  Canucks have re-signed Chris Higgins !! I for one am happy to have Chris back. He signed a 2 yr deal @ 1.9 a yr. Welcome back Chris =)

Salo Stays

   Sami Salo re-signs with the Canucks for 1 yr @ 2 mill.  Sami said he wanted to stay in Vancouver ( for possibly his last yr in the league ) and stay he will.

Salo can you go .. Nah I think he'll stay ;)
Sami heading to practice @ UBC