Friday 26 August 2011

Also Known As ...

  Okay so I am pretty sure everyone and anyone who watches hockey has nic-names for some players. My kids and I have come up with some pretty good, and not so good nic-names for the guys over the past few years. I'll share some of the nic-names we use for our Canucks, and some we have come up with for opposing teams players.
  Some of the nics I list are commonly used amongst fans and you may recognize them. Feel free to comment and add your own player aka's in the comment section below.
~We also make up little 'play on words' for some of the guys, I'll share a couple of our best .. or worst :P .

   ***Keep in mind, we are not professional nicnamers, nor do we get paid for creating the nicnames, we do it for fun & giggles. ;)



Ryan Kesler - Superman, RK-17 , Frick( or is he Frack ?) Kes, RyRy , Kesala(my 6 yr old calls him this)
Play on Words - Ryan coke
Alex Burrows - Burrs/Burr, Frack ( or is he Frick ?)
 Play on words ( and not one of our best ) - A gopher Burrows deep
Mason Raymond - Mase, MayRay,
Jannik Hansen - JanHan, The Great Dane
Maxim Lapierre - Lappy, Lapps, Sexy Mofo
Christopher Higgins - Higgs, Higgy
Play on words - Gettin Higgy with it
Viktor Oreskovich - Vichy, Oreo, The Big O
Cody Hodgson - CoHo, Hedgehog
Daniel Sedin - Dank, Dani, The/A Twin
Henrik Sedin - Hank, The/A Twin
Mikael Samuelsson - Sammi
Kevin Bieksa - Juice, KB3, Bieksellent, Boom Boom Bieksa, Sexy Beksi ( this one, i am sure he would love haha )
Aaron Rome - Romer
Play on words - When in Rome.. ( or even better, When On Rome.. ;) )
Dan Hamhuis - Hammer, Hammy
Alex Edler - Edsy, Eddie
Sami Salo - The Frail Fin (Ouch)
Play on words - Salo can you go.
Andrew Alberts - Albs
Keith Ballard - Bally, Mr. Thighs
Play on words - Ballard Duck (..long , funny story behind this one ) 
Nolan Baumgartner - The Baumer
Cory Schneider - Scneids, Ging 
Roberto Luongo- My Man, Robbie Luo, LUOOOOO, Bobby Luo, Lulongo ( Don Cherry at his finest )

The newest Canucks need nicnames too - any suggestions ?
Marco Sturm - Sturmo
Steven Pinizzotto - Otto, Pin
Andrew Ebbert - Ebbs, ebbi
Mark Mancari - car ?
Alex Sulzer - Seltzer
Mike Duco -The Tweeter
Matt Climie - ?


When watching the games, the teen and I tend to get a good hate on for the opposing team, which sometimes leads to some not so nice nic-names & comments. I'll share the nicest of them ;)


Bryan Bickell - Pickle
Shane Doan - The Domer, Dome
Brad Marchand - Inspector Gadget, Ratman
Shane O'Brien - OB, SOB, Loserface
Kyle Wellwood - Donut boy
Dustin Byfuglien - Buttfuglin, Butt(rhymeswithduck)in
Johnny Boychuck -  Upchuck
Cal Clutterbuck - Clusterf*ck
Simon Gagne - Simon Gagme
Nathan Horton - hears a who, cry baby, Romes Biatch

( in light of  Mike Duco twitter drama, and just in case any of these players ever come to the Vancouver Canucks, please remember, I'm a Canucks fan... and until a player is a Canuck, he is fair game :) )

Monday 22 August 2011

#37 - Forever a Canuck

 The hardest post I have had to write thus far. I'm not even through the first sentence and I'm stuck. *sigh*
Rick Rypien wasn't a goal scoring superstar. He wasn't a game saving goalie.. he was a scrapper. He only played 119 games with the Canucks,  but the impact he made on his fans is bigger than any game winning goal and harder to comprehend than a 7th game final loss.
The NHL is full of goons.. players whos main goal is to goon it up, put fear into opposing players, use their size to protect their teammates & fight anyone they deem a threat. Rick Rypien was not a goon. Our Rypper was a hockey player who could, and did, fight anyone he needed to but he could also skate and score. Rick never backed down or failed to protect his teammates and he always made us proud.

Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I'll miss you
Until we meet again!

~Author Unknown

A week ago today, Monday, Aug 15th, 2011, we lost not just a great hockey player, but an amazing man.  The fight for Rick wasn't just on the ice but off the ice as well.. and many may think he lost the fight, but I like to think that he just needed a rest from it.
When I read the news on Monday,  I think I stopped breathing for a moment. My heart hurt to think that our Rypper was gone . My thoughts went to his family, then to his teammates and then to Rick.  I won't get to deep into my thoughts & feelings because I do not know his whole story and I can only begin to imagine what he was going through and what his family is going through now.
One thing I do know, is that I am not alone as a fan in my pain and sadness. The outpouring of love, respect & tears I have been a witness to in the past week is simply amazing.  The Canucks, as people, have so many fans who care about them , who worry about them, who consider them as their own family and it is heartwarming to see.  It doesn't ease the pain of losing our Rypper, but it does bring some comfort.
My 6 yr old told me not to be sad, because now Rick is up there with the Hockey Gods and he will hear us when we pray to them.  She's a smart cookie and i figure she is right.. so Rick better be ready .. I talk to those Hockey Gods an awful lot ;)

Some Rick Stats - Rick came to us via the Manitoba Moose in March of 2005. His first game as a Canuck was in the 2006/07 season. He played a total of 119 games in a Canucks uniform, scored 9 goals and had 7 assists.

Rick Memories -
He wasn't just a scrapper...
Oct 16, 2009 - Ricks 1st goal of the season vs the Flames. 
Nov 3, 2009 - Ricks game winning goal vs the Rangers.. nice pass from Kes & great heads up goal by our Rypper.
March -2009 - Rick showing off with a short handed goal vs the Flames :)
but when he did fight, he sure did it well...
Rick vs Gill -
vs Selleck as a Moose - the video says 'Rick Rypien Last Fight", but I tend to disagree...
vs Eager - I think we could have used Rick in the Stanley Cup Finals .. he would have set those Bs straight ;) 

To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
~Thomas Campbell


RIP #37 Always Remembered... Forever a Canuck




~ Let your soul and spirit fly.. into the Mystic - Van Morrison

Monday 15 August 2011

NHL and Social Media

Social media plays a huge part in the NHL world nowadays. As silly as it sounds, it's a fact and something we never had to deal with until recent years.
When a team makes a signing you can be sure to find it on Twitter within moments of it being announced. When a player ( not naming any names coughOBcough ) takes a topless picture with sexy women sitting on his lap, the world of social media will be sure to have the scoop .. and picture, within minutes of it happening. If you sign into Facebook and search for most NHL players, you will be sure to find at least one account under his name. Some players have 4, 5, and 6 accounts under their names.

When I first found some Canucks players on facebook, I was over the moon. Then I noticed all Canucks players suddenly opening Facebook accounts, and they would accept friends, update statuses and post pictures all at the same time.. One player updated his status on FB during the games, a couple players opened accounts with various versions of their names.. this, plus other clues, made me realize that there was a good chance that none of these accounts were the real deal. I never deleted them...  I wanted to keep my eyes on them, just in case ;) . There are a few players who could very well be the real deal, and I hope they are,  but until I have confirmation, I can not believe 100% that they are real... and that sucks ! All because people have nothing better to do than impersonate hockey players ? A harmless game in their minds maybe, but in reality it becomes a problem.

One day while surfing through my facebook, I saw this.
an Open Public letter on FB. NOT the real AB14

 The person pretending to be Burrows, has come clean. Now I don't feel he should be punished, and many people are leaving nice , supporting comments to him, but I do feel that fans and players need to be aware of these impersonations. Not only could it hurt a players reputation, but it could also make it difficult for the real players to use social media, which really isn't fair because as it is they are away from their friends and family for long periods of time. Facebook & Twitter could be options for players as a way of communication with loved ones, but not when so many issues arise from it.

Facebook does not verify accounts like Twitter does, but even being verified doesn't always help. Just a short while ago there were some Canucks fans/bloggers trying to lure Kevin Bieksa to Twitter, which brought out a few fakes. The fakes eventually admitted their wrong doing and deleted the accounts but for a short time it caused rumours & speculation. It also casts doubt in one's mind the next time they do see a players account.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to social media issues concerning NHLers. How about the whole Duco issue.. #freeduco is still trending on Twitter *sigh*. Not every person has common sense, not every fan knows how to show respect and not every player thinks ahead... which makes for a dangerous combination.  In a perfect world, none of this would matter, but we all know how perfect our world is ;)

Let's appreciate , respect and do our part in making the social media world a little easier for the guys to use. Kudos to the Burrs Facebook impersonator for coming clean publicly.. let's hope this prods a few more of the fakes to close their accounts & show some respect :)






Thursday 11 August 2011

2011 Young Stars Tounament - Penticton BC

The Vancouver Canucks will be hosting the 2011 Young Stars Tournament in Penticton BC so any of you fans up that way should get out and support the guys :)
It's a round robin tournament, starting on September 11th and ending on September 15th.
For all the information, game times & ticket options go to Canucks.com


Get out there & support our Canucks Young Stars ! Who knows, one day we may be watching those young guys hoist the Cup in a Canucks uniform ;)

Caption The Canuck

UBC Practice 2011

These pictures were taken a second apart.... 
Great set to caption sooo.. get at it ! Caption Kevin :)









Kev - " see my stick ? You want it where ? ! "










Who is the Canuck bent over waiting for Kevs stick ? There will be no prize if you figure it out but you will def get bragging rights ;)

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Getting to Know You - Ryan Kesler

Our Flavour of the Week - #17 Ryan Kesler aka RK17, Kes, RyRy ( we won't say who calls him RyRy ;) ). Our tough, gritty, amazing Selke winning center will be turning 27 on August 31 and is originally from Livonia, Mi, U.S.A. Ryan came to the Canucks in the 2003 entry draft.


 Kes Stats - Ryan played 82 regular season games scoring 41 goals & assisting 32 times. In the playoffs, Ryan was a workhorse, playing 25 games, scoring 7 goals while assisting on 12 others.


Kesler Vids -
Interview Bomber - probably one video that everyone has watched, but so worth watching again :)
Kes & Iggy Scrap -  first thing i noticed in this vid was Ryans jersey number.. 2nd thing was his hair ! LOL 
Hat Trick for Kes - It's a bird, it's a plane.. no it's SuperKes !!



 Kes Tidbits -  It's been said that Ryan is grumpy in the mornings but he showed a big side of his humor in the 2010/11 season when he took on the roll of the Interview Bomber .....so we know he isn't always a grump :) . Ryan played for the 2010 U.S Olympic team, winning silver after being defeated by his teammate Robbie Luo and the Canadian team. Kes has his own clothing line which you can check out at www.rk17.com . Kes also has his own swagger ;) ... it oozes confidence on and off the ice. His swagger is also part of what makes the ladies crazy for him .. swag away Kes ! :)
Ryan Kesler has proven to be a very important part of the Canucks and we can count ourselves lucky we are playing with him and not against him. Even with his silly bomber antics and his messy styled hair, we know we can count on Ryan to be all business when it comes to hockey & his game play.
Congrats to Ryan on an amazing season and the hardware... Get Well Soon Ryan !!!