NHL Central Scouting’s Jack Barzee: “He’s a dynamic player, a leader and a type of player that has developed into a complete offensive and defensive threat every time he is on the ice. He has a rocket of a wrist shot and he can beat you by putting the puck in the net, going around a defender, or freezing the goaltender and passing it off to one of his wingers. The concern is going to be his overall size, like there was with Scott Gomez, with Brian Gionta and with Patrick Kane, but at the same age he is probably a little thicker and a little bit more compact than they were. He’s a great hockey player.”
It will take some time before we know if the Canucks got the next Patrick Kane or Martin St. Louis in Friday’s NHL draft. What we do know right now, is they got value. Jordan Schroeder spiraled down the draft board to land in GM Mike Gillis’s lap at No. 22. Schroeder came into the draft ranked fifth among North American skaters. But teams clearly balked at his small (5-foot-8), and stocky (175-pounds) stature. Some scouts questioned his compete level, and labelled him a one-dimensional offensive player.
V.c » I was hoping the Canucks would move up to get the other small guy in the draft, Ryan Ellis who could be the power-play quarterback the Canucks have never really had, but instead we took another small guy, Jordan Schroeder who stands 5′8″ and weighs in at a decent 175 for a young guy who hasn’t gone through his bulking up years yet (and no i’m not talking about the apres-30 paunch many a guy gets). Anyway, yes it is generally better to get a guy who is 6′3″ then 5′8″ but in the new NHL there is more room for the little guys. Remember what Patrick Kane did to us in the playoffs not so long ago? And remember that all of us long-time Canuck fans know how good Cliff Ronning could have been if he played in a different era than the clutch-and-grab 1990s. Also, if you look at Schroeder’s stats for this past year they are decent albeit not dazzling, but notice that he collected a fairly impressive 11 points in 6 games at the World Junior Championships. And, if Gillis’s selection of Hodgson last year is anything to go by, it would appear he knows what he is doing when it comes to drafting. And Schroeder was ranked 15th by TSN so to get him 22nd is likely a score.
'The Band,' winner of the Jury Selection Award in the Where's the Square? design ideas competition sponsored by the Vancouver Public Space Network.
Search for the city’s missing, true public spaces yields fascinating ideas.
If we build it, they will come. Or will they? And does it matter if they don’t? What is the importance of having a public square in the 21st century city, whose citizens are more likely to commune electronically, in virtual space?
Vancouver’s planning and design community has long bemoaned the lack of a major public open space in the centre of the city, like those great squares that so many other cities are identified with. Meanwhile, critics have noted the city’s eccentric emphasis on public life at the periphery. Vancouver has always had more intense public spaces at its edges than at the centre: Centrifugal City.
It seems that Vancouver’s true public spaces are its beachfront parks, plazas, walkways and associated strands. Meanwhile, the centre seems curiously absent of such a social condenser, where the citizens of this city can come together to celebrate, commiserate or demonstrate as they do in other cities. The centre — to paraphrase Yeats — does not hold.
V.c » Yeah man, this city needs a public space, a great public square where we can hang out and protest and be a real city and … yeah whatever, in politically blasé Vancouver (Canada) with our indifference to causes and conflicts, our materialism and self-interest, for what do we need a great public square like the great cities of Europe that were built during times of strife, upheaval and even revolution? And who is going to build this great public square? We can pay for things like the Olympics because they bring in tourist dollars but who is going to build a place for people to either slack off or bitch?
In case you hadn’t seen this depiction of the Vancouver Olympic iconography that has been making the rounds I thought I would put it up here. We don’t want to scare off any would-be tourists who want to come here and spend their money and help pay for the Games by buying t-shirts and stuffies and crap with the Vancouver 2010 iconography emblazoned on it, but maybe this will give us some street cred with residents of other large cities that have gang issues. A little turf war or whatever it is that has been going on here for the past few months shouldn’t scare people off from visiting during the Olympics but maybe it will give them second thoughts about moving here and that is a good thing. Vancouver is like a teenager that has grown way too fast and now needs to mature and get used to its new frame and regain its coordination.
A sailboat moored off Jericho Beach in Vancouver has nearby residents upset because of its swastika painted on the hull. It is also believed the boat is dumping toxins into the water.
This charming guy with the swastika painted on his boat (in retaliation to being forced to leave False Creek because they have regulated against squatting in the Creek or something) has taken up residence off of Jerich Beach for the last week or so. I guess they have yet to find a rule or regulation that enables them to kick him out of the area.
Last night the police at least got a reason to board his boat and check him out. As we were having our after pizza popsicles he decided to fire off some sort of gun. My friend, who was swimming quite a ways off shore at the time was really thrilled with being so close to the shooting gallery. Within a few minutes there was a bunch of police cruising the beach and a patrol boat came up and some officers boarded his boat. They left him on board and his boat moored so I guess it was a licensed gun or just a pellet gun. Too bad. I wish he would go back to the cave he cave from so I can take my kids to the beach without having to deal with this schmuck.
I can’t believe it has been 10 days since i updated this blog. Oh well, does anybody actually care? With this nice weather I have been busy playing outside and I imagine you have too.
For the first time in 26 years, B.C. has a premier who has won three consecutive terms
Gordon Campbell’s Liberals have clinched yet another majority government, while a referendum on a new STV voting system failed.
CTV called the election less than an hour after polls closed, handing the Liberals their third election win in a row.
After early results had the Liberals and New Democrats running neck and neck – the very first results actually showed an NDP lead – Mr. Campbell’s party had opened up a wide lead with about half the polls reporting. The Liberals were leading in 48 ridings, while the NDP were leading in 37 and the Green Party in none. A party needs 43 seats for a majority in B.C.
V.c » Apparently you people didn’t take my advice to go crazy and vote in the Green Party. Surprise, surprise. But nice work people, way to vote in Gordo and his Conservatives in Liberal clothing who want to sell our rivers to private companies. I know the NDP were an uninspiring alternative but could we not have at least voted in a couple Green candidates somewhere in this province?
As for the STV referendum, it is not surprising that failed again? It is a really convoluted solution that makes no sense for anybody. My issue with the first-past-the-post electing method that we currently use is that it doesn’t give us a real say in electing the leader of the province and I want a democratic voice in who the leader of our province is because the real power lies in the hands of the party leader and not the MLAs who just do the bidding of the leader. I propose that we have a voting system that allows us to vote for our MLA and the party leaders; and the party leaders should not run in any specific riding. (Doesn’t the leader have more important things to do than deal with constituent-level issues anyways?)
Kiss another season good-bye, Canucks fans. Once again we are left with that empty feeling, shaking our heads in dispair; and disgust. Never would I have guessed that the Canucks would score 5 goals but give up 7 and lose the most crucial game of the year. Unbelievable.
Yeah, Luongo wasn’t a difference maker, but I would really only fault him on one of those 7 goals. The power play, the Sedins and the rest of the offence did its job, they scored 5 goals in a playoff game, afterall. The weak link turned out to be the defense, they made mistakes and took lame penalties and the Chicago D-men did not do that, they were faster, made better transition passes, didn’t make defensive zone mistakes or take stupid penalties. Gillis needs to add some offensive players with speed but he also needs to hit a home run with an all-star defence man. Can you say Bouwmeester.
Anyway, I hate to say this, but go Blackhawks. It is always better to lose to the Stanley Cup champs, but that is little consolation at this point.
It is now less than a week until the BC Provincial Election and despite the lackadaisicalness of some students I overheard in the coffeeshop yesterday who couldn’t be bothered to vote because politics didn’t interest them or matter to their desire to shop once they got a job (pathetic youth, enjoy the irresponsibility, you’ll figure it out soon enough — achhh, er, tax man), it is important to express your democratic rights and vote for whomever seems the least corrupt to you.
There is no way I can vote for Gordon “Sell-Our-Rivers” Campbell and the BC Liberals. And the NDP are about as inspiring as dry toast (Time for a party re-branding, call me if you need help :). Independents; I’m glad they exist, but really.
What’s left then is the Green Party. I know, you think they are a one-trick pony and are ill-prepared to handle the complexities and vicissitudes of the real world, but if there was ever a time to give them a chance it is now.
Imagine, with all the eyes that will be on Vancouver and our province come February 2010, and we have a Green Party in power provincially. How cool and astute and world-leading would we look?
Times are changing, the repressive Bush-era is over, Obama and the new hope are in power in the USA, environmental issues have come to the fore, sustainable energy is going to be the next bubble market, the current economic downturn is going to shake some foundations and get rid of some of the rif-raf. Let’s be part of the vanguard of this change and try a new way of doing things.
Think about it before you go to the polls.
And no, I have not been paid by the Green Party or anybody to advocate this, it comes from deep meditation or copious amounts of beer or too much coffee in Kits or something like that.
The Canucks beat Chicago 3-1 in game 3 (one of those important odd-numbered games in a best-of-series). We got all concerned about the speed and talent of the Blackhawks after their two comeback efforts in the first two games, the second of which resulted in a thorough defeat of our Nucks. We even started talking about resorting to the trap just to nullify the speed of the Hawks. But what we forgot was that if we work as hard as our opponent chances are we will win because we are the better overall team. (At least for this year until Chicago has gained this playoff experience.)
After the long layoff that resulted from sweeping the Blues it wasn’t momentum or rhythm that was lost, it was our work ethic. This lack of work ethic was reinforced by early power play goals in each of the first two games that made the Canucks feel like they could easily win. The Blackhawks then cranked up their effort level and in the second game especially took the Canucks to town.
Luckily in game 3 the Canucks resumed working at least as hard as the Blackhawks and thus the better team won the game. Now let’s just get Luongo back in the zone and enjoy the ride.
Roger Neilson and the Canucks waving the white towel in Chicago in mock surrender.
All is going according to plan. Anaheim has ousted Thornton and the Sharks in 6 games whilst Chicago did likewise to Bertuzzi and the Flames. I hope Anaheim and Detroit play a dog-fight of a 7 game series, but whomever wins will be a very strong adversary for the Canucks given that they beat Chicago. May Lidstrom and Niedermayer collide and give each other concussions. The Canucks should beat Chicago in 5 games if the last couple times they played in the regular season is anything to go on, but of course it isn’t and Chicago has found their game again thanks to a somewhat lacklustre Flames team. Canucks in 6, Luongo isn’t going to lose to Khabibulin.
The last time the Canucks played the Blackhawks in the playoffs was 1982. Actually, I seem to recall Chelios dismantling the Canucks whilst still a Blackhawk in 1995. Anyway, 1982 is infamous not just because it propelled us to the Stanley Cup Finals but it started the Towel Power tradition when Roger Neilson, disgusted with the officiating at a game in Chicago, put a towel on the end of a hockey stick and started waving it around in mock surrender. The rest, as they say, is history.
With any luck, Canuck history will continue on Thursday when we will finally be able to watch another playoff game we truly care about.
bcliberalparty (bcliberalparty) is now following your updates on Twitter.
bcliberalparty (bcliberalparty) is now following your updates on Twitter.
It’s decided, check the box for Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberal Party on my ballot. They are hip and cool and with it; they do the Twitter thing. Obviously they care about me if they are following my Twitter feed, we are like best friends now. Who cares if they want to sell our rivers to American Corporations or keep minimum wages the lowest in Canada or build jumbo bridges to the burbs at the expense of increasing public transit.
I seem to only ever talk about the Canucks on this blog, but there is a big provincial election coming up on May 12 (or something). We should be discussing the nefarious privatization scheming of the incumbent Liberals and the annoying unionism of the NDP and whether the Green Party has a broad enough platform to overcome their niche status. But the Canucks are on to round 2 so who cares about all that. Just give us our bread and circuses (for another 2 weeks anyways, at some point we have to analyze which group of criminals is most worthy of our precious democratic vote).
Canucks complete their first ever sweep in a 7 game series (they beat Calgary 3 buzz in a best-of-five in 1982) with an OT goal by Alex Burrows to give the Canucks a 3-2 victory over the Blues in St. Louis. Recap.
The whole team played amazingly well except for a few minutes of the second period, and as a Canucks fan you have to loooove having Roberto Luongo in goal, but how good is Alex Burrows. They guy scores clutch goal after clutch goal. I think maybe he should have signed for more than the $2 mill a year that he did a few weeks ago.
I don’t ever remember watching a Canucks team that is playing this well. Could this be our year???
The Stanley Cup Champion Vancouver Millionaires - 1915
It has been a long, long time since a team in Vancouver has hoisted the Stanley Cup. Of course my bias is to always predict that the Canucks will win the Cup, but this time, the first in how many years, since 2003, or maybe 1995 or maybe never, the Canucks are a legitimate contender and predicting them to win is not just an unrealistic pipe dream.
There is an awful lot of hockey to be played between now and June when the Cup is hoisted, but with Luongo in goal, a healthy, committed defense and two, possibly even three lines that can score, the potential is there in a big way for us long-suffering Canucks fans.
Here is how I see it breaking down:
Western Conference Round 1
1.San Jose loses to 8.Anaheim
2.Detroit beats 7.Columbus
3.Vancouver beats 6.St Louis
4.Chicago beats 5.Calgary
Eastern Conference Round 1
1.Boston beats 8.Montreal
2.Washington beats 7.New York
3.New Jersey loses to 6.Carolina
4.Pittsburgh beats 5.Philadelphia
Western Conference Round 2
2.Detroit loses to 8.Anaheim
3.Vancouver beats 4.Chicago
Congrats to our NuckleHeads for winning the NW Division. I was very leary about starting Luongo in this game, but thankfully he and everybody else seemed to come away unscathed. And it seems that it required a shutout performance from Luongo to win this game. Luongo and the boys have now gone 7+ periods without allowing a goal, I think they are playoff ready. Bring it on!
However, before we start celebrating too much, it must be pointed out that we may end up playing Anaheim in the first round if they get the 6th seed and if there is any team in the league that we don’t want to play right now it is definitely the Ducks of Anaheim.
UPDATE: Phoenix beat Anaheim in a shootout 5-4 so we will be playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. Phew. Not that we are guaranteed to win against them, but the Ducks have been very hot lately and they play a very tough and dirty game with a lot of offensive skill.
UPDATE REDUX: I don’t know about you but I did not see the Blues getting the 6th seed and playing us in the first round. But when Columbus lost their last game and the Ducks lost their final game in overtime it left the door open for St Louis to jump up two spots with a victory over the Avs in their final game. I am glad we don’t have to play the nasty Ducks in the first round (them and SJ should put on a good show) but we haven’t faired all that well over the past few years against the Blues, including a 2-2 record this past year. However, I would be very suprised if we lost this series if Luongo is on form and the D plays solidly, we should win in 5 games, 6 if they get really lucky. Bring on the playoffs!
Two NHL gripes though. Why the Avs felt the need to play boring, tight, defensive hockey when they have nothing but the fun of the game to play for I don’t know. Loosen up man, entertain your fans. And Gary, enough of the matinée games, hockey is meant to be played on Saturday night not Saturday afternoon, stop pandering to people who don’t care about hockey and appease those who do care.
The Bald Eagle will now migrate onto the streets of Vancouver, Vancouver Island and beyond to complete the trilogy of public arts projects by the BC Lions Society. The first being the Orca coming out of the Pacific Ocean, then the Spirit Bear coming out of the forests of Northern BC and now the Bald Eagle soaring through the skies of the West Coast from April 2009 to April 2010 in support of the BC Lions Society’s Easter Seal Services and the Canucks for Kids Fund.
V.c » It seems to me that I heard more people denigrating the orcas and bears than praising them, but I really liked them. Obviously some were more aesthetically appealing than others, but in the urban environment the more are the merrier. However, as a canvas the eagle seems to me to be the weakest of the three especially the way it is positioned. I wish it could be at more of a soaring angle that would enhance the sculpture, even though that might detract from the viewing of the paintings.
Note: Keep your eye out for the Sedins with beagles commercial advertising this project. (Seems that it is yet to be uploaded to YouTube.)
NDP Angling to Cancel Retractable Roof Plans for BC Place
Based on online caucus statements and party advertising launched in late February, the BC NDP appears to favour scrapping plans for a retractable roof at BC Place stadium.
“It’s not explicit in the election platform release today, but they’ve made it clear in a series of pre-election trial balloons what their preference would be and that’s to scrap the plans for a retractable roof and proceed with a simpler replacement fixed roof,” said TEAM 1040 sport business commentator Tom Mayenknecht. “And if they proceed with that position, it’s not only wonky politics but it’s wonky economics.”
V.c » It is time for Campbell and his privatization agenda to drive off into a drunken Hawaiian sunset. But the NDP are a bunch of chumps if they decide to go cheap on the renovation of BC Place and forego the retractable roof. If they don’t go with the retractable roof they might as well scrap the entire renovation project altogether and spend the money elsewhere, like by sending all of us a cheque for the amount saved. Important infrastructure should evolve and be improved over the years, not just be spring cleaned. Imagine the events we could host with an awesome outdoor stadium on sunny summer afternoon.
You would have to pay me to go to the Britney Spears concert tonight at GM Place. Circus is probably a rather apropos name for this event. I imagine it would be a bit like seeing the aftermath of a car accident, you don’t want to look but you can’t avert your eyes. If you don’t agree then watch this video for her song, Womanizer.
UPDATE: According to a friend of a friend who works for LiveNation the reason Britney took a 30 minute hiatus during her show here was not because of the bothersome second hand smoke but because she ripped her fishnet stockings and the 20 other pairs they had in the wardrobe bin were not acceptable because she needed some specific brand of fishnets.
It is certainly a plausible story given the divaesque nature of Ms Spears, but this was third-hand information so I would say its truthfullness sits at about 50%. Not that I really care either way, but even my grandmother was talking about it.
I knew the Canucks should have started LaBarbera against the Avs, goalie’s shouldn’t play back to back games especially when they include travel. Not that the Canucks would have elimated the dumb defensive zone mistakes or remembered how to forecheck and been able to hit the net with their shots if LaBarbera had been in goal instead, but it couldn’t have been any worse and they wouldn’t have risked hurting Luongo.
They better play a shitload better against the Flames on Tuesday, that game is important for determining playoff positioning but even more importantly for us getting our confidence back and diminishing the resolve of Calgary.
Anyway, it sure was nice to be able to go out today and not be at all cold for the first time in months and months and months. Bring on the vitamin D.
Rick Mercer brought his show to Vancouver a couple weeks ago. His focus was the paralympics so he went skiing up at Whistler and played wheelchair curling with our probably soon to be ex Premier, Gordon Campbell. Too bad it wasn’t a real rock that hit his head :)
