Linden, who retired from the National Hockey League in 2008, announced today he is opening a fitness centre in Coquitlam this winter. Club 16 – Trevor Linden Fitness is scheduled to open in January 2011 in Eagleridge Place at 2635 Barnet Highway.

According to a news release, the facility will be a “welcoming, state-of-the art facility designed for the average person.” The release went on to say the atmosphere will be “friendly, the intimidation factor will be reduced and exercising and getting into shape will be fun.”

Linden plans to charge $15 a month and says it will be the lowest average membership prices in the industry.

Source ↑ www.vancouversun.com/…

V.c » When I heard Trevor Linden had an announcement about his post-hockey player career I was hoping it would be more exciting than this and that it would have something to do with the Canucks, but this isn’t actually nearly as lame as it first sounds. If it was just a ritzy fitness club appealing to Hummer drivers than that would be really lame, but the fact he plans to only charge $15 per month, that is awesome, that is a third the price of a community centre. I hope there is a Club 16 my neighbourhood soon.

The first thing we need is for Edler and/or Bieksa to land a big hit on Kane and/or Toews and then we need Demitra and/or Samuelsson to blow a shot by Niemi and we will be on our way to winning the series in 6 games. Let’s just hope the refs don’t screw us. Or that our usual Canuckness takes over and we find a way to lose. Luongo is no Cloutier, that’s just not going to happen, it just smells different this year.

Anyway, Henrik Sedin winning the Art Ross trophy is awesome. The first Canuck in our 40 year history to have the most points in a season. His 112 points also broke Bure’s franchise record of 110 points in a season. Henrik probably won’t get the Hart trophy which goes to the league MVP, but that’s okay, that is very subjective and he is at the mercy of the eastern media who don’t see many Canuck games. He has the trophy for the scoring title and nobody can debate that even if Ovechkin did play 10 fewer games. It will be interesting to see if Henrik wins the Pearson award which is given to the best player according to the players.

I was at the game against the Flames on Saturday. Thank you Flames for playing pond hockey, but that was possibly the best Canucks game I have ever seen live. It was capped off by this beauty of a goal by Daniel Sedin.

Burrows gives Auger a WTF?

In a reasoned and impassioned speech that lasted precisely two minutes on HNIC’s After Hours, Vigneault knocked the CBC’s Ron MacLean for an incredibly one-sided segment he hosted which vilified Alex Burrows and exonerated Stephane Auger.

…

Then, Vigneault got at one of the real issues ignored by HNIC – the actual calls.

“There’s one penalty – the diving – which might be questionable but the second penalty is a phantom call,” Vigneault said. “The league talked about no reaction. Well, how about his reaction after the game. The emotion that was in his voice.

“You don’t make things like this up.”

Source ↑ www.theprovince.com/…

V.c »Ron MacLean and the whole tv-based media in the east have been a total joke when it comes to this issue. For some reason Burrows has a reputation of being a diver and a trouble maker, but two diving calls in almost 350 NHL games and 0 suspensions doesn’t exactly justify that reputation. Ron and his buds took that reputation and then also assumed the referee, Stephane Auger, could not bear any responsible because he is a professional and would never allow his ego, let alone his finances, to effect his impartiality. A ref would NEVER tell a player that he is going to get him. Power and ego would never go to a refs head. Yeah right. It is surprising however, that a ref would be stupid enough to tell a player they were going to get them when they could just do it and not put themselves at risk. Not that Auger really put himself at risk, knowing that the NHL would do nothing about it if Burrows spoke up about what he said because then the league would have to admit there might be integrity and impartiality issues with their officials and they would never, ever want to admit that.

The diving call in the game in question against the Predators is one thing as suspect as it is, but the interference call is total and complete BS, a phantom call if there ever was one. In the first period to the set the tone, okay. Lame, but okay. With four minutes left in the third period in a tie game. BS. Put Burrows in your teams jersey and then see what you think of it.

Auger better not be officiating another Canucks game any time soon. This story is not supposed to be about Burrows, it is about Auger and it seems that everyone who is not a Canucks fan has forgotten that.

Jordan Schroeder, the Canucks first round draft pick for 2009, drafted 22nd overall.

According to TSN:

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.”

According to Botchford‘s first reaction:

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.

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.

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.

Canucks Finish Sweep

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

Eastern Conference Round 2
1.Boston beats 6.Carolina
2.Washington beats 4.Pittsburgh

Western Conference Final
3.Vancouver beats 8.Anaheim

Eastern Conference Final
1.Boston loses to 2.Washington

Stanley Cup
Washington loses to Vancouver in 6 games.