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Entries from January 2009

Game 50: TEAM IDENTITY

January 31st, 2009 · No Comments

by desertdawg
Well there’s a good question. What indeed is Canucks type hockey?
What is the identity of this team? At the beginning of the season, we were looking at a team like Detroit and saying, well those guys are a classic puck possession type team. How about Anaheim? Typically we see the Ducks as a [...]

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Tags: CANUCKS - BILL HEINTZ

ALEXEI KRUTOV: SON OF VLAD

January 30th, 2009 · No Comments

by Ron Spence
I have always admired Keith Gretzky. He was a player with little talent, but had a great love of the game. He played throughout the minors and eventually went into coaching, was briefly a GM, and is now Phoenix’s Director of Amateur Scouting.
And, he has survived – throughout it all – living in [...]

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Tags: PLAYER PROFILES

TRIVIA: DRAFT PICKS AFTER LOSING RECORDS

January 30th, 2009 · 1 Comment

by Ron Spence
In the previous trivia blog, we noted that the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks own the record for the most consecutive losses, and that the Winnipeg Jets (now the Phoenix Coyotes) have the record for the most games without a win.
So, these three teams must have received some great draft picks. Or [...]

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Tags: HOCKEY TRIVIA

THE 'NUCKS: 50 YEARS AGO

January 30th, 2009 · No Comments

by Ron Spence

The 1958-59 Canucks were one of the franchise’s weaker squads.
Note their records the years before and after:
 
The Canucks won the Lester Patrick Cup – as the Western Hockey League’s best team – in 1957-58 and again in 1959-60. 
During the 1958-59 season, the Seattle Totems – down the I-5 – were the champs.

The ‘Nucks’ roster included [...]

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Tags: HISTORY

Game 49: THE FOG

January 29th, 2009 · 2 Comments

desertdawg
…and they’re off!
Here we go folks! The games always count…but from here on in, they really count. If our hockey team really does have character, if we really have the horses, then this is the fun time of year.
No more cliches about one game at a time or even one shift at a [...]

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Tags: CANUCKS - BILL HEINTZ

THE CLICHES OF FIRING – AND THEN HIRING

January 28th, 2009 · No Comments

by Ron Spence
With the Canucks’ poor play of late, there’s been talk of Vancouver hiring a new coach.
Firings hit me in two ways: I think of families being disrupted; and I wait for the barrage of cliches.
So, this post merges these two elements – the human and the humour.
I have shown pictures of every Canucks’ [...]

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Tags: HOCKEY HUMOUR

UNFAIR: HISTORICAL GAA STATS

January 27th, 2009 · No Comments

by Ron Spence
Yesterday’s All-star Game showcased the NHL’s best goalie talent. 
These players wouldn’t want, however, last weekend’s stats merged in with their regular season’s numbers. 
Montreal’s Carey Price, for example, let in 9 goals on 25 shots. 
An all-star game is totally different – as we all know – from a regular NHL contest. 
 

And yet, the NHL compares [...]

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Tags: HISTORY

THE NHL SHOOTS FOR THE STARS

January 26th, 2009 · No Comments

by desertdawg
I admit to having mixed feelings about the All Star game. On the one hand it’s great to see so many elite players on the ice at one time. On the other hand, it’s a meaningless game. Let’s face it, you see more competition in your standard ceremonial face-off.
Of course, how many [...]

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Tags: CANUCKS - BILL HEINTZ

TOP 10 ALL-STAR GAMES

January 25th, 2009 · No Comments

by Chuck O’Donnell

1. AT TORONTO, 1951
Final score: Fast Team 2, Second Team 2
Starting with the first modern All-Star Game in 1947 and continuing for years, the game was very competitive and enthusiastic. Players weren’t afraid to take the body and defenders put their bodies on the line to block shots. In the first game, Chicago’s [...]

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Tags: OTHER WRITERS

TREVOR LETOWSKI: LIFE AND HOCKEY IN KAZAKHSTAN

January 24th, 2009 · No Comments

by JOERI LOONEN (courtesy of the iiha.com)
“When my agent told me Barys Astana was interested, I didn’t know of the city,” Letowski said. “When I learned it was in Kazakhstan the first thing on my mind was about that movie, Borat, and stuff like that. In North America, that’s what most people think when they hear about the [...]

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Tags: FORMER CANUCKS