CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

Canucks’ prospects Hodgson, Grabner, and Schneider will be facing the greatest challenge of their young hockey careers, when the powerhouse Bears come to Manitoba.
And, Hershey will be led by former ‘nuck journeyman, Bryan Helmer.
The 6′1″, 208 pound Dman – who now captains the Bears – played in the Canucks’ organization from 2000-01 [...]

[Read more →]

by Ron Spence
I’ve been asked about other interviews that I did with Pavel Bure.
I talked with him on various occasions, but there was one interview that stands out.
It was when he was 25-years-old and still with the Canucks.

How have you found dealing with fame?

“It was difficult the first couple of years, yeah. But everything was [...]

[Read more →]

by Ron Spence
During the 1996-97 season, I interviewed Pavel Bure for a Hockey Illustrated feature on the post-season.
Vancouver wouldn’t make the playoffs that spring nor the one that followed. Pavel then sat out most of the 1998-99 season, but played in 11 games for Florida, scoring 13 goals.
The Panthers didn’t reach the post-season that campaign, but played [...]

[Read more →]

by Graham Clark of the DallasStars.com
Mar 13, 2009
Brendan Morrison’s game-winning goal against the Hurricanes on March 12 was his first point as a Dallas Star and leaves him just three points shy of 500 career NHL points. Brendan sat down with DallasStars.com to answer a few questions in this exclusive Q&A.
Q: What do you think [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

by Ron Spence
Trevor Letowski was a Canuck for only two seasons, but his story is interesting for a couple of reasons.
He has fallen victim to the NHL’s youth movement, which has driven him to the KHL.
The first article – below – describes what he went through while waiting for an NHL club to [...]

[Read more →]

by Ron Spence
No B.C. raised player – besides Paul Kariya – has performed at more hockey levels than Doug Lidster.
Doug was born in Kamloops and played for the Kamloops Jardine Blasers, Chiefs and Rockets.  He was an offensive defenseman and scored 24 goals in 64 games and 36 goals in 59 games.
Next, he played [...]

[Read more →]

Crashingthegoalie doesn’t like to forget.
So we do profiles on ex-Canucks and where they are now – i.e. Jeff Cowan, jarko Ruutu, Matt Cooke, etc.
While he only appeared in a couple of Canucks’ games and one crashingthegoalie trivia question, Drew MacIntyre’s story is an interesting one.
KIRK PENTON, of the SUN MEDIA writes:
“You can bet Drew MacIntyre [...]

[Read more →]

by Ron Spence
These are hard times.
My nephew – a carpenter – was recently laid off from his job in Victoria. He and his wife have a new baby, and they bought a new truck on friday and he was jobless on monday.
Here in Thailand, things are getting really bad. Food prices have been escalating, while [...]

[Read more →]

by Ron Spence
Jarkko returns to Vancouver tomorrow night.
With him playing in the East, many Vancouver fans have lost touch with his play and antics. Our previous post documented his years in Pittsburgh.
This post is a compilation of bits and pieces that describe what has been happening this season – so far.
The first article was written [...]

[Read more →]