On Monday I found the hockey bag in the hallway!
Hello Everyone! How are you? What has been going on in the world of NHL hockey? Well, both the NHL and NHLPA sat and met with mediators yesterday. I am guessing they went over their sides of the stories and what is going on and what the parties want in the end. Today I read that both parties sat down together with mediators to attempt to get a CBA ironed out and the season started. Apparently they tried this back during the 2004-05 lockout with no success and the season was eventually cancelled in February. Fingers crossed it has a better result this time around and we see NHL hockey again shortly.
Enough about that, let me tell you about my wild and busy week. My Dad came over from Victoria on Sunday because we were going to see Paul McCartney that night. It was the first time Sir Paul had been in Vancouver in nearly 50 years! He put on a great 3 hour show and it was amazing to watch.
The next morning I asked my Dad if he wanted to head out to UBC with me to see if the Canucks were practicing? He said sure! My Dad has been around longer then the Canucks have but he is a Canucklehead fan. He likes to watch good hockey. He will watch any game on TV or the Victoria Royals or even watch my brother play in his league. My Dad also drove to a lot of hockey tournaments with my brother when he was little. He got to know Dallas powerhouse forward Jamie Benn's dad over the years when their boys played together so it is safe to say my Dad knows a lot about hockey.
When we got to the rink the Canucks were practicing with the UBC Thunderbirds but to my surprise Jason Garrison was skating with them. This was the first time I got to see Garrison interacting with his teammates. They moved from a practice rink to UBC's main rink 1/2 way through practice and as I ran around and took pictures and video like I usually do my Dad was having a great time watching the drills. He knew every drill they were doing. Whether it be working on the power play or penalty kill, he got it. Plus it is always fun to see these guys that close up. My Dad and brother always went to at least one game together a year when my brother was little but as my Dad said to me on Monday "I never got to see them this close up" We didn't get to stay for the whole practice because we had to leave and pick up my Sister who was joining us for the Bruce Springsteen concert that night. I know, tough life right? Sir Paul and the Boss on back to back nights!
Enough about that, let me tell you about my wild and busy week. My Dad came over from Victoria on Sunday because we were going to see Paul McCartney that night. It was the first time Sir Paul had been in Vancouver in nearly 50 years! He put on a great 3 hour show and it was amazing to watch.
The next morning I asked my Dad if he wanted to head out to UBC with me to see if the Canucks were practicing? He said sure! My Dad has been around longer then the Canucks have but he is a Canucklehead fan. He likes to watch good hockey. He will watch any game on TV or the Victoria Royals or even watch my brother play in his league. My Dad also drove to a lot of hockey tournaments with my brother when he was little. He got to know Dallas powerhouse forward Jamie Benn's dad over the years when their boys played together so it is safe to say my Dad knows a lot about hockey.
When we got to the rink the Canucks were practicing with the UBC Thunderbirds but to my surprise Jason Garrison was skating with them. This was the first time I got to see Garrison interacting with his teammates. They moved from a practice rink to UBC's main rink 1/2 way through practice and as I ran around and took pictures and video like I usually do my Dad was having a great time watching the drills. He knew every drill they were doing. Whether it be working on the power play or penalty kill, he got it. Plus it is always fun to see these guys that close up. My Dad and brother always went to at least one game together a year when my brother was little but as my Dad said to me on Monday "I never got to see them this close up" We didn't get to stay for the whole practice because we had to leave and pick up my Sister who was joining us for the Bruce Springsteen concert that night. I know, tough life right? Sir Paul and the Boss on back to back nights!
Jason Garrison in blue and Kevin Bieksa in black having a quick chat about the drill.
It is fun to watch these guys skate around this rink. It is bigger and you can sit a bit higher up and really watch the play unfold. Here Jason Garrison has the puck and UBC's goalie is on his game!
A skater, a clock and myself in the reflection can only mean one thing = practice is on!
Coach talking to the players at the end of practice Tuesday.
On Tuesday I was dead tired after watching Bruce Springsteen for 3 hours. I think "Shackled and Drawn" might be my current favorite Springsteen song, but he did sing "The Rising" which I love, "Waitin on a Sunny Day" which I also love and at the end for fun the Boss sang "Santa Claus is coming to Town." It was great but I was beat after 2 nights of great concerts. I found a way to make it to practice. I got there really late knowing if anything I would maybe catch the last 15 minutes. When I walked the the rink everyone was involved in a play and it was only locked out NHL players, including Alex Burrows who I hadn't seen yet this year. Although I heard he was in Quebec and playing in charity games in la belle province. No Thunderbirds at practice. Then the coach brought everyone to the centre of the ice and began talking to the players. I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying but I heard him say "Thank you to the guys and Congrats to somebody." He spoke for a few minutes and the players were smiling and listening and everyone seemed to be very supportive toward what was happening. It had an interesting energy about it and I was curious to know what was going on. Then I watched as the the players skated to the far end of the rink. Cory got between his pipes and I have never seen the players laugh so much and smile or run this particular drill. There was something really really lovely about the whole thing but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was.
On Wednesday morning it all made sense. My editor and great friend Ricky sent me a text message simply saying "Good Morning, bye bye Schneidog". I didn't get it at first then I thought Schneider probably signed a contract with a Swiss team. My heart sank a bit and my first though was this is not good. If Schneider goes perhaps that means the NHL and NHLPA are further from an agreement then we the public think? I wondered if there was more to the story and got on my computer. I found out Cory Schneider had indeed signed with the Swiss team HC Ambri-Piotta. Then I tried as best I could to put myself in Cory's shoes. He is 26, hasn't played a game in 7 months, took over the starting goalie job from Roberto Luongo in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Kings, he signed a 3 year, $12 million contract with the Canucks and is being groomed to take over the starter position in Vancouver, he has his Swiss citizenship through his Dad so he doesn't have to jump many hoops to be able to play in Switzerland and the contract he signed will expire December 31st but Cory can renew if the lockout continues. I sat back and thought about this and it made perfect sense. If I were Cory and the chance came up to play some games I would have gotten on a plane and flown over as well. Then if the lockout ends by Christmas Cory will have a few games under his belt. I get why some Vancouver fans took this like the lockout is going to drag on because Cory is the first Canuck with a big name to sign a contract but I don't view it that way. I think Cory made a great choice and best of luck to him! The only question I still have is "How is Chris Higgins going to get to practice?" Whenever I saw Cory and Chris in a car it always looked like Cory was giving Chris a lift. Maybe Cory will let his buddy borrow his car while he is out of town.
On Wednesday morning it all made sense. My editor and great friend Ricky sent me a text message simply saying "Good Morning, bye bye Schneidog". I didn't get it at first then I thought Schneider probably signed a contract with a Swiss team. My heart sank a bit and my first though was this is not good. If Schneider goes perhaps that means the NHL and NHLPA are further from an agreement then we the public think? I wondered if there was more to the story and got on my computer. I found out Cory Schneider had indeed signed with the Swiss team HC Ambri-Piotta. Then I tried as best I could to put myself in Cory's shoes. He is 26, hasn't played a game in 7 months, took over the starting goalie job from Roberto Luongo in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Kings, he signed a 3 year, $12 million contract with the Canucks and is being groomed to take over the starter position in Vancouver, he has his Swiss citizenship through his Dad so he doesn't have to jump many hoops to be able to play in Switzerland and the contract he signed will expire December 31st but Cory can renew if the lockout continues. I sat back and thought about this and it made perfect sense. If I were Cory and the chance came up to play some games I would have gotten on a plane and flown over as well. Then if the lockout ends by Christmas Cory will have a few games under his belt. I get why some Vancouver fans took this like the lockout is going to drag on because Cory is the first Canuck with a big name to sign a contract but I don't view it that way. I think Cory made a great choice and best of luck to him! The only question I still have is "How is Chris Higgins going to get to practice?" Whenever I saw Cory and Chris in a car it always looked like Cory was giving Chris a lift. Maybe Cory will let his buddy borrow his car while he is out of town.
Alex Burrows skating with his buddies and also his teammates in a fun drill before Cory left town.
Here are a few websites you might be interested in. The first is one of a virtual map of NHL players in Europe. It shows their name and you can click on it and see how they are doing. The 2nd is the AHL website. You can take a quick peak and see what the team standings are. You can also look and see how some of your favorite NHL players are doing. Some NHL teams had options to send their guys down to the AHL during the lockout to keep them in shape and playing. Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins all play for the Edmonton Oilers but are all currently playing for the Oklahoma City Barons. I highly recommend keeping an eye on the AHL if you have a team near you. You can see some great players like Buffalo Sabre Cody Hodgson, Chicago Wolves Eddie Lack, Zack Kassian and Chris Tanev plus a slew of other guys who really play the game of hockey well! Enjoy X
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl-lockout/nhl_players_in_europe/
http://theahl.com/stats/statdisplay.php?&season_id=40&tournament_id=0&division_id=-1
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl-lockout/nhl_players_in_europe/
http://theahl.com/stats/statdisplay.php?&season_id=40&tournament_id=0&division_id=-1
Cory Schneider doesn't look like he has the slightest bit of jet lag!
This was just too good. When I showed up at practice today again running behind and only catching the last 20 minutes I saw this. This puck bag is always left in the oddest places. Today it was hanging off the net? I had a good laugh and ran down to grab a photo. Where will I find this bag next?
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