When I walked into the rink this week I saw this every time. The locked out "usual suspects" plus newest Canuck Jason Garrison alongside the UBC Thunderbird team being coached by Dragicevic.
Hello Everyone! What a wild few weeks it has been. An end to the lockout seems nowhere in sight but the players are taking steps to perhaps move it in a new direction and the owners are doing what they can to get what they want.
I have always been on the side of the players. I understand as best I can where the owners are coming from and yes they are running a business. From a business stand point a 50/50 split is fair especially with the record breaking revenue the NHL made last year alone. That being said the players are the little guys in this tug of war. When I look at the situation it all comes down to principal. Someone correct me if I am wrong but if you as an employee were asked to roll back your contract and also have 25% of last years earnings taken back you would probably be very upset. The owners are attempting to not honour players contracts that have been signed in good faith.
Another sticky point for me is arbitration. In the NHL if a player feels he perhaps deserves more then he was offered in a contract he can go before a judge explain his case and the judge will decide if he should be paid more or take the offer he was given. On the flip side if a player signs a contract and doesn't perform on the ice the way he should the league can take him to arbitration and have his contract lessened. I am all for everyone having a voice so it really sits with me the wrong way the owners want arbitration to disappear.
Those are 2 of the points I will discuss this week. Next week I will discuss a few other things that don't jive with me. Below I have attached a few links to the TSN website if anyone wants more detail.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=411412
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=411631
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=411653
I have always been on the side of the players. I understand as best I can where the owners are coming from and yes they are running a business. From a business stand point a 50/50 split is fair especially with the record breaking revenue the NHL made last year alone. That being said the players are the little guys in this tug of war. When I look at the situation it all comes down to principal. Someone correct me if I am wrong but if you as an employee were asked to roll back your contract and also have 25% of last years earnings taken back you would probably be very upset. The owners are attempting to not honour players contracts that have been signed in good faith.
Another sticky point for me is arbitration. In the NHL if a player feels he perhaps deserves more then he was offered in a contract he can go before a judge explain his case and the judge will decide if he should be paid more or take the offer he was given. On the flip side if a player signs a contract and doesn't perform on the ice the way he should the league can take him to arbitration and have his contract lessened. I am all for everyone having a voice so it really sits with me the wrong way the owners want arbitration to disappear.
Those are 2 of the points I will discuss this week. Next week I will discuss a few other things that don't jive with me. Below I have attached a few links to the TSN website if anyone wants more detail.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=411412
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=411631
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=411653
Garrison at practice.
Now let's move on! On a fun note for me at practice this week I got to see Jason Garrison. Yes I had had a few Garrison sightings at the rink but none with his locked out teammates. Garrison was injured when the lockout began so he was still entitled to use the Vancouver Canuck facilities including the trainers and he was still receiving his paycheques.
This week different story. I wanted to ask Garrison if he had been cleared to play after practice Thursday but I got sidetracked. Dan Hamhuis was pied at the end of practice for his 30th birthday. I grabbed a photo only to have Hamhuis's mum stop me and ask if she could get a copy! By the time I got her the photo, Garrison was off the ice.
But wow ladies! Vancouver got a looker! I will be honest, as a Vancouver fan at heart, I was very sad when I heard Sami Salo signed in Tampa Bay. Then I found out we got this guy named Jason Garrison to take Salo's spot along side Alex Edler. I thought to myself "who is Jason Garrison?" Then when I saw a picture of Garrison my first thought was "Thank you Mike Gillis" Once I got past how handsome he is and how is he from British Columbia playing for his hometown team I did a little research on why Garrison was such a great pick up.
Let's get the obvisous out of the way. Garrison is 28, from White Rock, B.C. He stands 6'2" and weights 218 pounds. Blue eyes, great hair and with a smile that will make you weak at the knees Garrison is the complete package: Tall, Dark and Handsome!
Now for all you new fans to hockey and for the ladies that have been watching for years, here are the reasons Garrison was such a great free agent signing! Garrison spent 4 years with the Florida Panthers and while there his stats steadily increased. Last year Garrison placed 3rd among defencemen for most points league wide. His total was 16 goals (breaking the Florida Panthers franchise record for goals by a D-Man) and he registered 17 assists for 33 points in 77 games last season. The 2 players who beat Garrison were Ottawa Senator, swedish sensation Erik Karlsson who in 81 games last year scored 19 goals and assisted 59 others for 78 points! The kid is only 22! Second in the lineup was one of my personal favourites Nashville Predators Captain Shea Weber. Weber is also from BC and last year he tied Karlsson for goals with 19 but assitsed 1/2 as many totaling 30 for 49 points. So after this Garrison still has his work cut out for him in the points department.
I watched some Jason Garrison highlights and well he is a D-Man who can score goals Garrison is also a shut down guy. He pinches guys in the corners to keep plays alive for his team. With his height and weight he can literally stop an opposing player in their tracks and knock them down. One big similarity I noticed in Garrison and why he may be a great replacement for Sami Salo is his shots from by the blue line. Salo has this one timer no goalie wants to be in front of. In a lot of Garrison highlight clips he has this slap shot from the blue line that everyone is getting out of the way for.
As much as I want this lockout over with, I admire the players for standing their ground but I have to say I can't wait to see Jason Garrison and his slap shot in a Vancouver Canucks jersey! I have included a few videos of Jason Garrison so you can see what I am talking about. Although it looks like Garrison will be sporting #5 here in Vancouver in Florida he was #52. Keep you eye on #52!
This week different story. I wanted to ask Garrison if he had been cleared to play after practice Thursday but I got sidetracked. Dan Hamhuis was pied at the end of practice for his 30th birthday. I grabbed a photo only to have Hamhuis's mum stop me and ask if she could get a copy! By the time I got her the photo, Garrison was off the ice.
But wow ladies! Vancouver got a looker! I will be honest, as a Vancouver fan at heart, I was very sad when I heard Sami Salo signed in Tampa Bay. Then I found out we got this guy named Jason Garrison to take Salo's spot along side Alex Edler. I thought to myself "who is Jason Garrison?" Then when I saw a picture of Garrison my first thought was "Thank you Mike Gillis" Once I got past how handsome he is and how is he from British Columbia playing for his hometown team I did a little research on why Garrison was such a great pick up.
Let's get the obvisous out of the way. Garrison is 28, from White Rock, B.C. He stands 6'2" and weights 218 pounds. Blue eyes, great hair and with a smile that will make you weak at the knees Garrison is the complete package: Tall, Dark and Handsome!
Now for all you new fans to hockey and for the ladies that have been watching for years, here are the reasons Garrison was such a great free agent signing! Garrison spent 4 years with the Florida Panthers and while there his stats steadily increased. Last year Garrison placed 3rd among defencemen for most points league wide. His total was 16 goals (breaking the Florida Panthers franchise record for goals by a D-Man) and he registered 17 assists for 33 points in 77 games last season. The 2 players who beat Garrison were Ottawa Senator, swedish sensation Erik Karlsson who in 81 games last year scored 19 goals and assisted 59 others for 78 points! The kid is only 22! Second in the lineup was one of my personal favourites Nashville Predators Captain Shea Weber. Weber is also from BC and last year he tied Karlsson for goals with 19 but assitsed 1/2 as many totaling 30 for 49 points. So after this Garrison still has his work cut out for him in the points department.
I watched some Jason Garrison highlights and well he is a D-Man who can score goals Garrison is also a shut down guy. He pinches guys in the corners to keep plays alive for his team. With his height and weight he can literally stop an opposing player in their tracks and knock them down. One big similarity I noticed in Garrison and why he may be a great replacement for Sami Salo is his shots from by the blue line. Salo has this one timer no goalie wants to be in front of. In a lot of Garrison highlight clips he has this slap shot from the blue line that everyone is getting out of the way for.
As much as I want this lockout over with, I admire the players for standing their ground but I have to say I can't wait to see Jason Garrison and his slap shot in a Vancouver Canucks jersey! I have included a few videos of Jason Garrison so you can see what I am talking about. Although it looks like Garrison will be sporting #5 here in Vancouver in Florida he was #52. Keep you eye on #52!
UBC's head coach Milan Dragicevic. There is something about this coach I really really like. He has a passion for the game and his players but my favourite part is how at the end of practice without fail Coach Dragicevic gets all the guys together at center ice and they have a kind of team cheer. Something different is said every time but it always happens.
Clearly which ever player is off camera has made a funny mistake. Jim Vandermeer and Chris Higgins have a laugh while Manny Malhotra tries to help out and Jason Garrison is speechless.
Kevin Bieksa at practice fixing the tape on his stick. I know ladies love Kevin so this one is for you!
Coach Dragicevic is involved in every drill. I can only imagine that the players like having a coach as compared to running their own drills and Dragicevic has power play conversations with the Sedins. Both sides win!
These guys are great. They must take a break about the same time the players are on the ice because I have seen them at a few practices. As many as 6 construction workers are in the rink eating lunch and taking a load off while enjoying some free of charge hockey fun!
The UBC Thunderbird team looks sharp. This team is a hard working team and they are up for any challenge the locked out Canucks throw at them. Great group of guys,
Daniel Sedin, Manny Malhotra and Jason Garrison watching the drill unfold on the white board.
Does anyone understand this? I mean we can't see the actual board but someone drew on the glass. I have countless times tried to figure out what is going on.
The "Dragicevic End of Practice Team Cheer". One of my favourite parts of practice.
After practice Thursday Dan Hamhuis was pied. I grabbed a photo and had no idea why. Then someone asked me if I got a good picture. Turns out it was Hamhuis's Mum and yes I got her a copy. Her boy turned 30!
Check back in next week and I will talk more about what I see at practice including who Milan Dragicevic is! And also for updates follow Hockey Talk with Courtney on Facebook and on twitter @hockeytalkcourt
See you next time, Courtney X
See you next time, Courtney X
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