I found the puck bag Thursday on the bench! A few pucks were inside and that was about it.
Hunter loves watching practice but didn't want to be photographed!
Last week after the holidays break was over I headed out to UBC for practice. I didn't know what I would see. I wondered if maybe a few of the players who aren't from around these parts maybe opted to stay at home for a few extra days or perhaps everyone would be returning in hopes of a CBA being agreed upon?
I decided to take my son Hunter to practice wondering if this might be one of the last if no CBA deal was made in the following week. Hunter as usual was a great time and I was pleasantly surprised with all the players I saw. There were no Thunderbirds on the ice but the "Usual Suspects" including the Sedins, Hamhuis, Bieksa, Malhotra, and Higgins were there. UBC's head coach Milan Dragicevic was leading practice and it was business as usual. I will say this, the players were laughing, having fun and celebrating every goal like it was their first, but there was different energy to practice. They didn't have the bounce I had seen in the past and it just felt different.
Hunter and I left and I wondered if maybe that would be my last one? Little didn't I know. I had heard about these "marathon sessions" of negotiating between the NHL and NHLPA over the weekend but this time I really wasn't getting excited. Then at 3:20am PST I found out an agreement had been reached. Thank you to my good friend Art who works for the Canucks and his text message which simply said "We're Back!! Lockout is over!!! I replied back with "Thank you for letting me know" That set my mind a running and I was in bed thinking about my show and all my ideas. I didn't fall back asleep till 5:00am. When I woke up Sunday morning to get Hunter to skating lessons I was happy but tired!
I decided to take my son Hunter to practice wondering if this might be one of the last if no CBA deal was made in the following week. Hunter as usual was a great time and I was pleasantly surprised with all the players I saw. There were no Thunderbirds on the ice but the "Usual Suspects" including the Sedins, Hamhuis, Bieksa, Malhotra, and Higgins were there. UBC's head coach Milan Dragicevic was leading practice and it was business as usual. I will say this, the players were laughing, having fun and celebrating every goal like it was their first, but there was different energy to practice. They didn't have the bounce I had seen in the past and it just felt different.
Hunter and I left and I wondered if maybe that would be my last one? Little didn't I know. I had heard about these "marathon sessions" of negotiating between the NHL and NHLPA over the weekend but this time I really wasn't getting excited. Then at 3:20am PST I found out an agreement had been reached. Thank you to my good friend Art who works for the Canucks and his text message which simply said "We're Back!! Lockout is over!!! I replied back with "Thank you for letting me know" That set my mind a running and I was in bed thinking about my show and all my ideas. I didn't fall back asleep till 5:00am. When I woke up Sunday morning to get Hunter to skating lessons I was happy but tired!
Coach Dragicevic was the man of the hour last Thursday while running a faceoff drill. Chris Higgins, Kevin Bieksa, Daniel Sedin and Dan Hamhuis all took part.
This wasn't the first time I have seen a Canuck child at practice. Last year Hunter spent a whole practice at Rogers Arena playing with Cole Bieksa but this was the first time I saw a Canuck child practicing as his Dad practiced. Manny Malhotra's son was all suited up and shooting pucks at the opposite end of the rink with the players. At the end of practice his Dad played around with him for a bit. I don't know the little boy's name but he sure can skate!
Max Lapierre skated with his teammates for the first time in months.
Fast forward to Monday and I was excited to see who was going to be at practice. Who flew in, what press was going to be there? Man was it a ZOO! To my surprise Max Lapierre was only player on the ice who hadn't been there for a few months. He looked happy to be skating again and his teammates looked happy to see him.
This practice I might add looked much different then practice last week or for the last few months for that matter. The players had way more bounce in their step and they were working really hard. UBC's club was keeping up and you could tell that a great relationship has been formed between the two clubs.
Again Milan Dragicevic was leading the way and running the drills. But man the press! They were everywhere. For the first time since September Canucks TV was there. There camera guy Rory, Derek the blogger and Joey the web reporter where all there getting work done. I was talking to Derek and filled him in on what had been happening at practice the last few months. Not only was Canucks TV there but Global TV, the CBC (both french and english), CTV, SportsNet, Team 1040, the Province and Vancouver Sun Newspapers all had press there to cover the news plus many others. It was a wild wild show. Watching the players practice and then some try to steer clear of the press and some get rangled in, I learned a lot just watching. Max Lapierre seemed to get a lot of questions, given he was the newest one. It looked like everyone eventually got stopped.
And that is what I saw at practice! I will keep you posted on everything else I see! Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures and video!
This practice I might add looked much different then practice last week or for the last few months for that matter. The players had way more bounce in their step and they were working really hard. UBC's club was keeping up and you could tell that a great relationship has been formed between the two clubs.
Again Milan Dragicevic was leading the way and running the drills. But man the press! They were everywhere. For the first time since September Canucks TV was there. There camera guy Rory, Derek the blogger and Joey the web reporter where all there getting work done. I was talking to Derek and filled him in on what had been happening at practice the last few months. Not only was Canucks TV there but Global TV, the CBC (both french and english), CTV, SportsNet, Team 1040, the Province and Vancouver Sun Newspapers all had press there to cover the news plus many others. It was a wild wild show. Watching the players practice and then some try to steer clear of the press and some get rangled in, I learned a lot just watching. Max Lapierre seemed to get a lot of questions, given he was the newest one. It looked like everyone eventually got stopped.
And that is what I saw at practice! I will keep you posted on everything else I see! Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures and video!
Coach Dragicevic brings the players in and draws a drill on his white board.
Two forwards take on one defenceman. Here Kevin Bieksa tries to handle both Henrik Sedin and Chris Higgins. it was a great drill to watch. With so many players on the ice it there was always something to see.
I couldn't get everyone in the same photos but I love that you can see the reflection of players I couldn't get in the glass!
Recognize these guys? This was the press. Every TV channel and Newpaper had someone there. This was only 1/2 of them. There were more below at ice level taking photos.
This was one of the best parts of practice. Brian Hamilton is the man in the center and he is the equipment assistant for the Canucks. He loads the bags onto the plane when the team travels and he is one of the men you can thank for keeping the equipment in such good shape. I was sitting straight across the rink from the Sedins and Brain walked onto the bench to say hi. The Sedins were so happy to see him! It was all smiles and fun. Shaking hands and chatting it was so fantastic to see this. I had to snap a few pictures.
With Lapierre back in town it is also the return of the "Bromance" as I have dubbed it. Max Lapierre #40 and Chris Higgins #20 have been buddies since they played in Montreal together.
I searched high and low for the puck bag yesterday at practice. I could not find it for the life of me. But I did find the "puck bucket" It belonged to the Men's UBC hockey team. No bag but a bucket of pucks!
The final part of practice "The Dragicevic Team Cheer" probably one of the parts of the UBC practices I will miss the most. I told the Canucks blogger Derek it was one of the great parts of Dragicevic's practices.
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