Yesterday I headed out to watch practice at UBC. I was very excited, I had a brilliant idea for a post. I was going to write about the UBC Thunderbirds. I planned on grabbing their numbers of the back of their helmets at practice, go home and do some research on who Bieksa's Buddies would be playing tonight in the charity hockey game. I got to the rink and I saw this!
Not a Thunderbird anywhere. Instead I saw both Sedins, Malhotra, Bieksa, Hamhuis, Schneider, Glass, Reimer, Vandermeer and Pelley.
I saw 10 lockedout NHL players practicing. Not a single Thunderbird to be seen. My brilliant idea was suddenly no more. Never one to easily walk away from a dilemma I stayed to watch practice. The usual suspects were there minus Max Lapierre, Mason Raymond and Willie Mitchell. These 3 weren't at practice Monday either. One other player not at practice yesterday was Chris Higgins. HIggins was at practice Monday though. All four of these players are on the roster for tonight's charity game at UBC. Kevin Bieksa is hosting "Bieksa's Buddies" vs the UBC Thunderbirds. The money raised goes to support some of Bieksa's favourite charities including the Canucks Autism Network, Canuck's Children's Hospice and the Canucks Family Education Center. I have tickets and I will be letting all of you know how much fun I had tomorrow!
Perhaps those pucks will soon go to use in a 82 game season?
I came to terms with no Thunderbirds at practice. As I sat in my chair running ideas through my head while watching the players shoot pucks I overheard a reporter behind me ask some young men how they felt about the NHL's proposal to the players? NHL's proposal to the players I thought to myself? I quickly got out my phone, tapped on my TSN app and read the top article in the news. It was regarding a proposal the NHL put forward regarding ending the lockout. I won't get into the details of the proposal, there are lots of other places you can go for that and honestly I am still learning about it myself but I can say the Owners blinked first. I did get very very excited when I read the news. It sounded like a great starting point to get the two parties talking over the bigger issues of the lockout not just the littler issues that need to get sorted. I will also say that I am proud of the players for standing their ground. They aren't backing down and they have always seemed very clear about what they will and will not do. The owners have a little more juggling to do because some NHL franchises are not doing so well so it all comes down to balancing dollars. I agree with the players, I think their salaries can remain the same, especially with the revenue growth the NHL has seen in the last few years. I am still educating myself on restricted and unrestricted free agency so I won't comment on that. As for arbitration, I think it should stay. If you take away arbitration you are taking away a player's voice to have a say in his pay. As for long term contracts, I have never been a fan of them. I agree with a limit on the amount of years a player can sign a contract for but at the same time the owners want a limit but the owners are the ones offering the long term contracts to begin with so that one seems like an easy fix, simply stop offering them.
Until a deal is reached between the NHLPA and the NHL player are still running drills. Here the guys skate with speed between the lines. The sound of this drill is great. The skates cutting the ice, the turn around, the sound of the stride on the ice. It really is fun to watch.
I love hockey and I want a season. Call me selfish but with the Canucks in the Northwest division they play the Minnesota Wild 6 times a year. That means I get to watch two of the biggest signing over the summer, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter play against the Canucks 6 times! Bring it on! I want to see what Rick Nash is going to do on the ice moving from the lukewarm Columbus Blue Jackets to a red hot New York Rangers. I want to see the current Stanley Cup champs, the Los Angeles Kings be able celebrate their big win last year in their opening game of the season at Staples Center. I want to watch the Canucks go for the Presidents Trophy for a 3rd year in a row and then another run for the Cup! Third time's a charm, that's my motto. I want to see the "Kids Line" light it up with Edmonton. I want to see the Winnipeg Jets, I want to see Stamkos, I want to see Crosby. I want to see brothers Jordan Staal and Eric Staal play on the same team! I want to see Dallas Stars brothers Jamie and Jordie Benn play! I want to see what Cody Hodgson is going to do in Buffalo and what Zach Kassian is going to do in Vancouver. I want to see what Detroit is going to do this year. Simply put I want to see a lot! Now NHL and NHLPA I have two words for you "Getter Done!"
And until a full team is there for practice the players shorten the length of the ice for practice. This scrimmage went on for 10 minutes. Both Reimer and Schneider kept the puck out but a few slipped by.
Below I have uploaded a few videos for you. The first one is the players involved in a scrimmage. Nothing fancy but it is fun to see their personalities come out a bit. When I was watching it I felt like if you took the ice away, all the gear, dropped in a street puck for the ice puck you would have a game of street hockey. I was waiting for someone to yell "CAR"
The second video I took of the press. There was a a lot of media at practice yesterday. Most were wondering around asking hockey fans in the stands how they felt about the NHL's "50/50" proposal. It was really a wild thing to watch unfold. The players tried to sneak past but the reporters always got them. Most of the players were getting their information from the reporters it seemed. The corner of the ice were the players exit to the locker was a buzzin. Enjoy X
The second video I took of the press. There was a a lot of media at practice yesterday. Most were wondering around asking hockey fans in the stands how they felt about the NHL's "50/50" proposal. It was really a wild thing to watch unfold. The players tried to sneak past but the reporters always got them. Most of the players were getting their information from the reporters it seemed. The corner of the ice were the players exit to the locker was a buzzin. Enjoy X
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