The Crazy Canucks Podcast

For those that know me, my day job keeps me busy, hence the lack of action around the TCC world this season. That being said, the radio stations do allow me to have some very neat opportunities, this one taking me to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

The TEAM 1040 morning show went on location for a week, and when that happens, they like to send an engineer to go along and make the broadcast work from that end. With Rebecca coming along for the ride, I thought I’d share a little bit of what it’s like when you’re trying to keep track of the Canucks while running around in the land of Jack Sparrow and rum.

And when I say rum, I mean a lot of rum.

But when you’re in the tropics, what do you do when you want to see some hockey? An even tougher challenge? How do you find the Canucks on TV when you’re four hours ahead of west coast time?

Even though you’re staying at a first class resort, it can still be tough to find a good hockey game on TV in a country that is more known for the world class baseball players it produces. While in the room we were staying at, it always seemed like I could find at least two soccer games being broadcast. I don’t know where they were being played or when, but if you can watch futbol with spanish play by play, it’s always a treat.

Luckily there happened to be a Tony Roma’s very near to the resort, so many Canucks fans ventured over there the first night to catch the PPV that their satellite pulled in. I can’t be sure if they paid for it, but the staff payed for letting us in the front door to begin with, even if we couldn’t read the menus because apparently we all looked like we spoke and/or read Russian?

When there is plenty of beer to be had, diehard Canucks fans like this will not leave until the game is over, even if it does start at 11PM. We left somewhere in the 2nd period to get some shut eye before the first broadcast in the morning, but this was after the second time they dimmed the lights in a total “time to go home” maneuver. The rest of the group stuck around and just kept buying rounds instead.

Sadly, we had to leave the rest of the late night games to the other diehards while trying to get in some relaxation time in between my duties for the station.

Probably the best story to come out of the trip was when a couple of guys went back to Tony Roma’s for another game and the struggle of getting the staff to find it. When finding a channel with a grass field, horses, and men swinging long mallets at a small, white ball on a playing field, the staffer looked at them, pointed at the TV, and simply asked, “hockey?”

Give the guy credit for trying, but no mi amigo. Esta no bueno, and I’m not sure if they even did end up watching the game.

When it comes down to it, persistance is key. Speaking the language helps a little, but sometimes you can’t break that barrier of cultural gaps. And at that point, it’s probably better just to go enjoy the beach and catch the highlights later. Well, that is if ESPN Deportes shows NHL highlights…

This past Sunday, Rebecca and I ventured out for morning breakfast followed by a walk into Stanley Park with our cameras. Venturing down to the trails, I was mentioning how depressing it is that there is next to nothing in terms of honoring the spot where Denman Arena once stood.

Then Rebecca points out this.

It’s not much, but there is a brief mention of the rink where the Vancouver Millionaires won the Stanley Cup against the Ottawa Senators in the 1915 finals. Today, it’s not much more than a bus stop, a great set of benches to chill on the corner of Denman and Georgia, and a small parking lot for the nearby marina.

I kept thinking that this is such a Canadian version of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”. Instead of paving paradise to put up a parking lot, the rink burned down so they stuck in a parking lot. Of course, Coal Harbour has a tad more history to it than that, especially since the arena met its end in 1936.

This, of course, sparked a conversation about the history of hockey on the west coast, namely Vancouver, and how much the Patrick brothers, Frank and Lester, revolutionized the game of hockey.

Among their contributions:

• The forward pass
• The blue line
• The penalty shot
• The boarding penalty
• The playoff system
• Kicking of the puck (except into the net)
• Allowing goalies to fall to make a save
• Crediting of assists on goals

That’s just to name a few, but 22 of the changes implemented by these brothers are still in the modern day NHL rule book, shaping the game that’s still played today. In fact, they helped build the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from near scratch to one of the best leagues to play in at the time. Why there isn’t more recognition of this is beyond me, if not a little sad.

After that, it almost seemed fitting that you walk into the park for which the Stanley Cup is named after, Lord Frederick Stanley, the statue pictured above.

For more insight on Denman Arena, Rebecca has more on miss604.com:

• Vancouver History: Denman Arena
• Vancouver History: Cyclone Taylor

Rebecca made an appearance in today’s edition of 24 Hours in Vancouver, answering five tough questions about the Canucks.

If there is one bandwagon that she isn’t on, it’s most likely the negative one compared to her fellow “line-mates”.

The TCC crew was invited to attend the announcement of Molson Canadian Hockey House at the location where it will be constructed in time for the 2010 Winter Olympic games, Concord Place.

The “Hockey House” will be a fairly impressive, temporary, tent-like structure that will have an array of amenities, event viewing areas, and entertainment. Basically, we’re talking where all the die hard Team Canada fans hope to be partying when they’re not checking out other events and fun other stuff that will be going on around Vancouver come Olympics time.

Additionally, Hockey Canada will call this building theirs as well, even stating that when not at the rink or in the Olympic Village, the members of the national team will use it as a home base as well. The location will be split up by a V.I.P. area, the Hockey House venue, and another portion dedicated to team players and their families.

Rebecca has a post up which includes a video fly through of the planned Molson Canadian Hockey House.

I can’t pass up a chance to showcase DaveO during a great opportunity for him to really chat to Stan Smyl. Steamer is a class act.

With hope, there will be a handful of us on the ground during the Winter Olympics in February, giving you the scoop on what’s going on around the games, not just from what you see on the TV.

Getting excited for tonight’s kickoff of the NHL regular season between our Canucks and the Calgary Flames, this commercial popped into mind.

Granted that this commercial was made in celebration of hockey coming back from the lockout, it still applies to a day like today. Game on!

Come along for a ride with all sorts of hi-jinks with not only your TCC crew, but a whole bunch of Canucks fans who are on the new media front lines with coverage of our favorite team in the NHL. Thanks to the Vancouver Canucks organization, members of the Fan Zone had the awesome opportunity to take in the preseason match against the Anaheim Ducks at GM Place from a fifth level suite. DaveO leads the way throughout this episode while introducing you to other great folks that bring you some great, alternative Canucks coverage.

And for those of you who come back to our website to check out the show notes once and a while, here are some extra treats from the suite night.

First up, here’s a slideshow of the photos taken mostly by me, but with my camera for sure.

We were able to hook up John Biehler with a spot for suite night, and he made this great video snippet while we recording the last segment of this episode.

As Rebecca put it to me this morning, she hasn’t missed a Vancouver Sun Raise A Reader Day in four years, and today was no exception. Taking my new Nikon D90 out for an inaugural spin into the real world, here’s a few photos of players we were able to run into today.

Kyle Wellwood (Photo credit: miss604 on Flickr)

Michael Grabner

Chris Oddleifson

Kirk McLean

Shane O'Brian

Raise A Reader Day is always a good time to run around downtown Vancouver to see as many Canucks players from past and present. Where else can you see the Canucks top liners then go another block to run into greats like Stan Smyl or Orland Kurtenbach? But it’s also a great cause to help enable those who are struggling with literacy because without the power to read, who else is going to read these blog posts that I write, eh?

Until next year…

Good day, and welcome to season four of The Crazy Canucks. As mentioned in blog posts recently, we’re coming back for another one, and this one is shaping up to be a good one.

This episode finds a group of us outside the Hurricane Grill in downtown Vancouver during a preseason game in Anaheim for our Canucks. This was the first, official Vancouver Canucks “tweetup” to occur where the organization has stepped forward to contribute prizes to people who came on down, which is very, very cool.

Slipping outside as the third period kicks off, Brian (canuckscorner.com & bclionsden.com), Richard (canuckshockeyblog.com), J.J., Rebecca, and myself venture outside to record a quick segment. Since it’s the preseason, we’re thinking about the next few months and what to look ahead to, witty banter included.

I made a Twitter post about this today, and the reception to it was an all around agreement that yes, this is funny. Check out 2K’s latest commercial for NHL 2K10, which I would love to play on the Wii some time.

Gotta love those accents.

Edit: I just noticed on the 2ksports.com website that there are two additional videos with these hockey moms as well, including an extended version with Kesler and Bieksa. They’re fairly brilliant as well.

I recall an episode we recorded awhile back when the joke was to call the Canucks the “Vancouver Luongos” from now on, simply because of two facts: Luongo is an amazing goalie, and so much of the team rests, certainly in the fans’ eyes, on him.

Now, in the event that you haven’t been paying attention, our beloved captain of the team, Roberto Luongo, has pretty much sealed his fate with the Vancouver Canucks by signing a $64 million contract that will keep him with this club until 2022.

After this final year of his existing contract, the 12-year deal kicks in with a front loaded $10 million in the first year while cruising around $6 million for the next seven.

I’ve said it before in the podcast, but these deals are tough to be a fan of.

We’re seeing it already with the New York Islanders and Rick DiPietro having chronic issues with injuries. That long-term deal was done to cement a solid man in that position to help build a team that struggles not only on the ice but with getting people into their building to see the games.

Let’s not forget that Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin will be with the Washington Capitols for an extra thirteen seasons after getting his extension. Worst thing in the world? Tough to say for a 23 year-old who plays the game hard and fast.

It’s a move that makes sense in regards to team building and dollar figures (in the realm of thought being that there is nothing stopping anyone from drafting and signing these contracts), but this cap era of the NHL doesn’t offer many alternatives when you’re fighting the distraction of dollar signs in a player’s eyes.

The fact is, the gauntlet has been thrown. There is no going back. If DiPietro could keep his time on the injured reserve list to a minimum, I might be thinking different. Thing is, this is what we have to contend with for beyond the next decade.

If injuries plague Luongo, this will be a rough road. If we have a good number of years in the playoffs with a Stanley Cup or two in Vancouver, then finally someone will be able to say that these kinds of contracts have some merit.

Right now, I’m skeptical, but the proof remains to be seen. When that happens, I’ll gladly change my mind.

Worth noting, there is a clause in the contract that gives a way out for both Luongo and the club.