Difference Between Fans

The Vancouver Sun had an article about a Calgary Flames fan that threatened Steve Mason, goalie of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He called the Blue Jackets three times to make threats. The Flames ended up getting shut out that night by Steve Mason. The fan didn't block his number and ended up getting tracked and arrested.

Here's the difference between Flames fans and Canucks fans. When the Flames lose their fans make stupid threats. When the Canucks lose, we riot. Flames fans are all talk, Nuckleheads take action!

(not my picture)

Playoffs Baby - Series 2 Game 3 - Do or Die

Game three between the Sharks and the Red Devils, where the winner moves on to play in the championship series, and the loser is left to bathe in their own sorrow; never knowing, but forever questioning what could've been...

As expected the game started out fast paced. The Devils in red found their legs first as they struck twice within five minutes to go up by two goals. The Sharks were able to hold off other advances in the first period to go into the second down by two.

The second gave the Sharks some hope as the top line managed to score on the powerplay to pull the Sharks within one goal. Only to have the Devils regain a two goal advantage before the end of the second. Highlight of the period was when our captain took the puck while on a penalty kill, skated it into the Devils' zone and circled around three times killing off precious penalty time, the old Bobby Orr trick. The game was far from over with twenty minutes left to play, a two goal deficit wasn't insurmountable, but against a hungry confident team two goals was huge.

The third period saw both sides with chances early on, but neither were able to capitalize. The Devils continued to take penalties (five in the whole game), but the Sharks managed very few shots on goal.

Well under ten minutes to go, the pressure was mounting. Then with less then five minutes remaining, the Devils managed to squeak by the defense to put in the dagger in our hopes. #18 the goal scorer in a showing of sportsmanship skated by the Sharks bench calling out "Bitches." Classy player playing for a classy team.

Up 4-1, with under five minutes left, the Devils already had their minds on the championship game. The last few minutes was filled with frustration that was furthered by the constant "Whooooo!" from the Red Devils' bench.

The game ended 4-1. Seeing the whole team deflated reminded me of the Nucks in 2004, losing to Calgary in OT of game 7. So close.

After playing through most of the regular season, and two playoff rounds, I can say that street hockey and organized hockey are two totally different things. Most of the things I learned playing street hockey, I pretty much had to relearn playing on the ice. The old saying 'It doesn't matter whether you win or lose it's how you play the game' doesn't apply to competitive hockey. When you lose you're not smiling, the team's not smiling.

I have new found appreciation for the talent it takes to play the game of hockey, and from the looks of it, I'll forever be a student of the game. I'm looking forward to the next season.

Playoffs Baby - Series 2 Game 2 - Ground Zero

Past few days I kept checking the Ice604 website to see who won the Fighting Irish and Cubz series. You know, to see who we'd play in the finals. Yes, I was already looking past the Red Devils. You always hear athletes say to never look past the game at hand, but curiosity got the better of me.

In front of a packed crowd of 15 strong, the Sharks faced off against the Red Devils where they faced elimination. The game started with the Red Devils going full force, with most of the first period played on our end. I still could not point out one player that looked like he belonged in the lowest tier, maybe I'm just bitter. With shots raining down from all sides, Randy the goalie stood strong flashing the leather, and kicking out the pads throughout the night. Randy kept us in the game as we ended the first period in a scoreless tie.

The second period would be more of the same with a bit of angst. Neither team was able to score, but the Red Devils showed why they were the most penalized team in the league as they hooked and cross checked throughout the rest of the game. Things got a little bit chippy when one of the Devils blew a tire and crashed into Randy the goalie, Chris stood up for the goalie and got a face full of glove for his trouble. This drew a major penalties, but resulted in no goals. Zeroes across the scoreboard to end the second.

The third period brought in an air of tension as we were trying to avoid the third game that the Red Devils so desparately wanted. Past the midway mark of the third, the Sharks were on a power play but forked the puck over resulting in a partial breakaway. With Sharks tailing close behind, the Devils player didn't get his A shot off but Randy the goalie came up big to keep the game scoreless. With both teams playing very responsibly on defense the third period ended 0 - 0 leading us to overtime. Four on four overtime, we stacked the lines with our top players to try to end the game early. Unfortunately this didn't work. Overtime settled nothing, and the game went to a shootout.

As a kid playing street hockey, the two things I practiced the most was the breakaway shootout, and the goal celebration after the breakaway shootout. But being in an actual shootout with the game on the line, was nerve racking.

Here it was, the biggest game of the season and it would be settled via mono a mono, player vs goalie shootout. We opted to shoot first, sending out the Sharks' leading scorer Wes. Wes moved from right to left then shot high blocker side but missed the net. For the Red Devils, they sent their captain, who flew in and went forehand backhand, and managed to deke out Randy the goalie. The Sharks captain was up next. He swung out wide and cut back in to shoot five hole, but couldn't squeeze it by the goalie in red. The second shooter for the Red Devils skated in, made some sort of deke and looked like he fumbled the puck but by some fluke of the century, slid past Randy the goalie. The Red Devils win the shootout with two goals, to win the game 0-1, forcing a do or die game three next Wednesday.

The best player was no doubt Randy the goalie, who kept us in the game all night. One goal was all it took to win it, and we let Randy down. Maybe I should've spent less time practicing the goal celebration as a kid.

Playoffs Baby - Series 2 Game 1

Game one in the best of three between the Sharks and the Red Devils. Winner moves on to the championship round.

The Devils in Red were serious business, running pre-skate drills before the game. The game started and it was clear why this team was ranked 2nd overall in the standings. Some of the players they had were fast, really really fast. I could not point out one player on their team that looked like they belonged in the lowest tier.

The game started off with the Devils drawing first blood scoring minutes into the period. The Sharks battled hard and managed to pull even to one a piece. The action went back and forth, but Randy the goalie stood tall as he was tested time after time. With the return of Randy the goalie, the dreaded CDC line was broken up, as Chow moved back to play defense, while Dang and I lined with Stu.

With the first period belonging to the Devils, the Sharks tightened up their game and managed to pull ahead scoring two go ahead goals in the second period. Despite falling back two goals, the Devils had players that blazed down the ice. If it wasn't for our defense they could've no doubt pulled even. We squandered a goal to let them back into the game 3-2 going into the third.

Looking to tie the game up, the Devils went all out. With the game on the line, tempers flared, and one of the Devils was knocked down. He would stay down for a while, but managed to get back up and skate to the bench on his own.

On the offensive, Dang, positioned right in his office almost added an insurance marker as he had two swipes at the puck, that somehow managed to stay out. That same play resulted in Dang going down hard, where he ended up pulling something. Down and in obvious pain, one of the Devils' players made a snide remark about Dang faking the injury to run down the clock.

Dang would be helped off the ice, but would be ok, I think (find out tomorrow). With minutes remaining in the third, utilizing their speed, the Devils drove the Sharks back into their zone, and somehow managed to squeeze one by Randy the goalie.

With the Devils pulling close 4-3, they decided to pull their goalie, as they could almost taste the tying goal. The pressure kept coming, while the clock continued to tick ever so slowly, and with a final push the Devils rushed in three on two...... only to come in offside with 3 seconds left. Their last chance taken away by their own blinding speed.

The Sharks win 4-3, with the whole team standing strong against a very strong, very fast team of Red Devils. On our way back to the car, the same player that made the jerkish remark to Dang saw him limping out and apologized. It takes a big man to apologize, especially after a loss.

Next game on Saturday, where the Devils face elimination.

Number Seventeen

I found out that some of the Canucks players were signing autographs today throughout the lower mainland. Kesler was in downtown, Ohlund was at Metropolis, and Burrows was at Guildford.

Sadly they were signing autographs from 2:00PM to 3:30PM. My shift was supposed to end at 3:30, but I asked my co-workers and they were nice enough to let me leave early. I booked it to the Bell Mobility store on Georgia and Burrard and got there at 3:15. No line-up, so I walked right up to Kesler and asked for his autograph.

I told him he had a nice pass yesterday, and he said thanks. Hope I didn't slur the word pass too much, cause if he heard something else then...

I told him I came on short notice and didn't have anything for him to sign. Before I left the office I looked for something for him to sign, but couldn't find anything, so I ended grabbing the sports section of the Vancouver Sun. Kelser had a stack of Blackberry Storm cards to sign, rendering my newspaper worthless.

He signed the card, passed it to me and then asked if I wanted my newspaper signed. I laughed it off and said no, but secretly kind of wanted him to. Wished him good luck for tomorrows game and left.

On my way back to the car, it was raining so I wrapped the card in the newspaper (score one for Steven). It wasn't till I was in my car driving home that I realized that I totally forgot to get a picture, and it was too late to go back.

Nice guy, didn't have much to say. I was going to start drawing up plays for him on my newspaper, but I wussed out. His autograph kind of looks like Brian Ok 17:

Playoffs Baby - Game 2 - Fight For Our Worth

Thursday was game 2 of the best of three series between the Sharks and the Ghetto Superstars. Should the Ghettonian ones win they would force an immediate 20 minute tie break to determine the winner. Wanting to end all hopes of any chance of a win for the Ghetto Superstars, the Sharks elected to send out the Chow Dang Chen line to start the game. Five minutes later we were down 0-2, ugh...

This was a totally different beast from the team that we steam rolled just a week earlier. They had a new goalie, I think, and everyone seemed to be skating faster.

The opposing goals kept on coming, and with little to no resistance, the Sharks fell behind 4-1 early in the second. Speedy Kevin would later admit to contemplating to throw the second game so that everyone had energy for the all important tie break game.

Midway through the second, the Sharks found their legs and started mounting back an offense. With the top line pouring in goals, the re-energized Sharks tied the game at four a piece early in the third.

Trying to fight back from letting in the first goal, the Chow Dang Chen line grinded out the third period, with the best chances going to Dang. Parked in his office, Dang was the recipient of some nasty cross checks and two great chances, that somehow stayed out of the net.

Speaking of the net, it was made of titanium or some other really light metal, maybe aluminum. The net came loose twenty times, no exaggeration. The Ghetto Superstars' goalie would skate out to cut down the angle, slowly skate backwards into the net, bump into the net, move it off its designated crease area and the ref would blow the play dead.

The Sharks would get the tying goal with the third half gone, and with momentum clearly shifted to our end, the Sharks overloaded the opposing goalie to get the go ahead goal. Excitement and anxiety built up with minutes remaining in the third. Down a goal the Ghettonian ones pulled their goalie to try to tie it up.

With the pressure mounting on the Sharks end of the ice, a penalty was called on one of our players, leading to a deadly looking six on four man advantage for the Ghetto Superstars. Time ticked away but the play was still in the Sharks' zone, until speedy Kevin got hold of the puck and slapped it out of our zone and down the ice. The whole bench stood to watch as the puck slid slowly past the blue line and into the Ghetto Sueprstars' net, triggering an eruption of cheers on the Sharks bench, and a shattering of hope on the other.

There was half a minute to go, but for all intensive purposes, the game was over. Having let in four goals early, Mike the giant goalie shut out the Ghetto Superstars for the rest of the game, as we clawed our way back to take it 6-4.

Second round baby! Here we come!

Emperor VanOC

Vancouver Sun had an article about street closures for 2010. VanOC has chosen to close down nine major downtown Vancouver routes during the Olympics. Here's a map from Vanoucouver Sun:



Closing any routes they want, bullying small businesses, what looks like an infinite well of cash to tap into, forcing GM Place to change names during the Olympics, enforcing air travel restrictions. VanOC is mighty powerful.

Thank goodness the VanOC board elected themselves in, I wanted no part in deciding who would be part of the board, especially since they're as powerful as they are. I'm not a very big fan of democracy, which is why I like Napoleon so much.

Napoleon wasn't voted in as leader, he marched into the city and crowned himself. Then he went and did whatever the hell he wanted to, and no one else had the cahones to stand up to him. Now replace Napoleon with VanOC.

Playoffs Baby - Game 1

Having solidified a third place birth, the Sharks squared off against the Ghetto Superstars in game 1 of the best of three series. Stepping onto the ice, it was clear that the Ghettonian ones were ready, as they had more then fifteen people in the pre-skate.

The game started out a little rough with our captain taken out into the boards. Despite the rough stuff, the Sharks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead to end the period.

In the second, the Sharks were able to add some distance as the goals kept on coming. Eight foot tall Mike the goalie made some key saves to add to the frustration that the Ghettonian ones must have felt by that point as the game was becoming a blow out.

The third came and went in a blur. The Ghetto Superstars slowed down quite a bit, and the Sharks cruised to a 5-0 slaughter to lead the series 1-0.

The always serious never dangerous Chow Dang Chen line, had some good chances, with the best one coming from a behind the net pass from Chow to Dang. Somehow the Ghetto Superstars goalie managed to stack the pads to stop what was a sure goal. Their goalie made a lot of great saves, but he did do the Hasek flounder a lot.

Next game is Thursday, and with it being an elimination game, the Ghetto Superstars are expected to go all out to try to even the series. But that's not going to happen. I predict a six point performance from the CDC line.