Random Hockey Bits One Week Before Christmas

by Lisa Ovens

Well, where the heck have I been? Everyone gets super busy at this time of year, including me. So what has happened since my last blog post? Let's see...

Markus Naslund's no. 19 to the Rafters

I really enjoyed the ceremony and was very proud of Nazzy. His sweater deserves to be up there. And he deserves all the tennis vacations he and Lotta can handle! For several days the hockey minds in this town hashed it out; wondering if the Canucks did the right thing, because afterall, Naslund didn't take our team and our city to a promised land.

Its been forty years without a Cup, so Vancouver has to use different criteria when making these decisions. Naslund's emergence as an MVP sniper helped kick off what is the current love affair this city has for its Canucks (sometimes a disfunctional affair, but a love affair nonetheless), and if I owned or managed the Canucks, well, me and my bank account would be very pleased to honor the man that was a big part of my company's success.

Oiler Octane Dance Squad

The launch of Canada's first all female, all mini skirted, all white gogo booted hockey dance team has come and gone. Now we all wonder...will another Canadian NHL team take a step backwards and do the same?

Yes, in my opinion, the Oilers adding an all female dance team to their game presentation is not a step forward.

A few years back, I collaborated with my friend, film maker, Andrew Lavigne. We wrote a game presentation pitch designed for the Vancouver Canucks because we saw the need to freshen up what we considered a tired, old bag of tricks. Unfortunately, our pitch query was lost in the shuffle during the Chris Zimmerman administration. Then both Andrew and I became busy with other projects.

 All I can say is I challenge any team with a cheer squad to let Andrew and I work our magic to prove there are much better ways to entertain 18,000 hockey fans during TV time outs/intermissions without resorting to mini skirts and gogo boots.

Cheerleaders in hockey is a subject I cover in my new book, For the Love of Empty Net Goals.

24 7 HBO: The Winter Classic Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Watching this series makes me think one thing: man, do I want to be a hockey fan in the United States or what! What drama...this kind of attention and story telling could be huge for hockey in America this season.

Then I think about our upcoming Heritage Classic event in Canada and I'm not really moved at all: Flames vs Habs...yawn. We need our own version of 24/7. But, knowing Canada, Rick Mercer would do the show and it would be a laugh a minute! Seriously though the presentation  would be Ron MacLean soliloquies peppered with Canadian alternative rock tunes and a dash of Don Cherry.

Canada only has six teams to choose from, and because its looking like the outdoor game event will become an annual to-do, just like the Winter Classic in the States, it's likely we'll foster some unique Heritage Classic rivalries in good time.

What's really surprising to me is by this February, Canada will have two Heritage Classics under its belt, and  the so called "Canada's team", the Toronto Maple Leafs, will not have played in one. How can that be? Don't worry, they'll catch up...

The Leafs have bid on hosting the 2012 game, and apparently the Vancouver Canucks will bid for 2013.

Okay...back to being busy, just not as busy as last week.

Happy Hockey :o)

Why We are Such Good Hockey Players

        


By Uncle Skeppy





Watching the Penguin's Sidney Crosby score another amazing goal the other night, evoked memories, not of Sid so much, but rather a forward line with as much flash and dash as any in the annals of Hockey. These three guys would create a crescendo of cheering and yelling as they stick-handled, passed and scored the "clutch" goal for another team victory.

Old time hockey gloves. photo: Lisa Ovens

You have probably never heard of them, unless your in your Sixties, lived in a small Ontario town and grew up lugging your duffle bag to the local ice-box. And by golly, it was an ice-box. No heaters in the old Port Colborne Arena on the shores of Lake Erie. No sir; which wasn't a bad thing for the kids who played hockey. The layers of clothing helped on the ice too, when one of those over-grown six foot defensemen whammed you into the boards.

But this old arena, with its steel girders blocking your view if you couldn't get a better seat, hosted some of the best hockey ever played.

There were only six NHL teams at the time and the caliber of players in our Senior and Intermediate teams was exceptional. So many of the NHL wannabees played in the AHL or senior teams on this side of the border, so we got to see some of the best action at the lowest price.

Speaking of the cost of a ticket, one of the off-ice challenges in those days was to be able to secure a pair of tickets to a Maple Leafs Game...90 miles down the highway. Many of our juvenile hockey peers did so: the tickets were the prize in a local Billiards room draw once a week !

But we digress... the memories we refer to at the beginning of this article are reserved for the Port Colborne Sailors Line of Mahoney, Katzman and Spence. The way this trio performed on the ice was an inspiration to all who saw them ...including many of the kids in the Bantam, Midget and Juvenile leagues throughout the area.

This is one example and there are thousands more across this great country, of why we develop the
best hockey players in the world.

Random October Hockey Notes and Aliens, too

By Lisa Ovens


Although I spent most of the weekend watching the Alien movie franchise on AMC, I did take some hockey breaks. It can’t be acid for blood, humanoids and that bad ass flight engineer, Ellen Ripley running into that darn alien species all the time.



Canucks Above 500

Yes. This is good, now all the boys have to do is start winning some road games. Can’t do much about the injuries other than trick the call ups and the rest of the team into thinking they are like aliens that happen to have acid for blood. 

Canucks: 11 games played, six wins, five losses, no overtime losses

The Real Reason Vancouver has the “No Fun City” nickname?

For those of you who watched the Toronto Maple Leafs lose to the Canucks on HNIC Saturday night, you may have noticed the large presence of Leafs fans in the Canucks home rink. Oh, the “blue for blood” aliens were loud that night. The truth is, Vancouver is home to many former Ontario residents, and the number of these Eastern ex-pats must increase every year. Perhaps it’s all of these Leaf lifers that brought the fun level down in Vancouver. It’s a theory...

Gary Bettman: The Ultimate Alien with Acid for Blood?

As a member of the National Hockey League Fan Association (yes there is one of those) I receive emails from time to time. This weekend the NHLFA had this to say....

The following note is being sent to the 30,000+ Members of the NHL Fans' Association.

Recently, many suggestions have been received from Members related to the activities the NHLFA should pursue in its attempt to have Gary Bettman removed as the commissioner of the NHL this season. One such suggestion is to coordinate a league-wide protest week that will rally fans attending games to hold signs calling for the dismissal of Bettman.


If you would like to contribute an idea, please visit http://www.nhlfa.com/minipoll09_10Season

Thanks.

It’s free to be a member of the NHLFA. Perhaps president, Jim Boone needs to sign up thousands and thousands more hockey fans in order to have some influence over the NHL Board of Governors. He is looking for corporate sponsorship, too. The association has been around since 1998, and with a growing membership, it looks like they don’t intend to quit anytime soon.

Goalie Masks Far Cooler than the Alien’s Head

TSN.ca is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the goalie mask with an online vote. For those not in the know, Legendary Canadien’s goal tender, Jacques Plante made his own mask to protect his face. He was only allowed to wear it during the pre-season, and while practicing. On Nov. 1, 1959 his coach, Toe Blake had no choice but allow Plante to wear the mask during a game.

Check out the rest of the story and vote for your fave goalie mask here. The winner will be announce on Wed. Oct. 28th, so make that vote...you are running out of time...kind of like how Ripley always seems to be when she’s planning on blowing up multi billion dollar spaceships and inter galactic colonies!

More to Mathieu

By Lisa Ovens

As a Canuck fan and I am pleased to have defenseman Mathieu Schneider join the home team. I am hoping he’s the answer to our puck moving, quarterback on the point questions. Plus he’s a Stanley Cup winner (Canadiens 1993) and lord knows the Canucks need Cup luck!

Schneider split his time last season between the Atlanta Thrashers and the Montreal Canadiens, so he should find the Canucks a nice change considering they are secure with their ownership unlike the Thrashers, and well, our type of drama is different than the Habs.

Schneider was born in New York, New York 40 years ago. He’s played 1264 NHL games over a nineteen year career with 212 goals and 513 assists. As far as the playoffs go, Schneider has recorded 10 goals and 43 assists in 111 playoff games. That’s 1264 games with eight different teams. It’s his stint with the Maple Leafs that caught my attention.

There is more to Mathieu Schneider than his blue line skills.

Not long after Schneider signed with the Canucks, I was rummaging through my hockey swag collection and I came across a twelve year old recipe calendar from Kraft. My mom had given it to me a few years ago when she was downsizing her swag. The stand up calendar is called...

Kraft Kitchens & NHL Moms Recipes

And guess who’s on the last page? That’s right; Aline, Mathieu Schneider’s mom contributed a recipe, and a little hockey mom advice. Aline is posing in her son’s hockey sweater, along with 17
other NHL moms on the front cover.

Now that we’ve covered Mathieu’s career stats, I am sure everyone is dying to know about the recipe. It will make a great snack for Canucks fans over the coming season. Though, you need to like popcorn.

3 Star Popcorn Treats

(According to Kraft it’s “a perfect snack for those on the go kids.”)

Prep. Time: 15 min.      Microwave time: 2-3 min.

Ingredients (metric conversion included)

8 cups (2L)            popped popcorn

3 cups (750 mL)    Post Shreddies

¼ cup (50 mL)       butter

¾ cup (175 mL)     Kraft Smooth Peanut Butter

1pkg (250 g)          miniature marshmallows

Toss popcorn and cereal together. Set aside.

Microwave on medium power butter and peanut butter in a large microwavable bowl for one minute.

Add marshmallows; microwave on medium for another minute or until the marshmallows puff; stir until blended.

Add cereal mixture to bowl, stirring well to mix. Using moistened hands, form into small balls. Makes about 18 balls.

The good people at Kraft also listed the nutritional facts on the Hockey Mom recipes. Here are stats on Aline’s 3Star Popcorn Treats...

Per serving (one ball)

180 calories, 4.3 grams of protein, 8.2 grams of fat, 24.1 gram carbohydrates, 1.8 grams dietary fibre. A good source of Thiamine

Enjoy!

People who know me know that cooking food doesn’t really hold my interest. So When Mathieu Schneider scores his fifth goal for the Canucks during the 2000/10 NHL season, I will make his
mom’s recipe. How’s that for incentive, Schneids????

Now we just need a Jerome Iginla story, and I'll blend in his mom's recipe. Standing by for Iggy News...