Tim Hortons Heritage Classic Vancouver: Fun Times Inside and OUTSIDE of BC Place

by Lisa Ovens

Over the last few days there has been a lot of chatter regarding ticket sales for the Tim Horton's Heritage Classic Hockey Game in Vancouver featuring the Ottawa Senators and the Vancouver Canucks. So much so, that I can hear it all the way down here in Florida! First of all, I would love to be at this game if I could. Just look at this artist's rendering of the affair...

Link to nhl.com photo

It's a spectacle, people!  The recent attendance worries expressed in news articles from around the hockey world reminds me of something I have said before about Vancouver, and will say again...

Vancouver is a last minute kind of city. People always seem to make plans for what they are going to do, right before they have to do it. I've done it, everyone I know has done it. RSVP's seem to flood in right at the deadline. Remember Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics? The world's media was totally second guessing us Vancouverites and our apparent lack of interest in the games leading up to the big opening day. But, we were like, "Okay, Feb.12th is tomorrow, time to bust out the Red and White," And, what did we do? We showed up...BIG TIME, just "givener" for 16 days straight! So, it's quite possible, this game is going to come together at the last minute, NHL event planners...don't despair!

I have yet to take in an event since BC Place was remodeled and re-opened back in the Fall of 2011 (that's my own fault). Man, if ever there was an event to attend for Ms. Hockeyandhighheels.com, it would be this one. I am comforted knowing, my cousin, Jennifer will be there reporting back to me as the day unfolds on Sunday, March 2nd, 2014. One thing that I am super happy about: this event will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network:  Hooray for temporarily displaced Canadians like me and all of the US Hockey fanatics intent on completing the entire Stadium Series on TV!

Although it appears NHL event organizers are experiencing some difficulty getting people inside BC Place for the game, they are certainly making it easy for hockey fans to check out the free festival outside of the dome. Seven words...

Olympic gold medal-winning National Women's Team!! Yes, members of Team Canada's kick ass women's hockey team will on hand to chat about THAT AMAZING GAME and other stuff, plus sign autographs during the hockey Festival that will take place between 9am and 1pm in the parking lot outside of Plaza of Nations which is right across the street from BC Place. This festival is actually called the Canadian Tire NHL Spectator Plaza, because, technically speaking, you can't have Tim Horton's without Canadian Tire lurking around close by.

Yes, there will be a Beer Garden (hockey and beer...a marriage made in heaven, I always say) sponsored by Molson's, nothing shocking about that, eh? And, there is also nothing shocking about an appearance by the Vancouver Canucks Team circa 1993-94 - those perennial hockey darlings responsible for our second appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, and the closest Canucks fans have ever come to winning a Stanley Cup. God love that team!!!

But, most of all, this event truly does celebrate the history of Hockey in Canada, and Vancouver in particular. So much hockey has been played in this fair weather town long before the Rink on Renfrew, The Garage and whatever Rogers Arena is now nicknamed...another Phone Booth?

So, it does sadden me a little when I read the comments and opinions out there in hockey cyber space; the ones that are dismissing this game simply on the grounds of the current NHL standings of the Sens and the Nucks, or the other ones throwing the evil side eye because they are card carrying members of the "That's Not a Hockey Rivalry" Debating Team. It's times like these that I wish the pure love of hockey could transcend all the bullshit!

Well, that's my two cents on what's going on in my hometown. Here's a Go Canucks Go for the boys this weekend! And here's hoping for the NHL's sake that on March 1st the peeps in Vancouver are like, "Hey, tomorrow's the 2nd...where's my Millionaire's jersey...dudes and dudettes...we gotta go!"

SOCHI 2014

Please visit my Winter Olympics Blog for all things Sochi 2014!!!!!

Click Here

Thank you for stopping by :o)

Happy New Year!!

by Lisa Ovens

Well, well, well; it's been far too long since I posted here at Lisa's Lounge. Although I have been quite busy, writing thousands of words, unfortunately, not one of those words had anything to do with hockey. I had to put my hockey musings on hold in order to write another person's book. That book has been my biggest ghost writing project to date, and it was an honor to write it. I am pleased to report the book is "in the can", so to speak!

 Now, I sit in front of the TV, watching the Winter Classic Alumni Game on NBC Sports Network. The first thing that caught my attention was hearing the awesome voice of Jim Hughson from Hockey Night in Canada! Living in Florida, well, that isn't something I hear every day, and boy, it was music to my ears and my soul.

My plans for 2014 definitely include a return to my beloved hockey, and continue to share my thoughts and experiences with the game right here at Lisa's Lounge. But, for now, as it is New Year's Eve, I should finish watching the Alumni Game and enjoy this personal thrill of my return to hockey!

Happy Hockey and Happy New Year Everyone!

"Pray For Boston"

                         Link to Story

Sending my prayers

and thoughts of comfort and courage 

to the people of Boston

Happy Birthday, Louie....and Sorry About that Contract!

by Lisa Ovens


It's safe to say not every birthday can be "The. Best. Birthday. Ever." I for one have had fantastic B-Day celebrations (like the one I just had on Sunday), as well as unspectacular ones. One time, I was laid off from a job on my birthday. The first two birthdays after my mother passed away were also very difficult.

Today is Canucks' goal tender, Roberto Luongo's 34th birthday. Here's hoping he has a nice day and eats some delicious cake. Here's hoping he can accept being shackled by that miserable contract of his for a little while longer.

If it makes Luongo feel any better, many Canuck fans feel just as imprisoned by his contract as he does.

I'm sure Luongo knows the goal tending position in Vancouver has been a subject of controversy for many years. Having been nicknamed "The Goalie Graveyard" in the past, the Canucks for some reason,  just can't get it right when it comes to net-minders.

The Canucks actually made Luongo team captain in the fall of 2008. Who the heck makes a goalie a captain at the NHL level? Isn't that only legal in beer leagues? I thought the Canucks had officially lost their collective minds when they pulled that one out of the hat. But they didn't stop there: a year later they gave a 12 year, $64 million dollar contract to Luongo, subsequently upping the ante at the ca-razy decisions table.

So, Roberto, do as you say....collect yourself and your thoughts and focus on your job as goal tender, giving 100% of yourself to the Canucks and the fans. Somehow this mess will sort itself out. And don't forget to enjoy your cake!

RIP Stompin' Tom Connors

                                                       1936-2013

Stompin' Tom's

 spirit will live on

when we clap our hands to the Hockey Song

 in our hometown rinks

from sea to shining sea

The Return of NHL Hockey...and me ;o)

By Lisa Ovens

I didn't think this season would happen. I honestly did not expect the NHL Lockout to end in time for a mini season. Back in September, I put all things Lockout related on the back burner because I have begun work on my third hockey book. Aside from the occasional hockey talk with my friend, Marie in Nashville and my friend, Jan in Houston, I've kept things pretty quiet here in the lounge.

I didn't know how I would react to seeing the opening day action on television today. Naturally, I was completely against the lockout. I felt the owners and the players were really pushing their luck this time around.

Looking back to 2004, the game sorely needed the lockout. As tough as it was to deal with back then, there were so many issues on and off the ice, the Hockey men needed to sit out that year and get everything in order.

But in 2012, they didn't need this break. Much of the game was doing just fine.They should have made it a goal to hammer out the deal by summer's end. I was pissed. That's another reason why I hung up my skates, and turned the other cheek on the hockey world back in September: I was pissed off!

So, about 1.5 hours ago I turned on the TV to NBC. The Pens and the Flyers game was on. I was aloof, as I watched the game. Aloof, up until a stoppage in play. The camera scanned the crowd, stopping at a Pens fan and a Flyers fan seated next to each other, with ice cold beers in their hands. As they horsed around for the camera, I looked at all the fans in the seats beyond them. I felt the aloofness melt, instantly, as an old familiar feeling of warmth and comfort came over me. "I want to be there!" I thought, "I must go to a game, as soon as possible!"

As they say, Hockey is Back. However, more importantly for me, its back in my heart.

Enjoy the mini season, everybody :o)