Little Break

As anyone who follows my blog knows I haven't been saying much lately. I've decided to take a little break, and will probably start blogging again after I get back from my trip to Vancouver next month. Feel free to email me or send a message on twitter if you want.

Christine

Was At A Loss For Words

I'm a horrible person, I'd been so good about blogging something almost every day since January and now I haven't said a thing in a week. Truth is besides my feelings about the riot I haven't exactly known what to say, or how I feel. I thought maybe if the Canucks lost in game 7 I may shed a tear, sit in a state of shock and disappointment, but that never happened. Instead everything got focused on the riot, and yes I shed a tear for that.

The beginning of the season I knew the Canucks had a great team, with the potential to go far but I was always cautiously optimistic. As the season went on I became more and more optimistic, it was a great season and they set many records and lead the league in many categories. I still sat quietly wondering if they would actually do it. I was happy enough that I actually was able to watch the Canucks live twice this season. Even though the 2nd game, I'd rather forget the outcome of.

When the playoffs came around in April and everyone was on the "sweep" bandwagon in the Chicago series, it drove me nuts as you saw in my posts back then. When that series went as long as it did I started to wonder even more. The Nashville series was some boring hockey at times, but the fans were amazing and I quite enjoyed it. I had a more personal connection with the Sharks series as one of my good friends is a Sharks fan. We had some hilarious conversations via BBM during games and even chirping absolutely stupid stuff on none game days. Then came the Bruins. By then I was way more optimistic that it would happen, then came those 2 damn games in Boston. Everyone was all ' they are still in it' and all that but honestly, I Wasn't so sure. . Then we all know it went to game 7. 1 game to determine who wins the Stanley Cup, again I was cautiously optimistic but once it was 2-0 I basically knew it was over. I still watched the entire game, because I have never turned a game off because of how they are playing. In the Chicago series I turned the absolute blow out game off for maybe 5 minutes, just to collect my thoughts and keep myself from throwing my laptop across the room.

So there are some random fast thoughts about the season and mostly the playoffs. I am working at compiling some of my favourite moments of the regular season and playoffs to post about. It's getting harder as the weather is nicer so the ' stay inside curled up on the couch watching a movie because its -40' days don't happen and I'm busy with my kids outside most days now. I also have some Keith Ballard thoughts I need to get out properly.  I don't know what exactly will come of my blog through the summer, I may just 'close' it until pre season when  I will have more things to talk about again, I'm not sure. I've also decided to dive into the world of CFL football, which should be interesting. Hockey has also been my main sport but I've done the basketball and baseball thing to, so naturally football is next.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a good off season so far, I will have more to say, hopefully, soon.

Dear World

I'm sad.

I'm angry.

I'm downright pissed right off.

And none of it is even about the game, I'm not even ready to try to talk about that.
I was hoping win or loss I would be able to come and just say something about the game, thank the team and move on. Instead I have spent the morning trying to defend myself to people who don't see the difference between real fans, and the 'fans' from last night and the people who didn't even go down there with the purpose of watching the game.

I don't know what's bugging me more, the idiots who rioted last night, or the people that are painting all Canucks fans, Vancourites and just hockey fans in general with one brush. I don't know how many facebook status's and tweets I've seen saying " stupid hockey fans", "embarassing Canucks fans". I guess I can see how un knowledgeable people would look at it. People who don't give the game of hockey, or their fans the time of day in the first place.

They see that the riot happened after a Canucks game, and see some people with jerseys on and automatically just lump us all together. I can tell you, putting on a jersey or a t-shirt does not make you a Canucks fan. I can almost guarantee you that most of the people you saw down there with Canucks jerseys or t-shirts on involved in the riot, had just bought them in the past few months. You know the "sweet! the team is doing well, its cool to wear Canucks gear!" type people.

Trouble makers in Vancouver saw an opportunity and they took full advantage of it. With the constant reminders from the Media and other fans around the league using it as chirps, it gave them something to think about. It gave them something to try to outdo and something they knew they would get attention for. When people head downtown with balaclavas and molotov cocktails, they were not going down with the intention to enjoy the game. Period. I don't care if they threw on a Canucks jersey or t-shirt to fit in. You can't pull the ' what about the people in Linden jerseys, they've obviously been fans a long time if they have that'. No, no they haven't. Linden jerseys are still available everywhere, and lots of people wear them so once again seen as the cool thing to wear.

That being said not all went down there for that purpose. There were also the young drunks, but once again I don't believe they were rioting because of the loss. They were doing it because they are young, drunk and just like to start stuff. I know the types, I think anybody who attended high school knows those types. Once again, not true Canucks fans.

True Canucks fans were to upset after the game, after the performance by the team to care.

True Canucks fans left the downtown core before the game was over because they knew that the people down there purely to get drunk and have a 'good time', were getting out of hand already. The game wasn't even out of reach at that point.

I'm angry that I now have to sit here and defend myself, and fellow fans against it all. Other teams fans chirped us because of the 1994 riots, I hoped and prayed that it wouldn't happen again but who was I kidding? Really, I think everyone saw it coming. Im angry that people will not see the point I'm making about true fans, trouble makers and drunk bandwagoners.

I'm angry  that my beautiful city was put to shame. That once again people will not understand that it wasn't the true fans doing this. The world, for the most part, thought highly of Vancouver after the 2010 Olympics and now that is all gone. It sickened me watching the footage on CTV and Global last night, and to go on twitter and see that it was being broadcast as breaking news in places as far away as Australia. I lived in Vancouver for 19 years and wish I could live there again now, I know the true beauty and and love the city actually has. I really hope people are able to look past this, and that people see news coverage of the good citizens and real fans that were downtown bright and early this morning helping the city clean up.

Finally, I'm angry that I've sat here talking about this, instead of trying to piece together what happened these past 2 months with my hockey team. Why they had the ability to win the Cup, but seemed to not quite play to their ability. I'm angry, so it's probably not even the best time to try to figure it out. It will come in a future blog post though. 

This picture was posted on twitter this morning, I guess it sums it all up. On the Bay building downtown.

The real true fans and citizens of Vancouver are taking the fall for this when it's not how it was, and we're still saying sorry.  Those in Vancouver are downtown this morning helping to clean up the mess.

I hope that people who recognize people they know in the riot footage do the right thing and turn them in. If you have pictures of people directly doing the damage please get in contact with  the Vancouver Police( 604-717-2541) or e-mail them to Robbery@vpd.ca.

This and That

My thoughts are so all over the place that I am going to bullet this bad boy

• Keith Ballard looked like he had a decent game if you just look at his 2 shots and 6 blocked shots. Then you look at the -2,  that horrid cluster something or other that lead to the 3rd goal and the fact that half of his blocked shots were recoveries form his own bad giveaways....suddenly it doesn't look so good. 

• 1 on 1 with Keith Ballard - He says again his confidence is fine.
• I don't believe him. Look at his facial expression, the tone of his voice in that interview. Maybe I'm crazy but I feel  sorry for the Keith Ballard in that interview.  Anyone have a screen shot of when they showed him on the bench after the 3rd goal?

• I do believe the teams confidence is fine like he says they *know* they are better then they played the past 2 games. 
• Ballard hasn't had this chance.

•  Kevin Bieksa says he thought Ballard played alright and will get better as the series goes on. If he is even in next game it better be a complete turn around. 
• This goes for the whole team.

• I hope this is all out of Luongo's head and he can put it behind him and play amazing the next 2 or 3 games. I called a second loss last night if Bruins scored first, but I guess thats sort of a give in. I also said it would be another 7-8 goal game if Luongo wasn't pulled after the 4th one. I'm glad he got out for his own sanity, however I never would of been one of the idiot fans CHEERING as he was pulled. 

• I'm kind of surprised people still get mad at the Sedin "sister' or 'girl' comments. No matter what anyone says, what the Sedins do, somebody will ALWAYS do this. Just ignore it.
• Saying that, it is a bit of a different circumstance when media says it versus just other fans.

• Speaking of Media, Jason Botchford's tweets last night at about 1am my time were highly, highly amusing. I'm disapointed over half of them are gone this morning, but I completely understand why.

• Am I worried? honestly, kind of. We need a huge Canucks win on Friday. I know they have the potential to do it, I know they can do it. They just can't play as a whole, not singling out anybody, like they have the last 2 games. 

• I guess I didn't really add any insight, I'm pretty sure I've seen everything I've said 10 times over in the past 12 hours. Oh well. Go Canucks go. 

•  I've listened to the song below on repeat while typing this out. It's so stupid its great and has helped me not have a little freak out. I may have even danced a little bit.

I Have Boobs and I Find Men Attractive

When  I was a teenager and through the past few years, I tried everything possible to 'fit in with the guys' when it came to hockey, I didn't want to be known as, or come off as a 'puckbunny'. It becomes a very daunting task because some people want to label you one without even talking to you, without seeing if you have any knowledge. I have to say now, I have completely given up on it.

My name is Christine,  I find Keith Ballard and Kevin Bieksa good looking and I wear cleavage revealing shirts with Canucks logos.

I am female, it happens. To say you don't find any of the 20 some odd men on a hockey team good looking, you are probably either 1. a lesbian (which I have no problem with)  2. lying. I find the point of denying it kind of odd now that I think about it more, if you talk to people enough about the game they are going to know that you know what you're talking about. Ask poor PabloPenguin74 or Kev_macd who I talk to daily via BBM. They both know that I can keep up the actual hockey talk just like any of the guys, but they also know that I can make some interesting comments about some of the guys (hipcheck comments are always a beauty). I keep it mostly quiet, to the people who know me because they know I am really not serious about it all. I think the word 'puckbunny' is thrown around way to easily these days, being able to admit that as a grown female you find someone of the opposite sex attractive does not make you one. Some girls take it to far, the ones that show up at games with " Marry me Kesler", " I love you Kevin Bieksa" and " You can bite me any time Burrows" signs while pressing their cleavage revealing shirts up against the glass, then by all means I have no problem with throwing that term out there. They set themselves up for it, they are purposely doing and 'saying' these things directly trying to get the attention of the players. When I occasionally leave the 'check' part out of the comment ' Man I love Ballard's hipchecks', it's to get a reaction out of my friends, not trying to get his attention, not being serious and knowing he will never see the comment anyway.  

That being said, and like I mentioned I am guilty of owning those cleavage revealing shirts. I would never wear one to a game, let alone stand pressed up to the glass. I would also never wear a fitted hockey jersey, but to each their own, I'm not going to judge somebody and lump them in a group because of it. I am just a tad over 5 feet tall and 115lbs so even the small regular jerseys are almost to my knees, the sleeves completely cover my hands and beyond by about 2 inches and I could probably fit 2 of me into it, I don't care, that's how it's supposed to be. Pink jerseys have no place in hockey, where the actual team colours the way jerseys are supposed to be. If you want something pink, get a t-shirt.   I will always wear my jersey to a game, or to a bar to cheer on the Canucks but in every day life it would be impossible for me to function properly in something that hangs off me like that. I guess I don't really need to wear a tight v neck shirt, but I think they are nice. I am young-ish, I don't have have the nicest body around but I don't have a horrible one either, so I mine as well show it off while I can.  I do also own regular mens t-shirts with different players names - Ballard, Hamhuis, Bieksa, etc- and I wear those more often then I do the other shirts.

I know some people probably think ' typical girl' or 'typical puckbunny' when I call Chris Tanev ' baby Tanev'. I actually stole that from  Alixiswright, it just has a ring to it and I love it. I have no problem admitting I think he is absolutely adorable, in a I want to pinch his cheeks and send him out to play with my 2 year old son kind of way.  That's just how I see him when looking at him, but I am also very aware of his hockey skill, and the fact that he has a very promising career going forward now that I am excited to watch, as a hockey fan.

So, I can admit that I find some hockey players good looking, and I wear tight fitting cleavage revealing shirts with my teams logo on them, if that makes me a 'puckbunny' or 'not a hardcore girl fan' in your mind, so be it. If you're going to be that close minded about it all, then I don't even want to waste my time with you. I know why I watch hockey, I know I can and do focus on the game and am able to keep up conversations about it. Open minded, awesome people who take the time to get to know me, or even have a chat or two with me are able to figure this out pretty quickly.

 Does what I'm wearing here really make me seem any less of a fan then when I'm wearing a jersey..

 

If somebody is going to judge me, or anybody for that matter, and lump me with a group based on what I wear, or the fact that I do indeed find men attractive, they aren't worth my time and I honestly do not care what they think anymore. 

All that being said, I have no problem at all admitting I have a giant crush on Ian Walker's arms, John Shorthouse's voice and Jason Botchford's laugh.

Everyone Else Is Doing It

When I first saw Aaron Rome's hit last night, I instantly thought "dirty" but I was also sitting over 20 feet away from the TV without my glasses on. I usually have to sit about 4 feet from the TV without my glasses on if  I want to see something properly so my first thought was....a  little off. It was a late hit, which makes it 'illegal' not 'dirty'. My dislike for Aaron Rome is well documented and there is really no basis for it other then the fact I want to see Keith Ballard play. Rome isn't a bad player, I just don't think he's better then Ballard. I do not think he's a dirty player, and I actually feel incredibly bad for him right now, I can't imagine what he's going through, what he's thinking as he's injured another person. Just as my thoughts are with Nathan Horton, and I hope he is able to make a full recovery from his concussion.

Do I think he intentionally went for the head? No. Do I think he should of been suspended? yes. Do I think he should of been suspended 4 games? no. 1 game, possibly 2 is what I thought. Do I think Brian Burke should of been consulted at all on the matter? no, but I'm not even going to get into that. You have to take responsibility for your actions, whether intentional or not, it was an 'illegal play' and there had to be repercussions.

That all being said, it's nice to see the NHL taking hits seriously, even if to seriously with this one. I hope it continues next season and things move in the right direction. I think The NHL should have at least fined Alex Burrows for his finger biting, they didn't. Next game we have Max Lapierre taunting with his finger. Next game was a shit show and after Claude Julien voiced his disgust with Lapierre doing it, 2 of his very own players do it. The NHL must find that embarrassing, something should of been done in the beginning. I mean, I did, and do find the whole thing funny but they are playing in the Stanley Cup Final, it's time to grow up, play the game and show people what hockey is all about.

 I'm done with the subject... DONE.. no more talking about it. All the crap that has gone on, specially this series, between finger biting, taunts and all that and fans bickering has taken some of the fun out of the fact my team is in the Stanley Cup Final. And no I'm not just bitching about Bruins fans, a lot of Canucks fans via twitter have been just as bad voicing their 'opinions' and even fans of other teams who aren't even involved. The entire game last night made me embarrassed for hockey. Not the Canucks, not as a Canucks fan, I could of cared less about the damn score at the end, I was embarrassed for the game. I hope nobody chose last night's game to watch for the first time to see if they liked hockey.

I wish we could all just get along, grab a beer, cheer our respective teams and enjoy a good game.........but then again...........what do I know?


Anyway, Keith Ballard. Watch these...enjoy.....and pray for him and for my mental health that AV doesn't pull some stupid shit...he better be playing tomorrow.

Guest Post: Heart and Mistakes

I have things to say about the Rome suspension, however, I have been fighting a cluster headache since shortly after the game so I'm in no mood to try to write anything that makes sense right now.  It will come though. In the mean time kleine_snowdrop sent me a DM last night and I asked her if she wanted to elaborate on it at all because it sounded like a good thought. This is what she came up with:

Keith Ballard has been known to make a mistake or two this season with the Canucks…  some have been costly, some not so much.  But honestly there is not a defenseman on the roster that hasn’t made at least one.  Some have much more leeway with what they can do, or how many they can make before being benched.  This isn’t about them and their seemingly endless leeway, not the unbelievably short leash AV keeps Ballard on.  This is about the way that Keith Ballard plays hockey.

Sometimes, this last game in Boston for example, the Canucks seems to lack heart.  They have emotion, but not the good ones.  And they get mechanical and unsettled they try to force things, and it is never pretty.  They can’t find their heart.  Something is missing that can ramp up the energy-their pride… something.  It drives me insane to watch them when they play that way.  They just can’t get things going, they know what they need to do, but just can’t do it.  There is something missing. 

Heart. 

Keith Ballard has it.  He might not be the heart and soul of this team, the brains of the team, or whatnot.  But he has heart, tons of it.  You can see it when he plays.  He is always out there doing whatever he needs to do to help his team no matter the role.  No matter if, he is called on for 5 minutes or 25 minutes.  He plays (or tries to play) whatever role asked of him.  Yes, he makes mistakes but he plays with heart.  It is more than just playing with heart; he has it all the time.  Watch his interviews; he won’t (publically) get down on himself unless he feels he deserves it, his skill set, his playing time, his coach.  Maybe he is lacking in confidence lately, and you can tell he is disappointed, he wants to play, knows he can play, but for some reason unknown to most of the world he doesn’t get the chance.  I think if he were a lesser man, this would show in interviews, in his interactions with his teammates.

 He has grown and learned a lot from his younger days and over the last few seasons, and it shows.  He is always the first to congratulate his team.  To celebrate with them as teammates, not sulk in the corner.  He supports his coaches’ decisions, and his teammates every game.  This is why I think he was a perfect pair for Chris Tanev.  He is supportive; he can guide, and maybe show Tanev how to be a good teammate even when it probably sucks.  You can tell he’s invested when he plays.  His hipcheck on McGinn had one purpose, to send a message; you don’t take out his teammates.  He was watching, knew who it was, and boom, hipcheck.  Message sent.

He might make mistakes, but he plays with heart.  Every game.  Every shift.  No matter how few minutes he plays.  Keith Ballard has heart.  He plays the game with heart.  Call me crazy, but it sure seems like he lives each moment with heart.  And playing the game with heart, that seems like a big deal to me…  It can take you places, and yeah, there will be mistakes, but sometimes you got to roll with ‘em.

Make sure to Follow Kate on Twitter here   and check out here great photoblog Kleine Snowdrop's Journey

All Quiet On The Edmonton Front

I've been quiet the past few days, haven't written anything and it's no that I have nothing to say I think I'm just wanting to quietly take this all in. Maybe I'm kind of shock, and kind of just in amazement that the Canucks have actually made it this far. I've been waiting 24 years for this and it may actually be happening. 2 more wins...2!... that's all that is needed.

I always imagined myself being in Vancouver taking it all in on the streets when and if the Canucks ever won the Stanley Cup, or made it this far. I am not, and can not be (unless of course , someone wants to sponsor me, my boyfriend and our 2 kids to get back to Vancouver). Anyway, thanks to sites like Twitter and Facebook I am able to see pictures and videos of people celebrating and just quietly take it all in alone on my couch. Whether I'm here or there, it has been an amazing run and I'm extremely excited for the next week or so to come.

This whole Burrows finger biting thing is getting way out of hand. Why aren't people still talking about the Horton non suspension for the water bottle incident? Ok, I realize I laughed and still laugh at the Ballard water bottle incident so I shouldn't really talk about the Horton one. It's got to the point now though that Bruins fans are making comments on twitter about running over Canucks players (Lapierre, Burrows) if they saw them. Even though they aren't serious, at least I hope not, you don't say crap like that! Some Oilers fans have been just as bad, as if their team is perfect. Not all Canucks fans like what Burrows did, or what Lapierre did the next game, so stop generalizing us all. Bruins players aren't perfect, Oilers aren't perfect.  While on this subject though, even though I may not completely agree with him... I absolutely love Jason Botchford in this clip.

Ballard hasn't been playing and word out of practice is he wont be playing tonight. I gave up my some what irrational hate for Aaron Rome as he has proven he can be....alright...... but the whole subject still bugs me. I have nothing good to say about it, so I wont. I just hope we see Ballard in at least 1 Stanley Cup Final game.

Go Canucks Go

Bite Me

Alex Burrows. Where do I start? I have his jersey so I do like him, but sometimes I have a hard time justifying wearing it to. I actually haven't put it on since April when the Canucks were here. Not because I'm embarrassed, I just don't see the point of putting it on to sit in my house by myself and watch the game, since nobody else watches here and I'm not allowed to have people over. Anyway, there are some things he does that just make me shake my head. His diving/embellishment on hits drives me crazy, He's not as bad as he used to be but he still does it. Yes, I am aware the Sedins, Kesler and Hamhuis have also been pretty guilty of this in past games. Last night was a complete face palm moment.....biting someone's finger? COME ON!. He said he didn't, or he had no choice or whatever. My kids stick their fingers in my mouth all the time, doesn't mean I have to bite them, or close my jaw to get their fingers out. Do I think he should be suspended? I wouldn't complain if he got a game, but the way things go and it being the Stanley Cup Final I'm not sure I see it happening.

I enjoy trash talking/chirping fans of other teams, I usually keep it to my actual friends -people I know- so it isn't taken the wrong way. My friends know not to take things I say to seriously, even when most of them are Flames or Oilers fans. I don't go nearly as far as some people I know or have come across though, and never will.  I have to say living in this city (Edmonton) and following quite a few Oilers fans on twitter, some of them are complete arrogant morons. I've pretty much come to the conclusion after 3 rounds that they do not watch the games for entertainment, they watch the games purely to find things 'wrong' with the Canucks and the city of Vancouver to bitch about. I know not all fans are like this, I know a handful that I talk to regularly and our rivalries are good fun. I'm getting sick and tired of hearing constantly ' Edmonton is better at ____' , ' Oiler's players would never do this _____'.  A lot of them talk like they have the best team in the NHL, or the only team that is perfect at everything. I'm sorry, but grow up.

If the Canucks were not in the final, I would be watching for entertainment value, not to pick apart every single thing about the team in it. I think that separates real 'Hockey Fans' from fans who only watch if their team is around.  Quite frankly, I don't care who is or isn't cheering for the Canucks now that they are in the Stanley Cup Final. I wouldn't want these types of people cheering along with me. I'm already having a hard enough time dealing with all these 'Canucks fans', that I hadn't heard from all season but are suddenly in love with "Kessler" and "Erhoff".

So, to all you people who can't just sit and enjoy a game, purely for the fact we get to watch NHL hockey in June...............bite me, I dare ya.