It's Almost That Time Again..

It's true. It is. It's almost time for hockey to start back up. I'm slowly getting back into the groove of reading information on prospects and such. While my friends of teams like the Flames and Oilers are really excited for hockey to be back, I am not there. I think I am ready, and then I watch clips from last season or read talk of the playoffs and panic strikes. My anxiety levels go past Keith Ballard sitting in the press box and right through the roof. I'm trying to be excited, I really am but I keep getting flash backs.....

Sitting alone in my living room watching Game 7, refusing to believe it was actually over. Shedding a few tears, trying to pull myself together and saying ' it's just a game'...that turned into ' it's just a god damn game'...which then turned into ' holy fucking hell I'm going to smash my laptop into pieces'. Even now my chest feels all tight when I think back to everything that went through my head that night. (ok, maybe that's partly to do with the fact I'm wearing my Tanner Glass Scrabble Champ shirt and it looks like his face is on my boob). Then came the rioting. I knew it would come no matter what but it was still shocking, sitting up alone until well after midnight watching it all unfold on CTV.

I want to have flashbacks of the happy times. Alex Burrows' and Kevin Bieksa's great goals don't work, because I just remember being so exciting thinking ' holy shit, this may actually happen'.  I wish I could think back to just watching regular season games that weren't life or death, chirping some of my Oilers and Flames fan friends. I just can't seem to remember exactly what that's like. Hopefully once the first regular season game gets here I will feel that excitement again. Dealing with some personal crap in my own life, hopefully it will be a nice distraction.

I am excited for these things

• Seeing Keith Ballard actually play again
• Seeing Chris Tanev continue to be awesome
• Keith Ballard's first hipcheck of the season
• Seeing Mason Raymond skate again
• Hopefully, once I get some stuff sorted out, get back to Vancouver for a home game. It's been way to long.
• Gathering up as many Canucks fans as I can here in Edmonton and watching a game somewhere

That's all I have right now. Anyway, while you're reading  check out this great story on Tanner Glass giving back to his home town. also Alixiswright37's great blog post  "A Day In The Life Of A Canucks Fan". Hopefully I have more to say soon.

There Is No Sunshine and I Don't Have A Lollipop

It looks like its going to rain outside, no sun,  which reminds me of home so that's alright. I don't have a lollipop, I have way to much easter chocolate, but I'm on a diet so really it doesn't do me any good. I just can't think sunshine and lollipops, I'm having a hard time being as upbeat and optimistic as some fans.

I wish I could be like some of the fans out there and be sure of a game 7 win because it's on home ice. It's amazing how games 4 and 5 seem to be erased from some peoples minds after the great performance of last night, even though it ended in a loss. I wish I could I truly let myself believe this team is going to do it, 6 games ago I could say that but I just can't get by games 4 and 5. I'm not a bandwagon fan, I still love my team, they will always be my team but I can't wrap my head around being so sure they will do it when I just don't know anymore.

Obviously I really really hope they can do it, there is nothing else I want  more at this moment then to knock the Blackhawks out and for the Canucks to move on to round 2.  They do deserve it after the amazing season they had which gave us all this hope. People are avoiding talking about what happens if they get knocked out and Theo fleury's predication comes out true but it's all I'm thinking about. I believe in this team, I know they can do it as long as they show up.  If they do lose tomorrow I hope I can at least say they put up a good fight, they better play their hearts out.

I may pull a Luongo tomorrow and just avoid Facebook and Twitter for the day -not talk to anyone and avoid all articles in the paper and wait until after the game. May be the first time this year I don't watch the morning skate and player interviews as well. If I'm so nervous I cant even think about eating dinner right now I'm going to be a complete mess tomorrow. Not that I'm trying to hide from the Canucks haters and everyone who is just dying to be able to say ' I told you so' but maybe just my attempt to keep my mind on something other then Canucks hockey for a little bit.


Finally,Fellow Canucks fans, let Dan Tencer have his moment, let him bitch and whine all he wants. The ' Canucks fans' that he's calling out, I've met more then my share of Oiler's fans who are exactly the same way. Let him have his moment, to most he sounds like an idiot.  How he can somehow take a rant about the Canucks as a team and bring in safe injection sites in Vancouver is beyond me and just shows the kind of person he is. For the record, I disliked the guy before he even said anything about the Canucks.