Rick Rypien

This wasn't exactly what I had imagined my first post back would be, and I'm not sure if I'm even ready for anything more then this at this point. However, Some things have to be said.



Rick Rypien. 5'11'. 190lbs. Hockey player. Forward. Enforcer. Son. Brother. Cousin. Friend. Gone.

He had some personal issues, it wasn't totally made public, but rumours flew. When he went after a fan at the beginning of the season and then left the team it was very apparent he had something going on. When he came back to play with the Moose late in the season I remember everything on twitter was about his beard. I remember thinking ' I'm so glad he's dealt with whatever is wrong and he's looking forward to a happy, healthy life again'. Apparently I was wrong, or maybe he was better then and the demons took over again.

Mike Gillis said in a press conference today that Rypien's problems were never drug or alcohol related and he didn't even want anything prescribed.  That doesn't leave much else does it?Sure I didn't know him personally, but when you passionate about something like hockey, a team, all the players you learn a lot about them and it almost feels like you do know them. It breaks my heart to think about how alone he must of felt, for whatever reason.

I was out at the store last night and a friend in the states who barely knows what hockey is messaged me saying ' Rick Rypien?'. At first I thought...what the hell? is he trying to get to know hockey or something? then something clicked, I remembered the beginning of the season, the leave of absense. I instantly knew.
No.
No.
He didn't.
He couldn't have.
Please god don't let my thoughts be true.

Right away I signed onto twitter and started to see everyone's tweets. I was already in a crappy mood and I just kind of stood in the middle of the store and dropped everything and just couldn't figure out what to do with myself.  I gathered my thoughts a bit and instantly thought of @alixiswright37 as we have had a few conversations about him, his jersey she has and such throughout the season. I thought I hope she's dealing with this shocking news better then I am. Really though, it shouldn't have been so shocking if just by someone saying his name, I knew what it had to be.

Nobody should EVER feel like there is no way out, or that they are completely alone. I in no way have ill feelings towards him for what he choose to do, but it breaks my heart that he did it. I've had a few rough years as I entered adulthood. I've hit rock bottom but somehow pulled myself back up. I now have 2 beautiful children and even though I'm going through some really rough times I know I could never ever do that to them. I have, however, felt completely and utterly alone, like nobody cared. Sometimes you just have to reach out, take that deep breath and send that e-mail or text to a friend. I reached out to someone I barely knew, someone I had only really contacted to have a drink with when I was home earlier this month to congratulate him on something. One night though, I decided to tell him some things I've kept quiet and that had been eating away at me for quite some time. He listened, he told me what he thought, he continued talking to me. He's helped me through a lot lately.

You have to reach out, even if it's to a stranger. Even if you do it anonymously.  I have no idea who all reads what I'm writing but I know depression hits every kind of person, and some are really good at hiding it. Just talk to somebody. Make up a new e-mail so nobody knows who you are and take that step. My contact information is on the right hand side of this page. If anybody reading this feels the need to talk, click that e-mail link. I can try to give advice, I can help you find information to help, or I can just sit there and listen. I'm always around in some form thanks to modern technology, my blackberry is always on me. Nobody deserves to feel what Rypien must of felt in those last days. Nobody. Ever.

It saddens me that on a big scale, Rick Rypien will be remembered as the Canuck player that went after a Wild fan. I refuse to remember him that way, instead I will remember him as the guy who stood up for himself and his teammates, no matter how big the guy coming after him was.

So, Here's to you Rick. I hope you are at peace now. If anything, know you have given me new determination to fight through what I'm going through right now. One day I plan on getting a dog,  I've decided this dog's name will be Rypien. I'm not sure why exactly, but it just seems fitting. 

I suck, but It's Playoff Time!!!

I haven't updated in a week, I am a horrible blogger. I'm going to blame it on the fact I've been off in lala land on pain killers dealing with an abscess tooth and trying to write something while like that is like asking Keith Ballard to score a goal. The pain is disgusting, I've had 2 kids, broken every finger on both hands, cracked my head open, broke my wrist twice and suffer from migraines that can hospitalize me, and NOTHING compares to the pain of a damn abscess tooth. The little bastard is gone now so I'm ready to move on, get off the pain killers and get back to business. I promise better stuff over the Playoffs.


Playoff time!... What does that mean for me? Not eating on game days. Sometimes I can get down breakfast and some lunch but dinner is definitely a no go, my stomach is way to crazy from being way to excited about the game. Perhaps I get a little to excited, but that's just me. I am more excited about this year then any other year in my 24 years of being a fan. I am not afraid of the Blackhawks, at all, one major reason for this is Dustin Byfuglien. I wasn't on twitter last year, which is a whole new exciting thing I'm seeing come this time of year, but if you are on my facebook you know my dislike for this guy. I believe my mom even had to tell me to watch my mouth after one game when I went off about him, and she never usually cares. However, in this game he 1. Scored a goal, 2. Screened Luongo which lead to a goal. 3. Drew a penalty (Shane O' Brien) which lead to a power play goal. That guy just makes my skin crawl, I can't stand him. I don't even like what I've seen of him off ice, but then again I usually avoid it, so maybe he is a decent person. (kind of like good ol' Patrick Kane. Ian Walker managed to change my views on him today, take a look)

Keith Ballard says he doesn't know how it can get much louder then it already is in this great piece by Jeff Paterson. Well Keith, you have no clue what you are in for, prepare your ears now.  The playoff atmosphere at Gm Place Rogers Arena is absolutely crazy, I've been there, done that. I wish I could experience it again, or just the hype in the city this time of year. Instead, I will sit alone in my living room with my (hopefully. Canada Post is going to be sorry they ever accepted my call if it's not here today) Ballard jersey on cheering my little heart out. I'd be  waving a towel to, if I had one.  Perhaps I'll even crack open a beer, it's been a long stressful week and I need it.

From @VanCanucks "Ballard on making his playoff debut: "This is what we live for. I have some butterflies, but that's natural, this is huge."


I'm ready....are you? 

Keep Calm

All morning on twitter I've seen people complaining about ticket prices for playoff games. Personally having been to a couple over the years I can honestly say I would not think twice about paying those prices, it's like nothing else you will ever experience, game wise. To add to that, this year is 10 times more exciting then past years, there is a lot more hope for this years team.

I, however, don't have this option because of mistakes and wrong turns I've taken in life I am stuck in Alberta with no chance of ever going 'home'. I think all these Canucks fans need to realize just how lucky they are to live in the city, you can feel the electricity in Vancouver come playoff time, the atmosphere is absolutely amazing. That should be enough, if you can't afford to go to a game so be it, grab some friends and sit in your living room with a couple cold beverages. Grab some friends and head to a bar and enjoy it with other fans, it's still super exciting. On that note I really need to find a babysitter and a couple Canucks fans in this city.



Anyway, I guess in this situation, this new motivational poster I found is perfect.

check out http://keepcalmcanucks.tumblr.com/ for others

 

In other important news, I am not keeping calm about the fact that Dan Hamhuis has another concussion, I got 5 bbm messages while I was eating dinner about it last night and couldn't even finish eating. I sat there in a state of shock for awhile, 2nd concussion this season and 4 in his career doesn't sound good at all. Also, Hamhuis being out means baby Tanev is back in paired with Ballard, this leads to Ballard's ice time going down AGAIN.

Team Colours

I put a link to my last post on my facebook and my dad commented saying this

Hey Christine, how about talking about how pissed your dad gets when looking at the crowd at Rogers Arena, and seeing a mess of colour in the stands. As a shut in, not being able to go to games, I always watch them on TV. This cities crowd does not know how to cheer for our team. people wearing grey, yellow, black,green,orange, shirts or jackets. Come on people, it's a home game. Wear something BLUE. I'm not saying the ladies don't look good in their pink Canucks shirts, I would just like to see the fans support our great team. come on SHOW OUR COLOURS. If you can't afford a jersey, find a blue shirt or t shirt. Other fans fill there arenas with the home colours . lets show the team and the world that we support our #1 team. Dean.

Sorry dad, You're probably not going to like my answer. You make a good point, but I have a few of my own.  I'm not saying I don't agree that it would be nice to see an Arena filled with blue, as we see in Calgary with all their red.

First off, I  HATE pink hockey stuff. HATE. I have a very hard time coming to terms with womans 'fitted' jerseys, but I have. I refuse to come to terms with the fact that their needs to be pink stuff made for girls to wear it. I do like the regular coloured t-shirts, tank tops, hell I even like the underwear, but something about the idea of changing the colours to be more girly just rubs me the wrong way. Pink and those stupid looking bedazzled type jerseys are stupid, support your team, where their actual jersey, don't change things up to look more 'girly. This may also be a result of the fact I'm just a 'Hockey loving tom boy' and hate the colour pink in general. Those pictures you can find from time to time with girls wearing nothing but a jersey and standing with a hockey stick and such, I find the girls wearing the baggy regular jerseys to be 'sexier' then if they are wearing some tight fitting or pink crap. Not that I'm attracted to girls at all, and not that there's anything wrong with a girl being attracted to a girl, but.........I'm going way off track here.

Second, this team has had so many different colours as their jerseys in the past 40 years. Black, orange, red, yellow, blue, green...am I forgetting anything?a few shades of each. If you had the chance to buy a jersey over the years, but don't now and still want to wear a Canucks jersey to the game, it's going to be the wrong colours.  If you take a look at the merchandise available with Canucks logos on it, you end up with the green, blue, white and pink quite often, but their is also all the stuff with the old logos. Especially right now with the Canucks celebrating their last 40 years, they have come back with the different vintage styles, obviously the flying skate logo isn't going to look right on a blue or green t-shirt. People like that logo, and will spend the money on a 40th anniversary t-shirt to have it, instead of a white whale on a blue t-shirt. Also, the people who still want to support a player but can't afford a jersey are going to go with the player t-shirts, these are a very dark blue compared to the bright blue that is in the uniforms. The Flames have had the same colours for their 30 years of existence in Calgary. This makes it easy for the "sea of red", whether you bought your jersey, jackets or other shirts 10, 15,20 years ago, or yesterday it's still going to look the same in the crowd.

Third, Canucks ticket prices have skyrocketed, I remember going to games and they had specials for 4 tickets, plus white spot and parking for just over $100. Now, Canucks fans laugh at other teams with pricing like that, wishing this was still possible in Vancouver. The teams success has made going to games the cool thing to do, the thing the hip people do. This has lead to people who don't even care much about the game, or supporting the team in other ways, go to the games to be able to say "Hey, I went to the Canucks game last night!".  All the suits that used to win tickets through work and used to give them away like candy, are now going to the games, usually straight after work, still in their suits. Most t-shirt prices and everything are even up, if you want a nice t-shirt your usually looking at about $40, and with the world the way it is right now, a lot of people are just going to choose to wear their older stuff. It still says Vancouver Canucks and still has *a* Canucks logo, so its still cheering for their team.

I guess until we see this team use the same colours for a longer period of time their is always going to be a lot of variation in the crowd. Watching pre game warm ups online, and now finally finding a Sportsnet Pacific feed, I see lots more crowd shots, there is a lot of people in Canucks stuff, a lot older, but still cheering their team wearing it. People would also rather wear an older shirt, with a logo or name then just a plain blue shirt. That combined with the suits, and the "Cool people", are all going to add together to make a giant rainbow of colours. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Rogers Arena a "Sea Of Blue", but I just don't see it happening any time soon.


Did I just get through an entire post without mentioning Keith Ballard once? Hot damn, I deserve a cookie. I also deserve a cookie because its my birthday.

Attitude

 Keith Ballard's attitude amazes me, he never pulls the 'poor me' card, takes responsibility for his play and accepts all challenges. He didn't run out right away and point fingers for his recent injury, something that seems to be done a lot lately.

I've found a few quotes that stick out

 Check out this clip:

Keith Ballard talks Injury

I love how he says he doesn't feel unlucky and he's went so long playing without one until more recently. He had hip surgery this summer, a concussion earlier in the season, and now this knee injury. He's still his usual laughing, smiling self even though he's still not sure of the extent of his injury.


He had this to say on his roll playing for the Canucks, where he sees less ice time then he would on other teams:

“Mentally, you have to be very strong. Everybody here at one point has come from somewhere where they were ’the guy.’ That group of people gets smaller and smaller the higher up you go, and now I’m seeing what it’s like for the first time to play on a successful team. I was a go-to guy on other teams, but they weren’t as good. My role right now  is to play a good, solid 15 (minutes) and be reliable. I’ll take that on a successful team. You’ve got to take a back seat a little bit and put the personal things aside”

 He was  a healthy scratch earlier in the season and had this to say:

 “If I have to put my personal pride aside, that’s OK… It’s up to me to play better. With a strong core you have to earn time.  I’ve played games (before Van) where I should have been a scratch, but you don’t have that luxury on a good team.”

When asked about the fact that he makes $4.2 million a season, for a roll that would usually get much less:

“I understand it, If you look at it strictly from the numbers, it doesn’t make sense. In the salary-cap world, it’s probably not the ideal situation. But they’re trying to build a deep team, build a team for a long haul. So that kind of stuff, I try to just put it aside and not worry about it”

He  talks about Chris Tanev quite a bit, a rookie Defenceman with the Canucks for now, as he even mentions in that video clip. He seems to be helping him out a lot and even Tanev says  that Ballard is a tremendous help with talking to him, and keeping him calm. If Tanev makes a mistake Ballard will be the first to say " That's alright, we'll do this next time"

Now  if  I could find more stories on charity work he's done Id be able to brag about him a bit more, until then that part belongs to Dan Hamhuis.

The Man, The Legend, Mr.Canuck.

occasionally I can be serious....

If you were to ask anyone who knows me what two things they would associate with me they would say: The Vancouver Canucks and Trevor Linden.

On April 5th 2008, after the Canucks played the Flames, in what everyone expected would be the last game of Linden’s NHL career, Jarome Iginla called his teammates back out onto the ice to shake Linden’s hand, showing true class.

Later when Iginla was asked by reporters to comment on what he thought of Trevor he responded:

“The career he's had, a lot of us watched him when we were younger, and the runs he's had when he first broke in.  He's played for so long, and also playing against him, he's a guy that plays hard all the time.  He’s a leader.  He's a guy that's a good, honest, hard player to play against.  He’s not cheap. We have a lot of respect also for what he's done for us off the ice as a group of players.  I'm not sure if it's his last for sure, but if it is, it definitely was an honor to play with him."

I dreaded that game, not only was it the Canucks last game of the 2008 season, it was the last time I would get to see Linden play hockey.  I balled my eyes out, cried like a little baby.  The only two things, in regards to hockey, that have ever made me cry more was Linden’s retirement ceremony and the memorial for the late Luc Bourdon.  I thought I would be prepared for it, but I wasn’t.  I get choked up every time I think about the standing ovation the crowd gave when Linden was at center ice for that final period and Iginla’s heartfelt act of getting everyone back out on the ice to shake Linden’s hand.

Trevor Linden is an absolutely amazing man; the more I learn about him I am even more impressed I am by him.  He was a great player in his prime, but not the best, and I don't think anyone is afraid to admit that. His tireless efforts to be the best he could be and his outstanding leadership skills made him stand out from everyone else, something I don’t think anyone else could ever come close to.  What amazes me most is his work off the ice; his involvement with charities and efforts to better the lives of children who may never reach the age of the number on he wore on his jersey.


Throughout his career Trevor has won many awards.  In 1997 he won the King Clancy Memorial trophy, which is awarded annually by the NHL to the player who exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice.  He has made a significant contribution to his community and in 2003 he was awarded the Order of B.C., which is given to a resident of British Columbia who demonstrates a high level of excellence in any field that benefits the people of the province.  In 2008 he won the NHL foundation player award; awarded annually to the player who shows the core values of hockey, which includes commitment, perseverance, and teamwork and uses them to enrich the lives of people in his community.  In 2010 he was awarded the Order of Canada, the highest degree of merit awarded to someone showing an exceptional contribution to Canada and humanity.

When Trevor became captain of the Vancouver Canucks he started Captains Crew, which gave children who wouldn’t normally be able to attend a Canucks game a chance to do just that; a dream for many children living in Vancouver.  He has spent countless hours visiting sick children at the children’s hospital in British Columbia, putting a smile on the faces of children who don’t have much to smile about; he is also a huge contributor to Canuck Place, a Hospice in Vancouver for terminally ill children and their families. He also started The Trevor Linden Foundation which holds an annual golf tournament and has raised more than $650,000 for The Canadian Cancer Society’s “Camp Good Times,” a camp located in Mission, B.C., for children living with cancer and their families.  There are countless other things Linden has done, I could go on for pages; that’s Trevor Linden for you.

There are two stories I would like to share, of the many great stories I have heard, the first is the story of Michael Robinson.  Michael was a young boy with leukemia who Trevor met and always kept in touch with; he wasn’t doing very well.  Six months before a golf tournament Trevor told Michael that he would need a caddy there to help him.  Michael’s family was not sure if he would have the strength to do it, or even make it that long.  He was there for Trevor at that golf tournament, and died four days later.  His family believes that it was Trevor’s friendship that kept him going so long.

Recently a 17 year old boy in B.C. died after a tragic fall while celebrating his birthday. His favourite player was Trevor Linden.  The number on his hockey jersey was 16 and his memorial was held on the 16th for that reason.  Trevor had this read on his behalf at the memorial:

“He was an outstanding young man with a very bright future.  The very fact that I might have had some small part in shaping the way Dan lived his life is very meaningful to me . It’s actually more meaningful than Stanley Cups, individual trophies, or jerseys.  For this at the end of the day is maybe the most important reason that I play in national hockey.”

To me, Trevor Linden is so much more than just a hockey player.  His career had a bigger impact on people then I think anyone could have imagined; I am glad he realizes that and takes pride in it.  I am hopeful that one day I have the chance to meet him.  I would love to sit down and chat with him about his charity work, his hockey career, his new venture into property development, and his new fitness club.  Even if I were to just get a quick “hello” and a handshake I would die a very happy girl.  I hope that one day my son will grow up to be half the man Trevor is, I wont accept anything less.  He has shown me how great people can be and I wish there were more people like him around.

Soundtrack Of My Life

Do you have  a sound that reminds you of a happy time in your past? Mine would be the voices of Tom Larscheid and John Shorthouse.  Unfortunately we don’t get to hear Tommy anymore, but Shorty is still going strong. Their voices remind me of when I lived in Vancouver, somewhere I’d love to live again but have come to face reality, and that is that I never will. I remember so many happy times listening to them call games, so many crazy Tommy comments that still make me laugh. Sure it wasn’t always the happiest of times for the Vancouver Canucks, but it reaches beyond that. I have been lucky enough now to find a way to watch Vancouver broadcasts of games and still get to listen to John Shorthouse. His voice could put me to sleep. I realize that may sound weird to most, his voice is different to say the least, but its just the calmness it gives me. 

Every once in awhile, when I’m having a rough day I'll go and watch the you tube clip of John Shorthouse on stage with Michael Buble, singing “Thanks For The Memories” to Larscheid.  It makes me laugh, then get teary eyed, but in the end I feel better.

I have always said two people I most want to meet are Trevor Linden, and John Shorthouse.  I went to the Canucks game when they were in Edmonton on November 2nd. I had been bugging a few Canucks  reporters on twitter to come have a drink with me, I had  a few(or 6) drinks myself and none of them responded. Seriously, they need to accept my free beer offer next time.

It was a good game, Canucks won, Raffi Torres had a hat trick(say what?!?!), all in all I thought it was an amazing few hours out. I met many Canucks fans, trash talked with a few Oilers fans and we were on our way home.  So there I was sitting on the LRT platform waiting for the next train when coming up the escalator I see a very Familiar face.

Well hi there my idol!. I jumped up and I believe I went up to him and said “ Oh my god you’re John Shorthouse”. I chatted with him and John Garrett for quite awhile waiting for the train. Talking about the game, Trevor Linden (surprise surprise), and Tom Larscheid. I got to mentioning the things I have mentioned here about his voice reminding me of happy times, of being a calming sound for me. He responded with something to the effect of “ Well I guess Im the soundtrack of your life”.  Perfect. I took a few pictures with him mentioning I wanted a couple in case I looked ugly and he replied with “ Oh I don’t think you could take an ugly picture”.....he said this moments before I took a picture with John Garrett

I really should of taken another picture with him to, but I didn’t. I just like to caption it with “ My Love for John Garrett is like the wind, sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not”. Sometimes his crazy ramblings get on my nerves, but  I still love him.  He wasn’t quite sure what to do with me, he kept laughing at me being so ecstatic that I was talking to John Shorthouse. I also proceeded to chase him onto the train after they had walked away so I could take a picture with my phone, to put on Twitter and Facebook right away. Im pretty sure the poor guys were tired of me by the time they got off the train a few stops later.


And of course, I can’t end this without a sweet little Ballard: