Auldy.. missing you..

I miss Auldy. His thoughts on his new life were printed in a
Globe and Mail article on him today.

"I was there for a lot of years when Clouts (Dan Cloutier) would rattle off 30-win seasons and it was like nothing. Everyone said he wasn't good enough. And then I wasn't good enough. Who's been good enough since Kirk (MacLean)? I don't know, but it's a tough place to play as a goalie," Auld said. "And I hope Roberto does well. That being said, in all honesty, I loved playing there. The fans were great to me. I just think really at the time in my career and where that team was at, I didn't really fit. But it was a great experience."

Lukas Krajicek signed

.. a one year deal. Kesler and Linden are still unsigned but it's expected that Linden will sign a 1 year contract.

Linden Interviewed

Elliott Pap got Linden to say a few words at 8 rinks on Monday (guess he came down from Whistler where a friend saw him running a trail recently).

Some snippets:

"I told Dave I don't want to lock in too long because I'm going to have a good season," Linden said Monday at Burnaby 8-Rinks, before bursting into hearty laughter.

"[Retirement] Never crossed my mind," he said. "Last year was probably the most disappointing year I've had in professional hockey for a number of reasons, but it never crossed my mind, no.

"I think I'm in a much better place mentally than I was last year," he admitted. "But I'm not going to use that as an excuse. There were times in the season where I felt I played well.

"There is no question, though, that from a mental standpoint, I'm in a much better state and probably physically much better as well.

"I'll do what I'm asked to do but I think, if anything, I might play a lesser role," Linden said. "I look at guys like Daniel and Henrik [Sedin], who are 26, and I think they're going to take a bigger role. I look at Mattias Ohlund, Brendan Morrison and Matt Cooke, guys who have all been here for a significant amount of time. I think Willie Mitchell is a strong guy in the room as well.

Luongo and Bertuzzi practice

If you had read about the huge Luongo trade in Florida, you'd have heard how Luongo was unreasonable in his demands and that Florida had had to trade him. Luongo was on the ice with Bertuzzi and his now ex-Panther teammates for a practice this week. In his interview there, he indicated that he felt he'd been made out to be the bad guy.

Mitchell Interviewed

Another Ben Kuzma article today.. This time, about Willie Mitchell. Snippets below:

Mitchell was a winger in minor hockey ... Mitchell's coach thought otherwise and the winger became a blueliner the following year.

''Truth be told, I took a lot of figure skating when I was a kid and my sister took it, too,'' said Mitchell. ''I never did the drills or the figure-8s, but I was always a good backwards skater and that's why I switched over.''
....
''Yeah, five or six years against Nazzy and that line and he's probably sick of seeing me and I'm sick of seeing him,'' chuckled Mitchell. ''But he's very intelligent and a guy like that you look to get him the puck as much as possible.

I guess you don't need to like your teammates to be able to play with them.

Ohlund interviewed

Ben Kuzma had an article in the Province.

"Over the years, we've been a team that's been able to score a lot of goals,"

"But our biggest concern has to be that we haven't been able to keep the puck out of our own net, especially last year.

"There were very few guys who had a good year. We all take a share of the blame and we've got make sure we have a way better year."

"I think we were a little bit guilty of maybe being a little bit too comfortable," admitted Ohlund. "We had the same team for a long time and same coaching staff. This year, it's going to be a fresh start for everybody and we have to prove ourselves again.

"And that's a good thing."

Naslund didn't ask for a trade!

So looks like the Swedish Canucks were practicing at 8 rinks yesterday. Marcus Naslund got cornered by the media and dispelled the rumours flying around his possible trade to Philly.

I guess if Mattias Ohlund was there then he's back home from Sweden!

Star Trek Las Vegas convention wrapping up today

Wow! What a lineup for the 5th Annual Official Star Trek Convention:

THURSDAY
Avery Brooks
Diana Muldaur
Jonathan Frakes
Alexander Siddig
Denise Crosby
Armin Shimerman
Gary Graham
Michael Westmore
Brent Spiner
Mariette Hartley

FRIDAY
Kate Mulgrew
Ethan Phillips
Robert Picardo
Connor Trinneer
Robert Foxworth
Louise Fletcher
Jeffrey Combs
Marc Alaimo
Aron Eisenberg
Dominic Keating

SATURDAY
William Shatner
Leonard Nimoy
Nichelle Nichols
George Takei
Walter Koenig
Grace Lee Whitney
William Campbell
James Darren
Andrea Martin

SUNDAY
Tim Russ
Jolene Blalock
Michael Dorn
Barbara March
Garrett Wang
Robbie Duncan McNeill
Scott Bakula

Stargate SG-1 celebrates 200th episode

Heeere's an article from Gateworld about the 200th episode. Heh heh. I actually has stopped watching Stargate when Richard Dean Anderson left in Season 9 and they started fighting the Ori but just happened to stumble upon some youtube snippets of the 200th episode wherein Don Davis and RDA come back!

SG-1 Season 10 preview - RDA comes back to work for 2 episodes!!! Yeah, baby!

Rory Signed

So Rory Fitzpatricck is a defenceman. D'Oh! Anyway, I guess his physical must've been good cause the Canucks signed him today.

Bouck and Bieksa resigned today

Yep. That's about it.

Still no word on Trevor Linden.

Rory Fitzpatrick

Hmm.. so who is Rory Fitzpatrick?

Apparently he's a 31 year old forward with the Buffalo Sabres that the Canucks are thinking of signing. According to his agent, they're talking about a one way deal (no sending him down to the Moose). Fitzpatrick scored four goals, five assists and nine points in 56 games with the Sabres last season.

Oh and there was mention that Ryan Kesler hasn't been signed yet and that there's a gap in the numbers being negotiated. I like Kesler. I hope Nonis shows him some money.

Narff..

I must've been really tired. I fell asleep during this post. Here's Mattias Ohlund presumably with his son at a Fan Appreciation or Skills Competition..

Ian's article in the Sun

So.. we haven't heard much around the Canucks because Nonis has been on vacation.. in New Hampshire. According to the Sun, he'll be signing Linden and Carter's definitely not in the Canucks' future.

A quote..

A month before training camp begins, it's easy to see what the Canucks lineup will look like.

n Forward lines: Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison, Matt Cooke; Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Jan Bulis; Taylor Pyatt, Marc Chouinard, Ryan Kesler; Alex Burrows, Tommi Santala, Linden.

n Defence pairings: Willie Mitchell, Mattias Ohlund; Lukas Krajicek, Sami Salo; Luc Bourdon, Kevin Bieksa.

n Goalies: Roberto Luongo, Wade Flaherty.

This projection assumes restricted free agents Krajicek, Burrows and Kesler re-sign.

At Least Someone's Betting on the Nucks

Haha! So here's a reporter that's going with the Canucks. Not that he's thinking that they're gonna go all the way, mind you. The Canucks are the best value for your bet. Here's his espn article.

Mattias Ohlund back in 2001

I guess I'm still finding pictures out there of Mattias Ohlund. Here's one from back in 2001 with him sitting beside Nonis. I don't know why though. Maybe I should do up a mini timeline for important events. Hmm... well, maybe if I have time.. and can find the information. 8-)

Mattias Ohlund looks a bit fierce here, doesn't he? It's so out of his usual character..

Rajaton at the Vancouver Art Gallery

Saw a Finnish acapella sextet (6 of them) yesterday at the Vancouver Art Gallery called Rajaton. Wow, I was impressed. Jussi, pronounced "juicy" is the songwriter, creator and bass / beatbox. Good music.

Roberto would've liked to stay in Florida

I've found some more info as to what would explain the mixed statements of Luongo. Luongo said he had reached a tentative four-year deal with the Panthers that hinged on three conditions:

1. A public statement Florida would not trade him,
2. Hiring of Francois Allaire as his goaltender coach, and
3. Hiring of Jamie McLennan as his backup goaltender.

"They did not want to meet my three expectations which I thought were not that big a deal," he said. Keenan said the Panthers felt the negotiations were going no where. "We were at a point where we had tabled some offers he had rejected," said Keenan.

Luongo had married a woman from Florida and recently purchased a new mansion in Florida. He said he would rather stay in Florida but is looking forward to playing in Vancouver. I wonder how a young marriage would survive the move.

Unless Alain Vigneault has a change of heart, there's no room for Allaire in Vancouver. Vigneault has said he had intended to keep goaltending coach Ian Clark. Now that Noronen has left perhaps Jamie McLennan.. naw, no way. They've already signed Loungo.

Noronen leaves Canucks to play in Russia

Well, it was well known that Mika didn't want to stay on the bench and that pretty much was a guarantee while Luongo was in Vancouver. Soo.. he's off to Russia folks! Ak Bars Kazan of the Russian elite league, to be more exact.

Weinrich retires.. becomes AHL assistant coach

From tsn:

The 40 year old defenseman is expected to join Kevin Dineen's coaching staff on the AHL's Portland Pirates after almost two decades in the NHL.

Daschund in a pool with a Rubber Ducky

Teddy striking a pose
Originally uploaded by Doxieone.

I don't really subscribe to the "Dress Up Your Dog" Fan Club but this is kinda cute.

Roster changes aren't that dramatic

We dumped a shwack of people after the 2003/04 season. There was an overhaul of the 2003-2004 roster for the 2005-2006 season. We only kept 16 of the 26 listed on that list and played 14 on a regular basis. So what's so different this year?

I liked Brad May, Johan Hedberg and Mike Keane. May not have been too attached to Brent Sopel and Marek Malik but the blue line certainly suffered when they left.

On a side note, wow, did you know that Nolan Baumgartner is older than Jovo by 3 months??