The Old Vancouver Canucks team plane

DSC_0621
Originally uploaded by kiltedlibrarian.

Apparently part of it is in a flight museum in Washington.. I dunno.. it's somewhat weird to think part of our current culture is in a museum.

Ohlund still out

So after nine days, they finally stitched up Ohlund's elbow cut but he still sat out for tonight's game against Calgary. So far, we're down by 3. From Elliott Pap's article in the Sun today,

"It was a pretty deep cut and it's just a matter, I guess, of not falling on it again or taking any chances so close to the playoffs," Ohlund continued. "We want to do the right thing.

"I don't know about Tuesday's game [against L.A.]. It all depends on when I start skating again. I will need a few days to practise with the team before I play."

Oh, and some fan made a whole bunch of these pretty funny Canucks/IKEA avatars.

Salo here for another 4 years

Woohoo! Thanks M for the heads up.

Salo is here to stay folks!

“I’ve said all along I’m happy here and my family and I wanted to stay in Vancouver,” said Salo, who has three children with wife Johanna. The deal is believed to be similar to Mitchell's: a four-year deal worth $14 million US, or $3.5 million a season.

Clark: The Canadian Goalie

A friend emailed this to me. How it got to her in NY beats me. Probably some Ontarionians. A short clip by George Plamondon. I love the quote, "My groin has never felt better!"

Sami Salo to the Rescue!

So Sami scored the lone goal for the Canucks in last night's win in regulation against the Avs. With Calgary winning in shootout and only giving one point to Minnesota (98), the Canucks are still at the top of the divisional race with 99 points.

Celebrity Lookalikes

So I know that there are other NHL hockey sites with really good lookalike threads but this past one on CDC had a really good/cute one! Awww.. Peter..

Ohlund didn't make the road trip and Alain was apparently pissed off at the defence last night. *shrug*

Hey! So are you a Canucks fan? Do you get aroused by watching them play? Well, apparently you do if you're a "highly identified" fan, accoring to a 2000 NY Times article.

Both men and women -- are not only less likely to abandon a team when it is doing poorly, but tend to blame their team's failures on officiating or bad luck rather than the other team's skill. They also exhibit higher levels of physiological arousal at games, spend more money on tickets and merchandise and enjoy generally higher self-esteem than people uninterested in sports.

Waa.. I can't sleep!

Well, since I can't sleep, I might as well put up a post. The Canucks were without Mattias for the first time this season. It looked like they were doing well in the first period but Colorado and Sakic came back with a vengence to win in shootout 5-4.

From canucks.com:

Just as Mitchell is set to return to the line-up after missing the past five games with a groin strain, Ohlund is going to step out.

The Swedish horse injured his elbow during Wednesday's 2-0 win over the Predators when his elbow pad slid up as he fell to the ice.

"It was in the second period and it was pretty simple: I just fell down on the ice," said Ohlund, who currently leads the team in ice time averaging just under 25 minutes per game. "I got a little cut on my elbow that can't be closed yet, it needs to be open for a few days to heal from the inside. It's not a big deal, but it's something we need to look after."

"They could sew it up and I could probably play, but there's a risk of infection and that wouldn�t be good so we�re just taking it slow and making sure we do the right thing."

It's Official: Mattias is injured

Snippet from the article by Botchford

Mattias Ohlund is the latest Canuck defencemen to be sidelined by injury. He hurt his elbow during Wednesday's win against the Predators and could be out for a week.

"He'll be out for a little while," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "He knocked his elbow and it opened up. So, they had to clean it up and it's still not closed. We don't want to risk infection so he'll be out anywhere from three to seven days."

It still hasn't closed?? from Wednesday night?? Must've been an awfully large 'open'ing. God. At least they're not saying 'upper body injury'.

Mattias.. take some extra days off too so that you can rest for the playoffs!

Showers at GM Place

SANY0045
Originally uploaded by zach.taylor96.

:| I could say something but do I really have to? *sly grin* lol.

Oh, the Canucks open practice was today and the lower bowl was pretty much all full with a few hundred in the upper bowl. Brian Smolinski and Mattias Ohlund weren't there though. *sniff* Rumour has it that Ohlund suffered an elbow injury which takes him out for 7 days...

Damn, Yahoo is streaming the April 5th Colorado ppv game but not tomorrow's.

Aren't you excited for the playoffs?

Eeeee.. I can't wait for the playoffs to start! And here's a random pic of a dressed up dog to boot!

Wives of the Canucks

canucks wives scan
Originally uploaded by TamaraF.

This must've been during the Dice & Ice.

Ick, I'd hate to have to partake in things like that. Shmooze with other potentially bitchy women while people fawn over the husbands.

Aside: Everyone looks very nice by the way.

What a win against Nashville!

Sometimes it astounds me how well the Canucks really can play if they set their minds to it. Last night was a great game. 2-0 Vancouver Canucks and what an exciting game it was!

Highlights were: the replay of the Nashville goal one second after the 3rd period ended, Santala getting his 1st goal with the Canucks and Peter Forsberg! I wonder if Peter and Markus got together for sushi for a catch up. haha!

Oh, and Part 3 of Steady As He Goes is now up. Now that I'm watching it, I've seen this part of the interview before so this must have been done a long time ago.. last summer maybe.

Ohlund and Luongo have their groove on

A snippet from Iain MacIntyre's article today:

"It's hard to say anything more about Roberto than what we've seen on the ice," Canuck Trevor Linden said after scoring against the Oilers. "He has been everything we've asked for and more.

"But it's his professionalism, his hard work, his presence in the room -- the stuff that maybe people don't see -- that makes him so special."

Defenceman Mattias Ohlund, who logged 27:02 of ice time and was plus-one, said: "He has brought something to this organization that we have not had in a long, long time. He has such a presence. He's so well-liked. He's not a typical goalie -- by that, I mean he's as normal as anyone can be."

Wow. Can you believe that Roberto's got 42 wins (or is it 43?) and there're still 9 games left in the season?

I was afraid that Ohlund and Luongo wouldn't have a good relationship but it seems to be good. I didn't think Ohlie and Auldy got along. It always seemed like Auldy thought Ohlie was screening and same with Luongo early on in the season. I guess Roberto is a better communicator... and a better goalie. He doesn't mind that one forward in front of him and has said that he doesn't need his defenceman to take him out. I think Ohlund has much improved from last year. He's more disciplined and not taking the penalties that he took last year with the first year of the 'new NHL'. He's also still so conditioned that he's not injury prone. Either that or he just sucks it up and plays through. Probably a bit of both..

94 Points!

94 points now after the 2-1 win over Edmonton. The Oilers sure had a lot of scratches. Poor Edmonton. Now in rebuilding phase after going all the way to the Stanley Cup finals just last year.

Well, with an assist tonight, Mattias just needs 3 more Assists to get to his 200 career assists mark. Jim Hughson, "Ohlund got hit in the seat of the pants.."

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Oooo, nice to get a 4-1 win.. over Detroit no less. Anyway, Salo is joining Mitchell on the day to day injured list. He didn't play in the third period but it looked like it was ok anyway. We won.

Well, since no one was answering my request, I had to fetch the Ohlund vids myself. A thank you to my source! Here you go M!

Mattias Ohlund - Steady As He Goes: Part 1
Mattias Ohlund - Steady As He Goes: Part 2

Wouldn't it be weird if your parents had blogs?

Hmm.. so when did this web logging thing become such a sensation? Or has it always been? When I went to school, there were only a handful of gamers who kept plugging their sites to get hits. Now, every elementary student has a blog or at least a myspace site. I had this great prof in university. I checked up on him and lo and behold, he has a blog now too. At least my parents don't have blogs. That'd just be weird. Imagine being able to read on a public website the thoughts and feelings of your parents or your children. Eww! OK, sure, I have a blog but it's about Mattias Ohlund and the Canucks.

Aren't people scared of stalkers? Of friends and family knowing exactly what's going on in their lives? Of people knowing their innermost feelings and dreams? Of corporations making profit out of people's narcissism?

Aside: If you're not afraid of random people, how about the US government? Here's a snippet from an article on Google and privacy:

Of all the major search engines, Google is the only one to publicly disclose that it has fought government efforts for consumer data. A year ago, Google challenged a subpoena received by the U.S. Department of Justice that ordered Google to hand over a random sample of a week's worth of search terms and one million Web pages from its index to aid in the Bush administration's defense of an Internet pornography law. One month later a federal judge sided mostly with Google and ordered the company to provide half of the amount of Web pages sought but none of the search queries.

Jarrko Ruutu: Remember him?

Ahhh, another hockey player who is a Metallica fan. =D Is it mandatory for guys to like Metallica or is it just considered wimpy if you don't? Anyway, I think Jarrko is doing well at his new team in Pittsburgh. He looks so nondescript in the banker shot doesn't he? Who would've thought he'd be considered amongst the best pests of the NHL, eh? Sometimes I wonder if these guys ever regret their career paths. Hockey player: Rich, famous, idolized but brutalized mentally and physically or Regular joe: poor, educated, brutalized mentally and physically. HMMMMM..

Ohlund's Steady As He Goes: Part Deux

Well the second part of Ohlund's video special is up on the Canucks site now. No one has put up Part I and Part II on Youtube yet. Still waiting!! Anyway, it's nice to hear an interview of Mattias and not hear the usual hockey player interview spiel. His interview, along with Trevor's, made me somewhat sad. It's a good interview.

He talks about how the core group got to be good friends and how even though everyone knew things were gonna change last year that it was still hard to accept. He also talks about how he knows that he's an important cornerstone of the team but still strives to learn and knows he still has things to improve on.

Mattias is known for being the best conditioned guy on the team every year and isn't prone to injury. Heck, remember when he was crunched last year and he only missed a couple of games? Man, what a trooper. In the interview, he admitted that there are only a few days out of the season that you feel great. Most of them, you either are suffering from some minor injury or your legs are tired. But as you get older, you discover that everyone goes through the same thing too and you just accept it.

A good interview.

Stretching Out with Mattias

Heh heh. I'll bet both Mattias and Jon Sanderson, Assistant Medical Trainer, were not too happy at the photographer for taking this photo. I'm glad s/he did though. It's interesting to see what happens behind the scenes. Anyway, Mattias shouldn't be embarrassed... he's got some nice legs.

Aside: Are those the special calf constricting socks? The ones for runners and flight attendants?

Canucks lose to Wild in OT 3-2

Well, the Canucks sure played aggresively in the first period, almost like they were trying to play to the level of the Ducks from last game. After those 2 goals though, it seemed like they realized that they weren't playing the Ducks and allowed a little more slack. It was mighty unfortunate that Rolston tied it late in the 3rd and Burns got that late late late OT goal. Sigh. Now the NW playoff standings:

1. Vancouver 88 - 70 games played
2. Minnesota 87 - 71 games played
3. Calgary 84 - 69 games played

Poor Willie Mitchell stayed out for tonight's game to rest his groin again. He better have his groin in tip top shape for the playoffs! err.. So.. Mattias Ohlund came back to his original role of top line shut down defenceman and contained Gaborik so well that John Garrett and Jim Hughson gave him 1st star of the game.

Steady As He Goes: Part I segment on M. Ohlund

JJ's New Shirt
Originally uploaded by miss604.

When I saw the Mattias Ohlund clip on the Phoenix ppv game I was really hoping that it would be shown again. Apparently Steady As He Goes is only part 1 of the segment on Mattias Ohlund and is now being shown on Canucks video on the website.

As an aside, found this photo on Flickr. It should be "We're Canucks, but we love our Swedes!" or "Swedes are hot" or "Vancouver Canucks: We play hockey well and are pretty Swede too!" haha! This could go on forever.. :|

Those Sedins sure can be bitches

HOLY COW, what a game. I logged on to watch the ppv game online tonight and there were fights galore and plenty of angry players. I was shocked and amused at the Sedins' ability to tick off. Henrik's kicking of Giguere's right leg on a flyby 'by accident' was pretty funny. You know emotions are high when the Sedins are in the middle of things. Even the Anaheim commentators were going at each other. It was strange though, that it was a linesman, not a player, that left the game after the first period due to an injury. It was later revealed that he tore his pectoral muscle and is gonna be out 4-6 months. Surprisingly, Markus Naslund, who was interviewed at the 2nd intermission was very normal toned.. I'm curious how the interviews for the Canucks ppv went.

Phoenix loses at home

Had a couple of friends over for the ppv game last night. It was a not bad first period but was an 'eh' for the second and third. I was surprised that Cowan's redirect with his skate wasn't even reviewed. There have been many more goals that have looked less suspect and have been disallowed. Anyway, Vancouver took the game 4-2 and has 85 points now.

Heard that Bertuzzi won't be in playing condition when the Detroit game rolls around. Aww..

Oh, here's a Canucks quiz that was made by Loyal on Quizfarm: Which Canucks player are you?
I'm unfortunately not Mattias Ohlund but Kevin Bieksa. *shrug*

An article on Mattias Ohlund

There always seems to be a different hero of the second when it comes to Vancouver Canucks fans. The scorers always get the love and the limelight. Out of the defensemen, pretty much all of them have been in the fans' good books at one point or another too.. Salo.. Fitzpatrick.. Ohlund.. Bieksa.. Mitchell.. Sopel.. well, except for Lukas Krajicek. (Aside: Go Krajicek!)

Anyway, there really was no point to all that. I just wanted to post the Mattias Ohlund article from Canucks.com.

Tampa Bay loses to Vancouver 5-1

So.. for being first in its division and 3rd in the Eastern conference, Tampa Bay sure didn't play that well. Correct that - they didn't play well against the defensive system that Vancouver is now known for. Waiting for the pretty play and not shooting the puck is shades of the old Vancouver Canucks.

Anyway, Bulis' back pass to overnight superstar Cowan should've made the play of the game but didn't. The crowd started chanting "Cowan" and they had to stop play to clear the bra that was thown to the ice. I liked how the ref didn't even dare touch the thing. He picked it up with a stick and threw it out off the ice. haha!

Was also happy that there weren't shots of Alain Vigneault and ghastly low cut tops on cougars behind him. Geez, what game was that? Sunday? Yeech.

A Win keeps Canucks on Top

Yikes. Talk about needing to win a game. After a serious game last night, Vancouver is now at 81 points, with Calgary and Minnesota both tied at 79. I was seriously considering not buying last night's ppv game. Hell, another sleeper against Minnesota?! I wasn't falling for that again. Anyhow, I'm glad I did. I've missed the last 6 games or so for various reasons so it was really good to see some hockey again.

Mattias Ohlund had a GREAT game! I was so pleased. Reinforced my being an Ohlund fan. Once again, being the non-flashy player who does his job quietly but effectively. Except for some questionable pinching in OT, or was it the 3rd, he took his man, was aware of Minny plays, aware of Luongo, blocked shots, made hits (although they were never on camera), and didn't take any penalties.

The team in general played a good game. Cowan and Mitchell were the game heroes tonight so good for them for getting into the spotlight. And go Trevor! His shootout goal brought the house down in every Canucks fan's domicile, including mine.

Canucks have a big game tomorrow

Minnesota and Calgary all have a shot at first North West Divisional status. Currently, the North West Division looks like this:
Canucks: 64GP 79Pts
Wild: 65GP 78Pts
Flames: 64GP 77Pts
Avalanche: 65GP 67Pts
Oilers: 65 GP 66Pts

Oh, and thought that this was pretty interesting. It's a handwriting analysis page. Well.. more like few pages. (If you scroll to the bottom, you'll see Pages 1-4) Pretty interesting!