Our poor, poor blue line!

So Willie Mitchell has fractured vertebrae, Salo's got a problem groin and Krajicek's shoulder is on the mend. So who's left on the blue line? Edler, Miller, Ohlund, Weaver... :| Geez, and look at their minutes from last night. 24, 18, 30, 12 respectively. Salo put in his 22 despite the groin.

Quote from Brent Buttt from Corner Gas (during cameo appearance on Canucks radio) right after Ohlund scores: “I guess it turns out Ohlund is a better NHL defenceman than I am. So you can stop arguing, everybody.”

Quotes from Mattias Ohlund:

"We thought we got away from our identity.. We're not going to be the highest-scoring team in the league... If we try to press too hard to create offence we are going to sacrifice our defence. I don't think that's the way we should play. Hopefully we can turn that around and start playing better defence and then we will be fine."

"To be honest, when you play 82 games, not every night do you have that energy that you need... You do get a big boost when instead of playing in front of seven thousand people you are playing in front of nearly 19,000 very passionate fans. That makes a big difference." from Brad Ziemer's article

Henrik Sedin at the All Stars in Atlanta

DSC_3509
Originally uploaded by kaatiya.

There he is folks! Henrik Sedin - arriving in Atlanta and already signing autographs. haha. Here's an article on nhl.com about him and make sure to watch the interview of Henrik AND Daniel.

Why some people will never be 'successful'

When you're in school, people teach you that you can achieve anything you want if you try hard enough. It's complete bullshit. Once you get out of academia, you learn that simple hard work and studying don't secure the rewards that school did. School is a safe, supportive and nurturing environment, not at all a microcosm of the real world. You better have other skills too - people skills, sales, networking, stubborness and moral blinders, to name a few.

Here's a good article by Kelly Pate Dwyer on how to field around office politics. But what if you don't want to deal with office politics? Well, you can minimize your chances of encountering those really nasty people by a)staying in a small firm b)avoiding sales and management positions or c)starting your own company. Unfortunately, it doing so, you usually limit your earning capacity.

Alexander Edler - Eaglet??

Well, since Kevin Bieksa is sidelined, Alexander Edler has become the new up and coming young defenceman to herald this year. Here's an Ian McIntyre article on him from the National Post. You know you've got something going if Ian writes a story on you.. and someone makes a replica BC license plate for you.

A cute quote from Trevor Linden excerpted:

"I come up with all kinds of stuff to call guys," Vancouver Canucks Trevor Linden explains. "Alex Edler - Edler. Eddie. Eddie the Eagle. What's an eagle? Big, majestic bird. But he's not big and majestic yet, so I said he's Eaglet. Everyone says, ‘What's an eaglet?' I say it's a baby eagle and everyone laughs, says it isn't. But it is."

1st Star of the game: Mattias Ohlund

It sure was satisfying to see Roberto pump his fist after winning the game for us last night. Thank you Luongo! Thank you Daniel! But a big thank you to Mattias! Our favourite Swedish defenseman scored not one but two goals - our only goals - in regulation against the St. Louis Blues. (I was actually kinda hoping he'd get a hat trick but alas, it wasn't meant to be.)

Now we're into the All Star Break and hopefully Willie Mitchell, Lukas Krajicek and everyone else who's suffering unbeknownst to the public will have the chance to heal.

A Belated Welcome Back Mattias!

Where's that Yahoo hugging smiley when you need it? lol. Oh there we go.

Sorry to see Mitchell out with his back. I think it was that 27 minute night that put the back over the edge. Salo is toughing it out - he's had a pretty rough season already so far with injuries. Glad to see Linden on the lineup again though.

It was nice to see the Canucks tribute to Naslund. I'm glad that there was at least a bit of humour in there (Ohlie's poke at Naslund's penchant for junk food) or else it would have been so somber.

Elliot Pap's article

What a great 3rd period against Detroit!

Man, that was great! If only we could play like that every night and every shift.. but then we'd be really tired.. and bruised. I laughed when Alain commended the team for picking up their offense. Wasn't this the coach who said that we do better playing a 1-2 goal game rather than a 3-4 goal game?

Willie Mitchell did a radio interview yesterday and he hemmed and hawed at the question of "Don't you ever want to take the puck and just SCORE??" Poor guy, restricted by his role and the team's defensive identity.

A big hug to Markus Naslund for reaching his 1000 NHL game milestone!
And welcome back to Trevor Linden, who finally made an appearance on the lineup after 3 games.

Google Pagerank: 3!

I confess that I haven't been checking my SEO stats since my pet project site Mainly Mattias Ohlund secured the number 1 spot on Google. I did check page rank and it did increase from 2 to 3. My work one is still 4 though.

Tuesday update on Ohlund

So, surprisingly Ohlie could be back as early as Saturday. From Botchford's article today..

MATTIAS OHLUND..
Situation: A lingering concussion suffered Dec. 18 against New Jersey. He's missed 13 games and still leads all Vancouver defencemen with 13 points.
Date of possible return: Saturday. It better be soon. Coach Alain Vigneault acknowledged Monday that Ohlund's has been one of the most difficult injuries for team to overcome.

"Mattias is a big part of our power play, a big part of our defensive presence," Vigneault said. "With him being out ... it's a challenge for us back there."

The good news is Ohlund skated Monday for the first time since Dec. 22.

"I think everything looked good," Vigneault said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to get him to practise with the team on Friday and play Saturday [at home against the Los Angeles Kings]."

Is being able to read people well brown-nosing?

Here's an interesting hypothetical interview scenario for you. Let's see how well you can read this particular hiring manager:

In the following brief scenario, imagine you’re the candidate. Let’s see what you can quickly learn about the interviewer.

As an assistant shows you into the office, the interviewer glances up, takes a quick look at her watch, gives a perfunctory hello and gestures for you to take a seat. Once in the room, you’re immediately struck by the imposing oak desk and two leather club chairs positioned in front of it, as well as the bookcase filled with reference books and policy manuals. Her desk is neat and orderly and contains a calendar, file folder and a pen and pencil set. No pictures of family members or friends are on the desk, but several diplomas and certificates of achievement, one for being named manager of the month, hang on the wall.

The manager is dressed in a conservative business suit. Her hair, which is cut fairly short, is neatly combed. She keeps her suit jacket on. After a moment or two of small talk, she opens a file on her desk to prepare for your interview. Her tone is formal and professional as she outlines the job requirements and her expectations for the prospective hire. Her language is straightforward and direct. In a clear and commanding voice, she reviews key experiences from your resume, covering lots of ground rather quickly, and asks a few pointed questions about the reasons you left your last position.

She spends virtually no time complimenting you on your many highlighted achievements. She describes in detail the responsibilities of the job and emphasizes the timetable for implementing and completing key projects. Finally, she tells you the salary and, looking at her watch, asks if you have any questions. Showing you to the door, she informs you that someone will be contacting you within two weeks.

The supposed answer is on the bottom of this article on How to 'Speed-Read' Hiring Managers. (under the boxed text and labelled "What does this tell you?")

I miss Mattias Ohlund..

Mattias Ohlund has been out for 8 games, 3 weeks tomorrow. His last game was against the Coyotes back on December 22, 2007. Here's a guy that played through a hernia that required surgery last season and that came back after 2 weeks with barely healed bruised ribs from the Olympics to play 30:54 minutes. You know that if he's out for this long that it's a serious injury. My (and I'm sure thousands of others') good thoughts go to the Ohlunds.

All the status, power, fame and money in the world don't amount to much when your health and future quality of life are threatened..

On a happier note, a lot has happened recently: Henrik Sedin will play in the All Stars, Luongo was to go to the All Stars too but chose to decline in order to spend time with pregnant wife, Gina, in Florida and Cliff Ronning was named to the BC Hockey Hall of Fame.

Why concussions should be taken seriously

The graphic is from another story but the follwing snippet is from an article by Scott Reid from the OC Register:

More than two years after concussions forced him into retirement in 1999, former National Hockey League defenseman Jeff Beukeboom still suffered from the effects of his head injuries.

He couldn't remember things. He forgot what he was talking about in the middle of conversations. Light bothered him. So did the slightest noise. He slipped into depression, was frequently irritable and always exhausted.

"That was my life on a daily basis," the 14-year NHL veteran said. "Waking up every day and hoping you would feel better and you didn't. Every day I woke up and my head felt like an over-inflated basketball. It was 2½ years of feeling like (garbage). I felt like (garbage) every day."

Stories like Beukeboom's will become increasingly common among NHL veterans in the coming years, medical experts predict...

..the total human cost from concussions will not be known for years, even decades. Retired NHL players said they continue to suffer from memory loss, constant headaches, fatigue, depression and other concussion-related symptoms for years after they played their last game. Even after those symptoms wear off, medical experts said those players remain at risk of permanent neurological damage that will affect their daily quality of life.

Superskills was fun..

Ohlund, Krajicek, and Miller were all absent from the Canucks Superskills competition today. Though they were suited up, Brendan Morrison and Jeff Cowan were in civilian clothes on the bench with the other miscellaneous people there. Mason Raymond got the pie this time around. Salo didn't break 100mph in his two attempts for the hardest shot so Alex Edler was able to take it with a 99mph shot. No fancy shenanigans this time round like that 2 person screen with the one leg lift last year. =( haha!

"Following your heart" is a formula for idiots

Some advice from Jonathan Kay, National Post. Full article.

You have to pick a career that plays to your strengths, allows you to pay the bills and doesn't bore you to death. More importantly, you need a mate who wants the same things out of life's lengthy odyssey as do you.

My lesson learned: In both of these quests, you must be ruthlessly levelheaded. "Following your heart" is a formula for idiots.

I don't mean that people shouldn't fall in love and live life passionately. What I mean is that they shouldn't follow the example of the Hollywood hero who tosses away everything for some beautiful girl he barely knows, or for a shot at stardom. In the movies, this is always the right move. In real life, it's a disaster.

The "heart," as pop culture defines it, is a silly, narcissistic, juvenile thing.

More info on Ohlund's injury

Snippet from Elliot Pap's article:

Injured Canuck defenceman Mattias Ohlund, who has concussion-like symptoms as well as a sore neck, will try riding the bike today on his road back to the lineup.

Ohlund was originally hurt Dec. 18 against New Jersey but played another two games before bowing out of the lineup.

He has not done any exercise in a week and has missed three contests and counting.

"I am feeling better," Ohlund said Sunday.

Ben Kuzma's article:

The good news Sunday was that Mattias Ohlund was at GM Place. The bad news was that the injured Vancouver Canucks defenceman was forced to watch proceedings from the press box.

Ohlund suffered a neck and head injury on Dec. 18 against New Jersey and has missed three games. He didn't accompany the team to Calgary for tonight's game against the Flames and his timetable for a return is uncertain.

"I got hit on the first shift against New Jersey and had my head jammed against the [corner] glass," said Ohlund, who has been experiencing neck stiffness and headaches.

"I played a few more games, but I didn't feel good and things are not were they're supposed to be."

Ohlund logged 24:20 against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 20 at GM Place and 24:11 two nights later in Phoenix against the Coyotes before deciding he was in too much difficulty to play at a top level.