Canucks and Beyond
The Crazy Canucks… and Beyond
by Alanah McGinley on 02/14/07 at 03:04 PM ET
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The Crazy Canucks, Episode #21 [49:41 minutes]. Listen online or download. This week's podcast was great fun -- with most of the usual suspects (missing Dave, but in the company of John, Rebecca, J.J. and me) PLUS Zanstorm of Waiting for Stanley signed on as a guest. Be sure to listen... somewhere along the way, I believe Zanstorm (a.k.a. Sean) actually gives up his love of the Toronto Maple Leafs and confesses that he's really a Canucks fan. (You heard it here first!) Finally, Rebecca decided I needed an avatar for my Skype ID, so she developed this. There's a very good chance I'm being insulted here...
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The NHL, Sedin Style
by Alanah McGinley on 02/13/07 at 03:36 PM ET
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The new My NHL ad which debuted last weekend features Daniel and Henrik Sedin*. Most people have probably seen it by now -- I should've put this up sooner -- but I figure it's good to keep it handy: Update: Here's a large screenshot from the video, courtesy of the NHL. Use it for wallpaper. (And I don't mean computer wallpaper... print a whole pile of them and wallpaper your family room.)
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Luongo, I’m Pregnant!
by Alanah McGinley on 02/13/07 at 07:05 AM ET
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With thanks to reader 'hockeyknight' I received a link to this video yesterday. Madness, madness, madness...
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Accountability: From Bloggers to Sportsnet Television
by Alanah McGinley on 02/12/07 at 03:00 PM ET
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One of my favorite hockey bloggers is J.J. Guerrero, who writes for Canucks Hockey Blog and the official Canucks.com website, and also podcasts with me on The Crazy Canucks. On Saturday he posted about Sportsnet's decision to use Eklund of HockeyBuzz on their trade deadline show two weeks from now.
"Despite the advances bloggers and the internet have made in the last couple of years, the mainstream media, regardless of format, are still held to a higher standard of accountability; Sportsnet's approach comes nowhere close to meeting this standard. "I'd like to echo everything J.J. says in his post and even take it a step further: Sportsnet is out of their minds with this choice, and they're throwing their credibility right out the window. I watched with interest last week as Kukla's Korner finally posted some information about Eklund and his fake-commenting foolishness. I say "finally" because I knew about Eklund leaving fake comments pretending to be other people since last spring as well. Kukla's Korner wasn't the only site that the well-known hockey blogger played games with -- I had my own odd experiences with the guy.
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Forsberg, Vancouver and a Sick Bag
by Alanah McGinley on 02/12/07 at 06:59 AM ET
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From the Courier-Post Online late yesterday:
Forsberg has told teammates he would like to play for a Stanley Cup contender and many believe his first choice would be Vancouver, where he could be reunited with childhood friend and Swedish Olympic teammate Markus Naslund. Other teams believed to be seriously interested in Forsberg are Detroit, Montreal, Anaheim, San Jose and the Rangers. With the Feb. 27 trade deadline just 15 days away, many of those teams would like to know where the Flyers stand with Forsberg.I fully expect 95% of the Canucks fans reading this are feeling faint at the possibility of Foppa coming to Vancouver in the next two weeks, but don't count me among them. Well, actually I'm torn on the issue. He IS, of course, a really freakin' good hockey player -- but on the other side of the equation: Exhibit 'A'. So. Much. History. Not to mention all my unfinished anti-Forsberg photoshop ideas just screaming to be released onto the world...
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Swedish Welcoming Committee
by Alanah McGinley on 02/09/07 at 09:53 PM ET
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I saw in Chuck Gormley’s article earlier today speculation that Peter Forsberg would likely choose Detroit as his first choice for relocation, and Vancouver as his second. And while Detroit fans are hopeful, it seems that the Swedish Detroit players are starting to get really excited…
Well, as a Canucks’ fan, please accept my best wishes Wings Nation. If I’m sitting around dreaming impossible dreams, I’m sorta thinking I’d personally rather see this guy come to town. Not that Kevin Lowe cares at all about my needs.
But hell, I’m a Vancouver fan—my entire hockey fandom is based on impossible dreams—and so I’ll continue praying for Ryan.
(And honestly, if Kirk Maltby can own a three Stanley Cup rings, perhaps anything is possible…)
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Canucks Salary Cap Musings
by Alanah McGinley on 02/09/07 at 04:04 PM ET
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The trade deadline comes up on February 27th, in just over two weeks. Vancouver has some roster gaps we're going to hear a lot about in the coming weeks, but for the moment I wanted to take a stab at understanding the Canucks' salary cap status. Full Disclosure: I find anything to do with the CBA to be about as entertaining as watching my dog take a crap in the yard -- that is, I don't want to watch the process that closely, but I'm painfully aware that once in a while I need to clean it up. Understanding the salary cap at trade deadline is like needing to clean up the crap in the yard. (Wasn't that a charming metaphor? I've got a ton of 'em...) Anyway, for the love of God, don't rely on these figures for 100% accuracy. Consider whose blog you're reading... that would just be foolish of you.
Vancouver Canucks Salary Cap
-- US $44,200,000 2006/07 Salary Cap -- US $43,495,865 Canucks Projected Spending 2006/07 So this leaves the Canucks with around $700,000 spare change to spend under the salary cap at this point. And this is taking into account bonuses of $200,000 that the team may or may not have to pay, but doesn't necessarily take into account injury allowances. (i.e. I'm not quite sure if or how Ryan Kesler's injury time is factored into this for the remainder of the season, but I'm fairly certain that the figures I've got here don't include the extra salary-relief the Canucks should get for losing him.) Now, as I understand it, any player acquired by the trade deadline is factored into Vancouver's salary base, based on his projected earnings the rest of the season and league approved long-term injuries like Kesler's are subtracted from spending. This seems logical to me, but I'll admit I'm really not certain if that is true.* But if I am understanding this correctly (and without getting all picky about using calculators and such) I'm guessing that Kesler's injury affords us something like a $600,000 (???) adjustment under the cap -- he's not making it so we should be able to spend that elsewhere. If anyone knows different, or can explain this any clearer, please let me know. Assuming this is roughly correct, Vancouver is looking at about $1.3 million spending money on salary cap day. Update: Please be sure to read the comments to this post. J.J. adds his much-more informed opinion to the issue. * I believe the salary cap adjustment kicks in for any team when a player misses 10 games and at least 24 days. ** Salary cap figures are taken from Irish Blues. Complete misinterpretations of of those figures are my responsibility alone. Filed in: | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Will Avery Bite the Apple?
by Alanah McGinley on 02/08/07 at 12:45 PM ET
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Sean Avery has been missed by hockey editorial writers everywhere, muzzled as he’s been in Los Angeles this season. So here’s hoping a new city inspires the best hockey quote behind Jeremy Roenick to start talking trash again.
After his first game with the Rangers, Avery commented, “I’ll just try and play hard and fit in where I can.”
Oh dear God… no more of that sort of thing, Sean! You’re in New York now. Mouthiness will be appreciated—by all of us, I dare say.
____________
*image created here
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Kesler, the Sedins and a Fish
by Alanah McGinley on 02/08/07 at 11:06 AM ET
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Published yesterday, I thought this was an interesting reminder of where we started with Ryan Kesler this season:
Bobby Clarke did not sign Ryan Kesler. He branded him. That $1.9 million US figure may as well have been burned into Kesler’s flesh, or put on his uniform instead of No. 17. Within days of the Vancouver Canucks matching Clarke’s ill-conceived free-agent offer to Kesler last September, the Philadelphia story became the forward’s stigma. $1.9 million. It eclipsed all other numbers. Plus/minus, minutes, blocks, penalty killing? None of this mattered because of his scandalous salary — $1.9 million for a guy who had 10 goals last season. It’s not Kesler’s fault Clarke was willing to pay him that. Yet, the figure hung on him like an anvil, as if it warranted an apology.
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Crap Sandwiches
by Alanah McGinley on 02/08/07 at 01:19 AM ET
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The Crazy Canucks, Episode #20 [49:02 minutes]. Listen online or download. Despite some audio and connection troubles -- and Murphy's Law generally trying to screw up our weekly hockey talk party -- the episode is ready to go. And with a first for the show: a guest! Blogger Loxy of Hot Oil brought her evil (but still very charming and informed) pro- Edmonton Oilers views to the show. Thanks, Loxy!
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About Canucks and Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading "parenting for complete idiots" during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.
In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla's Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
So that's me. Who the hell are you? 
Email: am@kuklaskorner.com
Alanah's Twitter: [@alanah1]
