Friday, June 30, 2006

BAD, FNBB, and HCD



I'm being BAD.



The beer of choice: Boddington's English Pub Ale. A medium dark beer with loads of flavour and a nifty widjit in the can that I'll use to cheer on England at the World Cup. Rattle Rattle! As an added bonus, the story on TSN.ca that I'm looking at is regarding the Leafs latest transactions: buying out Tie Domi and letting go of Ed Belfour. Ahhh, the craziness in Leafland continues. It's a fine time to be a Canucks fan. Life is Good.

I'm also enjoying Darcey's Friday Night Blues and Beer. He's selected a fine line of blues tunes to help pass a Friday night, including some CanCon in honour of Canada Day. Speaking of which, I'm working on a Canada Day post for tomorrow. It's going to include some pics of Temujin's little corner of Canada, so be sure to check it out.

But for now, Rita Chiarelli, here I come...

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Not Ashamed Anymore

I'm not longer ashamed to be seen wearing it. And wear it proudly I will!


The Pride Returns Posted by Picasa

Next step, get the number 1 and the name "Luongo" stitched on the back. We've got him locked up for four years, and I couldn't be happier.

Worth every penny.

Update: this day just keeps getting better. From the heights of happiness to the depths of despair... all in one week!

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Go. Donate. Now.

Would it kill you to donate?

I gave $50.00, and I'm a poor carpet tech.

Children of the Broom.

Is it my birthday?

Last night, via my brother, I learned of the trade involving the Canucks and the Panthers that sees Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen, and Alex Auld head south for Lukas Krajicek, a sixth round draft pick, and some goalie named Roberto Luongo. I thought perhaps it was merely a dream, and the hockey pundits on television were falling all over themselves with how one-sided of a deal this is for Florida. All the while it seemed to me that GM Dave Nonis of Vancouver took his counterpart in Florida for a ride.

It was most certainly not a dream! And I'm thinking it must be my birthday or something.

The Canucks have picked up the premier goalie in the league. He is arguably the best out there behind Martin Brodeur (if anyone mentions Kipper in the comments section they'll be barred from WCC for life!). Last year he had 35 wins, a 2.97 GAA, a save percentage of .917, and 4 shutouts in 75 freaking games on a team that finished with 85 points. Alex Auld (whom I thought deserved a lot of credit for keeping the Canucks in the playoff hunt last season) had 33 wins, a 2.94 GAA, .902 save percentage, and zero shutouts in 67 games. Pretty good numbers for both, to be sure. However, Auld faced an average of 29 shots per game in Vancouver, compared to Luongo's 33 in Florida. This indicates to me that Florida was not as strong of a team as the Canucks, at least defensively. Luongo should face a lot less shots in Vancouver, and will have a better team in front of him.

It sure is disappointing to see Bryan Allen go. I was really impressed with his play, and he proved he can be a bona fide NHL defensemen. He is responsible defensively, can put the puck in the net, and hits like a Mack truck. He had 17 points and 115 penalty minutes in 77 games last year, while Lukas Krajicek had 16 points and 50 penalty minutes in 67 games. Less time in the penalty box and more scoring (if you consider the games played) means an upgrade on D.

I do not see how a 6th round pick is going to make up for the loss of Bertuzzi. He's a top quality player with skills and ability that 600 other NHLers only wish they had. However, he did not play as good as he should have last year. He did not hit like he used to. He did not score like he used to. He still took penalties at the worst possible moment and did not improve defensivly (he was a -17). He also earned 5.3 million dollars last year, which can be used to sign a quality free agent. Luongo is going to make at least 6 million, but when Cloutier gets traded we will have more than enough cash (with the increased cap) to sign replacement for Big Bert. Keep in mind, 71 points is not that hard to come by in the new NHL. Maxin Afinogenov, for instance, had 73 points. Patrice Bergeron had 73 on the lacklustre Bruins squad, and Brian Rolston had 79 in defensive-minded Minnesota. None of those players makes the kind of money Bertuzzi does.

Perhaps the only lingering question is how will this affect Markus Naslund. Nazzy went to bat for Bert big time last year, and I'm sure he's felling a little upset that one of his best friends is leaving town. Here's hoping that whoever replaces Todd on the top line will help Naslund improve on his 79 point, -19 season.

I'm not at all convinced that this was a lop-sided deal for Florida. Quite the contrary, in fact.

As a side note, here is an interesting thought: Did Mike Keenan draft both Alex Auld and Bryan Allen? I think he might have. He also was responsible for bringing Bertuzzi to Vancouver. This trade makes a whole lot more sense when seen in that light. Iron Mike is familiar with all three players and likes all three players.

I can't wait for the start of the season!

Monday, June 19, 2006

LOSERS!

The Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup.

Good on 'em.

I was one of about five 'Canes fans in the Smithers Boston Pizza, we were a small but vocal crowd.

We cheered loudly as we rode our bandwagon team to victory.
I even got a beer spilled on me by a disgruntled Oiler fan!!!
HAHAHA poor loser Oiler fans! Although I was mildly concerned about the drive home (uhhh, officer, I got beer spilled on me... honestly!), all in all it was a fantastic night. The better team did win, and I get to rejoice as Colby Cosh, Covered in Oil, and the Battle of Alberta faithful (Sacamano's in historical Northern Mongolia - lucky bastard) wail loudly at their teams pathetic choke job. I wonder how long it will be until someone proudly proclaims "well you know, three months ago no one thought we would even be in the playoffs..." blah blah blah. Fact of the matter is, for two solid years Oiler fans have been insulting the Flames for their defeat in the '04 finals, and yet their team has done so very much worse. The Flames in '04 may have been one win away from glory, but the Oilers were one win away from freakin' history.
They were down 3-1 last week.

They fought back and won two games in a row.

Actually, "won" does not quite describe it, they fekkin' dominated games 5 and 6.

But the trifecta of averageness known as Ales, Raffi, and Fernando just couldn't muster enough heart to show up for game 7. The biggest game any of them will ever play in, and none of them even bothered to dress. Oh sure, Fernando had a break-away, but what did he do? Oh, right, he shot it over the freaking net from six feet away. Pisani will forever be known as Edmonton's Roberto Baggio, a "star" player who just couldn't get it done when all the marbles were on the line.

In fact, when Edmonton Oiler fans look back upon this season, they will have to relectantly admit that their less-than-stellar team consisted of complete overacheivers that were unable to continue their fortunes when the Big Game finally rolled around. No one with any honesty in them will tell you that they picked the Oil to make it to the Finals with a line-up consisting of Fernando Pisani, Raffi Torres, Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff, Radek Dvorak, and Steve Staois. Come on now, in all honesty, could anyone even name these players before the start of this season? Stanley Cup? Good luck folks. They'd be better off as fourth-liners on the Red Wings or the Avalanche. Hell, perhaps even the Senators fourth line would merit them an inscription on Lord Stanley's grail.

It may well be said, in twenty or thirty years, that the 2004 Oilers were the worst team to make it to the Stanley Cup finals since... well, since the last team from Alberta made it to the finals.


This is for Matt Posted by Picasa

Go Canes Go!

Possible Stanley Cup Parade Routes???


Screw You, Colby! :-) Posted by Picasa

Monday, June 12, 2006

One last thing before I go...

Dammit, the way Colby Cosh puts it almost makes me want to cheer for the wretched Oil...

With his battered face and his sweat-bedewed beard, he's now a testament to what the Stanley Cup tournament demands from a human being. He looks like a fifty-year-old pirate in an era of 45-year life expectancies. From age 20 to age 30 Smyth didn't age a day; six weeks of hockey have doubled his apparent lifespan. You may have noticed that this doesn't happen to basketball players. Every year around this time we start to hear about the physical courage and endurance of those dudes, and lord knows about 30% of them have gone into recording studios to immortalize their own hardcoreness in song. Yet, oddly enough, Shaquille O'Neal never seems to end a playoff year toothless, half-crazed, maimed, and dehydrated. No basketball player, as far as I am aware, had ever had his carotid artery slit open or a finger physically severed during the course of play. That, as much as anything, is why hockey's status as the fourth North American team sport is still tacitly recognized and deferred to by the media--even as it makes constant, scornful, infinitely tedious jokes about the sport's popularity.


Ryan Smyth really ought to hoist the cup. I mean, really ought to.

Just not this year.

And not this team.

Please!

GO CANES!!!!

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Out of Town

I'll be working in Burns Lake this week, so blogging will be non-existent until I get back. I'm hoping to be back on Thursday, but chances are it will be Friday.

I hope you all have a fantastic week. It sounds like it will be sunny and hot in Burns Lake on Monday and Tuesday, with a chance of showers later on in the week. I'm hoping that will cool things down a bit, since I'm not overly partial to the searing heat we've had in Smithers the last four days.

If Smithers wins the Hockeyville contest on CBC, I may have more to post later. I'm quite amazed we made it to the final five.

Update 9:02 pm - Congratulations to Salmon River for winning the 2006 Kraft Hockeyville contest. Good on 'em.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Oh Happy Day!

Last night when I came home from work, ABC News was reporting that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the terrorist in Iraq that organized a number of beheadings and suicide bombings, was killed in an airstrike. The broadcasters said "for more information, log onto abcnews.com..." but of course, their page hadn't been updated when I checked. So I wake up first thing this morning to seek out confirmation, and whaddya know?

June 8, 2006 — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq who led a bloody insurgency of suicide bombings and kidnappings, was killed in an airstrike north of Baghdad.


Wellllllll Golly Gee Shucker-Whiz! If that ain't the best piece of news I've heard in a long time, than I don't know what is. My only hope is that he wasn't killed instantly, but that he was wounded by shrapnel and suffered immensely before entering the vile eternity he so richly deserves.

Earlier today, Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad confirmed al-Zarqawi's death.

"Today, al-Zarqawi has been eliminated," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki said in Arabic amid cheers at a news conference this morning, with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, at his side.

***

Al-Zarqawi, the prime minister said, was killed along with seven others, including his spiritual adviser Sheik Al Rahman, Wednesday night, while meeting at an isolated house in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba. Diyala is 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.


I wonder what kind of advice Al Rahman is offering Al Zarqawi now?

At any rate, after the rather long week at work I've had (34 hours in three days... and it's only now Thursday...), this certainly uplifts my spirits. Smile folks, that sack of filth Al Zarqawi finally got what was coming to him.


From LC Rowane at the Rottie Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

The Anti-Christ?

M'heh, if anyone is the "beast" it's this guy!

D-Day Anniversary

Yeah, what he said.

It's been a really busy last few days for me. But even though I will not be waxing nostalgic about the Canadian heroes of WW2 on my blog, I will stop and remember their bravery and courage. We owe those men a great deal. If you can read this account from Veteran's Affairs without shedding a tear and remembering those who sacrificed, then you are no friend of mine, and I want nothing more to do with you.

Although only one Canadian unit reached its D-Day objective, the first line of German defences had been completely smashed. By evening, Canadian troops had progressed further inland than any of their Allies. It was a remarkable achievement but, despite casualties being less than expected, it was an expensive one, too. "The German dead were littered over the dunes, by the gun positions", a Canadian journalist reported. "By them, lay Canadians in bloodstained battledress, in the sand and in the grass, on the wire and by the concrete forts. ...They had lived a few minutes of the victory they had made. That was all." To ensure that D-Day would succeed, 340 Canadians had given their lives. Another 574 had been wounded and 47 taken prisoner.


Thank you, warriors of Juno. I shall not forget.

6/6/6

Just a quick eschatological note for anyone who is interesting in my opinion on such things:

The world will not end today.

It will not end tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Or the day after that.


Relax, folks. Posted by Picasa

The "end of the world", or "end of the age" as it should be referred to, already took place with the destruction of the Old Covenant system. The New Covenant has been firmly and fully established, and nothing is ever going to change that. Our world is without end. We do not have to fear references to the number "666". Historically speaking, that number's relevance and meaning has long since passed. It passed away. Gone. Completely.

Just like He and His followers said it would.

I, for one, am thankful for it.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Red Ensign Standard 42

Be sure to catch the 42nd edition of the Red Ensign Standard over at Just Between Us Girls.

Well worth your time.

Sounds so good, they typed it twice!

A screen cap of TSN's website two minutes after the game ended (click to enlarge):


Go Canes! Posted by Picasa



The Carolina Hurricanes have struck first in the Stanley Cup Final.

Boo-Ya!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Sgt. Peter Damon

Michael Moore: Shit Balloon.

A double-amputee Iraq-war vet is suing Michael Moore for $85 million, claiming the portly peacenik recycled an old interview and used it out of context to make him appear anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports America's invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie, which trashes President Bush.


No one with any sense will be surprised by the actions of Moore. That bloviating blowhard would sell his own mother if it meant higher DVD sales. But as the old saying goes, "the truth will out", and thankfully Sgt. Damon is preaching it.

The truth, that is.

Here's hoping he takes some of Moore well unearned dough and buys beer for his company.

Stanley Cup Ring to Moorewatch