It’s a pre-game faceoff between Stan Smyl and Mario Lemieux, with Michael Jackson (yes, here we go again) doing the honours.  Jory asserts that there is actually a confluence:

• The Canucks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Pacific Coliseum on November 16, 1984 and beat them 7-6.
• Michael Jackson’s Victory Tour stopped in Vancouver to play three shows on November 16, 17 & 18 at BC Place.

It’s possible this is the correct date.  1984 was Lemieux’s first season in the NHL, and (there is no C on his sweater) was not yet captain of the Penguins.

On the contradicting side, Jory also points out that there’s “no red carpet” as there is in this photo.  However, if you look behind Michael Jackson, you’ll notice the penalty box.  The red carpet typically extends from the players’ benches for these sorts of things, since the penalty boxes and scorekeeper’s bench do not have exits, and those benches are clearly behind the photographer.  Furthermore, the photog is clearly standing on the ice, and for safety reasons would only be standing on carpet himself… so just because you don’t see the carpet doesn’t mean it’s not there.

I did some digging and here’s a photo of Michael from 1984, wearing what seems to be the same outfit.

I’ve got to say he really foretold the whole bedazzled revolution, didn’t he, Wal-Mart shoppers?  Must’ve liked that jacket, because here it is again (also in 1984) with the sleeves rolled up.

So there you go, sports fans.  I have resolved this issue of critical importance to the hockey nation.  Michael Jackson did in fact drop the puck at Mario Lemieux’s debut game in Vancouver in November, 1984.  Please now relax, drop an ambien, and head to bed happy.  The speckled one loves hockey.  Though perhaps not as much as Gary Coleman:

Below is a chart on several key players, some relevant data, and what I think I might try to do:

	Roberto Luongo Age: 30 Salary:  $6.75mm Expires:  2010 W-L:33-13-7 GAA: 2.34
It becomes quite difficult to solidify a reputation as the best goalie in the league when you continually play for dog teams that can’t perform in the playoffs.  This team (and every team you’ve played for) leans far too heavily on your unique talent but east of Cambie street you get very little respect in this league.Giving you the captaincy (even without the C sewn on) was a bullshit PR move and could only have served to cause you to lose focus and get off the bead of what it is that you do so well.  Get back to being “just” the greatest goalie ever, stick with us through some changes, and for emotional balance leverage the two guys you have in your own back yard that have lots of mental toughness and carried weak teams through the playoffs:  Richard Brodeur and Kirk McLean.  The armchair GM would be happy to hire them as consultants to focus on the mental aspects of your play.
	Mattias Ohlund Age: 32 Salary:  $3.5mm Expires:  2009 25 points
I think we’re going to lose you to an East Coast team in bidding this summer. Vancouver fans don’t respect your contribution enough.  I think you’ve had a tough couple of years trying to fit into the Vigneault system, which has required you to take too many penalties and lose focus from your offensive play.I don’t want to lose your grit, but the budget’s tight.  I’d like to sign you to a multi-year contract at your present salary, but I doubt you’d go for that considering who’s been calling.  So I would hope to keep you here with a two-year at $2.5mm — and it’ll be hard to find room under the cap for that.  You’re a franchise player.  Stay here 3-4 more years and we’ll retire your jersey, give you a shot at a cup with some rebuilding, and you can play in front of the home crowd for Sweden in 2010.
	Sami Salo Age: 35 Salary:  $3.5mm Expires:  2011 25 points
What, are you made of porcelain?  We need you to play a whole season.  Please ensconse yourself in bubble wrap and suspend yourself with bungee rope in a lcoked room between games.  We’d like the keys to your Porsche — we’ll be sending a driver in an armoured, padded vehicle with a 7-point safety harness to pick you up for games from now on.If you can put together a full season you’re awesome — but we can’t keep backfilling you.  Fans love you.  I like saying your name with a Squire Barnes lisp.  What the hell: you can’t go anywhere, we’re not trading you… get out of my office and back to the gym (though please pick up some tensor braces and make sure you stretch thoroughly in order to prevent injury or strain).  Please do not buy a Segway or any two-wheeled vehicle.
	Taylor Pyatt Age: 27 Salary:  $1.575mm Expires:  2009 19 points
You are six-feet four, and you weigh 235 lbs.  In today’s NHL that is neither lean enough to be fast, nor thick enough to be tough.  You’re a UFA this summer.  I don’t understand why Vigneault continues to throw you on the ice in critical situations — end of the game, power plays, penalty kills, etc.  You are almost always behind the play.You were a healthy scratch several times in the past two years.  You are being given chances to showcase your skills (probably because we were hoping to trade your ass) but you’ve really let us down.  19 points in 69 games, especially given the guys you’ve played with, means you haven’t been a factor at all.You have NO grit, speed, nor puck-handling dexterity.Happy to let you go — but if you want to stay here 1) figure out what kind of player you are, 2) hire a personal trainer and develop this summer, and 3) we’ll pay you $1M on a one-year contract.  Sorry about your tragic loss, but this is a business.
	Mason Raymond Age: 23 Salary:  $833.33K Expires:  2010 (RFA) 23 points
In your case, I don’t think the stats have told the story.  You’re a hungry, fiery player with grit and I feel that AV has completely underutilized you.  For a 6’0 guy to be the team’s fastest skater is impressive.  You’ve gotten your feet wet in the league, you played your way onto this roster, and you’ve tasted the playoffs.  Now you need to play your way up to the second line.  I think you could be huge as a forechecker and your hands are awesome.This is your sophomore NHL summer.  You’re only 165 lbs. soaking wet.  Would like to see you bulk up without losing speed, just to prevent you from getting knocked around too much.  Work on the upper body, not just the legs, and eat a sandwich once in a while.  You’re great kid, now get out of my office so I can deal with the next guy.
	Willie Mitchell Age: 32 Salary:  $3.2mm Expires:  2010 23 points
Hockey loves the hometown boys.  Port McNeill is pretty close to Vancouver.  Check.OK somebody liked you last summer and gave you a pretty rockin’ deal despite a weak season.  This year you did a lot better, so she time is right to keep that momentum and own the zone.  At times this year I watched you and you seemed to have your head in the clouds, crossing over inexplicably and floating the puck when a slap-pass was required.  Your turnover stats look pretty bad.  You are, though, a big part of the breakout.  If Ohlund goes this summer, you’re a huge part of the defensive corps and the younger kids will be looking to you for leadership.  At times you seem disinterested in defensive play.  Get angry in September and find your grit.Step up, and we’ll renew next summer — no probs.  Want you to finish your career here.
	Alex Burrows Age: 28 Salary:  $2mm Expires:  2010 51 points
You have played your way onto every team throughout your career.  With 52 points in 82 games you have really delivered in 2008-2009, particularly since AV has not always played you on top lines.  You’re probably the fittest player on the team, and a role model for guys making twice your salary.Your unique attribute is your work  ethic.  You need some bulk up top, because when you eventually settle into second line left-winger status you’re going to get tossed around like a bean bag.  I think you’re going to look like the bargain of the century in two years.  We’ll get you a speedy centre to get things going.
	Kyle Wellwood Age: 25 Salary:  $998K Expires:  2009 27 points
I’ve known and played with a lot of guys like you who never got the chance to play in The Show.  You’re immensely, naturally gifted as a player but as a teenager it always came so easily to you that you never really developed a work ethic.  After a few years with the Leafs you became a guy constantly on the bubble, and nowadays that is what is driving you.Wake-up call:  We signed you and put you on waivers (for no really good reason) last year after you failed the fitness test, and nobody even called.This is it.  I’ll sign you right now for $800K for a year because I know I’m the only guy who’ll take a chance.  You’re still on the bubble.  We saw flashes of brilliance this year, but you’re still falling behind.  That’s OK if you use this summer as your time to train like crazy, make me a liar, and come back to camp in lean and mean shape with some speed that can match those hands.  Keep skating all summer.
	Mats Sundin Age: 38 Salary:  $7mm Expires:  2009 28 points
You’re no Neidermeyer.  You’ve proven that you can’t sit out half the season and expect to compete in the NHL.  You came back from semi-retirement old and slow and not nearly pissed-off enough.  You hoped the Sedins and Luongo would carry you to your ring but we did not get the leadership on the ice I’d expect to see from a guy who’s been a consistent 70-80 point-getter for 10 years — and one that we paid $4 million bucks for.So yes, this is goodbye.  There’s no role on this team for you, but I think you knew that.  I always knew you were a summer rental.  See you at the retirement press conference, and enjoy the flight back to Sweden.  And when the Rangers call?  Don’t do it.  You’ll smear your glorious Leafs legacy (choke).
	Ryan Kesler Age: 24 Salary:  $1.75mm Expires:  2010 59 points
When we originally signed you, we thought you were the next Trevor Linden.  It hasn’t exactly been an easy path, and so you were often on the bubble.  This past year you really shined.  What I’d like to see you deliver is a 75-80 point season in 2009/2010 as a center.  If so, you could be our future and we’ll hit you with a contract at least as sweet as your wild-eyed three-year, $2.475-million entry level contract a few years ago.Time to step up and deliver on the promise that we saw when we passed up Mike Richards and Corey Perry for your ass.  I’d like to think you could be the captain of the team but not yet.  One more season like this year’s and we’ll talk about it when you’re up next sumer.  You play better when you’re hungry.  You ought to be a second-line centre by now.
	Kevin Bieksa Age: 27 Salary:  $3.75mm Expires:  2012 43 points
This was the best year of your career, despite a couple of injuries that had us leery.  You’ve showed real toughness at times and delivered 43 points offensively which made you the top-scoring D-man on the team.We have however noticed your defensive play suffering.  You’ve made some brutal bets on the pinch and lost, creating momentum-killing 2-on-1s and leading to some highlight reel goals for other teams.  Luongo can only do so much to cover for a defenseman who’s not even in the play.  Additionally, while we like your grit, we hate your timing.  Pitchforking that guy in Game 5 vs. Chicago with 6 minutes to go almost definitely cost us a Game 7.Clean it up and work on your D game and you’ll be worth every penny.
	The Sedins (H D) Age: 28 Salary:  $3.58mm Expires:  2009 82 points each
You each got 82 points this year — one each per game — with no injuries.  Once again, you were absent for much of the playoffs.  You need to understand that people will key in on you and work with the Right Winger we give you.  Because you are a package deal, any team that signs you to a big contract is going to mortgage their whole future to do so.  I know the Rangers will call. Anyone who can sign you both won’t be able to field a very good team beyond your line.We have invested a lot in you and consider you to be franchise players.  I would match any offer up to $4mm each and for 3-4 years, but above that I’m pretty hamstrung by trying to surround you with the league’s best goalie and a strong D.  But ANYONE who signs you at your presumed asking price, given that there are two of you, will be challenged to surround you with a talented team.
	Alain Vigneault2007 Jack Adams award winner 2007/08: 39-33-10 2008/09: 45-27-10
Some coaches are able to work their magic in the locker room, some do it by running perfect practices, and others do it behind the bench.  In the regular season great practices, and solid locker room and off-ice leadership keep teams healthy, prepared, and in-the-game.  In the playoffs, though, coaches do their work behind the bench.As this was your first career NHL playoff run as a coach, I guess we can’t be too harsh with you for losing.  I have to be honest — watching what happened in Chicago, where the Hawks clearly changed the entire complexion of the play without any adjustment or response from the Canucks — I wanted to fire you.  But then, reflecting on the stats of the regular season, I think we just need to develop you and get you some help.Speaking of which…
	Trevor Linden Requires no introduction.
Hey Trev, ‘sup?  Feeling refreshed after a year off, freed from the shackles of watching Naslund flail as a Captain and watching the NHLPA eat itself alive trying to maneouvre with that weasel Gary Bettman?We miss you.  Fans still show up to games wearing #16 jerseys.  You cast a long shadow, my friend, and rumour from some former Canucks players has it that even thought you didn’t wear the “C” these last few years in Vancouver, you were.  Suffice to say:  You cast a long shadow.Within the next 16 months, Ryan Walter or Rick Bowness will be moving on.  I’d say you’re a shoo-in for Assistant Coach.  The salary sucks, but face it — you bleed blue and green.
	Cody Hodgson Age: 19 Salary:  $875K Expires:  2011
I think we made the smart decision growing you slowly this year, sending you to the Battallion, letting you play on Team Canada in the Canada-Russia series, and now pulling you up to the Moose.  Your play has been exceptional — now you know what it’s like to spread your wings and rock the ice and be a dominant force.Next season please arrive at camp prepared to play in the NHL.  Speed and dexterity are your biggest assets, and you’re big enough not to get tossed around.  Toughness and grit will have to come over time.  You’d make a great roommate for Burrows — only you’re a little more talented than Burrows — because he’ll keep you focused on your fitness and work ethic.  Don’t let this go to your head, we’ll give you a lot of PP ice time next year, probably playing on the Right Wing.
	Marian Gaborik MINNESSOTA Age: 34 Salary:  $3.2mm Expires:  2009
Wanted:  RIGHT WINGER who can hold his own with the Sedins, stand in front of the net when he has to, and wire shots top-corner while hapless defensemen chase the Swedes around in the corners.  Hey Marian, know anybody?Oh that’s right… your pal Pavol is on the Canucks, hit 53 points, and will be here til summer 2010.  Unless of course we can’t attract you as a free agent this summer, in which case we’re going to trade his ass (he nets a $4 million salary).  Since your injury makes you a bit of a risk, I’ll throw $3.5mm on a one-year contract to you but would discuss anything up to $4.0mm on a two-year deal.  If the latter, then you’ll be riding to games in the bubble van with Sami Salo.We’ll try you with the Sisters, and if that doesn’t work out I’m sure you’ll enjoy spinning around the ice with Demitra.  And hey, Willie’s here too… you remember him?
	Ossi Vaananen Age: 28 Salary:  $1mm Expires:  2009
I checked my magic 8-Ball: “future hazy”.  Will re-sign for 2 years at $875K.  Otherwise, seeya.  Thanks.  See you in September.  PS – there are too many vowels in your name.
	Alexander Radulov Age: 22 Salary: $919K Expires: 2009
Ok now, if ever there is a Russian player destined for first-line greatness in the NHL, it is 22-year-old Alexander Radulov.  He is, though, the centre of a huge controversy between the NHL and the Russian Kontinental Hockey League.  Last year, though he was signed to a pithy $1mm contract with the Predators, he ended up inking a three year deal worth $13mm with the KHL’s Salavat Yulaev Ufa.  This contract was signed days before a treaty agreement was reached between the NHL and KHL regarding transfer of players. The Russians view this as payback for the yanking of Ovechkin and Malkin, among a host of others, into the NHL from domestic clubs. What’s happened to the Preds now is essentially what might have happened to the Canucks had they not been able to lure Bure overseas after picking him so many years ago.  This summer, the stage is set for a Battle Royale between the NHL and the KHL’s Alexander Medvedev — the outcome of which might mean Radulov’s return to the National Hockey League as an unrestricted free agent.  This will be THE story of the summer.
	Maxim Afinogenov Age: 29 Salary: $3.5mm Expires: 2009
Building on the Russian Right-Winger theme:  Hey Max!  How would you like to play with the twins?  I know things have been sucking in Buffalo lately.  You need a change of pace!  Your scoring is off, but I think you’ve got potential.I’d throw you a three-year, $3.0mm bone to head over to Vancouver where the ladies will love ya, the Sedins will pass to you, and you can head back up the roster to the first line and net around 75+ points.  Sound good?  Sign here.

Going back over this post, I have committed the Canucks to around $50mm, give or take $2mm.  For instance I’d obviously be happy to say goodbye to Pyatt were Afinogenov to be lured to the team.  But with a cap of $56.7mm next season for team salaries, that leaves very little room and I have filled 15 of 23 roster spots.

According to HockeyBuzz O’Brien, Bernier, Rypien, and Hansen are also key free agents this year.  They will be demanding salary bumps and presently the four of them account for about $4.5mm all in.  Add to that Edler’s $3.25mm salary, Demitra’s $4mm, and various odds & ends, and that’s another $9mm unaccounted for in my planning.

The reality is that the Canucks are not going to be able to strengthen the roster substantially from within the Free Agency market.  The youth movement, as Chicago has evidenced, where underpaid young players overperform, is where teams get a solid strategic advantage these days. This places heavy emphasis on Hodgson to crack the lineup and be a dominant player in 2009-2010, as the Canucks don’t have much else under development.

That said, a couple of things happened this past year:  1)  Salaries inflated across the board, but teams are seeing revenue decline, and 2) The economy collapsed, and the NHL started talking about lowering the cap in the next few years.  This will see teams being far more conservative in their offers to Free Agents, which will be enhanced by the frankly startling diversity of talent that is set to hit the market in June.

So:  Will Ohlund take a pay cut to stay with the only NHL team he has ever known?  Will Bernier (and other teams) recognize that he’s not worth $2.5mm yet?  Will Hank and Daniel bankrupt the team that has developed them into Top 20 players by making a big cash grab, or would they like a shot at the cup?  If they reach for a $6mm salary each, as some suspect, the twins and Luongo alone could account for more than one third of the team’s salary cap at nearly $20mm.

Mike Gillis has a real problem.  If few or none of these situations plays in his favour, then I suspect it’ll be 5 or more years before they have a team in contention… and they’ll have to do something the Canucks are rarely successful at doing:  developing a group of players from the draft into top-line players right away.  It could be a very long winter indeed, even by Vancouver fans’ standards.

… all of which underpins the fact that, strong or not, this was probably Vancouver’s best chance at a Stanley Cup for the past 15 years, and at least the next 5.

Click Here to listen in (mp3)…

It could be said that hockey is a very Canadian sport. It embodies the Canadian values of humility, camaraderie, sportsmanship, egalitarianism, subtlety, respect for tradition, and conservatism. Inside the confines of the rink, hockey players are larger-than-life: aggressive, assertive, and spectacular. Outside the rink? Not so much.

This is one of the overriding problems that plague the NHL. The personalities of the players, still mostly Canadian, make the sport hard to market because the culture of hockey players eschews taking the spotlight, grandstanding, or boasting. Players tend to walk softly when not carrying their big sticks, and this League of Unextraordinary Gentlemen makes for a lack of players with true celebrity potential.

It is an understatement to suggest that the NHL has a marketing problem. And while this blog is awfully hard on Gary Bettman (justifiably so) it’s not all his fault. Consider the story of David Beckham vs. Wayne Gretzky.

When David Beckham was imported to Los Angeles he brought more than just a bendy shot to Major League Soccer. He and Victoria Becks were soon spotted among the elite, embraced by the celebrity culture that dominates Los Angeles. This made it much easier to market the LA Galaxy and Major League Soccer in general, as each appearance in People magazine, on Entertainment Tonight, or gracing the red carpet at premieres served as a stealth advertisement for the game. This drew fans from unlikely sources. Beckham built his fame in front of the global futbol audience, transcended sport and celebrity by marrying one of the Spice Girls, and managed to remain dignified while making himself into a global brand.

Canadians still love Wayne Gretzky. Arguably the greatest player to ever grace the arenas of the NHL, his jersey number is so hallowed it is verboten to wear it — officially retired throughout the league. No player bears comparison, and his infamous move from Edmonton to Los Angeles was heralded as a break-through for the game. In fact, it was. The Kings, a basement-dwelling team before his arrival, began building a dynasty which, though it never returned a cup to LA, remained competitive and entertaining throughout his stay there. They drew in new fans, and the spillover helped the league to add teams in San Jose and Anaheim.

But Wayne is as much an admirable personality as he is a uniquely modest, humble guy. He shuns the limelight. He doesn’t want to attend glitzy parties, isn’t a trendy dresser, avoids controversy. He married a modestly successful actress, not a megastar. And as Canada’s favoured son, he carries the hopes and limitations of a nation wherever he travels. It’s an enormous burden, one he clearly feels, and one which has ultimately kept him from becoming a global transcendent brand. In many ways this is an opportunity lost. Both for Wayne and for the game he so clearly loves.

What the league needs is a cadre of players that can move the puck like Wayne — casually chucking in 50 or 60 goals a year, let’s say — while simultaneously engaging the popular media.

Sean Avery is no Wayne Gretzky. His style of play is better suited to the beer leagues than the beautiful game. But Sean has engaged the popular media and celebrity culture in a way that no player in recent memory has — and he is poised to drive interest in the NHL because of it. Within the league he’s a constant source of news and controversy, both for on-ice antics and off the ice. Within the game a great source of controversy and intrigue, and a pattern that sees shades of Brett Hull, Claude Lemieux, Shanahan, and Roenick.

But outside the arena he’s raised his game to a whole other level. Avery has had relationships or been linked romantically to a growing list of celebutantes including an Olsen twin, Elisha Cuthbert and Rachel Hunter; has made People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” list; has appeared on MTV Cribs (bragging about your bling is very non-Canadian!); was weirdly an intern at Vogue Magazine this summer; is poised to star in a fashion reality TV show; can frequently be seen amongst the glitterati at fashion shows and premieres; and is even the subject of a movie presently under development at New Line. He’s even been profiled in the New Yorker. This among a growing list of exploits studiously documented in fan magazines like People and Us, and on TV on shows like TRL and Entertainment Tonight.

Avery recently arrived to a Hollywood party and asked a reporter if The Hills’ resident prick Spencer Pratt was there yet, because he wanted to “kick his ass.” All of this behaviour is very-much outside the norm for your cookie-cutter Canadian hockey player. And in many respects it’s preserving interest in his career as a grinder long after the pace of the game in the NHL has moved past players of his ilk. It’s even conceivable that (female) fans in Dallas this season, where he recently signed another one-year contract, might turn up just to see a glamourous NHL star — not Mike Modano, mind you, but Sean Avery.

In any event, if you believe that half of good marketing is just being seen, he engages the popular media with the NHL in a way that is hugely constructive to its image as a major sport with dynamic, cool, exciting players. The revelation here is that what makes a hockey player exciting in this multimedia world is not limited to what he does on the ice. What the die-hards among us will need to accept if we expect the league to grow and flourish is a lot more guys like Sean Avery.

Finally!

I’m not sure he can take credit for that one, but that didn’t prevent him from trying when interviewed by Ron McLean on last night’s Hockey Night in Canada.

Ron hit him with some pretty tough questions, and it was fascinating (though not unusual) to watch him squirm. He claims that viewership of the Stanley Cup Final is up this year over last year… despite the NHL’s disastrous deal with NBC/Versus. Of course, last year’s Stanley Cup Final featured the Anaheim Ducks, not exactly a hockey-rabid market; and this year pits two of the top 5 US hockey markets, Pittsburgh and Detroit, against one another. Of course the numbers are up!

Bettman continues to cite the symptoms of the NHL’s malaise as though they were evidence of a cure. And that, kids, is exactly the problem. The NHL remains a league which makes its bones in, and thus rises and falls on the flowing tides of, Canada. It has failed to develop significant followings outside of Canada and the Northeastern US, and it really has failed as a global commodity despite numerous foolish attempts in the past.

Gary Bettman has now toiled for 15 years as commissioner of the NHL to product exactly nothing. Meanwhile the NHL’s status as one of the so-called “Big Four” is as tenuous as Canada’s status in the G7.

At a certain point, the blame for the continued languishing of the league must be put squarely on the shoulders of the GMs, who for some reason continue to endorse this buffoon. It’s not his fault he’s incompetent. It’s their fault that they’re rewarding his incompetence.

Like a lot of folks, I’ve never been a fan of Dominic Hasek. Whether it’s his refusal last season to wear his shoulder pads and chest protector while riding the pine backing up other goalies with the Red Wings, or whether it’s his insane attitude when he is on the ice… there’s just so little to love with him. This morning I read a snippet that really said it all for me about his character:

“Sources tell ESPN.com only one player has ever had his stay with the Cup cut short because of inappropriate behavior. Detroit netminder Dominik Hasek, in spite of warnings, tossed the Cup into his pool in the Czech Republic. The Cup was fished out, dried off and taken away in the middle of the afternoon.” [link]

… what happens if Detroit wins the cup again this year, I wonder?

Thankfully the Canucks’ new owner Francesco Aquilini has also realized that Nonis has no coherent vision for the team and it’s time to move on.

So now I’m gonna start the rumour mill. I highly doubt that Brian Burke will be back as GM of the Canucks next season. For one thing, he still has a year on his contract — and for another, Burke is actively engaged in watching his team compete for the cup at the moment, and I have to believe that Aquilini wouldn’t toast the Nonis without having another solution lined up. For Burke to be negotiating with another team at the moment would be pretty disingenuous and an announcement would be disruptive to the Ducks.

Therefore, my prediction is that this available post will be filled from within the confines of Vancouver, either by Steve Tambellini, who has been the shadow GM of the Canucks for a number of years; or by Pat Quinn, who lives in Vancouver and hasn’t been working since he was fired by the Leafs in 2006.

As an owner of the Vancouver Giants, Quinn has appeared before fans in Vancouver frequently since, and is still beloved by the crowd for leading the Canucks to fame in the team’s last Cup run in 1993-94.

That said, Quinn owning one team in town and being employed by another one might represent a troubling conflict of interest for Aquilini (Orca Bay, under different ownership, famously bought the Vancouer Voodoo in order to shut them down) but establishing a development pipeline from the Giants to the Canucks might benefit both teams.

Apparently, the NHL is recruiting “celebrities” (and I think we need to stop ascribing this title to everyone who has a TV show, given that these days practically everyone does have a TV show) to blog about the NHL during the playoffs.

I guess, in some boardroom somewhere, this seemed like a grand idea. Among the celebrities teeing up to blog are Lauren Conrad (only known to MTV fans), Jason Reitman (who has directed one noteworthy movie), Kevin Smith (who brought is “Gigli”) and .. uh .. well, a list of people I honestly can’t be bothered to look up.

This is the same year when the NHL, which tries to centralize everything, unilaterally declared that all the teams had to abandon web properties they’d spent years evolving, and have their web sites and services consolidated and templated under a single umbrella– built and maintained by IBM and Cisco because of some sponsorship program. Many teams were angered by this decision. MSG Entertainment sued the NHL because of it.

In this “blogging” strategy, the philosophy of Centralization appears to be the recurrent problem. These Celebloggers (most of them) already have their own blogs, on their own web sites, where they have aggregated their own audiences and are driving readers every day. In their wisdom, however, the NHL is forcing these bloggers to post messages … uh … on the NHL web site, nested behind half-a-dozen menus, in the ironically-named “blogger central“. Of course, these “blogs” don’t really look like blogs … they’re difficult to read, difficult to navigate, and (big surprise) it’s a daunting task to even dig up the RSS feed link.

So, instead of capitalizing on the opportunity to introduce the NHL to new audiences via the celebrities and their channels to their own fans, the NHL has once again squandered the opportunity to gain exposure by centralizing everything on its own web site, which of course is almost exclusively (though infrequently) visited by.. you guessed it … existing NHL fans.

So what results are they expecting, exactly?

(more photos by ian & doc on flickr)

Greg does an amazing job maintaining this rink, especially considering that it’s all elbow-grease, and not a Zamboni, that maintains the ice. When we were there he had a solid 3″ sheet of ice that was very hard and stood up to our hard turns, grinds, cuts, etc. for hours with only a few shovels (wielded by the losers of each game) needed to sweep up the snow and an occasional spill from the hot tub to replenish the smooth surface. Frankly I’m amazed he’s able to get such solid, consistent ice without machines or refrigeration.

As you can tell from listening to the sound on this video the weather helps (on Friday night it was about -25 celsius) keep the ice cold and hard. Suffering, frequently having your hair freeze, and mild frostbite on your cheeks aside, playing outdoors is a unique experience for Western Canadian kids who’ve grown up on manufactured ice and in municipal rinks. Just marching out into the backyard for a long game of shinny is a prescription for those of us who, as we get older, are still looking for newer and more interesting experiences to rejuvenate our love of the sport.Anyway, definitely give Greg and his wife a call if you’re looking to experience this first-hand.

And if you need a goalie, I could be persuaded. I need some time to rest, though … I’m exhausted.