On... Why I Don't Want Vancouver to Win the Stanley Cup.

For a team that has been pinned as "Canada's team," I certainly can say I would disagree about that staple in the Vancouver Canucks.

I don't think there is any one team that can clearly represent Canadian hockey fans as a whole. When it comes to hockey and especially in the NHL there's going to be rivalries and that means rivalries within provinces.

Ask any hometown hockey fan in Edmonton and Calgary and see how they feel as a majority about the Canucks winning it all this year. The same can be said about the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the Ottawa Senators and the past rivalry between the infamous Quebec Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens. 

Putting the "Canada's team" debate aside, there are a few reasons I refuse to cheer for Vancouver to win the Cup.

Sure the Canucks are the last "Canadian" team left in the play-offs and sure they have been the best chance for a "Canadian" team to bring Lord Stanley back to Canadian soil but really, when I look down the roster line-up there just isn't one player I want to see hoist the drink.

For starters- arguably of course, Vancouver's Raffe Torres doesn't deserve to be in the play-offs.


His penalized but unsuspended hit on the Chicago Blackhawks' Brent Seabrook (a day- nay shift back from a previous suspension) still makes me question where the leagues integrity is at and that honestly is reason enough to make me root for the San Jose Sharks or the Detroit Red Wings to move onto the finals.

Then bring into factor that their all-star forwards in Henrik and Daniel Sedin aren't even Canadian (Swedish), Ryan Kesler (American) was the biggest whiner from the 2010 winter Olympics, Roberto Luongo is the most over-rated goaltender and now I'm thinking that the Cup can lay in the sands in either sunny Florida or California.

Why wouldn't I cheer for a team that is ripe with strong Canadian talent in the Sharks or the Tampa Bay Lightning (biased opinions aside).

The Tampa Bay team we see today was forged together not even a year ago by Steve Yzerman and is captained by a stand-up straight laced Canadian in Vincent Lecavalier, who has made these play-offs a chance to bring back his dominance in the NHL. Throw in Canadian great Martin St. Louis, fast-rising Canadian star Steven Stamkos and long-time veteran Dwayne Roloson (41) of Simcoe, Ont. and now I'm really excited to see these guys win hockey's most prestigious championship.

When the dust finally settles in early June and say the Canucks do end up winning the Stanley Cup then I will say congrats to them and I will most certainly oblige that it's good for the Cup to be back in Canada but I will also stay true to my words and will be able to say I did not jump on the Vancouver band-wagon, self-proclaimed as, "Canada's team."

On Nationalism In The NHL.

Aside from the 14 goals scored, the 12 fighting majors and 182 penalty minutes served in the recent Habs-Bruins gong show there was one moment that really stuck-out to me.

In the heat of all the fighting and goal scoring, Bruins fans rallied a "USA, USA," chant.

After some close research there are 15 Canadians and just three Americans playing for the Boston Bruins this year. The Bruins top points leader is a Canadian (Patrice Bergeron of Quebec) and their captain Zdeno Chara is Slovakian.

There are six Americans playing for the Habs including captain Brian Gionta.

I'm not sure if the Bruins fans realise these statistics but perhaps after reading this blog they might think twice about their proud nationalism.

There's more to this specific history between these two teams though.

Going back to the NHL play-offs in 2004 the Montreal Canadiens' fans "boo-ed" the American national anthem at the Bell Centre and the Boston fans replied at the TD Garden with cheers during the Canadian anthem. Don Cherry of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada had this to say...



What happened to the "class?"

Or perhaps it isn't about class in this case at all, I would argue it's a case of ignorance.

Come on Bruins' fans, open your eyes and look closer at your roster before you disrespect your fellow countrymen!

There was another separate case in TD Garden earlier this year in a regular season game between the Bruins and the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.



A little background on the situation. Phil Kessel (former Bruin) was traded to the Leafs for two first-round draft picks in 2011 and 2012. The Bruins ended up getting the 2nd over-all pick in 2011 and drafted highly-touted, Tyler Seguin.

Kessel scored 36 goals for the Bruins in 2009 before his trade to Leafs Land (he was the odd man out after the Bruins' GM had to sign other quality players to contracts) and recorded 60 points in that same year.

I fail to see how Kessel's name should be in this particular chant. He played remarkably well for the team, why disrespect him? Should it not have been "Thank-you Burke"? (Brain Burke, Leafs GM) What did Kessel have to do with being the odd man out or being traded for two first-round picks?

Call me biased, but after chants like these two examples, I have to wonder what type of beer these fans are drinking to make them come-up with these thoughtless chants.

I think Mike Komisarek says it best in this video.



Unfortunately I could not edit the last sentence in the video.

On Peter Forsberg.

Barring a brief work visa issue, Peter Forsberg of Sweden will be back for another round with the Colorado Avalanche to give his NHL career one last legitimate shot.

For US$1 million, the Avalanche can't really go wrong with this play-off push acquisition. The 37-year-old will bring a new buzz to the Colorado fan-base and if he can finish the regular season healthy and if there is a post-season for the Avalanche then who wouldn't want Foppa's services?

According to nhl.com Forsberg has 171 points in 151 play-off appearances and has a plus-54 rating- not to mention he also owns two Stanley Cup rings and is also a former recipient of both of the prestigious Art Ross and Hart trophies.

This is all sounds like the signing was a no-brainer for Colorado but the down-side is that Forsberg has been in-and-out of the NHL because of injuries to his feet, ankles and groin.

I don't blame Foppa for giving it one last shot and I commend him for playing for a meager $1 million (sad as that makes me to write out) but I have strong intuitions that his come-back will be short-lived once more.

Players often force themselves to believe their injuries are gone when in reality they are in no position to play at 100 percent.

I truly believe Forsberg is eying this opportunity with his glass half-full but as I said before, I don't blame him. The Avalanche is his go-to team, the people of Colorado love him there and the Avalanche are within reach of the eighth play-off spot.

I will put a positive spin on his return though in thinking that he may be able to find some chemistry with struggling teammate, Chris Stewart.

Stewart has been lacking since returning from his own injury and perhaps being put on a line with Forsberg may re-ignite the brilliant start to the season that Stewart had for the Avalanche.

I hope Forsberg's return on Wednesday in Minnesota (assuming his work visa is in order) ends well but if my intuitions are accurate then a million dollars will just be an after-thought next year for Colorado.

On 15-Year Contracts in the NHL.

I read a headline on nhl.com today and immediately rolled my eyes.

"DiPietro Out 4-6 Weeks."

A little history on Rick DiPietro- an injury plagued New York Islanders goaltender.

Back in September 2006, DiPietro signed an eye-opening NHL contract with the Islanders worth 67.5 million dollars and more notably the contract length: 15-years.

He earns 4.5 million each year until 2021, but those figures are not the real reason my eyes roll every time I see his name in the headlines.

My eyes roll to the back of my skull because of the amount of injury time lost since he signed this outrageous contract with the Islanders.

Of the six years DiPietro has played since signing the monster deal with the Islanders the Winthrop, Mich. native has played just 163 games.

The average No.1 goaltender will play about 60-70 games per season so let's do the math.

Six seasons times 65 games (Average amount of NHL games a No.1 goalie should play) is 390 games.

390 games subtracted from 163 games (DiPietro's total games played) is 227 games.

He has missed an insurmountable number of games due to injuries but who is to blame for the unearned salary cap hit each season?

The Islanders GM Garth Snow, that's who.

Snow offered a goalie who had a respectable 30 wins but a meager 3.02 GAA in the previous season- 15 years... quite the brain scratcher.

I don't want to harp and pick on DiPietro but when a player is earning disgusting amounts of money each year for a decade and a half to rehab and cheer-lead a team that continues to dwell in the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and loses revenue each year because the fans are giving up on the team... it annoys me.

Let's just hope the ridiculous unearned contracts of the DiPietro's and the Kovalchuk's of the league become just a black mark in NHL history and not a trend in the future.

On Groundhogs.

So Wiarton Willie tells us we will have an early spring in 2011 but the weather outside tells me differently.

Punxsutawney Phil with official groundhog handlers.

Sure we aren't having the "Snowmaggedon" the weatherman predicted for most parts of Ontario but it's still blistering outside today and I, for one, hope the little fur-ball's prediction is right.

According to a study by the gaurdian.co.uk the groundhog has been wrong a lot more then he has been right.

The study took the majority of the predictions from all of the weather predicting groundhogs and then "calculated the mean average snowfall for a February in North America using data from the last 10 years, then we subtracted this average from the snow-cover for the particular year," the gaurdian article says. "This gives us an indication of the severity of the winter for that year relative to the other years. The conclusion of our little study is that the groundhogs have only predicted the length of winter correctly three times in the last 10 years."

Check out the full study here.

On Turtles.

Turtle is defined as follows by dictionary.com, any of various aquatic or terrestrial reptiles of the order Testudines (or Chelonia), having horny toothless jaws and a bony or leathery shell into which the head, limbs, and tail can be withdrawn in most species.

Perhaps the oldest tale about the green hard-shelled fellow first impacted society with a positive message, The Tortoise and the Hare says slow and steady wins the race. There are many different beliefs about what the true meaning of the children’s story is but one might assume the true meaning is to teach that you should never rush into anything and be over-confident. Walt Disney Productions created a Silly Symphonies cartoon titled, The Tortoise and the Hare in 1935.

Fast-forward to the early 1980’s and enter Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Yes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles captured the minds and imaginations of the main stream pop culture. The whacky and humorous superhero turtles were created by the minds of Kevin Eastman and his friend Peter Laird.  The TMNT steam-rolled into the mid 90’s and raked in large revenues accumulated from their faces being plastered on lunch boxes, skateboards, clothing and apparel. Not to mention most boys and even some girls who grew up in that era can testify to playing with the dozens of action figures and toy accessories. There was a successful cartoon series and even a trilogy in the box-office.

And who of us can forget about dear Franklin; a children’s book series written in 1986 by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark. Franklin the turtle and his animal friends taught about different life lessons and the popular books eventually made their way onto the television screens in 1997.

Yes the turtle may be slow and timid in real life, but society found a way to let the slimy creature into their hearts. 

On Peer Pressure.

Peer pressure is defined by dictionary.com as follows: The social influence a peer group exerts on its individual members as each member attempts to conform to the expectations of the group.

It would be easy to suggest why teenagers and adults drink and drive as a result of negative peer pressure. They might drink and drive because they want to fit in or because somebody or a group of people tell you they don’t want to take a taxi home from the bar or a house party so they will encourage the most sober person of the group to drive home.

On the flip-side, positive peer pressure can also deter people from drinking and driving. Taken from timescolonist.com, Steve Wallace shared a story about four fathers who took turns to drive children to hockey games and practice. Eventually one of the fathers was charged with a DUI charge and lost his license for three months. The other fathers quickly declined the offer from the offender when he offered to drive after his ban was finished to make up for his driving absence because they did not trust him to drive their own children any longer.

Wallace wrote, “The social stigma of an impaired driving conviction had a lasting effect on the relationship of the four men and their families. Many convicted drivers do not abstain from drinking and driving because of the law. They change their behaviour because of social pressure. Bad behaviour can go the way of the spittoon. Peer pressure is an extremely powerful weapon against drinking drivers. It is the kind of pressure we should all be willing to exert in order to end the senseless slaughter on our roads.”

Teenagers are easily led by negative peer pressure according to an article on thedrunkdrivingmasses.com because they have inexperience and their immaturity leads to them being subdued by negative peer pressure and accidents as a result of those traits and lack of experience; i.e. drag racing, drinking and driving and failure to properly wear seatbelts.

The article goes on to say that many young drivers are at an increased risk because of deficiencies in a variety of psychomotor, perceptual, and cognitive skills. Some young drivers intentionally increase their risk of collision - they are motivated by thrill-seeking or compromised by peer pressure. Lifestyle choices, alcohol, drug use and inexperience often combine to dramatically increase the crash risk of teen drivers.

Teenadvice.about.com adds in a separate article that peer pressure almost always plays a role in street racing and other car games played by teens.

It would be wise for any new driver young or old to drive with positive influences that will encourage them to drive safely and responsibly. Driving under positive peer pressure will result in proper seatbelt usage, controlled speeds and sober driving.