KASS-TASTIC

Vancouver’s 3-2 shootout win over Calgary Wednesday night was big for a number of reasons. It was the Canucks first win of the season. It was the end of a three-game homestand with a three-game road trip upcoming #momentum. And it was Zack Kassian’s coming out party.

KASS-TASTIC was the best headline I could come up with for Canucks.com post-game and even then, ZACK ATTACK came to mind and I just rolled with that. How lame, I know. Not since Saved By The Bell was on has the name Zack and word attack been so overused. AND IT’S ONLY THE THIRD GAME OF THE SEASON!

Fast-forward to me getting home Wednesday night. Trade the suit for sweatpants, microwave some leftovers and grab a drink. That drink, because of he who shall be named in a bit, ended up on my lap.

When I checked NHL.com’s coverage of the Canucks game, the above headline is what I found. STRAIGHT KASS HOMIE. I read it once in confusion, twice in bewilderment, then took a sip and lost it! STRAIGHT KASS HOMIE - LIKE STRAIGHT CASH HOMIE, ONE OF THE GREATEST SPORTS QUOTES OF ALL TIME FROM NONE OTHER THAN MY MAN RANDY MOSS!

I emailed the NHL to give them props on the headline and was told it was the genius work of one Davis Harper, who I now consider a close, personal friend.

Writing headlines is incredibly difficult and Davis Harper pulled this off after 1 a.m. Eastern Time in New York. That’s today now, but it was tomorrow yesterday - the future. Whether you admire the headline as much as I do or not, rise from your seat, be it at your desk, the kitchen table or on the skytrain, and join me in as low clap.

Here’s to you Mr. Davis Harper.

Oh and good luck in the Super Bowl my Straight Cash Homie Randy Moss!

Project NU2

As those at Rogers Arena just heard when the Vancouver Canucks hit the ice prior to puck drop against the Calgary Flames, there was no Bono, no U2, no ‘Where the Streets Have No Name.’

Right now, depending on your reaction, you fit into one of two categories:

1 – WHAT IS GOING ON? WHERE IS U2?!? THAT’S OUR SONG! BRING IT BACK! NOOOOOOO! HUNGER STRIKE – WHO’S WITH ME?!?

Or

2 – Well it’s about dang time they changed that song.

Truth be told, U2’s ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ will no longer be the only song played when the Canucks skate onto the ice; it will still be used, in rotation, with a handful of other songs until a new grand master super sonic bombastic track is discovered. We’re calling it Project NU2.

During Game 3 Wednesday night, the Canucks were ushered onto the ice by Muse’s Map of The Problematique; during the first two games of the season it was DJ M.E.G.’s Stock-Holm that played.

Below is the Muse tune for those who want to have a listen.

To be clear: by no means are the Canucks locked into this as their new intro song, it’s one of many that we’ll be getting a feel for over the next few months. We might play the same song for three straight games, then mix it up, who knows!?! We’re crazy like that.

Beginning tomorrow morning our lovely loyal Canucks fans get a chance to have their say. All the details will be available on Canucks.com Thursday morning.

We’re always open to new song suggestions, comment below to have your say.

Hockey’s back!!!!!

I was in Whistler visiting friends last weekend when my phone began to go crazy.

Like Charlie Sheen crazy.

Like I had just Instagrammed a picture of peach pie crazy.

Like Keyser Söze didn’t actually exist in the Usual Suspects (what the what?!?) crazy.

Crazy, crazy.

I knew in a heartbeat exactly why my phone was blowing up, at 3 a.m. nonetheless: hockey’s back!!!!!

My first instinct was to run the seawall until a joyous orca jumped over me in celebration, then I remembered running is exercise and I was all like yaaaaa maybe not.

Whatever negative feelings I had about the lockout vanished as quickly as my New Year’s Resolution to be less awesome. Forget 113 days of boardrooms and mediators and negotiations and he said, he said and missing the greatest game on Earth; close your eyes, imagine the lights at Rogers Arena going down and picture your Vancouver Canucks skating onto the ice as they prepare to do battle.

Nothing else matters, hockey is back.

Fort Nucks is back.

Behind the Lens is back.

@CanucksGame is back.

I’m back writing, you’re back reading. I like this.

I’ve felt like a 3-year-old on Christmas morning since the announcement and this mix of excitement and anticipation likely won’t subside until the off-season – whenever that is.

First things, first: hockey’s back.

I missed you.

Bure art

Pavel Bure is now in the Hockey Hall of Fame and in honour of his incredible accomplishment, nine of you paid tribute to the Russian Rocket through art.

Click here to see the submissions, there are some fantastic tributes, including the photo above by DanielleSanders.

I was able to ‘borrow’ an extra program from the Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Classic game, and that prize goes to randomly selected art maker kendallion! Congrats.

Pavel Bure Fan Club

I was a member of the Pavel Bure Fan Club when I was younger and there was no bigger thrill than getting The Rocket, the fan club newsletter, in the mail.

I still have one actually, it’s yellow and will likely turn to ash soon, but it takes me right back to being a rabid 10-year-old Bure fan.

In doing Bure research to cover his Hall of Fame induction I’ve actually been using the Pavel Bure Fan Club website quite a bit - yes, it is still up a running and it’s a fantastic wealth of everything Bure.

Nick is the brains behind the operation, I found that out when I emailed him recently to say thank you for his time and efforts. He said his one-man operation has always been “a labor of appreciation of Pavel’s talents.”

Thank you for everything Nick - especially for not removing the links to other Pavel sites.

Browsing through the links the other day I stumbled upon the most fantastically out of date Bure fan site the internet has to offer.

Please click this link. Here it is again. You know you’re in the right place if an instrumental version of ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It for You’ by Bryan Adams starts playing.

Welcome to Pasha’s Palace.

Have a look around. Check out the incredible vintage audio and video clips and some rare photos of the Russian Rocket, but most of all, play Bure Concentration. Then play it again.

Are we having fun yet? I AM!!!

Now good luck beating my imaginary concentration high score and getting Bryan Adams out of your head.

High praise for Bure

Pavel Bure didn’t steal the show during the 2012 Hockey Hall of Fame Legend Classic game at Air Canada Centre Sunday afternoon, but given a little more time, he just might have.

Bure, who missed a quarter of the game changing out of his swanky new blazer and into gear, scored twice and added an assist for Team Trottier in a wide open game; in classic Bure style he wheeled through centre ice a few times just waiting to fly onto the attack, but no one was there to feed him like Jeff Brown did.

Still, it was a great showing for a man who hadn’t been on the ice in quite some time and while a comeback isn’t in the works, his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame has clearly been earned.

Here’s what fellow 2012 inductees Mats Sundin, Joe Sakic and Adam Oates, and 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Dino Ciccarelli, had to say about the Russian Rocket.

Mats Sundin

“One of the toughest guys ever. Pavel Bure, to me, if you look at the best pure goal scorers of the last 50 years, he’s right up there. Impossible to stop really with the speed and his nose for scoring goals. It’s a great honour to be inducted with him.”

Joe Sakic

“I don’t think he was one of (the most exciting players), he was by far the most exciting player in the game for that 10 year stretch that he played. I saw that first game of his and from then on he was just so electrifying that as a hockey fan, you wanted to watch the Canucks because you wanted to watch Pavel Bure and see what he was going to do. He was just a tremendous player.”

Dino Ciccarelli

“He was just a dynamic player, great skater, great shot.

“(Vancouver) had a great team and he was the explosive guy on the team, for every opposition team, every pre-game was always about Pavel Bure and him getting behind the defence. No matter how many times you talked about it, he would still stick it to you. He’s a great talent and he deserves to be in here.”

Adam Oates

“Pavel was the Russian Rocket and before a game you’d be thinking that if we don’t find a way to shut this guy down, we’re going to lose. He’s also one of those rare guys that was very dynamic because of his skating ability that brought the crowd to its feet, almost as an entertainer.

“Like most good players, you just tried to contain him, you really couldn’t shut him down. He was an elusive guy, he could turn the jets on at anytime, so he was a very tough guy to cover.”

Mission: art Bure

This weekend Pavel Bure and three others will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, joining 366 players, builders and on-ice officials in the shrine.

“It’s an amazing honour,” Bure will likely say, “but it would be even better if Fort Nucks ran an art contest to honour my time in Vancouver,” he likely wouldn’t add.

Your pretend wish is our command Mr. Russian Rocket.

It’s time for another Fort Nucks deviantArt contest, this time dedicated to Pavel Bure, which I’m sure you gathered.

Next, gather your art supplies and get moving. Due to the tight turnaround of Canucks.com just recently getting the green light to cover the Bure induction and the actual ceremony going down next Monday, there’s no time to waste.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: art Bure in whatever way, shape or form lets you pay tribute to the most exciting player in Canucks history. What was it about Bure that set him apart from others? Whatever it was for you, make it come to life through cartoons and comics, digital art, drawings, paintings, or others.

The fine print:

1. Sign up for a free deviantArt account, then join #VancouverCanucks page on deviantArt.

2. Create a fabulous work of art. As mentioned, cartoons and comics, digital art, drawings, paintings, or others, are all welcome. Submit said art to the #VancouverCanucks page (click gallery, go into the contest folder titled: Contest – Hall of Fame Bure, then click submit).

3. That’s it. (Contest is open to new and existing members)

The contest begins today, November 6th, and runs until Sunday, November 11th. We’re hoping to secure a prize for this contest from the Hockey Hall of Fame banquet itself, but as of now you are submitting art to submit art.

Truthfully, I’m hoping to show Bure a few of the submissions and have him pick his favourite.

The winner, who may or may not receive a prize, will also be inducted into the Fort Nucks Art Hall of Fame, alongside Shan317, kkylasmithh, ArtAngelo and peanutjester.

Excellent Adventure: Bure

Joey, Rory & Jory are at it again, this time in a special Hall of Fame Excellent Adventure.

The three amigos have been given the green light to cover Pavel Bure’s upcoming induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame; the team departs Saturday and will not only cover Bure receiving his HHOF blazer and ring, but also his return to the ice in the Legends Classic game Sunday.

If you joined us for the previous four Excellent Adventures this summer, you know to expect the unexpected, and that counts double for this trek.

Joey Kenward and Rory McGarry are true professionals; you don’t have to worry about them. I, Derek Jory, on the other hand, have been able to mask my Canucks fandom for years, but reality will set in when I’m face-to-face with The Russian Rocket - the freakin’ Russian Rocket!!!

I’ll expand on my admiration for Bure as we get closer to this weekend’s trip, just know that he played a major role in getting me to where I am today – and we’ve never even met.

Canucks.com has some fantastic coverage planned for the Bure weekend, including exclusive videos, stories and behind-the-scenes social coverage (maybe even a Twitter Q&A), and we’ll also launch a Fort Nucks art contest themed around Bure later today.

I now turn the microphone over to you Canucks fans: what would you say to Bure if you had the chance? What do you want to know about him, past or present? What can we do during this Excellent Adventure to bring you closer to Bure?

Leave a comment below with anything and everything Bure related. We’ll do our best to produce coverage worthy of the most exciting player in Canucks history.

Derek

Lack Blog: Chasing Tiger

Believe it or not, but I went on a tiger hunt yesterday. Some of you are probably thinking that hunting a tiger, one of nature’s most elusive orange creatures, would be a good workout for training camp and you’re probably right. I was on the other kind of tiger hunt, I was in Medinah, Illinois, chasing Tiger Woods at the 2012 Ryder Cup.

That’s how true professionals prepare for training camp! I was starstruck the whole day.

Hi there, I’m Eddie Lack and I’m going to be blogging for Canucks.com during Chicago Wolves training camp. I’ve never blogged before, but I English good for guy Sweden from! ;)

Camp opens today and goes for over a week. We play some pre-season games in there too. How does a professional prepare for training camp? Good question. I’ll go ask one.

Just kidding. I took a few weeks off early in the summer, then began working out off-ice five or six times a week trying to get into shape for camp. I don’t really need to lose weight, what I focused on was speed and agility and a lot of core drills, that’s very important for a goalie.

I did some yoga this summer too, I actually went with my mom, Mia, a couple of times. It was fun. That was one of the nice things about being home was spending time with family and friends.

The weather wasn’t great in Sweden this summer, but when it was, I tried to get out and play golf. I maybe played five or six times. My mom golfs, so we played together too.

I lived with my mom until I was 13, then I lived with my dad, Jan, in Stockholm, but me and my mom have always had a nice relationship. I don’t really know if I’m a mamma’s boy or I’m a daddy’s boy, I’m kind of both. I know I’m their favourite child though – and not just because I’m an only child.

It was nice to come back to Chicago to see the sun shining. I really like this city. I had never been to a Cubs game before, so I went to one not long ago. I came in the third inning and I left in the seventh. I don’t even remember who they played, I’m not very good with team names in baseball. I don’t really understand the game, that’s the bottom line. It’s a very slow game, but I know the guys that know the game, love it. I’m just not one of those guys. I’m more into soccer and football.

Now it’s time for camp and I’m very excited. This is what I’ve been looking forward to for like a month now, the vacation has been a little bit too long. I’m looking forward to getting everything started here.

Thanks for reading. I’ll try to blog again this weekend, depending on our schedule. If you have any questions for me, leave them below!

What now?

For at least the time being, hockey has been put on hold.

Some are looking at this situation as if the glass isn’t half empty, it actually fell off the table, smashed onto the floor and broke into 739½ pieces.

If you’re like me and Vancouver Canucks hockey consumes you for at least eight months of the year, you feel a little lost right about now. Sure you’ve got gobs of free time, time to enjoy hobbies or other activities, but what good is it when following the Canucks is the hobby and watching hockey is the activity?

If someone could hand me my rose coloured glasses – thank you – I’d like to put a positive spin on how we can collectively use our free time with 11 creative suggestions.

(Please stop rolling your eyes, I have nothing else to write about…)

-Clean out your music library. Do you really still need the Men In Black soundtrack? Or Macarena, Who Let the Dogs Out?, Kung Fu Fighting, 99 Red Balloons or Sugar, Sugar? The answer is no. And you need the room for Gangnam Style. It’s the first of many quality singles from PSY. I’m sure his second single Right Now will be just as popular.

-Ultimate Dishwashing. Not sure if this exists, I just took a great word and combined it with something I hate doing. Extreme Vacuuming was a close second.

-Learn a new language. More than 14 per cent of the world’s population speaks Mandarin, Spanish is second at 5.85 per cent, and English is third at 5.52 per cent. You could always broaden your horizons and become affluent in a dialect foreign to you. Or even a dialect foreign to us all: whatever language Honey Boo Boo speaks.

-Bring back a childhood hobby. For me this could include playing Pogs, peeling stickers off a Rubik’s cube, creating NSFW Lite-Brite pictures, perfecting my Johnny 5 imitation, flushing California Raisins figures down the toilet or working up the nerve to ask out Kelly Kapowski. I had a lot of friends as a child, as you probably pieced together.

-Hula-hoop. Who doesn’t like standing with their feet shoulder-width apart, hands in the air, gyrating a plastic circle around their hips! The life skills acquired from hula-hooping are as follows: sweet dance moves and the ability to look smooth escaping/being swallowed by quicksand.

-Elongate some pennies. This is a must do – before it’s too late. Pennies will soon be extinct in Canada, so why not squish one so it looks like a guitar pick? Just find one of those squishing machines, insert a penny and two quarters (this ain’t free cheapskate) and voila, an elongated penny. Then, and only then, are you eligible to join The Elongated Collectors, a club celebrating this hobby. Once a member, get ready to really have some fun.

-Origami, bead, quilt, felt, cross-stitch, sew, crochet or knit. Or not.

-Watch movies, solve mysteries. What was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction? How does the shark know Mrs. Brody is going to the Bahamas in Jaws the Revenge? What happened to the ship’s crew in Madagascar? What’s the deal with the guy in the dog costume in The Shining? What was in the FedEx box in Cast Away? Why was Bio-Dome ever made?

-Become a Cryptozoologist. Gorillas were a myth up until 1902. I’m serious. Pandas, giraffes and pythons were also myths at one point or another. Your job as a Cryptozoologist is to find animals that have not yet been proven to exist. May I suggest a Pugeon (pug & pigeon), Duckodile (duck & crocodile) or Chavrilian (one interested in the relationship of Chad Kroeger & Avril Lavigne).

-Write someone a letter. Get a piece of paper and a pen, write down a nice message to someone. Then go to the store, buy an envelope and a stamp. Put the letter in the envelope and lick the stamp. Then find their address and write it on the envelope. Then go find a mailbox and send the letter. Then wait 6-to-8 days for it to arrive. During that time you can realize it’s 2012 and you could have just sent them an email.

-Take up noodling. From what I’ve read, this involves catching fish by hand, usually by having a fish latch onto your arm before you drag it ashore or into a boat. It’s a smidge on the extreme side of things, but if you’ve ever wanted to do something as difficulty as possible, noodling is for you. And by you I mean the one person still reading this far down after realizing no edible noodles are involved in this activity.