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Browsing through the links the other day I stumbled upon the most fantastically out of date Bure fan site the internet has to offer.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

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.

Rogers Arena Ice Ice Baby

The ice is back in Rogers Arena. To celebrate, I, Derek ‘White bread’ Jory, pay homage to my hero Vanilla Ice.

Yo, fans of hockey, let’s kick it!

Rogers Arena ice ice baby

Rogers Arena ice ice baby

All right stop

I’ll elaborate and it’ll glisten

Rogers Arena ice is back so I thought I’d mention

It’s almost hockey time maybe delayed slightly

But the ice is ready to be skated on nightly

Will it turn to slop?

No, it ain’t no sloppy joe

Turn off the lights and it’ll glow

Supreme ice ready for deke and dangle

Let’s turn the page and an opponent we’ll mangle

Malhotra and the Whitecaps

Vancouver Canucks forward Manny Malhotra was invited to join the Vancouver Whitecaps for practice Friday. He did. And he loved it.

Here’s the proof.

And, because it’s Friday, and you are awesome, here’s a teaser video of Malhotra strutting his stuff with the Whitecaps.

Green is in!

You, the fans, have spoken.

The Green Men, Force and Sully, will be one of three inaugural inductees into ESPN’s Hall of Fans on September 19th in Bristol, Connecticut.

The ceremony will be emceed by SportsNation’s Charissa Thompson and includes remarks by ESPN president John Skipper.

Three vintage stadium chairs with individual plaques will be placed on the Bristol lawn and will immortalize the names of the inductees; Captain Dee-Fense (Larry H.) of the Baltimore Ravens and Emily of the University of Alabama (specifically softball) round out the winners.

“To be part of the inaugural class is something extra special,” said Adam Forsythe (Sully), told ESPN’s Kristen Hudak.

“There will be Hall of Fame classes beyond this one, but to be inducted on the first go-round is awesome. It’s pretty cool to think the small idea of two idiots in green suits attending a hockey game three years ago would turn into something so big. To be the only Canadian representative and only hockey representative makes it even better.”

Over the 10 day voting period nearly 50,000 votes were cast, many from you, many for the Green Men.

The Green Men will be immortalized, but they represent Vancouver Canucks fans the world over.

As always, thank you for your support.

300,000 WHAT WHAT!

As you heard from Dan Hamhuis and can see from the image below, @VanCanucks, the official Twitter account of the Vancouver Canucks, hit 300,000 followers this morning. If you’re a follower, thank you. If you’re not, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!

Everyone has a crush on Kevin Bieksa. You included?