Nightlife

What a monster win that was last night in Dallas. The Canucks have three of a possible four points so far and we’re now in Nashville hunting for more tonight.

How did we get to Nashville so quickly? Time travel, no biggie.

Having to fly post-game is truly one of the most unique aspects of traveling with the team. It’s hurry up and wait at its finest. Game ends, players do media, change and go through security before getting on a bus headed to the airport, before getting on a plane headed to the next city. Same for the rest of the staff.

It’s all a blur. Cities blend together, if you’ve kept a room key from a past hotel you’re doomed to get mixed up and really, by this point in the trip, you have no idea what day it is or where you are.

We got to the hotel in Nashville around 2 a.m. and I couldn’t help but chuckle when the doorman said “good morning!” - I was all like c’mon man, I look like a walker, do you think I’ve slept yet?

Then it was the ol’ elevator crunch where 50 exhausted people just want to get to bed and there are only two creaky elevators and no one is crazy enough to take the stairs eight floors.

Note - If you’re not an actual player, you wait until the end. The very end. The sun was almost up. First. World. Problems. The trainers have it the worst. If I ever man up, I’ll follow them for a night. Their work never ends.

Once in my room it’s time to check Canucks.com and make sure everything is tickety-boo. Last night it was, but I made the grave mistake of turning the TV on. NOTHING GOOD CAN COME OF TURNING THE TV ON AT 2 A.M.!!!! First up, Fraser. Martin Crane accidentally ate the pot brownie Roz had left for Niles and that led to a world of hilarity (NOT), then on The King of Queens, oh you’re going to laugh, Carrie was wearing her hair in a bun and Doug didn’t like it!!! LOL x 1,000 - I KNOW!!!

I repeat - NOTHING GOOD CAN COME OF TURNING THE TV ON AT 2 A.M.!!!!

Moving on.

Do you eat at 2 a.m. if you’re hungry? I feel like no, but my grumbly tumbly was yelling at me. I shut it up with some Twix, they’re basically celery sticks.

When the website is good and the belly is full and the non-stop laughter of late night TV ends, it’s finally time to sleep. Last night that was easier said than done when I realized that since I left Vancouver, my loved ones back home have gone to bed earlier and gotten up later than me every single day. So much for some R&R on the road.

Then I started thinking about how if I ever started a band, I’d name it Free Beer. We would sell out every show ever. Then I planned out Friday morning and realized I could kill two birds with one stone on something I’m working on, then had a chuckle thinking about someone at PETA using that saying in a meeting.

It was good times at 3 a.m. in Nashville, let me tell you!

That’s about all the news I’ve got for you. It’s 2:20 p.m. and I’m in my hotel room having just mangled a sub, my third of the trip, with game time in less than five hours. I’ll likely spend that time trying to figure out how to get past security at the arena to meet Taylor Swift, she’s rehearsing crazy close to the Canucks dressing room.

Taylor, I know you said we are never ever ever ever getting back together, but you haven’t seen me since I got a haircut! I’ve been mistaken for an actual NHLer twice - once was me looking in the mirror and the other was Malia who cut it complimenting her own work, but it allll counts!

Derek

P.S. - 11 days…

Peanut butter Jory time

Welcome to Chicago Canucks fans!

It’s windy here, as advertised, and we lost two-hours en route, so it’s dark already. Otherwise, what a city!

The hotel is gorgeous, the view from my room is even gorgeouser and the three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I nabbed from Air Canucks are the gorgeousest.

Normally I blog while traveling, but some days the words just aren’t there and today was one of those days. I stared out the window into a thick mess of gray clouds for a long time; I couldn’t see anything and I could see everything. I was as sharp as a bag of wet mice all flight. And no, Jack Black didn’t do something funky to the coffee before Dave Grohl served it to me. I ride dinosaurs as often as I drink coffee.

I was going to live-blog the flight, or at least time stamp entries throughout the afternoon to explain what was going on, but the Canucks are on a new plane these days and it’s very divided. There’s a first class, then another first class, then the players, then the trainers. It’s all first class really, the plane is pimped out with wood paneling and the sink in the washroom may have been marble.

For some reason Jeff Vinnick and I were row 1 in first class with enough legroom a lion could have slept in between my feet and the wall in front. The only time I saw any Canucks was when they boarded – and yes, I got the gears from every one of them about being in the front of the plane.

I took full advantage by sleeping most of the flight. I also played Guess the Celeb Booty from whatever girly magazine Rory McGarry was reading. I went 0-for-8, which I think I’m rather proud of.

And now, presto, we’re at the hotel. The Canucks will grab a bite to eat and rest up for what is going to be an epic game Tuesday night at the United Center.

We’ve got a Behind the Lens gallery coming tonight and I just finished texting a very important someone who will likely play a part in Canucks.com’s coverage of tomorrow’s events…

Anything I should know about Chicago before I head out for a sandwich?

Derek

P.S. – Turbulence turns me into a 12-year-old girl, and that’s an insult to 12-year-old girls. Sorry Jada. (Just an FYI for anyone flying with me in the future).

Stickered

Just when I thought my head couldn’t get any bigger, Chloe made it smaller and stickier and now it’s bigger than ever.

Chloe, aka @penciltest, is an art student with a fondness for a Sami Salo slapshot who runs a few great blogs including http://azirae.tumblr.com/; it’s all a collection of incredible, adorable, original art and, as a fan of the Vancouver Canucks, she arts her favourite players as well.

Remember those amazing Canucks tree ornaments from a few years ago? (http://bit.ly/WDlQqN) Ya, that was her. She’s got mad skills and her latest endeavor is more pure solid gold.

Chloe recently took on stickers and did 22 Canucks, the Green Men and Sami Salo (Forever a Canuck) printed on 8.5” x 11” sheets. We posted a link to it on Canucks.com earlier this week. Killer stuff.

Then I looked a little closer and realized there was a player I didn’t recognize AND RIGHTFULLY SO! That ain’t no player, it’s me! Top row in the photo above, I’m second from the left between Zack Kassian and David Booth! A limited edition bonus sticker was recently added to the collection of yours truly, clean shaven - and she even got my new hair right!!!

I have decided that I will no longer be signing my name on contracts or cheques, I’m just going to carry around a roll of Derek stickers and use them when needed.

I never thought I could be so stoked to become a sticker. But alas, here we are. The only question I have now is if Chloe were to have made the stickers scratch and sniff, what would I smell like? A ripe ol’ mix of sweat, peaches, manliness, peanut butter & jelly and your grandparents’ basement, with a hint of freshly mowed grass, I reckon.

Thank you for the fantastic stickers Chloe!

And thank you even more for NOT making them scratch and sniff!

Click here for more info on how to order Canucks stickers – including me!

UPDATE

My head is back down to normal size. Apparently the sticker I thought was me, is not me, it’s some guy named Ryan Kesler. Sooooo for the time being, I’m back to being stickerless.

“I’ll add Become Sticker back to the list,” said Derek’s bucket list.

Sad emoticon in 3…2…1… :(

UPDATE II

CROSS BECOME STICKER OFF THE BUCKET LIST AGAIN - I’M BACK!

Just got a sweet email from sticker queen Chloe, with the following photo:

My head is back to over sized, I’m a sticker! My hair is a tad lot longer right now, the ladies like it that way (and by ladies I mean my mom), but I’ve got some facial scruff, which I always have. Awesome.

Chloe, my order is on the way!

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.

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.