Out of Town Notebook: Stanley Cup Finals Preview, Part 1
Tom Wakefield compares the 2006 and 2012 Stanley Cup Finals to explore the state of the NHL in the years since the lockout.
Tagged: Wayne Gretzky
Out of Town Notebook: The Forgotten All-Star Classic
Usually – you know, when the league’s marquee player isn’t in a snit and boycotting the All-Star game – the narrative surrounding the NHL’s mid-season classic (in this case classic is defined as “tired tradition”) is as follows: “How can we make this game suck less?” Ironically, 2012 represents the 25th anniversary of the best hockey that’s ever been played during an NHL All-Star event. Wayne Gretzky himself called it the fastest-paced hockey he had ever played in. Rendez-Vous ’87 , which pitted a team of NHL All-Stars against a team from the Soviet Union, was the brainchild of then Quebec Nordiques owner...
Out of Town Notebook: Dealing with an Upper Body Injury
Sometimes in life you gotta play hurt. While fighting the flu bug, here now are this week’s thoughts on the fly: Just in case Canucks fans have been living under a rock, here’s what Mark Recchi said about the most arrogant team he’s ever played against. The great Terry Jones articulates what the current Edmonton Oilers freefall feels like. If a goalie is going to roam outside the crease, they make themselves vulnerable to contact. Ryan Miller wasn’t trying to make a save in traffic at the edges of his crease – he was skating 10-15 feet away from the...
Out of Town Notebook: Gretzky vs. Lemieux and Early Rookie Chatter
[Every weekend, Canucks Hockey Blog goes out of town as Tom Wakefield (@tomwakefield88) posts his thoughts on what’s happening around the NHL.] Photo credit: Pesonen and the Pens Growing up in the `80s there were two camps: Wayne Gretzky vs. Mario Lemieux. The Great One vs. Mario “Le Magnifique.” To idolize one was to idolize a “great Canadian” – a small-town Ontario boy who grew up playing on a backyard rink. Wayne? He was humble, hardworking and personified brains over brawn. To idolize the other was, at least in my neighbourhood, almost traitorous. Mario? He was arrogant and aloof. He...
