In my final regularly-scheduled CCC for the 2010-2011 season, I look back at a truly amazing season for the Vancouver Canucks: a season that ended with a disappointing and bitter defeat to the Boston Bruins, ending the Canucks' hopes for their first Stanley Cup in their 40-year history.
I include a lot of footage from after the game, including the presentation of the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophies, the merciless booing of Gary Bettman, and the loud ovation for hometown-boy Milan Lucic.
We're a few hours away from the most highly-anticipated game in the 40-year history of the Vancouver Canucks: game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Canucks and the Boston Bruins.
It's been a wild and entertaining final with a little bit of everything: good goaltending, shaky goaltending, last-minute goals, quite overtime finishes, fights, hits, injuries, taunting, and even a suspension. But for the Vancouver Canucks, even after 7 pre-season games, 82 regular season games, and 24 playof
With a win tonight in Boston, the Vancouver Canucks can win the Stanley Cup for the first-time in their 40-year history. But it won't be easy...the Bruins hammered the Canucks by a combined score of 12-1 in games 3 and 4.
The Canucks can look to the Dallas Mavericks for inspiration; the Mavs won their first-ever NBA title in franchise history by beating the Miami Heat in game 6...on the road. Sound familiar? If the Canucks do win, I hope their post-game celebration is a bit more memorable
The Boston Bruins have evened the Stanley Cup Finals at 2 games apiece after another dominant win, this time defeating the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in game 4 in Boston.
As the series returns to Vancouver for game 5, I have noticed that there are many Canucks fans looking to jump off of the bandwagon. While I have no problem with fans jumping on to the bandwagon, I can't stand it when people jump off.
Canucks fans need to be loud and proud in game 5 at Rogers Arena. In winning the Presidents'
The Boston Bruins got back into the series with a massive 8-1 thumping of the Vancouver Canucks in game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. After a scoreless first period, the Bruins scored 4 goals in both the 2nd and 3rd periods on their way to an easy win.
Despite Boston coach Claude Julien's claims that the Bruins wouldn't stoop to the Canucks' level (with respect to the finger-biting of game 1 and the finger-taunting in game 2), both Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic seemed intent on having the Canuck
The Vancouver Canucks have taken a 2 games to zero lead over the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals thanks to a pair of dramatic victories: Raffi Torres scored with 18 seconds left in regulation in game 1, and Alex Burrows scored just 11 seconds into overtime in game 2.
I talk a bit about Burrows' game-winning goal, and his knack for providing dramatic game-winners. I also wonder at the post-goal celebration of Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
I start the video off with over a minute of foota
Finally, it's here: the Vancouver Canucks vs. the Boston Bruins in the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals.
In this CCC, I quickly reflect on my child-hood memories of following the Canucks, and remembering the exciting runs of 1982 and 1994. However, this year seems different. It feels different. We expect to win.
Boston will be a formidable opponent, but I don't think the Canucks can be denied this year. It's time to win the Cup. For die-hard Canucks fans, this is what we live for.
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The Vancouver Canucks are off to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1994! The Canucks advanced to the finals with a thrilling 3-2 double overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks, winning the series 4 games to 1.
In this CCC, I include a bunch of footage from both inside and outside of Rogers Arena from game 5:
-raw footage of Kevin Bieksa's strange game-winning goal and the euphoria that erupted afterwards
-Henrik Sedin accepting (but not touching) the Clarence Campbell B
In this CCC I start off my acknowledging a couple of neat achievements: I've been elevated to "Featured Contributor" status on the Canucks.com Fan Zone, and I've joined the team at Canucks Hockey Blog (http://www.canuckshockeyblog.com) where I will do a regular written feature called "Things That Make You Go Hmmm."
I take a quick look at the Canucks' 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in game 4 (a win that gave them a 3 games to 1 lead in the Western Conference Final) an in particular, I ex
In this CCC I take a quick look at the Canucks' 7-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks, giving them a 2 games to zero lead in the Western Conference Final. Game 2 had a bit of everything: nice goals, a fight, big hits, and a flasher.
I also take a close look at Ben Eager's night of work: in 11 minutes he had one goal and 20 penalty minutes (including one 10-minute misconduct and a dangerous boarding penalty for driving Daniel Sedin into the boards from behind).
Ben's eager-ness to get involv
For this special CCC, I channel my inner homeboy and interview the creators of a brand new Canucks song called "Go Canucks Go (This Is What We Live For)": producer Jason Imoo and rapper t.pAk.
We talk about the inspiration behind the song, the writing process, and their hopes for the song. It has a great vibe and very clever lyrics; let's spread it around and make this the Canucks' playoff anthem until we win the Stanley Cup!
To listen to the entire song, click here:
http://www.yout
This CCC starts off with in-arena footage of the game winning goal scored by Henrik Sedin, lifiting the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in game 1 of the Western Conference Final.
With the help of my son Sean and daughter Kayla, I offer up 5 quick observations of game 1 from being in attendance at the game. In particular, I look at the play of Henrik Sedin and the 3rd line.
For the second half of the CCC, I acknowledge that many of you viewers have noticed the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9TjseKnfQQ
Check out the latest foray into the realm of Canucks songs. It has a catchy beat and clever lyrics, and it's produced by my talented brother Jason Imoo. Spread it around as the 3rd round anthem!
http://www.claytonimoo.com
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A couple of days after the Vancouver Canucks eliminated Mr. Underwood and the Nashville Predators in the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs, they are still waiting to see who they'll be facing in the Western Conference Finals.
History bodes well for the Canucks, as they have never lost in the Conference Finals (granted...they've only played in it twice in their 40-year history). But they've won both times!
In this CCC, I quickly reflect on how grateful I am that the Canucks aren't playing on Ma
With round 2 between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators off to a fairly uneventful start (2 rather defensive games), I decided to have a chat with Reigan Brown, Andrew Cleasby, and Chris Gerry. These 3 creative dudes produced an awesome Canucks Fan video called "Game Day", which is a parody of Rebecca Black's "Friday". The video has over 285,000 hits in a month! See the video here:
We talk about the inspiration behind the video and whether or not they were surprised by it's i
For this CCC, I look back at the epic 1st round series between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks, and in particular 5 intriguing story-lines that came from the series.
I then look ahead at 5 things to look out for in the round 2 series between the Canucks and Nashville Predators. I examine:
1. Goaltending
2. The Sedins
3. Ryan Kesler
4. Hamhuis and O'Brien
5. The potential for boredom
4 wins down, 12 more to go. It's time to MASH the NASH!
Music is "Hockey Night in Can
So it all comes down to one game between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks to see which team will advance in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. Game 7 will be on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena.
After the Canucks stormed out to a 3-game lead, the Blackhawks have evened the series in mounting an improbable comeback. As the fans in Vancouver become increasingly nervous, I felt that I needed to go back to my roots. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Thus, for this CCC
For this Clay's Canucks Commentary, I welcome special guest director and cinematographer Ben Van Kleek (www.benvankleek.com) to talk Canucks.
I met Ben earlier this month when he asked me to appear in David Blair's music video "We Are Canucks" (as Ben was directing and producing it).
In this CCC, we give our impressions of the Canucks 5-0 loss to the Blackhawks in game 5 of their 1st-round NHL playoff match-up. We also talk about unruly fans, Canucks music videos, and Ben's new Canucks fan
In my CCC for April 16, I start off with some in-person footage from the Canucks' 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks in game #2 at Rogers Arena.
Then, I focus on bandwagon jumpers and I explain why I've completely changed my opinion on them this year. In fact, I argue that long-standing Canucks fans like me should welcome bandwagon fans with open arms as opposed to judging them or rejecting them....all in an effort to build Canuck Nation.
However, I also outline 3 conditions in welcoming thes
In my first CCC of the playoffs, I offer 5 reasons why I think the Vancouver Canucks will finally dispose of their playoff nemesis of the last 2 years: the Chicago Blackhawks.
As well, I point out a couple of connections to the Canucks-themed NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs commerical called "History Comes in Threes".
Lastly, I mention the plethora of great Canucks fan music videos that have come out recently, in particular "We Are Canucks" by David Blair and directed by Ben Van Kleek. I was ble
I was blessed to witness history on March 31, 2011 as the Vancouver Canucks claimed their first-ever Presidents’ Trophy by beating the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 at Rogers Arena.
With 113 points and 4 games remaining, the Canucks could potentially reach 121 points this season!
Also, I witnessed another milestone as Daniel Sedin had 2 points to bring his league-leading total to 100 points. He is a lock for the Art Ross Trophy and a favourite to win the Hart Trophy (just one year after his twin
For this CCC, I take a more mellow and serious approach and reflect on the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the fluke eye injury suffered by Canucks center Manny Malhotra.
As exciting as this season has been and as much as we are looking forward a long playoff run, it's important to keep things in proper perspective, especially when it comes to someone's health and well-being.
Music is "Hockey Night in Canada" recorded by Naturally 7 on their CD "VocalPlay." (www.naturallyseven.
The Vancouver Canucks added some depth at the forward position on this past Monday's NHL trade deadline, bringing in Christopher Higgins from Florida and Maxim Lapierre from Anaheim. They are both expected to play pivotal roles for the Canucks as they look ahead to the last quarter of the season and of course, the playoffs.
Given that they are both former Habs, I decided to take a look at the Canucks' current roster to see where all of our players have played before the Canucks.
Among t
I was curious to get an “outsider’s perspective” as to how well the Vancouver Canucks are playing right now. So this CCC features special guest John Angotti: a singer/songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee.
John is a big sports fan, but has only been to one NHL game live (a Pittsburgh Penguin game back in the day). So I took him to the Canucks-Flames game this past Saturday night to get his opinion on our team.
You’ll see that John was quite excited and had plenty to say about the Canuck
This quick CCC comes to you from Niagara Falls, Ontario. Filmed at an outdoor skating rink (Rink at the Brink), I draw a quick analogy to the Vancouver Canucks sitting atop the NHL Standings and other teams hoping that they will fall…especially given the injuries to Alex Edler and now Keith Ballard.
I didn’t bring my Mac on the trip…hence the old school Windows Movie Maker movie. Thanks to Colm from Saskatoon for filming for me!
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