Curmudgeon
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Babcock or Green. Who would you rather see coach the Canucks.
Curmudgeon replied to rekker's topic in Canucks Talk
All teams have slumps. Canucks are no different. Didn't hear anybody bitching about Green the first dozen games. As a certified old guy I am advocating patience. Don't get too high when the team is playing well, and don't get too low when they aren't. It is far easier on your heart, your stomach, you nerves and everyone else around you if you just breathe, file the losses under "too bad" and focus on the next game. And know this: the guy you want to fire knows the game better than you do, knows the players better than you do and feels the frustration of losing far deeper than you ever can (except if you yourself have played several seasons in the NHL, then we'll listen to you). As for Babcock, he accomplished virtually nothing in Toronto and precious little in Detroit after 2010, so how is he better than Green? -
Button actually turned on Babcock right at the beginning of the season when he scratched Jason Spezza in the season opener against his old team, Ottawa, purportedly because Spezza's penalty killing wasn't up to scratch. "Mitch Marner kills penalties. John Tavares kills penalties. (Alex) Kerfoot kills penalties," Button said. "I’m going to be really straightforward here, that is an unacceptable rationale for scratching Jason Spezza."
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I don't for a minute doubt the young core guys are competitive and try to play the right way. There is no way of knowing who Babcock might take a dislike to. We know about Mike Commodore's experience and Jason Spezza's treatment, so who really knows. I am just wondering how fans would react if Babcock DID take a dislike to one or more of the players we all love. Would we side with the coach, or the player?
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He won with Detroit 12 years ago. He has since failed with two teams. Sure he's won various tournaments with a stacked team of the best available players. The Canucks aren't yet that team. What if he came to Vancouver and for some reason took a dislike to Horvat or Boeser or tried to get Petey to play a different way. Would you want him then?
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Not really. It seems clear that Babcock and Dubas were at odds. Shanahan is the referee and he made the call. I would imagine that Babcock was given the opportunity to play nicely with Dubas but probably wouldn't yield. Hence the statement yesterday that he would bet on Mike Babcock. Put another way, he was saying that I will do it my way, which likely didn't fit with Dubas' direction.
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Keystone pipeline spill affecting nearly 10 times more land than first thought: report https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/470975-keystone-pipeline-spill-affecting-nearly-10-times-more-land-than?amp&__twitter_impression=true 383,000 barrels spilled over 4.8 acres. 8100 barrels so far recovered and cleanup continues. Cause of the spill still unknown. This pipeline came online in 2010. And Alberta wonders why BC isn't keen on new pipelines that carry petrosludge over some of the most difficult terrain in Canada.
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With four goals and four assists in 11games, Gaudette has earned a roster spot and gives the team a good option for second power play duty. The kid is a winner and should only get better. He makes Loui or Motte expendable.
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[PGT] Colorado Avalanche at Vancouver Canucks | Nov. 16, 2019
Curmudgeon replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
Green didn't start Boeser and Petey because they just finished a three minutes shift and need a breath. Horvat beat McKinnon 11 of 12 times in the face off circle so you need him out there. But yeah, I would have called timeout and rested the studs. -
Which part? The part where McLean told us how much he loved Cherry and that he could have fallen on his sword but didn't because he still wanted to keep his job? Or how he was so disappointed in himself that he decided to keep on going after the end of an era? Sorry, and I try really hard to see the best in people, but with McLean I just can't.
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Yes, but tell that to all the parents expecting their kids to win a gold medal at the Olympics or play in the NHL, MLB, NFL or NBA. Seriously, Alf, have you ever been to a Bantam Rep game? I have and a lot of the parents are animals, literally screaming for their kids to hit that guy. I've seen parents come to blows over arguments in the stands. You are absolutely right that it should be fun, just ban parents from watching the games and the kids will figure it out on their own.
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I did a little research around the question of where Alberta would fit in the world if it became an independent sovereign nation tomorrow. In terms of GDP, Alberta (336 billion) would rank 33rd in the world, just behind Hong Kong (341 billion) and just ahead of Ireland (331 billion). In terms of population, and sticking with Hong Kong and Ireland as comparables, Alberta has 4.371 million, Hong Kong has 7.44 million and Ireland has 4.88 million. In terms of the whole world an independent Alberta would rank 128th in population, ahead of Panama (4.246 million) and behind Mauritania (4.525 million) Alberta gets 16% of its GDP from mining, oil and gas, 11.5% from real estate, 9% from construction, 8% from manufacturing and so on down the line. Not an extremely diverse economy and no direct access to seaports. Hong Kong's economy (don't have percentages) is fuelled by being a free market economy, low taxation, almost free trade, a well established international financial market, an international travel hub and some manufacturing. They do not have their own military so spend no money on defence. The PRC covers that with a garrison of between 5-10 thousand personnel. Hong Kong is one of the busiest seaports in the world. Ireland's economy is a knowledge based economy, fuelled by services, high tech, financial services, life sciences, agribusiness and high value foreign investment. Ireland spends approximately 640 million a year on military defence with 8750 active personnel. Ireland has several ports that facilitate trade by sea. Conclusions: Without pipeline access to a seaport, Alberta can't get their chief commodity to market. Alberta's economy is not diverse enough to weather the cyclical downturns in the petroleum markets. Becoming a sovereign nation cannot alter geography, so Alberta will never have a seaport. Add to that the fact that creating an entire federal governmental infrastructure from a taxless population would bankrupt the fledgling nation, perhaps it might be wiser to sit down with their neighbours and hammer out a deal that benefits both the province and the country.
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While it would be great to make the playoffs, all I want to see is that the Canucks play hard and are competitive in every game. To give it their all and come up short is acceptable even though we'd like to win every game. There will be games when they are exhausted due to travel, scheduling and injuries, but the only time I would be annoyed would be if they stopped skating and rolled over. That said, I will watch every minute of every game I can, and hope.
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Jason Garrison sues Vancouver based financial advisor
Curmudgeon replied to canuckspride's topic in General Hockey Discussion
Good plan. I am watching the same sun, except in Puerto Vallarta five hours earlier. Maui sunsets are really beautiful, too. -
How on earth did you come up with that? From when he was here only Edler, Tanev and Stecher are still here. Since then the team has added Myers, Benn and Hughes. I think the depth on defence is better, including AHL depth, than it was when Tryamkin was here. Injuries aside I only asked who does Tryamkin replace. Alf answered Stecher. You suggested Benn. Thank you both for your suggestions.
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Number 753 in "you can't make this up" Apparently a sizeable number of people have slammed the Royal Canadian Legion for speaking out against Cherry's remarks. The most common threat was a refusal to buy poppies in the future. The logic of protesting against people who don't wear poppies by not wearing poppies is kind of a curious way to make a point.
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What exactly is this SJW movement? Are there membership cards? Meetings? Pledges of allegiance? Local chapters? International governing bodies? Or is the term SJW just a kind of dog whistle to rally opponents of, well, social justice? Perhaps you would prefer social injustice? As far as I can see there are extremes at either end of the spectrum. Try for the common ground and go from there, but if you insist on labelling those who disagree with you SJWs, you are being just as militant as the people you disparage. Then nobody can hear each other over the shouting. Let's all try a little tolerance and recognize that not agreeing with your world view isn't bad or evil or stupid, it is just different and labelling it with some nebulous catch all term doesn't help anyone.
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Which schools? Where? Every school Remembrance Day assembly I've ever seen included In Flanders Fields. Some teachers even had it posted on a chart in their classrooms. Don't know where you got this crazy idea from, but it is written into the BC School Act that every school shall have a Remembrance Day Assembly, so it is the law.
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I met the woman who would become my wife on a charter bus headed for a bonspiel. She said I know you. I said so? At the time both of us were engaged to other people, but the mutual attraction was strong. Within a month each of us had extricated ourselves from our respective intendeds. That was 42 years ago and we are still married. We don't curl anymore but still watch once in awhile. Funny thing: on the weekend we met we each had a choice of going on a ski trip or a bonspiel, but chose curling. Fate, I guess.
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Sportsnet paid obscene dollars for the rights to NHL hockey. To make money they need advertisers to pay big money so they can recoup their investment. Having had a side gig in the rapidly fading newspaper business I can tell you that advertisers call the shots. I had a couple of stories spiked because the advertisers wouldn't like what I had to say. I wouldn't be surprised if one or more advertisers said either Cherry goes or we do. And why would advertisers be upset with Cherry? Because they, too, are trying to make money and dread anyone starting a boycott of their products. As Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli sang in Cabaret "Money makes the world go round". Don't for a moment think that Sportsnet was in any way acting out of anything other than profit and the prospect of losing revenue.
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[PGT] New Jersey Devils at Vancouver Canucks | Nov. 10, 2019
Curmudgeon replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Canucks Talk
Been out of town a few days but caught this game on my iPad. At the beach in 32 degree heat and deep blue skies. Yes, wifi at the beach. All you can eat and drink and wifi at the beach with the ocean a lovely 84 degree F. My takeaways from the game: Markstrom is a stud, Hughes is good at hockey, Petey works harder away from the puck than any other Canuck, Edler looks really tired as does Benn, I like it when Brock shoots the puck, Sutter is better than most think, Jake seems to be getting it mostly, Bo looks like he's skating in mud and is having trouble handling and dishing the puck, Beagle is a good penalty killer. In the first part of the year the Canucks were getting a lot of puck luck. Now they are having to work for it and it is so tough in this league to win. Overall, though, they seem pretty good at sticking to the game plan, which will be their salvation if and when it comes. Trust in the system, believe in the process. They may lose another couple before they turn it around, but this team will because they are a better team than they've been. -
I have always agreed with not giving money to private schools. There are other abuses. A BC school district years ago allowed private school students to ride the school buses. Over time there were greater numbers of them and the parents, who had been extended bussing as a courtesy, began to be demanding about routes and stops. They weren't paying a nickel for transportation, yet felt just fine demanding that the bus system make accommodations for their kids. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education pays only for public school students. The math doesn't add up.
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A lot of people feel the same way. Particularly when a religious school imposes rules that are clearly breaches of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the public system nobody is discriminated against (and I am talking about the system, not the odd renegade) and every citizen is entitled to 13 years of free education. Some religion-based schools want to impose rules that deny people the rights that are theirs under Canadian law. As a taxpayer I don't want to support a school which denies people those rights.