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bobbyluongo1

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  1. interesting list. Are you a scout, or did you get all the info from other sites?
  2. I am an avid Tweeter. I think it's a great way to keep up with topics you are interested in, as I do with hockey and the sports world in general. I follow many junior hockey organizations, particularly ones situated in the West, to get the scoop to stay informed because many news organizations do not follow them enough to my liking. About a month ago, I tweeted to the Prince George Spruce Kings wondering if they intend on filling their GM role soon. Honestly, I was not expecting much of an answer. I was only curious because it's been a couple of months since they fired their old GM and Head Coach for being dead last in the BCHL. They responded back a couple days after, notifying me that they will posting a job description and details on how to apply after January 4th. I had to read it about 3 times to soak in what they just said(Curiously, the tweet has since been taken down). Since when did a hockey team plan on offering people not within the industry an opportunity to fill their GM role? It was unheard of. January 5th came and went, and there was no GM job posting, not that I was looking to apply, but to see if they were ACTUALLY going to follow up with their tweet. If you're curious, no they didn't put it up. But something curious happened today. The Spruce Kings put up a tweet that said, "Applications and Letters of Interest are now being accepted for the position of Head Coach with the Junior A team http://bit.ly/hCsh5Z" They are looking for candidates for the head coach position via Twitter. On a larger scale, if you can imagine, this is like the Canucks taking out space in the classified section in The Province or Vancouver Sun that reads, "HELP WANTED. Looking to fill vacant GM role. Call for more information." This is unheard of in the hockey industry. Since the existence of hockey leagues, coaches and managers were people who once played the game at a high level, minimal experience had to be a Junior League like the WHL or BCHL. But something seems to be changing in the hockey world. The prestigious group that was as tightly bunched as a can of sardines seems to be slowly opening their arms to average joes like me to join them and contribute to the game. As a person who is looking to get into the industry, I'm very fortunate to know people in the industry, and a few scouts I do know in the BCHL and WHL are people like me, men who did not play the game at the major junior level, but love the game and are pursuing a job in hockey. Now, this is just an example of one team only, a team in the junior level at that, but it's an indication that people's perception in the hockey world is changing. It's not only former players who have an eye and brain for the game, people who truly love the game do too, they just lack the experience, something that can be built. Hockey teams are starting to operate more like a business, looking for fresh ideas to build their teams. It's highly doubtful that the Spruce Kings will find a legitimately qualified candidate via Twitter, but it gives me more hope that in 10-20 years, you will find more people that has not played the game at a high level in management positions all over hockey. It's a step in the right direction, and I hope more teams will take this approach, for the sake of my dreams. Feel free to visit my blog, PUCKS AND BUCKS if you like what you read.
  3. I would put in Enstrom for Byfuglien. Enstrom runs the PP in Atlanta, and makes guys like Byfuglien and Ladd look good. Very underrated.
  4. It's finally started. It all began in April, when I sent a long email to the UBC Men's hockey team explaining my love for the game and what I want to do with it in the future, and asking for some kind of a job within the team. Between then and now, after a handful of meetings discussing my role with the team, the season finally arrived, and I couldn't be anymore happier with how it has all turned out on Friday and Saturday. From April to the moments before the game started, I really didn't know what to expect out of this whole experience. I was a little intimidated and in awe, because being part of a hockey organization has been a dream of mine for my whole life, and slowly but surely, it's all starting to fall into place. The UBC Men's Hockey team played two games this Friday and Saturday versus SAIT, and my hockey operations internship finally started. I was so excited on Friday, I just wanted 7PM to come so the game can start. I went inside the dressing at 6PM, and the smell of hockey equipment hit my nose so quickly, it felt like home, and took away a lot of the nerves I had. I can't say this enough, but the rink is absolutely beautiful and it really is a shame that more people don't come watch the team play. Thankfully the games went smoothly, and the T-Birds swept SAIT this weekend. I've learned so much in the last two days, and I can't thank the coaching staff enough. After games, they really went out of there way to teach me more about the game, little details that I never noticed before while going over film together, and stuff that will definitely come handy in the future. I feel extremely blessed that I've been put into a perfect situation, and I really look forward to the next three years to take in a lot of different experiences. My future with hockey is still a very big unknown, but I'm just focused on doing my job with the UBC men's team, work my ass off and see where it gets me. I'm taking a road a few have only travelled on, but that's what really makes this exciting for me. liked what you read? Take some time to read my blog
  5. First of all, I have to give a huge thanks to Sports Management Worldwide. They did everything first-class and I had a great time attending their hockey conference and the draft. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of great hockey people and network with them. At downtown Sheraton, there were a ton of people from the NHL, like Mark Recchi who just signed a one year deal with the Boston Bruins to continue a great career, several Nashville Predators scouts, Joel Quennville and David Poile. During the hockey conference, there was a great panel of speakers like Mike Johnston, ex-assistant coach of the Canucks and current head coach and GM of the Portland Winterhawks, Dino Caputo, full-time scout for the Tri-City Americans, Mike Oke, director of player personnel for the Peterborough Petes, and Wade Klippenstein, assistant GM of the Prince George Cougars. After listening to about 20 different scouts, player agents, GMs, and business executives, it’s clear that everyone has a different and unique path to working in hockey, but one thing is clear, I have to work hard wherever I go and meet a lot of people and maintain a good relationship with them, because you never know when they can get you a job on a hockey team. I’m excited to start on my path to the NHL front office, wherever that takes me. Now at the draft, it was great to see so many LA hockey fans out there. The area around Staples Center was buzzing with fans wearing LA Kings merchandise, and it was even better inside. In the concourse of Staples, I saw a lot of nervous, but excited prospects. I couldn’t recognize them at first, but when they got their names called and their faces were on the jumbotron, I kept telling myself, “Oh I saw him earlier with his family.” I saw Erik Gudbranson, Brandon Gormley and a few others whose names I don’t remember at this time. My seats were so close to the draft tables, and the closest team to me was the Vancouver Canucks, my favorite NHL team. I had my eye on their table, and the couple things I noticed were that Canucks GM Mike Gillis is a much more relaxed person than he seems on TV and radio interviews, and Sharks GM Doug Wilson went up to talk to Gillis repeatedly, and the more they talked, the more Gillis shook his head and smiled and at times looked frustrated, which makes me think that they were talking about a trade, but things got sour as time went on. The Florida-Vancouver trade caught me off guard because I did not see a meeting between a Panther and Canuck personnel, but later I learned that the deal was in place earlier. My favourite moments of the draft was when the LA fans would boo relentlessly whenever the Canucks, Sharks or Ducks were mentioned. It was great to see the passion in a non-traditional hockey market. There were a lot of Oilers fans and Ducks fans, and the place was nearly packed, even to the upper bowl which really surprised me. I sat a couple of seats away from Emerson Etem’s family, and it was some nervous times for the fourth ranked forward by Central Scouting. The native of SoCal sat nervously, and when his name was called by the Ducks, extremely loud boos turned to extremely loud cheers by the fans. They realized the importance of the growth of hockey in the California area, and it seems like California is going to produce some more great hockey players in the future. When I got back to the Sheraton after the draft, there were some disappointed prospects who did not get drafted. Their whole family was there with them, and some of them were getting comforted by their parents, being told that tomorrow will be the day for them. It really put things into perspective for me, that they are just 18 year olds, no matter how incredibly talented they are. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures because I didn’t have a camera, but the experience was just amazing. For me to see the draft in person, it only made me want to fulfill my goal to become an NHL GM even more. --------- If you're interested in reading more of my blog posts, go to: http://pucksandbucks.wordpress.com/
  6. Fruition, you have many great points like suggesting Luongo has the make up of a great captain, because I agree full heartedly that he does, but I just do not think he can handle the pressure of wearing a C while being a starting goaltender in a city like Vancouver. An interesting point you suggest is that he is "able to convey encouraging and game-changing advice to other teammates." Have you been in the dressing room yourself and heard whatever advices Luongo was giving to his team? To clarify, other than the post game interview after game 6, I never said Luongo had a bad attitude. I just believed that if he were to say such phrases like "The guys in front of me didn't do a good job of clearing the rebounds tonight, and we have to tighten up for next game", it SOUNDS like he is blaming everyone but himself, when it is actually a fair statement, but when a goaltender says those kinds of words, the media always seems to twist it and turn it into a negative, something the team shouldn't have to deal with on top of the crazy media in Vancouver. As for Luongo's play declining, you must be watching a different game than me if you think his play down the stretch was anything like the Luongo of the 06-07 season when he single handedly beat the Dallas Stars in the 1st round of the playoffs. I truly do believe he's a top 3 goaltender in the NHL, and there's not a chance that I'm questioning the abilities of a gold medalist, but I believe that he'll be the franchise goaltender we expect in the crease when his duties as a captain is given to someone else. Who do I think the Canucks should give the C to? I really believe that Kesler is the front man for the job. I'm not giving him excuses, but he was playing with a bum shoulder during the playoffs, and as hard as I was on his performance, you can't deny the intensity he brought to every game in the regular season, and he is noted as one of the more vocal guys on the team. Vocal doesn't mean much, but his play and work ethic on the ice should speak for themselves too.
  7. Roberto Luongo is the only goaltender in the league who is the captain of his respective team. A captain has the responsibility of talking to the referees during the game regarding penalty calls or concerns they have, and to face the media every single day. A goaltender cannot leave the crease to talk to referees, and talking to the media every day takes a toll on someone that has a lot to focus on. So should Luongo be captain or not? A goaltender is a unique position in hockey. It is a team sport, but the position is largely based on individual performance, and as an ice hockey goaltender myself, found that it takes a lot more focus and an introvert personality to be successful. Bobby Lou is an emotional person, and he takes the game extremely seriously and practices as hard as anyone in the league, something that coach Vigneault and GM Mike Gillis thought would rub off on his teammates, and named him team captain. I full heartedly believed that it was the right decision, even though it shocked me at first. The Canucks had players such as Ryan Kesler, Mattias Ohlund and Willie Mitchell that can fill the void left by Markus Naslund when he left for the Rangers 2 years ago. The players in the dressing room were all up for it, and the feeling around the league was the same. It seemed like a move GM Mike Gillis would pull off, something out of the ordinary. As time went by however, the negatives started to show, particularly this season. Luongo was not performing up to his capabilities, and the responsibility of facing the media everyday seemed like it was weighing down on him. Most goalies only address them post-game, but Louie had to pre-game as well, and it could effect his preparation. Goaltenders have to get ready physically and mentally, and having to face some tough questions did not do him any good. Another negative of him wearing the C is the feeling that he's throwing the team under the bus when he reflects on a bad game from the team. Again, the position is individualized compared to forwards and defensemen, and when he says things like "The guys in front of me didn't do a good job of clearing the rebounds tonight, and we have to tighten up for next game" sounds like he's criticizing everyone but himself. If someone like Kesler were to say that, it's just another comment from another player. I'm not a part of the team, but it could become a distraction when reporters report it as a "selfish remark" and the team gets questioned about why their goaltender and captain is throwing the team under the bus, when he's only giving a fair assessment of the game, which can turn into a distraction for the whole team at the worst of times. Should Luongo keep the C and stay Captain Canuck? I believe that he should let go of the position and give it to someone else, but it will all come down this summer. Lou is a competitive player, and he loves challenges and works extremely hard, but I feel like the captaincy is more than he can chew, not because of who he is as a person, but because of the position that he plays. There's a reason why Ryan Miller or Martin Brodeur aren't captains for their teams, because they cannot handle the duties of being the number one goaltender and the responsibilities that come with the C on the chest, or mask in this context. As a Canucks fan, I can only hope that Luongo admits defeat with this issue, and hands it to someone else on the team to become the leader on the ice and dressing room, something he cannot deal with as a goaltender in a pressure-packed city. Make sure to check out my regular blog, PUCKS AND BUCKS, where I talk everything hockey and business.
  8. Nevermind about KJ Choi, I ate my words real bad.

  9. I would be shocked if Burrows scores 30 goals ever again without the Sedins.
  10. Who would have thought? The humble, identical twins from Ornskoldsvik, Sweden have become superstars in the the NHL and it's about time. They won't be replacing Ovechkin and Crosby as the faces of the NHL anytime soon, but their names should be up there with the greats in this league. They have been dominating the league with linemates Alex Burrows and Mikael Samuelsson. Henrik has picked up 93 points in 69 games, on pace for 111 points this year, and Daniel has 68 points in 51 games, and if he could play all 82 games in the year, he is on pace to pick up 109 points in a full season, both career highs. Before this season, their career high points totals were 82 for Henrik and 84 for Daniel, and while Henrik has shattered his personal best already, Daniel can still break his previous record with 17 points in 13 more games. The question is, how did they become legit first line players all of a sudden? I honestly never thought the twins would average more than a point per game in a season in their careers, but they obviously proved me and a lot of other doubters wrong, posting some ridiculous numbers. In their previous 8 seasons, they both only managed to break the 80-point barrier twice, and this is when they played all 82 games in a season. They were productive, but they were never thought of as being in the same, grade A level as Joe Thornton, Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk and others who can produce more than 90 points per season. There are two things that I believe have helped the Sedins get to the top: chemistry with Burrows/Samuelsson and swagger in their games. The Burrows experiment started from last season, and that experiment has carried on to this season and their production as a line hasn't slowed down. The Sedins finally found a winger not named Anson Carter who can finish their plays consistently and create room for them to work with. Samuelsson hasn't disappointed either. Put together with the Sedins during the 14 game road trip when the twins were struggling to produce (believe it or not), Samuelsson hasn't looked back. In 8 games since the Olympic break, Samuelsson has 9 goals in 8 games with his first hat-trick in his career. If you watch the Canucks consistently, you would have seen that Samuelsson and Burrows both look so good with the Sedins, and they threaten to score on almost every shift. The days of rotating wingers with the twins are gone. Burrows and Samuelsson are there to stay for good. The second aspect of the Sedins' improved play has to be their swagger on the ice. In previous seasons, they would shy away from "bruhahas" and while supporting their teammates, would not be involved in the thick of things, and I definitely see that circumstances have changed now. I have seen the Sedins talk right back to opposing players with smug expressions on their faces. They have new-found intensity in their game, something that should serve them well in the playoffs and years to come. The only thing that is left to see is if they can produce at this rate in the playoffs too. They had a good playoffs last year, collecting 10 points each in 10 games, but they have to play as well as they have all season long to take the Canucks to the finals for the first time since 1994. Make sure to check out my hockey blog as well!
  11. K.J. CHOI?? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  12. Team Canada now has a long and tough journey to win Gold, and I really believe the lack of intensity and goaltending has led them to this road. Canada's forecheck has been very disappointing to see because it just lacks the speed and physicality to retrieve pucks and punish the opposing defensemen. Every forward needs to pick up the slack and really play like it's the last game of their careers to see any affect. Another issue with Canada has been goaltending, and it has been widely publicized. As an ice hockey goalie myself, I really sympathize with Martin Brodeur and the criticism he's been getting, but he has not played well enough to warrant any praise either. Brodeur is a legend, and will go down as one of the best goaltenders of all time, but his legacy has been getting damaged the last couple of seasons. A good example would be last year's playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes. In the game that decides it all for both teams, his team had a 1 goal lead in the last minute of the game, and looked like they clinched a birth to the next round... but not only did he give up the tying goal, but he gave up the go-ahead goal for the Hurricanes to steal the game all in one minute. Those two goals were not beautiful goals either, very ugly goals that he should have stopped. This season has also been a very average season according to Martin Brodeur's standards, and it has carried through to the Olympics. He needed to make some key saves, and while he did stop 2 breakaways against the USA, the first three goals were absolute momentum killers for Canada and its fans in Canada Hockey Place. Roberto Luongo will get the starts the rest of the way, and I expect a much better performance from him in front of his home-NHL crowd. He has become the best goalie in the NHL in my opinion, and it is his chance to shine and redeem himself after game 6 against the Blackhawks last post-season. Here are the list of players that I believe are performing very well, and players that have been disappointing so far in the three games Canada has played. The Good Drew Doughty- This 20 year old rock solid defensemen ate up some crucial minutes in the first three games and his poise with the puck and his defensive play has been incredible to watch. LA Kings fans are privileged to watch him night in and night out for sure. Coach Babcock and his crew could not possibly ask for any more than the quality of play Doughty has provided for the team, other than some offensive production maybe. Sidney Crosby- He hasn't gelled with Rick Nash and all the other wingers he had to play with very well, but he has taken over to become the leader of the team. His tenacity and play with the puck is outstanding, and he has done all he can so far to make Canada proud. Points will come for him, and I expect him to light up the lamp more often than the last three games since it is do or die situations from here on end. The Bad Chris Pronger- His leadership and experience may come in handy, but his play has been awful. The Americans did a nice job to expose his lack of foot speed and dumped and chased on his side all night long when he was on the ice. He has been a disappointment to me, and the edge he often plays with has been nonexistent so far in the tournament. Joe Thornton- He is pulling the disappearing act once again like he always seems to do in critical games and situations. His wingers Heatley and Marleau have outperformed him so far, and I didn't like the fact Steve Yzerman picked him before, and I still don't think he should have made it based on the lack of results he has had in the post-season. He needs to wake up, because he is taking up a valuable centre position. Corey Perry- He is the player I hate the most in the NHL, and the edge that he has in the NHL has not been in display in the Olympics either. He has to play an in your face style to make defensemen over commit to him and free up room for Getzlaf and the other forward, but he has not been able to do that either. His forecheck has been weak, and he needs to do more to be effective the rest of the way. Brenden Morrow- Brought here to provide energy, and has not done that very well at all. He creates momentum for the team by forechecking hard and being physical, but he has been a disappointment for me. Even when he does not get on the score sheet, he is having a good game when I notice him on the ice, and he has been invisible so far. He needs to punish the opposing team more and create chances off turnovers that he is capable of creating. So do I think Canada can still get the job done? Absolutely, but like I said earlier, they have to play with more intensity and get some key saves from Luongo to win that Gold. Anything but a Gold is a failure, and although things have been made more difficult for the Canadians, maybe it is something they needed to play at a level I know they are capable of.
  13. this weather is absolutely ridiculous. WHY IS IT RAINING NOW????? And I don't understand how high school teachers are going to get to work when the majority of the population is having trouble getting out of their houses.
  14. please don't tell me you were using that NikeBauer XXXXs outside
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