Hockey Talk

What’s really on their minds? Pro athletes on Twitter

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:15:50 +0000

With the NHL trade deadline just weeks away, what better way to keep the spirit of rumors and gossip going than a browse through Twitter? Fans and sports reporters have used the social media site for years now, and it looks like more professional athletes are joining the Twitterverse to chat with us mere mortals. While we don’t think they’d be putting out any juicy insider scoops on possible trades anytime soon, it’s as close as we’ll probably get to hearing what the stars are up to away from the cameras. Some of them tweet about the charitable causes they support (like Vancouver Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa on Mindcheck.ca), while others are trenders (see Oilers forward Taylor Hall contemplating a possible name change).

If you’re wondering what your favorite pro athletes are up to away from the cameras, there’s a website called Tweeting-Athletes.com where you can browse through a directory containing Twitter accounts of players from all the major North American sports leagues. Time to hobnob with sporting royalty!

Who are some of your favorites athletes on that list? Let us know who’s tweets make your day!

Tweeting-Athletes.com

Great collection of hockey wallpaper for just about every team (and basketball, and football!)

MaxK — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:52:31 +0000

Via Google+, here’s Jason Weger (of apparel company Embroidered Things)’s great collection of pro sports wallpapers. He’s got every team – past and present – so there’s sure to be something to tickle your fancy.

Check out the wallpapers here, and be sure to visit our NHL hockey page for tickets, schedules, and more information on when your favorite team is playing.

Let us know your favorite wallpaper in the comments below!

Alex Edler spills a guy’s beer: even funnier on repeat.

MaxK — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:19:23 +0000

So there’s a site called “YouTubeRepeat.com,” and what it does is play any YouTube video on a loop. When used on this five-second clip of Canucks defenseman Alex Edler knocking into the side of the rink at a game against the Flames, causing a front-row ticket-holder to spill his beer all over himself, it’s even more hilarious. Hope that shirt isn’t dry-clean-only!

Watch here. Seriously, it gets funnier each time.

Get Canucks tickets for yourself on our site… just, maybe wait for the intermission to grab a beer if you’ve got seats on the glass.

Hockey – The Lighter Side

MaxK — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:29:36 +0000

As the NHL season heats up, YouTuber tweiss229 brings us a hilarious piece of hockey history (courtesy of a local secondhand store): the full version of 80s classic short “Hockey: The Lighter Side.” It’s very, very silly, and well worth a watch.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

New Canucks goal song is awesome, strangely familiar

MaxK — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:31:58 +0000

Are you listening to the song yet? Turn up your speakers or put on headphones and hit play. OK, good.

The Canucks have picked up a new goal song – “Electric Worry,” by the band Clutch – and it’s become immediately stuck in our heads. If you’ve been to Rogers Arena lately and catch yourself singing “bang, bang… vamanos, vamanos” under your breath, this is why.

Oddly enough, the song was also used in TV ads for the incredibly addictive zombie-shooting co-op multiplayer game Left 4 Dead 2, leaving us wondering… the Canucks would probably do pretty well for themselves in a zombie apocalypse, right?

Get the song on iTunes and get ready to sing along at a Canucks game.

Habs goalie strikes fear in his opponents with… Ned Flanders?

MaxK — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:06:24 +0000

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Peter Budaj, originally drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, has taken the tradition of custom art for goalie masks in hockey and run with it. He’s featured such imposing (if geeky) characters on his mask as the Hulk and medieval assassin Altair (of the video game series Assassin’s Creed), but he’s best known for sporting the terrifying visage of longtime Simpsons character Nedward “Ned” Flanders.

The art, done by hockey artist Dave Gunnarson of DaveArt.com, features Ned Flanders as some kind of wizard. It’s worked: last season, Budaj reached 100 career wins in a 4-3 game against the Phoenix Coyotes. Abraca-diddly-abra.

(Via IcedOutHockey.com).

NHL Facial Hair Roundup

MaxK — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:17:55 +0000

Unlike other sports organizations, having facial hair in the NHL is de rigeur for players–whether it’s a gentlemanly moustache or a flowing wizard’s beard which would make Gandalf blush. On hockey blog What the Hell Is Icing, NBA refugee Bob Gurnett gives us his picks for the top five whiskers currently graces the manly mugs of the NHL’s finest.

Check out the post here, and visit our site for current NHL hockey schedules and tickets!

Why do fans refer to their team as “we?”

MaxK — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:29:53 +0000

Here’s an interesting article. Matt Horner, of hockey blog Five Minutes for fighting, dissects the psychology behind fans referring to their team as “we” and “us.” Using experimental data from a 1974 study, he goes on to show that people are more likely to refer to their team as “we” after a victory, and “they” after a defeat, which might explain the phenomenon of the “bandwagon” every year when a team is doing well in the Stanley Cup finals.

Horner has a reason for this: “People want to be judged positively by others,” he writes, “and they often try to associate themselves with something positive, like a successful sports team. This is especially true when they already feel bad about themselves. By piggybacking on the success of their team they can feel a sense of belonging and enjoy the warm feelings associated with being a part of something successful. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t actually participate in that success. The important thing is that they feel connected to it.”

Check out the article here.

Tampa Bay home opener at renovated Times Forum… check out the Tesla coil!

MaxK — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:32:16 +0000

The Tampa Bay Lightning have cleaned up nicely. Not in terms of winning games this season (it’s still too early to tell), but literally: their newly renovated Times Forum has opened, and it’s amazing what some paint and new seats can do. That’s not the only thing new about the place – they’ve added a huge pipe organ, and most impressively, Tesla coils which, when operational, will shoot 20-foot bolts of manmade lightning.

Here’s a pic, via Reddit user randude, of one of the new coils:

The renovated Times Forum has lost around 500 seats due to the renovations, but the 19,204 seats remaining provide an even better view of Lightning hockey.

Check out our complete Tampa Bay Lightning schedule on our site if you’d like to see the team in their new venue for yourself!

Sharks ruin perfect Canucks preseason run

MaxK — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:36:39 +0000

With a hotly contested 4-3 game Sunday night, the San Jose Sharks put an end to a perfect Canucks preseason and paid Vancouver back for putting an end to their Stanley Cup ambitions last year. It may have been the addition of Tommy Wingels (who scored two goals against Vancouver), or it may have been the Canucks’ inability to properly use their late-game advantage to catch up, but the Sharks put on a much better show than the last time the two teams crossed paths.

With this win, the Sharks continue their flawless preseason record. Expect a furious match when the Canucks and Sharks play for real on November 26.