Canucks open playoffs tonight on THE PEAK, Vancouver Giants advance, Golf Talk..

FINALLY, the second season is here, as the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs open up tonight!

Four series open this evening with the Rangers at the Capitals, Carolina at New Jersey, Philly at Pittsburgh and last but not least - the St Louis Blues visit the Vancouver Canucks
Of course 93.3 The Peak will be bringing you the play-by-play of all Canuck playoff games

Check out the preview from the Canucks website HERE

As for my thoughts on the series..... First off, don't expect it to be easy because no series will be easy, there is just too much parity in the NHL. Especially don't expect it to be easy as St. Louis has been extremely hot down the stretch and almost as hot since the All-Star break. And playoffs start from the goalie out. Well Chris Mason is a goalie that can be very hard to beat.

I actually wish that the 'Nucks were playing anyone BUT the Blues.

It isn't that I fear the match up, it's that I am a big fan of what's going on in St. Louis. I have always been a fan of John Davidson, and it's nice to see how quick he turned them around and got them back into the post season. It's also nice to see the fan support they have had there, with a loud and sold out building down the stretch. Canuck fans that haven't paid any attention will certainly see what I mean when the action shifts to St. Lou. The barn has been packed to the tune of 19,500 people I think, and it has been crazy loud.

I like seeing teams have success when their cities are 100% behind them, as opposed to teams winning when their own buildings aren't even sold out and their cities couldn't even care about the NHL or hockey in general.

They care BIG TIME about the Blues and the NHL in St. Louis again.

Anyway.

CANUCKS in SIX.

The rest of my predictions -

Capitals in SIX.

Carolina in SEVEN.

Pittsburgh in FIVE.

Blackhawks in SIX.

Bruins in SEVEN. I had Habs in seven, but chickened out.

Blue Jackets in SEVEN.

Sharks in FIVE.

Wow, what a Game 7 last night as the Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs took a 0-0 tie into overtime. Coming off double OT in Game 6, and quadruple OT in game 5, I had a feeling that last night's OT would be a short one....That proved to be the case as Nick Ross gave Vancouver the win early in sudden death.

Some sweet pics, off the facebook of my good friend Eddie Gregory. Eddie of course is the play-by-play voice of the Burnaby Express. Check out his blog - the link is on the right - or click this link - Burnaby Expressions

The celebration after the winner....Man you had a great seat for that Eddie.

A great crowd at the Pacific Coliseum

The Giants play the Kelowna Rockets for the Western Conference Championship. No word yet whether SHAW will be carrying that series, or the Calgary Hitmen vs. Brandon WheatKings series for the Eastern Championship. I gotta cheer for the home-province team - GO WHEATIES.

On this side of things, go G-Men!

UPDATE - Gregg Drinnan reports on his blog TAKING NOTE, that SHAW will be staying out West, covering the Kelowna vs. Vancouver series.

GOLF TALK.... A great 9 holes for me yesterday at the Alberni Golf Club. A further tinkering of my swing and equipment has continued to help me. Yesterday was the consistently inconsistent round. I'd hit it huge up the middle, or throw a nice approach shot in there. Then I'd snap hook on in the woods or flub it. So it was a day of several pars (awesome!) and several triples. But all in all a fun day and the course is continuing to get in better and better shape everyday.

Special thanks to CPGA Professional Bruce MacDonald for allowing me to hit some demo clubs to continue to find the one that's right for me.

And a big thanks to assistant CPGA Pro Brian Rands for his help on the weekend getting me some new spikes. It was pretty funny actually, I walked in and tried to buy some spikes, and he said "let me see your shoes" and then he quickly wished that he hadn't asked. The spikes were all worn so bad he could barely get them out and get the new ones in. Long story short, he ended up giving me one of his old pairs of shoes, as he said "They keep giving me pairs, I must have about 15 lying around" THANKS BRIAN! As they say, your swing has to start with a good foundation, or something like that!

My dad is visiting from Manitoba, starting today. Needless to say, he'll be a huge regular out at the course for the next while!

That's it for now.....GO NUCKS GO!

Hammer

Pattison Radio joins "Superhero Network", "Hey There Iginla" Game 7 in The Dub tonight, NHL playoffs tomorrow

This is cool stuff, and it makes me proud to work for my employers!


Pattison Radio Joins Superhero Network

BC Children’s Hospital Foundation announced today that it has formed a partnership with: The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. Under the partnership, which will be launched publicly on April 13, 2009, Pattison Broadcast Group stations will support the foundation in its efforts to promote the $200-million Campaign for BC Children around the province. The campaign is urging British Columbians to “Be A Superhero” by supporting the construction of a new BC Children’s Hospital and Child Health BC, a hospital initiative that is improving access to pediatric care for BC children, regardless of their location in BC.


“Many of us know someone who has been treated at BC Children’s Hospital, whether they live in Prince George, Kamloops, Vancouver or Nanaimo,” said Jim Pattison Broadcast Group President Rick Arnish. “This partnership is an important opportunity for the Pattison Broadcast Group to help shape the future of health care for BC’s kids.”


As campaign media partner, Broadcast Group stations will run a series of public service announcements featuring campaign information, as well as featuring children from around the province who have received care at the hospital. “We hope to inspire the listeners of the Pattison stations to participate in the campaign,” said Sue Carruthers, President and CEO of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. “We need Superheroes to emerge from every corner of the province.”


With 20 stations across BC, the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group gives the hospital access to a host of listeners. More than 67 per cent of the 75,000 children who come to BC Children’s Hospital each year live outside the City of Vancouver. The Pattison stations have enormous potential to provide coordinated radio coverage to reach more of the communities served by the hospital.


BC Children’s Hospital Foundation also has a partnership with Global BC TV, which has been providing news coverage and airing campaign public service announcements since the campaign was launched in April 2008. To date, British Columbians have contributed $80 million toward the campaign goal.

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This is just plain awesome...The talent and creativity of some people blows my mind!

Thanks to Dan the Stats Man for sending me this beauty!



I don't know about the rest of you, but I just plain love playoff hockey. NHL BCHL WHL Junior B C D E F G....When the stakes are raised and the players play with the passion and emotion that come hand in hand with the playoffs, I just love the game. I'd go watch an Mites playoff game and love it.

When you can have it delivered to your living room, even better.

When it's a Game 7, it's just that much more intense.

Tonight the Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs play a seventh and deciding game in their second round playoff series, and you can catch the game on your local SHAW channel - that's channel 4 in Port Alberni.

I love how SHAW gets on board with the WHL playoffs. It's just another playoff hockey game to watch on most nights, which is cool. I really wish SHAW would take a look at covering the BCHL this way, or maybe just the Doyle Cup series? I know the scope of the BCHL pales in comparison to the WHL but there would still be considerable interest and a market for it in my humble opinion.

It should be a good one tonight from Pacific Coliseum - game time is 7pm.

Last but certainly not least, the Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off tomorrow...More on that later today!

And hey - Anyone up for a little golf today out at the Alberni Golf Club? Give me a call/text/email/blog comment etc if you are in!

Hammer