Alanah McGinley is a virtual acquaintance. I've never personally met the lady. She currently writes for Paul Kukla at KuklasKorner. She stopped writing some time back with the lame excuse of taking time off to have a kid. I was disappointed in her for that. I am pleased to see with our 'Nucks in the finals she couldn't resist. As one of a very few Bloggers with real press credentials (and not a press person who moved to the bloggoshere) Alanah is a inspiration to many bloggers. Me included. Her recent post on why she would celebrate a Stanley Cup is here. She makes some very good points.
My thoughts on who deserves mention in a celebration of Stanley:
The other players: The cup means so much to us because of the names. It is the only professional sports trophy that has the names of all the previous winners engraved into the cup (well the bands around the base). If you are Alex Burrows or Kevin Bieksa and you do go on to win this series, your name gets added to the cup along side Jean Beliveau, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and every other icon of the game that has had the past good fortune to have contested for and won the cup. What an honour. Every fall we start out wanting to give that honour to the current year's version of the Canucks. Every spring we have that moment when we sigh and say "maybe next year." So far for in 2010-11; not yet. Looks are OK so far. Over the forty year history of the team, we seem to have our best chance. In 1994 one more win was needed. In 2011 two more wins are needed to reach the same point - but I still like our chances. The celebration of the third and fourth lines the fifth and sixth defence men. That is what I want to see.
Fred: While the fact that the Canucks have never won the cup is true, Vancouver HAS won the Stanley Cup before. Lead by Fred 'Cyclone' Taylor the 1915 version of the Vancouver Millionaires beat the Ottawa Senators to win the Stanley Cup. Cyclone's grave is a few hundred meters SW of the corner of Imperial and Willingdon in Burnaby. I'm sure Fred is looking down and smiling at the prospect that the cup might be coming home after 96 years.
Trevor: For 16 of 20 NHL seasons the lanky kid who was the son of a Medicine Hat trucker defined class and grace. He took us on the 1994 run. He came within one goal of putting a Game 7 into overtime. He went on to lead the NHLPA trough some very serious times. When his tenure was complete he quietly stepped aside to let a new generation of leaders take over. The PA has never since had the creditability it had when Trevor was at the helm. His dedication to the city and people of Vancouver continues today. Ask yourself: who would you rather have for a best friend? Trevor Linden or Mark Messier? New York may have won the cup in '94 but we were the winners because we still have Trevor Linden.
Pat and Pasha: The Big Irishman brought us Kirk McLean, Trevor Linden and Pavel Bure. Bure was the most exciting thing I have ever seen on skates. I was there on November 12, 1991 when he scored his first NHL goal. I had no idea who Bure was. All I knew was we stood and gave him a standing ovation for what seemed like 10 minutes. Gretzky (the LA version) was the opponent. Bure then scored a second goal and was by far the best player on the ice. We won 8-2. I remember March 9 1993, Bure scored his 50th goal of the season. It was a, on CKNW only, neutral ice game against Buffalo played in Hamilton. After the game Tommy Larcheid, with his trademark impish glee, asked Bure "do you know who was the last Canuck to score 50 goals?" Bure dead panned, in his charming Russian accent, "me?" Quinn brought us those times. He lifted the team to a new level. Harry Neale may have brought the team along from an expansion door mat but Quinn laid the foundation to build the team into a legitimate NHL contender. Pat Quinn still lives in West Vancouver. If you'd like to meet him, hang out for brunch on a Sunday at Fraiche restaurant up at the top of the British Properties. He is often there around 11:30AM.
Stanley: The park and the cup are named after Lord Stanley. His name was also Fred - the karma is aligning! Isn't appropriate that the Lord's mug be once again returned to our park that shares its name?
Ciao,
Tags: hockey; Vancouver+Canucks;
