I am an AVID Vancouver Canucks fan!  If you'd asked me 3 weeks ago about the upcoming - now happening - shortened season, my reply would have been somewhat ambivolent.  Then came time to play and I was right back into the thick of it!  Early performances showed the rust and the nerves, but "my guys" are settling down.  Since every game 'counts', should be an exciting season!  GO CANUCKS!

The NHL Playoffs start tomorrow - do you care? If so, who are you cheering for and why?

We talk a lot about peace on earth. We think we want a utopian state of peaceful bliss. But do we? Or would we become hand-in-the-chin, puddle-of-drool-on-the-desk bored with that?

Tillman pleads guilty. Sentencing tomorrow but think he might get "no time"

No talking on cell phones in car 280 dollar fine and 4 points on licence

Woman been missing in city since before Christmas. they have had air search and ground search but she hasn't been found. Her family is devestated. She is early 50's and has anxiety problems. Everyone is on the lookout ( sheds, cars etc.) -40 weather is worrisome.

Hockey has brought big bucks to the province.

A Quebec judge has ruled that a cross check is an offense under criminal law.

So - today's question is - why is a cross check called a cross check? (it goes across the body or face, of course. But almost all checks do that. So why is only one type called a cross check?)

Hint - the answer is not in Revelation.

Hint - the reason comes from another sport.

For the past several years, many here in the west have come to the conclusion that there is something wrong in how the NHL conferences are dispersed. Or that there is the inevitable and unsolvable problem of social-geography - it is easier to travel in the east coast because of the lack of distance compared to the western conference (ie. how many teams are between Montreal and Washington, D.C. compared to the huge geographical difference between Vancouver, Edmonton, and Dallas, etc.).

I have a soft spot for international hockey, probably a holdover from being raised during the heyday of the hometown 1961 World Champion Trail Smoke Eaters.

Following the Juniors recent 5th straight gold medal, I read a feature in the Vancouver Province newspaper about how the Canadian hockey system was rebuilt after 1981. The junior team was fifth at the world junior hockey tournament in 1979 and 1980 and seventh in 1981.

After this Murray Costello and others decided something had to be done. Calls were made, doors resounded with knocks and presentations were made. The result was the Program of Excellence. And Canadian hockey stepped back from the brink and towards excellence. The challenge of the changing global hockey context made us better. 

Leads me to wonder.