23 November 2008

Bieska Traded?!

Vancouver Canucks Kevin Bieska was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Marc-Andre Bergeron -- in NHL 09, not real life -- after 25 games (Edler was called up concurrently, by the way).

This trade shocked me a little because I'd just been wondering whether Jean-Luc Picard could be traded despite being my created Be A Pro player on the Canucks. Probably not, right? Still, I wonder... it might be kind of neat if he was.

The trade also shocked me slightly because the Canucks and Wild are both in the Northwest Division -- intra-division trades don't happen often, do they?

Anywhoo, the Canucks have 37 points after 27 games, placing them 5th in the league, 4th in the Western Conference, and 2nd behind league-leading Colorado Avalanche (40 points) in the Northwest Division.

LW Picard has 53 points (41 goals, 12 assists) with the Canucks and is 2nd behind NHL point leader Daniel Sedin (54 points). Picard leads the league in goals, and is currently +45.

17 November 2008

Picard Called Up By Canucks

Jean-Luc Picard was called up by the struggling Vancouver Canucks, having racked up 49 points (44 goals, 5 assists) after 16 games in the AHL. Picard has scored 33 points (24 goals, 9 assists) in 8 games in a Canucks uniform. Since Picard joined the team the Vancouver Canucks (12 wins, 8 losses, 2 OTL) have won 8 straight.

At first I couldn't understand how the Canucks could have such a poor record (4 wins, 8 losses, 2 OTL) with reasonable team stats and a great goalie. I was still puzzled after the first few games Picard joined the Canucks -- Luongo was hot, scoring goose eggs or single goals per game. Recently, however, Luongo has been letting in 5 at a time with a poor save percentage, to boot. If this was how Luongo was playing in the simulated games no wonder the Canucks were playing 0.286 hockey after 14 games.

06 November 2008

NHL 09


I just recently purchased NHL 2009 for the Playstation 3 -- money amazingly well spent if you're a hockey fan. This game is great.

There are a couple graphical glitches away from the ice (sometimes the stands/boards blink black) but graphics and game play are excellent. You can play the entire game in a particular position (playing goalie is surprisingly boring for long stretches of time). Being on the bench after a line change is a convenient way to relax for a few moments after the rush of on-ice action.

The AI is pretty good. I actually think I've been geting more ice time when I play well, less if I'm not.

There are several game modes one of which is "Be A Pro" where my created player is just beginning his professional hockey career.

Having recently joined the Canucks' AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose (5-0), 19-year old Jean-Luc Picard plays left wing, shoots right, is 6-ft. 195 lb and wears jersey #17. Picard began the season on the 3rd line and after 11 points (8 goals, 3 assists) in five games Picard has been moved to the 2nd line. Assuming Picard continues to play well he has a good chance to make the 1st line -- and to ultimately get called up by the Canucks and play in the NHL.
Expect further updates on this Vancouver native's promising hockey career.

01 November 2008

Bush Endorses McCain-Palin



Tina Fey does a brilliant Palin impersonation (visit the NBC/Saturday Night Live website for more Fey-as-Palin videos); what I didn't know is that Will Farell does a pretty good impression of Bush.