Friday, July 11, 2008
It's Pavol Time!
by Jes
Now that the shock of the news of Crown Prince Pavol Demitra (Our lord, Jedi Master, and archbishop of the Church of the Shiny Head) signing a 2-year deal with the Canucks has abated somewhat, I am composed enough to make a coherent post without going too OMGfanboy on your asses.
On the hockey side, this deal is a good one for the Canucks. A 2 year investment at $4mil is both reasonable for the cost and not going to put the Canucks in any sort of bind.
Compared Demitra to Naslund and you can see that the Canucks will get similar production, at the very least, for $2M/season cheaper AND not have a guy who sulks all the frickin time.
Demitra can play both center and on the wing (where he is better), can play well in all situations, which gives Alain Vigneault a lot of flexibility in his constant line juggling. At least now we have a secondary offensive threat, although the Canucks still need at least one more talented and proven forward to really get serious about a playoff run.
Unlike James Mirtle, I don’t see Demitra as potential captain material to replace Naslund. While Demo was one of the rotating flavour-of-the-month Kapitans for the Wild, his personality isn't really suited for the position.
On the non-hockey side, this deal, obviously, has me more content than Richard Simmons in a room full of obese housewives. Never did I ever think Pavol Demitra would END UP IN VANCOUVER!!!!!1111111oneoneone
*sorry*
Then, suddenly, we get Mike Gillis as an agent, the pieces fall together ... it's all so sudden.
For years, I've struggled to have much of a real emotional attachment to my hometown club as there have been so few players that I've actually liked all that much: Trevor Linden, Jiri Slegr, and Jan Bulis v2.0 is pretty much all there was.
It didn't help that the Canucks had many players I really disliked, such as Bertuzzi, Ruutu, Cooke, and Tarantula Head. I cheered more for the laundry than the players, and my fandom was never quite as deep as it was during the days of Lumme, Smyl, Linden v1.0, Captain Kirk, and Pavel Bure.
Wouldn't you find it a bit hard if your absolute favourite player was off somewhere else?
Having Pavol on the Canucks will permit me to invest more of myself into the team, and have my heart stomped on even more so than it usually is by this frickin club. It's hard to be a Pavol fan when he's playing for a hated division rival, or for the bland LA Kings.
For my entire Canucks fandom, I have rare seriously considered buying a sweater of any sort. It wasn't just because some of the designs sucked (the first Killer Whale sweater, ftl), but because by the time I actually had $$ to purchase such a luxury good, I, instead, bought a DEMITRA Blues sweater, for obvious reasons.
Now? I'm going to be hunting hard for a good place to get my #38 Canucks sweater to wear. I expect few around here will have the same, and I can laugh at them as their BERTUZZI, NASLUND, and COOKE sweaters are merely retro crap.
To all of you haters, such as Zanstorm over at Waiting for Stanley, you are not invited to my Pavol Demitra-themed Christmas bash this December.
You know who else will be happy to have Pavol? Roberto Luongo.
On the hockey side, this deal is a good one for the Canucks. A 2 year investment at $4mil is both reasonable for the cost and not going to put the Canucks in any sort of bind.
Compared Demitra to Naslund and you can see that the Canucks will get similar production, at the very least, for $2M/season cheaper AND not have a guy who sulks all the frickin time.
Demitra can play both center and on the wing (where he is better), can play well in all situations, which gives Alain Vigneault a lot of flexibility in his constant line juggling. At least now we have a secondary offensive threat, although the Canucks still need at least one more talented and proven forward to really get serious about a playoff run.
Unlike James Mirtle, I don’t see Demitra as potential captain material to replace Naslund. While Demo was one of the rotating flavour-of-the-month Kapitans for the Wild, his personality isn't really suited for the position.
On the non-hockey side, this deal, obviously, has me more content than Richard Simmons in a room full of obese housewives. Never did I ever think Pavol Demitra would END UP IN VANCOUVER!!!!!1111111oneoneone
*sorry*
Then, suddenly, we get Mike Gillis as an agent, the pieces fall together ... it's all so sudden.
For years, I've struggled to have much of a real emotional attachment to my hometown club as there have been so few players that I've actually liked all that much: Trevor Linden, Jiri Slegr, and Jan Bulis v2.0 is pretty much all there was.
It didn't help that the Canucks had many players I really disliked, such as Bertuzzi, Ruutu, Cooke, and Tarantula Head. I cheered more for the laundry than the players, and my fandom was never quite as deep as it was during the days of Lumme, Smyl, Linden v1.0, Captain Kirk, and Pavel Bure.
Wouldn't you find it a bit hard if your absolute favourite player was off somewhere else?
Having Pavol on the Canucks will permit me to invest more of myself into the team, and have my heart stomped on even more so than it usually is by this frickin club. It's hard to be a Pavol fan when he's playing for a hated division rival, or for the bland LA Kings.
For my entire Canucks fandom, I have rare seriously considered buying a sweater of any sort. It wasn't just because some of the designs sucked (the first Killer Whale sweater, ftl), but because by the time I actually had $$ to purchase such a luxury good, I, instead, bought a DEMITRA Blues sweater, for obvious reasons.
Now? I'm going to be hunting hard for a good place to get my #38 Canucks sweater to wear. I expect few around here will have the same, and I can laugh at them as their BERTUZZI, NASLUND, and COOKE sweaters are merely retro crap.
To all of you haters, such as Zanstorm over at Waiting for Stanley, you are not invited to my Pavol Demitra-themed Christmas bash this December.
You know who else will be happy to have Pavol? Roberto Luongo.
Labels: Pavol Demitra, Pavol is Awesome
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
So, When Does My Heart Get Broken?
by Jes
I was perusing the usual sites at lunchtime and came across this brief posting at TSN.ca
This time next week: Pavol Demitra signs with the LA Kings :(
I was perusing the usual sites at lunchtime and came across this brief posting at TSN.ca
In an interview with Vancouver radio station CKNW, free agent forward Pavol Demitra confirmed that the Canucks are his preferred destination and expects to sign with the team.
"I think there is a good chance," Demitra said.
"[Current Canucks GM Mike Gillis] used to be my agent for a long time. We are very good friends. I am very interested in playing for [the Canucks]."
Demitra was recently in town to visit with former teammate Geoff Courtnall, the two played together in St. Louis, and confirmed
that the Canucks fit what he is looking for in a team.
"I want to play for a team that is going to win, [one] who is going to compete for the playoffs and the Stanley Cup."
Demitra was not sure when he would sign with the Canucks, only that it could happen in the next few days or the next few weeks.
"[Signing with the Canucks] would be great," Demitra finished.
This time next week: Pavol Demitra signs with the LA Kings :(
Labels: Canucks, Pavol Demitra, Pavol is Awesome
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Pavol Demitra: Enforcer?
by Jes
Pavol Demitra is awesome at many things: passing, shooting, stick-handling, skating, fashion, and Sudoku.
As the great ones often do, Pavol felt like he needed a challenge, so he took up...fighting?
Yeah, apparently Pavol Demitra came to the aid of his BFFL, Marian Gaborik, and used the old UFC ground-and-pound on Marc Savard to score the KO victory.
From Wild Puck Banter:
It certainly wasn't much of a scrap as Demitra scored a quick victory. Need evidence? Here it is...
Ph33r the Pavol!
Pavol Demitra is awesome at many things: passing, shooting, stick-handling, skating, fashion, and Sudoku.
As the great ones often do, Pavol felt like he needed a challenge, so he took up...fighting?
Yeah, apparently Pavol Demitra came to the aid of his BFFL, Marian Gaborik, and used the old UFC ground-and-pound on Marc Savard to score the KO victory.
From Wild Puck Banter:
Near the end of last night's win over the Bruins, Marian Gaborik took a clean hit behind the net from Andrew Ference. Pavol Demitra immediately came to his defense, dropping the gloves to fight Marc Savard. This is Demitra's first fight this year and it really wasn't much of a scrap. It's not exactly breaking news, but Marian and Pavol are pretty tight. They sit together on the bench, chat it up during practice and I wouldn't be surprised if they wear matching outfits on the road.
It certainly wasn't much of a scrap as Demitra scored a quick victory. Need evidence? Here it is...
Ph33r the Pavol!
Labels: Demitra, Fight, Gaborik, Marc Savard, Pavol Demitra, Pavol is Awesome
