Re-Cap of Women's Olympic Qualifying Games So Far..Day 5

Courtesy of cbc.ca

January 23, 2012

Haiti vs Cuba 3-0
Canada vs. Costa Rica  5-1

As I waited for my shift to start sitting in the Volunteer Lounge, it became obvious that we were short-staffed for this game.   There were some no-shows on top a lot of volunteers being cut for the game that day so they wouldn't be sitting around with nothing to do. Although Canada was playing that night, it wasn't considered to be a very busy double header in the Hospitality area so it was pulled for the night and my team was disbanded and sent to other areas where they were short-staffed, such as Marketing and Media.  I was put on a team called the "back of house".  It was mainly just my friend and fellow volunteer, Carmen and a guy named Peter and myself. 

This job entailed Carmen and I going into the dressing rooms of the teams, introducing ourselves to them and letting them know that if they needed anything, to let us know.  Peter could only go into the rooms once they were out....he is a guy afterall.  So he would wait patiently while Carmen and I would go check it things out first.  Also, we were to take care of their dressing rooms before and after the game.  This meant making sure they had enough towels, product and ice in their rooms.  If not, we were to replenish those items.  We also went into the rooms after their matches to "tidy up" a bit.  Which meant picking up dirty towels (using gloves of course), throwing out the used drink bottles and banana peels and whatever else they left behind.  The BC Place cleaning crew would come later and do a more thorough cleaning.

I realized two things during this shift.  One, the Spanish I learned from watching Dora the Explorer with my neices really wasn't cutting it and two, that I shouldn't be wearing boots with heels when I have to run around so much on an 6 hr shift.

During the first match with Cuba vs Haiti, Carmen and I had walked into the Canadian Team's dressing room to introduce ourselves and just at that moment, Haiti scored their 2nd goal on the tv screen and all the girls on the team jumped up with excitement that they had scored.  It was genuine happiness for Haiti and it was wonderful to see that kind of sportsmanship shown by our Canadian team.  Trust me, you can be proud of them, Canada.  Its alot more than I can say for another powerhouse team at the tournament.  But I digress.  I wished them luck that night and left the room with Carmen to find team Costa Rica to make sure they were ok.

The crowd picked up during the Canada game.  I was going thru my twitter updates on my downtime and saw that four Canucks had come down to the game. David Booth had received tickets from Team Canada's Kaylyn Kyle and he brought Manny Malhotra, Dale Weise and Chris Higgins (Chiggy) with them.  They were in the Hospitality area that night.  Looks like its right in front of the Canadian Team's suite.  Figures the one night I don't work the suites and they show up!!  Oh well, it sounded like they had a great time.

Here is a pic of some lucky fans who got to meet the boys after the game.

Other than that it was  another great night as Canada won the match 5-1.  It was the first time in the tournament that the opposing team was able to score a goal.  Good on Costa Rica.  The Canadian goals came from Christine Sinclair (2), Sophie Schmidt, Kaylyn Kyle and a goal from Costa Rica when their defender sent and innocent looking pass towards her own goalkeeper who missed the ball and wasn't able to stop it from going into her own net. 

The Canadian "SouthSiders" were also out in full effect.  They kept the spirit up with songs like "We all dream of a world of Kaylyn Kyle, A world of Kaylyn Kyle, A World of Kaylyn Kyle."  and the every popular "Holy Schmidt! Holy Schmidt!"

There was a crowd of 8,105 that night, down from the 12,417 on Saturday but tickets have been selling rapidly since the win for the semi-final game on Friday.  It seems as though the entire lower bowl will be open if tickets keep selling at this pace.  This would be great for the Women's Team.  I'm expecting it to be busy and have a full crew of hospitality up in the suites to help out.  Who knows?? Maybe we'll see David Booth and gang back for the big game on Friday!

What a Weekend!

It was a jam packed weekend with tons of action from our BC Lions and Vancouver Canucks on Saturday!  Followed by a Canuck Event on Sunday.  So let's get started...

Saturday was Halloween game night which means to expect the unexpected.  I rode on the skytrain to downtown sitting next to a giant 6 foot red Telletubbie.  I was scheduled to work at the BC Lions game that night and next door the Canucks were hosting the Washington Capitals.  There were tons of great costumes out that night. At the stadium I saw 2 hari christnas dancing and singing "Go Lions Go" with their tiny symbols, 4 Blues Brothers, 2 guys dressed as felion cheerleaders, the cast of CATS, Jimi Hendrix, a baby bunny, 2 monsters, an angel, a Norse warrior, a mummy, a couple of star wars troopers and rode back on the skytrain with Batman and Superman at the end of the night.  Oddly, that made me feel safe.

It was a strange game in that it featured two players who were pulled out of retirement because of the excessive injuries to the players on the team.  I really wasn't sure how they would fare.  But our Lions came out roaring and ended up winning the game 29-20.  With this win, the Lions have won the season series against Edmonton and have the edge.  Same with Calgary.  This is good as the Lions, Eskimos and Stamps are tied in a first place finish with all teams with a record of 10-6.  If the Lions win their next game against the Montreal Allouettes, the lions will be first in the West.  The win was great, the crowds showed up in droves and there was minimal fighting.  I ran into the player's wives in the bathroom in our area of the stadium for CAT team.  They were all excited that there may not have to be anymore travelling with this win.  Cross fingers.  The excitement is brewing.

The hardest part of having a BC Lions game on this Saturday, was that the Canucks were also playing in the building next door at Rogers Arena.  The CAT team were looking for updates on the game and all I had on me was my Ipod Touch and so contacted my trusty facebook friends and family to keep me updated with the score as the night went on.  They didn't disappoint. As the scores kept coming in, I kept updating my co-workers with the scores on the team radio.  It was amazing that both teams won against tough opponents that night.  Good Luck to our Leos on Saturday when they take on the Allouettes!  Of course, I'll be there too. ;)


Canucks

The Canucks had been accused of playing without any heart and basically half-assing it out there in the last two games.  Lu was criticized as usual and blamed for the 3-0 shutout to St. Louis.  This was a game that would show their true colors.  We could all tell the Canucks were close to getting it all working like it was before in the playoffs.  We were right! Except that it wasn't our 1st or 2nd line that came scoring first!  It was our 3rd and 4th lines!!  Alex Edler, Chris Higgings, Maxim Lappiere each had 2 goals on the night and Henrik Sedin scored to make it 7-4.  Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Ryan Kesler, Dale Weise, Daniel Sedin, Janik Hansen, Manny Malhotra and even our newest import David Booth all got on the score-sheet with an assist or two!  The main offense from the Caps came from Alexander Ovechkin with 2 goals.  The crowd at Rogers Arena got really into it and enjoyed jeering Ovechkin with "OOOOOOOVVIIIIIIIII" chants..not once but TWICE throughout the game.  Lu redeemed himself with an awesome game changing save on Ovechkin on a point blank shot and the crowd loved it.  This is what Canucks hockey is all about.  The Caps have now lost twice since they started out from the East 7-0.  Edmonton handed them their first loss and the Canucks just whipped them last night with a second loss.  I have a feeling this will be the Stanley Cup Final contenders at the end of the year.  Once all our boys get their scoring gears going, we're gonna be unstoppable just like before.  After speaking to the boyz at Fright Night today, they all expressed that it was all up from here.  They want to build on it...I could feel the excitement and energy from them.  This is our Year. Believe.

Our Newest Canuck, David Booth was on After Hours last night.  Here's his interview if you missed it.  Enjoy! :)

Re-Cap so far this week

Is it Luongo's fault?  Do the 99% really want Schneider?

Canucks played the Edmonton Oilers last night and lost 3-2 in game they should have won. Lu let in 3 goals on 14 shots and was pulled in the second period.  Cory Schneider came in to close the door on the Oil.  The Canucks had another offensive night with alot of shots on goal but were unable to get the win.  After the game, a lot of fans thought it was Lu's fault for not keeping the boyz in the game earlier.  They seemed to play with a lot more confidence with Schneidz in net.

Then the Canucks played the St.Louis Blues with their back-up goalie, Elliot, going head to head to our back up goalie, Schneidz.  Canucks lost again but this time we didn't even score once!  Ended in a 3-0 shutout win for Elliot. We thought our boys would come out shooting and with alot more energy than they actually did.  But to no avail.  They were lethargic at best.  It seemed as though they were waiting for the puck to come to them rather than having to actually go after the puck.  The defencemen were horrible, especially my Kevin Bieksa.  It just wasn't his night.  He was missing passes around the boards, not picking up his men in time and the list goes on.  He ended up being -2 for the game and is a -9 in the last 10 games so far. The HamJuice reunion did nothing to help it.  But it wasn't just him.  Everyone on the team is not playing up to their potential.  There was alot more puck hogging by our star players who probably should have been passing to team mates who could shoot or were in better position to do so.

There were a lot of mstakes being made, especially on the powerplay which didn't last long as they somehow managed to counter-act them.  This team needs to get back to their stellar playing abilities that we all know they are capable of.  Even the goalies.  Although we lost tonight, I still thought Cory held it together for us tonight and gave our team a chance to win it.  All this showed is that this team has bigger issues to deal with than its goalie problem tonight. But then again, it is October.  Canucks had almost the same stats last year.  Lets see if they can generate some energy and luck on Saturday and get Booth and Kesler going.  Cross fingers people.

I also noticed the lack of Ballard's hip checks tonight.  There were none.  I wonder what happened.  I was getting so used to them every night.  I did find the Ballard hip check highlight on Darcy Hordichuck from last week so I will show you that.  He didn't even have to try!  Take that Darcy!

On another note, the Grey Cup Volunteer positions have now been filled.  Thanks to anyone who volunteered.

Speaking of the CFL, our BC Lions have announced that due to the ongoing list of injuries on our team, they will be bringing back two players from retirement.  Ryan Thelwell and Neil McKinlay.  Thelwell played for the Leos from 2001-2006, then signed with the Calgary Stampeders from 2007-2010 before announcing his retirement. McKinlay played for the Winnipeg Bluebombers from 2004-2009 before he went into retirement. One is now a teacher and the other is a firefighter who hasn't played in a few years.  This should be interesting.  Good Luck on Saturday Leos, sounds like your gonna need it!