Canada wins Gold

On Sunday, May 17, Team Canada crushed Team Russia in the International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Final that took place in Prague. For the first time since 2007, Team Canada won the gold medal, with a victorious 6-1 defeat against Russia, with goals from Sidney Crosby, Tyler Ennis, Cody Eakin, Nathan MacKinnon, Tyler Seguin, and Claude Giroux. After winning 10 straight games to get to the final game, the Canadians added a final little push to take home the gold. Now, this game wasn't just important to Team Canada, but it was also just as important to Sidney Crosby, because after this game, he became the 26th person to join the Triple Gold Club, with this world championship win added to his two Olympic gold medals and his Stanley Cup.

                                                             

Mayweather vs Pacquiao

By now, you all should have heard about the ever-so-popular Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight. We all know that Mayweather, the undefeated, professional boxer, won, to many of Pacquiao's fans' disbelief, and we also know that Pacquiao allegedly tore his rotator cuff during this fight, causing him to be out for at least 9 months. But did you know there were many negotiations, conflicts, and debates leading up to this fight? Pacquiao and  Mayweather have had a long history even before this fight, from rude exchanges to filing lawsuits against each other, but yes, many of the viewers rooted for Pacquiao. But why? Besides being one of the best professional boxers in the world, Pacquiao is also involved politics, business, acting, singing, basketball, and in the military reserve. However, Pacquiao is now facing a $5 million lawsuit for failing to disclose his alleged injury before his fight against Mayweather.  Floyd Mayweather, on the other hand, came from a much different background, and even went to jail for domestic abuse in 2012- but he is the highest paid athlete in the world, with an undefeated record of 48-0. Maybe in the end, it's not about who's the better boxer, or who makes the most money, or even who has the most fans- but it's about your character and what you believe in- just something to think about. 

                                  

Ready for the Playoffs?

After trailing 5-2 in the 2nd period, the Vancouver Canucks came from behind and finished the regular season with a 6-5 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, ending the season with an outstanding 101 points. This was an important game for both Ryan Miller, as he was out for six weeks with a sprained knee, and for rookie forward Sven Baertschi, whom the Canucks acquired last month, and he certainly proved his worth scoring two goals on two shots- one of which tied up the score in the third period to send the game into overtime, where Alexander Edler scored the winning goal with assists from both the Sedins to win the game. The Canucks will now move on to face the Calgary Flames, who finished with 97 points, in the first round of the playoffs at Rogers Arena. Their first game will be on Wednesday, April 15th, and then games will be played every other day. Who will you be cheering for?

         Click here for more playoff schedule info 

Canucks vs Sharks

On Saturday, March 7, 2015, the Canucks defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-2, coming from behind. Eddie Lack started in net, with Ryan Miller, who'll be out for 3-5 weeks, still recovering from an injury. Vancouver trailed 2-1 after the first period, with the lone goal from Vrbata, but came back with goals from Bo Horvat and and the game winner from Radim Vrbata, once again. The Canucks are now sixth in the western conference, and are tied with the Winnipeg Jets with 78 points. They are also now second in the pacific division, ahead of the Calgary Flames by two points.

A Nail-Biting Roller Coaster of a Game

On Sunday, March 1st, the Vancouver Canucks faced the St. LouiesBlues at Rogers Arena in a tumultuous game. Trailing 2-0 in the first period, Shawn Matthias, Yannik Weber, Jannik Hansen, Henrik Sedin, and Nick Bonino then proceeded to score five straight goals throughout the remainder of the first, second, and third period, making it 5-2 at the beginning of the third. Sounds like a solid lead, right? Well the St. Louis Blues quickly retaliated in response and scored another three goals to tie up the game, 5-5, and taking the game to overtime. With no goals in overtime, the game went to the shootout, with the Canucks choosing Bonino, Vrbata, and Higgins as their three shooters and Oshie and Tarasenko were chosen for the Blues. While both shooters for St. Louis didn't score, the Canucks scored all three times in the shootout, winning 6-5 in a nail-biting, exciting game against the St. Louis Blues.

Canucks shutout Islanders

Lack makes 27 saves after replacing injured Miller

               










On Sunday, February 22, the Canucks defeated the New York Islanders 4-0 at the Nassau Coliseum, with help from the 27 saves made by Eddie Lack. Lack replaced Ryan Miller early in the second period after Miller sustained a lower body injury. Zack Kassian, Radim Vrbata, Bo Horvat, and Jannik Weber scored the only four goals of the game for the Canucks, with two of them scored on the power play. Lack's last shutout was against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Consol Energy Centre on December 4th, 2014. He is also expected to start the next game on Tuesday, February 24 against the Boston Bruins while Miller recovers, as the Canucks continue their five game road trip.

Kassian celebrates his goal with his teammates

Canucks vs Bruins

Canucks celebrate Shawn Matthias' first hat trick as a Canuck

     On Friday, February 13th, the Canucks faced the Boston Bruins at Rogers Arena, winning 5-2, with goals from Vrbata, Hansen, and a hat trick from 26 year old Shawn Matthias. Within the first five minutes, Matthias scored twice to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead, but Patrice Bergeron scored shortly after to make it 2-1 by the end of the first period. Radim Vrbata made it 3-1 in the second period, and Boston's Chris Kelly scored early in the third to make it 3-2. A few seconds later, Shawn Matthias scored once again, for his third goal of the night, and for his first hat trick since junior hockey and as a Canuck. Jannik Hansen added one last goal on the Bruins' empty net, making the final score 5-2. Shawn Matthias, who played for the Florida Panthers before coming to Vancouver, was part of the trade, along with Jacob Markstrom, for Roberto Luongo.

Matthias scores on Bruins' goalie Tuukka Rask

Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Aren

On Saturday, February 7th, the Pittsburgh Penguins visited Rogers Arena for the only time this season. The Canucks defeated the Penguins 5-0, with goals from Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin, Bo Horvat, Shawn Matthias, and Zack Kassian. Burrows put the Canucks on the scoreboard 7 minutes into the first period on the power play, and rookie Bo Horvat scored 3 minutes later to make it 2-0 at the end of the first. Early in the second period, Pittsburgh defenseman Derrick Pouliot scored on Ryan Miller, but it was considered no goal, causing the Canucks to hold on to their lead. Shawn Matthias scored 15 minutes later to increase the Canucks' lead, and Kassian scored soon after to make it 4-0 at the end of the second period. Daniel Sedin added another power play goal 2 minutes into the third, to making it 5-0, which would eventually be the final score. Ryan Miller made 31 saves for his sixth shutout of this season, and for the third star of the game. Vancouver now has a record of 29-19-3 (win-loss-overtime/shootout loss), and has concluded their six game homestand, with their next two games away, against the Minnesota Wild on Monday and the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

Bo Horvat #53 celebrates his goal

Alexandre Burrows #14 scores on Thomas Greiss #1 of the Pittsburgh Penguins

SUPERBOWL XLIX

Who did you root for? It was all eyes and ears on the Patriots and the Seahawks during the Super Bowl today, February 1st, 2015. The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, for their fourth title, in the 49th annual Super Bowl. With 20 seconds left, Patriots' Malcolm Butler helped his team hold on to their lead by intercepting Seahawks' Russell Wilson's pass in the end zone to Ricardo Lockette- a play that would eventually lead the New England Patriots to their first Super Bowl title in a decade. Katy Perry performed at the halftime show, with appearances from Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliot as well. All in all, the 49th Super Bowl was definitely a nail-biting and riveting game with an intense end. Congrats, Pats, and maybe next year, Seattle. 

Radim Vrbata on Team Foligno

The 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game took place at Nationwide Arena on Sunday, January 25, with Vancouver Canucks forward Radim Vrbata playing for Team Foligno in his first NHL All-Star Game. There were 42 players selected, including Jonathan Toews as the captain of the white team and Nick Foligno as the captain of the black team. Team Toews defeated Team Foligno 17-12, and the 29 goals in total set an All-Star Game record. Among the 12 goals scored by Team Foligno, Vrbata scored the first goal of the game, on Roberto Luongo. Johansen (2), Shattenkirk, Giroux, Stamkos, Ryan, Burns, and Kane (2), scored the remaining 11 goals. 8 goals were scored in the first period (4 for each team),  11 were scored in the second period (7 for white and 4 for black), and 10 goals were scored in the third period (6 for white and 4 for black). 

     See the game's highlights here

Seahawks to Super Bowl XLIX

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Green Bay Packers in overtime, 28-22, after a miraculous comeback. The Seahawks forced the game to go into overtime after scoring 21 more points in the fourth quarter in approximately 5 minutes, after trailing 19-7, to tie up the game. The game ended in overtime, after the Seahawks' quarterback Russell Wilson threw the winning 35 yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse. The Seattle Seahawks will now face the New England Patriots, who won their game, 45-7, against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The 49th Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, February 1, 2015 at 3:30 pm PT.