Hello, hockey fans. Hope you're having a great BC Day weekend!
I had a couple of long days on the computer, liveblogging the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. Highlights included a three-plus hour weather delay on Saturday and Tiger Woods' injury withdrawal on Sunday. In the end, another impressive win by Rory McIlroy to follow up his British Open victory.
I also had a chance to catch some of the amazing Canadian-dominated tennis at the Citi Open. Congrats to winner Milos Raonic and finalist Vasek Pospisil. With those two playing well and Genie Bouchard ready to do her thing, it should be a tremendous week at the Rogers Cup.
Yes, there's a hockey connection. Roger Federer took to the court along with a group of NHLers that included Phil Kessel and Jason Spezza for a rousing game of ball hockey on Sunday. Federer even scored!
Anyways, I have a few Canuck tidbits to add to the mix through this gorgeous summer long weekend.
More From Linden
I give Trevor Linden a lot of credit for being so available to the media through these summer months. On the heels of a substantial radio appearance earlier this week, he gives Ed Willes a good interview at The Province.
Click here to read.
Right off the hop, I'm happy to hear Linden say that he knows all the action this summer won't mean much if the result don't come on the ice when the season begins:
You know, I hear a lot of people saying, ‘You’ve accomplished a lot and you’ve changed things.’ I guess I’m happy with some of the things we’ve been able to do. But I know the rubber meets the road in October and that’s what really matters. I don’t really reflect too much. I’ve got my eye on when it counts.
There's quite a bit of good material here, including what's probably the best explanation to date of the Ryan Miller signing:
We can’t have Daniel and Henrik, Alex Burrows and Chris Higgins, all these veterans, and not give them every chance they need to win. As much as we felt (rookie goalie Eddie Lack) made great steps last year, Jim believes goaltending is the most important position in the game. He needed to know every night we had a chance to win and we’re going to be good in that position. That’s the foundation of your team. Nothing destroys confidence faster if you struggle at that position. We weren’t willing to risk that, and the three-year term (on Miller’s contract) gave us some flexibility.
The article also includes a lengthy video, where Linden discusses his passion for cycling. He describes some of the classic rides he's done in Europe and how he's been using his rides over these past few months to help give him some mental clarity.
Junior Development Camps Underway
The U.S. National team started their junior development camp on the weekend in Lake Placid, N.Y., featuring Canucks prospect Thatcher Demko in goal. Cole Cassels was also on the list of invitees but isn't participating due to an injury. I haven't been able to find any details but it must be fairly recent—he was here in Vancouver for the prospects development camp back in July.
An ex-Canuck has also popped up in Lake Placid. Former assistant coach Mike Sullivan has joined the group as a guest coach. Adam Kimelman of NHL.com
has the story here and will be covering the action from Lake Placid all week long.
Team Sweden and Finland are also participating in the U.S. portion of the development week, while Canada is hosting Russia and the Czech Republic in and around Montreal.
The Canuck to watch on Team Canada will be Bo Horvat.
Video Coach Update
To finish today, a quick note on the Canucks' video coach position. After the announcement of Ben Cooper's hiring late last week, Trevor Linden was quick to emphasize the outgoing video coach Darryl Williams left the job to take another position and was not fired. From
Brad Ziemer of the Vancouver Sun, Linden said, "Obviously, Darryl was a very solid guy and very well liked in the organization and did great work. It wasn’t our intention to have him leave."
No word at this point regarding Williams' new position.
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