And Boom Goes the Dynamite (Thursday Links)

It's Thursday folks. And if your work place is anything like mine, that means it's naked Thursday! Wait, what? Oh that's been canceled? Oh god, this is so awkward.....

Well, aside from that, Thursday means we are one day from Friday, or as it's known in the world "Try and finish off your work so you can do nothing tomorrow" day. So in the hopes of distracting you from that goal, I am about to unleash a torrent of awesome links for your enjoyment. No, it won't involve Betty White. The amount of hate mail I received from my massive 65-90 demographic was off the charts, so I won't be making that mistake again. I haven't decided which demographic to piss off yet, you will have to wait a moment before you see which picture we lead the jump off with.

But first, I want to lead off with a story. It's a story about a young man named Dan Cloutier, who struggled to gain respect in this league. It's a story that has many ups and downs, but in the end.....in the end Cloutier fails terribly. Most notably in 2003 where he let Darby "Sniper? Me? Ha." Hendrickson score from just inside the blueline.

Why did I bring up the name of Dan Cloutier you ask? Because I want you to remember, that if you're having a bad day today, if you are thinking you aren't good enough today, just remember....you aren't Dan Cloutier.

Ready for some news and notes about hockey?? I know you are! Today's news is brought to you by: Hot Gaming Girls. The unicorn of the video game world. YOU DON'T EXIST DO YOU??

She should probably update her console.

Vancouver Canuck News

• A nice article on people remembering Pavol Demitra. Pavol, I will miss your goal celebrations and quirky smile. I honestly enjoyed watching your two years here in Vancouver and I will never forget your performance during the 2010 Olympics. Rest in peace. [NHL.COM]
• Jim Jamieson caught up with the Canucks yesterday to get their thoughts and reflections upon Pavol Demitra. It is an audio file. [The Province]
• Pass it to Bulis has a nice article on their favorite memory of Demitra. The infamous Olympic handshake between Pavol and Luongo after their game together. The fact Demitra was able to laugh and joke about it with Luongo shows what a better sportsman Demitra was then me, as I would be either be screaming, sitting in sullen silence, or shoving Luongo to the ground and attempting to break his hand. [Vancouver Sun]
• The Province informs us that Rogers Sportsnet will be carrying two of the Young Stars prospect games. Find out which games will be shown on TV and then get ready to start the process that will eventually make these young men learn to hate playing in Canada. "Did you see what kind of curve he uses? What an idiot, he'll never make the NHL. I heard Chris Pronger slept with his mom, too." [The Province]
• Were you that guy during the NHL draft that kept saying "Why aren't we drafting Craig Duininck?? Come on!" Well here is a story just for you! Duininck is excited to be headed to his first NHL camp as he sets to showcase his skills for the Vancouver Canucks. "I can cook a really mean chili. I hope that impresses AV enough to give me a shot down the road. That and back rubs. At least this is what Rome tells me." explains Craig. [Windsor Star]
• Mark "NHL Lock" Mancari, Mark "Iceman" Mancari, Mark "Hide yo kids, hide yo wife" Mancari....He goes by many different names, but the name you'll know him by most will be "HOLY **** DID HE JUST INSERT THAT GUYS HEAD INTO HIS OWN ASS WITH THAT HIT??". Yes, in my everlasting campaign to get people on board the Mancari hype train, I have found his terribly depressing scouting report from HF, which basically states he might make it as a tough guy. Screw that. This guy will be shooting laser beams all year next year, and it won't surprise any of my readers, because we all know this guy has NHL written all over him. Can he take the place of Raffi in my heart? Only time will tell... [Hockeys Future]

NHL News and Notes

• Our friends over at Mile High Hockey partake in what Vancouver calls "Coach Tipping" in where we all go out into a field and attempt to push over our sleeping coach into the mud. They discuss the future of head coach Joe Sacco and ask the question of "is he on the hot seat?" . In Vancouver you can get to within a game of the Stanley Cup and we still pretty much want to fire Alain Vigneault, so Colorado has some catching up to do if they really want to know what it's like to have a coach on the hot seat. [Mile High Hockey]
• Copper and Blue use fancy numbers that only Cam Charron could appreciate, as they discuss the impact special teams can have on a teams success. I mostly post this because the Canucks are number one, so we can all giggle about how awesome we are. *giggle* [Copper and Blue]
• Noticing the heavy SBN flavor to todays post? I do that because we have awesome writers all over SB nation, and even though many of you will read the links anyways, for those that haven't heard of them, I want people to have a chance to read them. Winging it Motown is quickly becoming my favorite non Canuck blog, and because I think it would be fun to trash talk them all season long, in a fun way, I will be bringing their articles up whenever I can. They also happen to be doing a great job of previewing teams for the upcoming season, and currently they are talking shop about the Canucks divison, so it only makes sense to read up on our enemies, while they read up on their enemies. It's called piggybacking their hard work and effort. I am pulling a Brendan Morrison on this one. Todays enemy? The Minnesota Wild. Do the Wild have any "up and coming defenceman" like our own Alex Edler? Read and find out! [Winging it in Motown]
• I would link to some good Chicago blogs, but due to their franchise coming into existence only two years ago, they have yet to set up a solid fan base.

Off the Stanchion Link:

• Want to win a ticket to a Canuck game? Want to watch the game with me? Do you enjoy hearing me scream obscenities at the refs? Well then do I have the contest for you! Walk over to my blog and enter my contest to win a ticket to go to a game with me! All you have to do is write to me and convince me why you should get to go! Always Be Closing! SELL ME ON IT. NOW. [Off the Stanchion]

Video of the Day

Pavol Demitra beats the Russians at the 2010 Olympics. Awesome fan cam of the goal. Really shows the patience Demitra used on this goal, as he waits until the goalie goes for the poke check then times it perfectly to lift the shot over the goalie. Beauty of a goal.

Pavol Demitra stuns Russia - Shootout Olympic Goal (via monkeysharkinc)

No Gif of the Day, I will have one for tomorrow. :)