Pucked in the Head was born in a village just south of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan during the Great War. After decades of woe and hardship, the podcast found acceptance on Canada’s West Coast, taking shelter among a small, diehard group of Vancouver Canucks fans.
HOSTS
Jason KuryloCentre
173 cm
87 kilos
Shoots right
Votes left
Constant chirping gets him in penalty trouble
Jason Kurylo (jason [at] puckedinthehead.com) was born and bred in New Westminster, but don’t hold that against him. He has been a Canucks fan as long as you have drawn breath, even if you’re one of the very few people that’s older than he is. Jason has twice met Igor Larionov, but no matter what the tabloids say, has never met the man’s daughter. When he’s not deflecting criticism or podcasting about hockey, he tweets about all things hockey (@PuckedInTheHead) blogs about NHL hockey (www.puckedinthehead.com), , and contributes to one of those online writers’ collaborative fiction thingies (www.halfassedfiction.ca). Jason has a long track record of starting projects, then getting distracted by pretty lights or, more recently, by his pretty daughter Milla Capri. He thinks all the Luongo bashers should spend some time in a city like Ottawa or Edmonton. Y’all don’t deserve deep runs in the playoffs.
Chris WithersLeft Wing
180 cm
92 kilos
Shoots right
Votes left
A setup man who’ll surprise you with a three-goal game
Chris Withers (chris [at] puckedinthehead.com) was born and raised in Richmond, and miraculously escaped a debilitating car accident. He now resides in North Vancouver. His numerous talents include editing this website whilst wearing only underpants, and taking crap from Jason without batting an eye. Chris was the leading cause of temporary blindness in the state of Hawaii in 2004, when he visited Waikiki Beach and seldom wore a shirt. He blogs when the spirit moves him at www.nerdopotamus.net and tweets of hockey and more @Chris_Withers.
GUESTS
James MacdonaldRight Wing (Guitar, Stage Left)
182 cm
75 kilos
Shoots left
Not afraid to go hard in the corners
Guitarist for Vancouver-based rock band The Orchid Highway, ‘Jamie’ is a grizzled veteran of many tours across Canada, the US, and the UK. (They took their sticks on tour for the shinny games!) A fan of the game, he began cheering for Swedes back in the WHA Winnipeg Jets days, and was overjoyed when Vancouver drafted the Sedins 2nd and 3rd overall. An opinionated bastard, Jamie always has something to say.
- Episode 18 – Hockey Songs I: Fifty Mission Cap by the Tragically Hip
- Episode 21 – Hockey Songs II: The Ballad of Wendel Clark by Rheostatics
- Episode 26 – Hockey Songs III: (I Feel Like) Gerry Cheevers (Stitch Marks on My Heart) by Chixdiggit!
- Episode 27 – Hockey Songs IV: The Hockey Song by Stompin’ Tom Connors
Cathy ChuchroDefense
Shoots right
Famous for a spinorama and a mean left hook
Since the age of 11, Cathy Chuchro (a.k.a. @keslergirl) knew that acting was her passion. After High School drama and a few nudges from her teacher, she enrolled in the Theatre Studies program at Red Deer College and continued on with the Motion Picture Arts program. Appearing in numerous plays and films that went onto various festivals around the world, Cathy is also co-founder of Ignition Theatre, a company that helps emerging artists gain professional experience. Cathy has always been a hockey fan, but attending her first Canucks game solidified it. The moment Ryan Kesler stepped onto the ice Cathy became intrigued. His passion, determination, and drive for the game – as well as media attention being in the spotlight – is something she can relate to. She continues to audition and perform for productions in Vancouver, and Ryan still inspires her to dream big. Case in point, Cathy looks forward to the day she’s modeling for the RK17 line.
Kennedy GoodkeyCentre
Shoots right
Chirpy, with bad knees, but tends to score big goals in the playoffs.
Kennedy is an actor, writer and film-maker in Vancouver, BC. You can check out his YouTube series Best Picture, or his serialized novel Necropolis, or see his film The Beast of Bottomless Lake on Super Channel in Canada. Kennedy grew up watching the Canucks, but admits not getting a true handle on just how deep the roots were till he hit university. Ironically, that’s about the time the Canucks had a decent team for the first time.
- Episode 31: Top Seven Canuck Nicknames of All Time, Part I
- Episode 40: Top Seven Canuck Nicknames of All Time, Part II
Rob TarzwellDefense
Shoots right
5’4″
140 lbs
Dig, dig, dig. Check like you won’t survive. Inadvertently screen the goalie as often as possible.
Dr. Rob Tarzwell is a Vancouver psychiatrist with a second specialty in nuclear medicine. His clinical interests include the use of radiotracers to study blood flow, glucose utilization, and neuroreceptors in brain disease and psychiatric disorders. Speaking of psychiatric disorders, Dr Rob has been a fan of the Canucks since 1988, when Gretzky got traded to the Kings. He narrowly escaped the 1994 game 7 riots in downtown Vancouver, and still sometimes wakes up in cold sweat to the sound of a ringing post.
- Episode 31: Top Seven Canuck Nicknames of All Time, Part I
- Episode 40: Top Seven Canuck Nicknames of All Time, Part II
what ever happned to the fundraising raffle that i bought tickets for last year
Hi Brenda,
Thanks for supporting the raffle! The prizes were awarded during the final last June. When we moved the website to another server, that subpage with the winner’s pictures seems to have been lost – I’ll ask Chris to repost it.
Jason
I just found my tickets tucked away – did all the prizes get claimed?
Hi! The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society would love to connect with y’all for your event in September. Email me and let’s talk table hockey!!
John Hughes,
Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society
Special Events and Food Drives Coordinator
Dear PITH
I’ve come across PITH and articles you’ve written on hockey and the state of the game, and thought you may be interested in a crowd funding campaign and Initiative we will be launching soon.
My new book Target Practice, 8 Mistakes That Ruin A Love of The Game has been written to address one of the biggest problems facing coaches and parents in the game today.
Coaches are expected to teach what they don’t know. They are often then forced to choose between ignoring the goaltender or ‘making it up’ and are then lambasted because they have not provided adequate instruction for their goaltenders…practices suffer, team scoring declines and dissension begins.
Parents are frustrated at seeing their young goalie lose their love of the game and they often walk away because of this problem. This issue is the number one complaint I have heard in my nearly 30 years of professional coaching.
My book will be supporting the second phase of my efforts, which will be a free website ‘Target Practice Initiative’ where coaches can become part of a global community, viewing short problem solving videos submitted by professional goalie coaches from around the globe, along with assistance designing practice plans or determining the root cause of goaltender difficulties.
We’re really excited about this project, and are working to expedite the process with a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo. The book and website focus on an area that has been ignored far too long. We want to help grassroots coaches to develop their goalies and keep kids in the game longer. It’s an innovative idea that is long overdue. We already have several prominent hockey folks (see quotes below) supporting the project.
To further your interest, my own personal backstory and road to a career in hockey has certainly been an unusual one. I was born with a congenital heart defect and experienced multiple cardiac arrests in my youth, so many I was in fact written up in the medial journals at Hospital for Sick Children, whose Foundation our book also supports through a donation of a portion of our sales. I have had a pacemaker since age 7 and was not expected to live past my teens. I’d love to tell you more, but I’ll save it for our discussion…
Out of respect for your time and to expedite email delivery, I am including links below that will help provide additional information:
Author website: http://authorchrisdyson.com
Campaign launch video’s: http://authorchrisdyson.com/promo-video
Media Kit (viewable and downloadable): http://authorchrisdyson.com/media-kit
Target Practice book promo website: http://www.targetpracticebook.com
LINK TO INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN (Pre Launch Link – Campaign will be live Dec. 15th at 10:00 PM):
https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/3f5e07b7
My goal with this Initiative: Help kids stay in the game longer, properly develop young goalies at the grass-roots level. While providing coaches and parents with some long overdue and much needed information and direction that will help everyone to love and understand the game even more!
Check out some of the quotes from Target Practice and you can see this Initiative is much needed and time time is now!!!
• Chris provides what is missing from coaching programs and this is why this book is so important. Much of the information that is out there is too technical and unless you play the position it’s difficult to understand, so misinformation is given to the kids by minor hockey coaches who try to tell the goalies how they think the position should be played.
Rick Heinz, Former NHL Goaltender
• A lot of coaches aren’t that eager to work with the goalie at all. They should be working to refine the goalies craft throughout the season.
John Garrett, Former NHL Goaltender, Professional Commentator with Hockey Night In Canada
• If the advice contained in Chris‘ book is made mandatory learning for minor hockey coaches, it will positively change the face of goaltending in North America.
Joni Hallikainen, Former Pro Goaltender, Professional Goaltending Consultant, Professional Mask Builder & Artist
• Finally! Chris Dyson answered the questions no-one knew how to ask. After 25+ years involved in the industry, It’s great to see this grass roots level support and guidance for the most highly criticized, under- developed position in the game. Don Straus, Founder Armadilla Masks, World Renowned Artist
• I have never before seen information for coaches that is so useful, easily digestible, quick to read and easy to implement. Hockey coaches and parents everywhere will be thrilled with the content of this book! Colin Hopper, President Source For Sports London, Former President Sports Distributors Canada
• Providing coaches with the skills to properly work with their goaltenders is awesome and perfect. I cannot imagine a single coach not jumping at the chance to take advantage of such an opportunity, especially at the grass roots level. Larry Feist Publisher, Hockey Now Magazine
• The game has dramatically changed, but one thing that hasn’t is the core fundamentals of goaltending. Coaches at every level must be able to understand and teach these.
Jim Ralph, NHL Broadcaster & Media Personality
• Getting the essential core goaltending skills into the hands of grass roots coaches is perfect, it needs to happen. It is a discipline unlike any other.
Mike Stubbs, Professional Broadcaster & Radio Personality
Chris Dyson
Author: Target Practice
8 Mistakes That Ruin A Love Of The Game (A Must Read For Coaches & Parents)
Phone 519-668-7414
Skype: lpfsi
Publisher Page: http://blackcardbooks.com/authors/chris-dyson/