As is his wont, our man Russell chimes in with his thoughts for Whitecaps Wednesday. Give him a read. Give him your thoughts. Whatever you do, give him a round of applause.
Vancouver, B.C. – The boys in white and blue were back in the friendly confines of BC Place stadium after earning a draw versus the Portland TImbers last weekend. With only a single blemish on the Caps home record (8-1-3), the Bell pitch has been an important ally. This week the visitors were the dirty, rotten, stinkin’ San Jose Earthquakes, who trailed our boys by just three points in the Western Conference standings.
Whitecaps FC have had many reasons to celebrate on the Bell Pitch at BC Place this season — they’ve lost just one game so far, thanks to a stellar 1-2 punch up front of Kenny Miller (centre) and Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC put together a tidy 2-nil victory over the visiting San Jose Earthquakes at BC Place on Saturday, giving them sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.
Jaclynn (left) and Erin beam with joy in their front row spots in the Curva Collective as their Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-nil at BC Place. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Along the way, David Ousted posted his first MLS clean sheet, Camilo scored his league-leading 14th goal of the season, and Kenny Miller added his seventh. Nigel Reo-Coker dominated the midfield, backing off defenders and setting up both goals.
We’ll have more on this game, including a link to highlights, once Russell Arbuthnot files his story.
Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo battles defender Steven Baitashour during a 2-0 Whitecaps FC victory at BC Place. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Marie Hui is well-loved as the anthem singer for Whitecaps FC matches at BC Place. Now she’ll lend her talents to the Table Hockey Extravaganza. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
If you’ve been to a Whitecaps FC match, you know Marie Hui as the vocalist who shows off solid pipes prior to kick-off. She proves that you don’t need to add unnecessary trills or do vocal gymnastics to bring life to national anthems. Instead, she soaks O Canada and the Star Spangled Banner in soulful glee — you can feel the heart, and hear the smile in her every phrase.
Marie has agreed to sing O Canada on September 20 at the beginning of our World Record attempt for the longest table hockey game in history, so we invited her to False Creek to play a little puck with her home pitch BC Place as a backdrop. Turns out it was her first time. Like, ever.
Marie Hui will be at Robson Square for the Vancouver Table Hockey Extravaganza. Will you? Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
“I can’t believe I’ve never played this before. It’s so much fun!” said Marie after trouncing a buddy of mine 2–0. “Seriously, can I play in the tournament?”
Sure, Marie, but you’ll have to register for $25 like everybody else. There are two main parts to the event at Robson Square. A group of World Record hopefuls will play for 30 hours straight, from Friday 1pm to Saturday at 7pm, to raise money for Canuck Place and food for Five Hole for Food. The tournament begins at 1pm on Saturday afternoon, with six players per table. The round robin guarantees five games per registrant — each game is five minutes long — with the top 64 players in the tournament moving on to the playoff round.
Marie Hui in her first-ever game of table hockey. “This is so much fun. Can I play in the tournament?” Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Marie is excited to be a part of the Extravaganza, singing the anthem before a World Record. But for the moment, she was more jacked about winning her first-ever game. “There’s no shame in losing to a girl, because, you know, I’m super-competitive,” said Marie. “But let’s be honest: he should be embarrassed losing to someone who’s never played before.”
Marie Hui gets her first taste of table hockey action at False Creek in July 2013. She’s hooked! Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Vasek Pospisil became just the second Canadian man to win the Vancouver Open, with a 6–0, 1–6, 7–5 win over Daniel Evans of the UK. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The 2013 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open ended with as much drama and suspense as you could possibly cram into a three-set match. There were twists. There were turns. There were swizzle sticks. There were sunburns.
Rising Canadian tennis star Vasek Pospisil (@VasekPospisil) outlasted England’s Daniel Evans (@Evo151216) in a see-saw battle to win the men’s singles title 6–0, 1–6, 7–5 to become the first BC-born player to win in the 12-year history of the event.
“My eyes were wide, I was a pretty innocent 15-year-old kid,” said Pospisil of his first time playing the Vancouver Open back in 2005. “At that age, you’re just excited to play against all of these amazing athletes, and happy to get a game or two off of them in your first pro event.”
Eight years later, the Vernon-born Pospisil came in as the number two seed in the tournament and ranked 85th in the world. He brought consecutive Davis Cup wins with Team Canada with him in his equipment bag, and led the list of prominent Tennis Canada stars to appear at the event-opening press conference. “Because I started here, you know, it’s always been a dream of mine to win the Vancouver Open,” said Pospisil, “and it’s great to do it with all of these people here. I think I personally know half of the people in the stands today.”
This is not Ilya Kovalchuk playing table hockey, but we know if the VTHE were happening in Russia, he would gladly do it . You can register here to partake of the table hockey — the tournament starts at 1pm on September 21 and it’ll be a ton of fun! Until then, listen to our podcast, won’t you?
Here’s episode 53 of the Pucked in the Head podcast, in which Chris admits to having “pale delicate skin that blisters easily” but makes up for it by calling Jason out on several vocabulary errors. Oh, and we also talk hockey.
As many of you have observed, Chris and I don’t have much of a track record when it comes to laying down podcast tracks. Thus, when we do manage to throw one together it’s a bloody miracle of the first order. We hope you enjoy!
• Intro
• Sofa Surfer Girl by the Orchid Highway
• WTF is a ‘Metropolitan Division’?
• Do you know Conn Smythe’s full name?
• Wherefore art thou Ilya?
• Time to wrap it up
• Time for a Change by the Orchid Highway
• Thanks for Listening
Just a quick picture to tide you tennis fans over till I can get the full post up later tonight. Canadian tennis star Stephanie Dubois won her second-round match in straight sets Thursday, defeating Misaki Doi of Japan (WR #94) 6–1, 6–4.
Stephanie Dubois of Canada stabs at a backhand service return during a straight sets victory over Misaki Doi of Japan at the Vancouver Open. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Midfielder Jun Marques Davidson is at the centre of a Pucked in the Head debate between Russell Arbuthnot and Chris Withers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Last Saturday, Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson almost singlehandedly cost Vancouver three points and their undefeated home record by head-butting the Philadelphia Union’s Keon Daniel, earning a red card in only the 8th minute of play. Yesterday, Pucked in the Head’s newest contributor, Russell Arbuthnot, wrote a piece slamming Jun Marques Davidson and Martin Rennie’s insistence on keeping him in the Vancouver Whitecaps starting eleven. Today, I disagree with a lot of what Russell has to say. Read why after the jump. Continue reading Marques Midfield Madness Should Continue: A Rebuttal→
Headed up to Hollyburn for a bit of Women’s First Round action this afternoon, and caught an all-Canadian matchup: Stephanie Dubois, ranked #4 in Canada (World Ranking #164), won in straight sets over Egyptian-born, Toronto-based Heidi El Tabakh (WR #284), 7–5, 6–3.
Up by a set and a break in the second, Stephanie Dubois crunches a forehand winner on the way to a first-round win over Heidi El Tabakh at the 2013 Vancouver Open. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
El Tabakh hits with some serious power, and offered up more than a few impressive winners in the match. Unfortunately for her, on this day she allowed emotions to distract her, double faulting after a long baseline rally and swearing at herself repeatedly during the second set. Dubois, who won the Vancouver Open in 2009, took advantage of El Tabakh’s mood swings, dictating the overall pace of the game and frustrating her opponent with a calm, cool demeanor throughout the match.
The Vancouver Whitecaps FC roster has an exciting mix of savvy veterans in addition to flashy rookies like Eric Hurtado here. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
It’s Whitecaps Wednesday, which means we at Pucked in the Head are out and about in our Vancouver soccer kits, hoisting pints and chanting in pubs all day long. As such, Chris and I don’t have time to do much writing and picturing for you. Kudos to Russell Arbuthnot (@arbuoutthere), then, for filing this literate, epithet-heavy story after Whitecaps FC finally lose a home match, 1–0 to the Philadelphia Union.
VANCOUVER, B.C. – When healthy, Vancouver Whitecaps FC boasts one of the most potent offensive lineups in MLS soccer. Camilo “Mean Muggin’” Sanvezzo currently leads the league with 14 goals, while fellow striker Kenny “The Mauler” Miller sits in a tie for seventh with six markers. Russell “Dat Good Canadian Kid” Teibert is tied for 3rd in assists with seven, despite having played in just 12 games thus far. As a team, the Caps rank 2nd in goals with 33 and have racked up 29 assists this year, good enough for 4th overall.
Even casual fans who aren’t much for the numbers notice the Whitecaps offensive style. Between Miller, Camillo, Teibert and Gershon Koffie and Darren Mattocks, Vancouver has breathtaking speed up front. They’re regularly running onto balls behind opposition defenders. Keepers have trouble gauging that kind of pace coming at them on a regular basis, forcing them to guess one way or the other. Whoosh. There’s Mattocks chipping the ball over a cheating keeper’s head in a win over Seattle. Boom. There’s Camillo burying one in the corner when the Chicago keeper gets caught too deep in his net.
With blazing speed and a nose for the net, Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo regularly finds himself one-on-one with opposing goaltenders. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Mr Ferraro brought the Cup to Burnaby on Monday afternoon. No, not that Cup. And for that matter, not that Ferraro.
Chances are if you’re from the Vancouver area, you know of Ray Ferraro. Born in Trail, Ray played 18 seasons in the NHL — to this day you’ll see Hartford Whalers jerseys bearing his name round these parts — and since hanging up the skates in 2002 he’s built a tidy career as a broadcaster with Team 1040 and TSN. In 1,258 regular season games and 68 playoff contests, Ray never got close to winning it all in the NHL. But this story isn’t about him. Or the Stanley Cup.
Landon Ferraro, prospect of the Detroit Red Wings, won the Calder Cup with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins last month. He brought the trophy home to the Burnaby Winter Club for an afternoon this week, and chatted about everything from training camps to championships, from the Griffins to grilled cheese sandwiches after hockey practices while growing up. Photos by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
