Tag Archives: Pucked in the Head

Ryan Walter, Table Hockey Enthusiast

VTHE RegistrtationPresident of the Abbotsford Heat, ex-Vancouver Canuck and winner of the 1986 Stanley Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, Ryan Walter gave us some time to chat about table hockey and play a few minutes in the Heat locker room.

What happened next may or may not have been totally scripted.

Hit up the Vancouver Table Hockey Extravaganza here, or donate directly to our partner charities, Five Hole for Food and Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

a) No, I did not step on the logo.

b) Yes, that’s an actual Stanley Cup ring.

c) Yes, I did my own stunts.

d) No, I don’t want your advice about how to lose that gut.

Thanks to Ryan Walter and his wife Jennifer, Hawkey and the person inside him, the Abbotsford Heat and of course the image man himself, Clint Trahan. Let’s not forget the voice of CBC Jim Hughson, who makes a cameo near the end! It was a ton of fun making the video; kudos all round!

Ryan Walter (left) battles Jason Kurylo for table hockey supremacy as Hawkey looks on in the Abbotsford Heat locker room. Photo by Clint Trahan for Pucked in the Head.
Ryan Walter (left) battles Jason Kurylo for table hockey supremacy as Hawkey looks on in the Abbotsford Heat locker room. Photo by Clint Trahan for Pucked in the Head.

Table Hockey Extravaganza on Global Morning News

VTHE RegistrtationThe title says it all. Global Morning News anchors Steve Darling & Sophie Lui jumped on the table hockey game with Jason this morning, giving some TV love to our September 20-21 event.

Weatherman for the ages Mark Madryga and traffic reporter extraordinaire Kaitlyn Herbst jumped in on the action, too.

Darling proved to be the top performer of the bunch, scoring thrice and looking pretty comfortable at the controls despite not having played in decades. Lui performed admirably for her first time, and full points to Herbst for transferring her love of soccer defensive play into some solid table hockey puck stoppage.

Jason Kurylo appears on the Global Morning News with Steve Darling and Sophie Lui to promote the Vancouver Table Hockey Extravaganza. Image courtesy of Global BC.
Jason Kurylo appears on the Global Morning News with Steve Darling and Sophie Lui to promote the Vancouver Table Hockey Extravaganza. Screen capture courtesy of Global BC.

Madryga? He couldn’t translate his hockey smarts into a goal until he lifted the game right up off the table, a clear violation of both table hockey rules and weatherman etiquette.

But we’ll let it go this time, as long as he comes out to the media challenge on September 20. As for you, you can register for the tourney for just $25 here. Proceeds from the event will benefit Canuck Place and Five Hole for Food.

Setting a world record ain’t as easy as it sounds

Pucked in the Head founder Jason Kurylo pulls a selfie during a long squat. No, it's not rude -- it's training for the world record attempt at the Table Hockey Extravaganza September 20-21. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Pucked in the Head founder Jason Kurylo pulls a selfie during a long squat. No, it’s not rude — it’s training for the world record attempt at the Table Hockey Extravaganza September 20-21. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Pucked in the Head is hosting the inaugural Vancouver Table Hockey Extravaganza on September 20-21 to benefit Five Hole for Food and Canuck Place. This article talks about the world record we’ll set starting at 1pm on the Friday, but you can register for Saturday afternoon’s open tournament without nearly this much commitment!

by Jason Kurylo

A few months ago, when we said, “let’s set the world record for the longest table hockey game”, we seriously thought how hard could that possibly be?!?!?!?

*ahem* Yeah. Well. Lemme tell ya ’bout that.

To qualify for Guinness Book of World Records status, participants in a marathon table hockey game must play mano a mano with no substitutions. They must stand for the entirety of the competition, with just five minutes for bathroom breaks, gymnastic demonstrations and/or gladhanding allowed for every full hour completed.

It doesn’t sound like much at first. Thirty hours? Dude, I pulled that in college, like, every week. Then you think about it. That’s 30 straight hours — 1800 minutes — on your feet. No sitting, no lying down, no leaning with your back against the wall. Dude. Maybe I didn’t do that in college.

More after the break.

 

Continue reading Setting a world record ain’t as easy as it sounds

Rockland Wonderland – A Leather Love Story

Whitecaps Wednesday

When we last heard from Kenny Miller’s boot (hereafter known as Max Webster), he was boarding a flight to Sicily. On his lace was the defiantly beautiful and curvaceous ball (we’ll call her Alana) he slotted into the net back on June 16th in a game versus the New England Revolution. See here for the back story.

Their luggage included a 40 oz. bottle of Barbados’ finest rum, a pump and needle for when the love-life gets a little ‘flat’, a disk of shoe polish and small slip of AstroTurf on which to rest their weary studs and patches. All told, it had been a marvelous week spent drinking lager and ale and sipping margaritas beneath the patio lanterns at Hacienda Del Pancho’s cabin #14.

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Beautiful leather heart photo courtesy of http://www.janehornsby.com

It was such a marvelous week in fact, that at the behest of his fine lady, Max Webster booked a five-night stay in Sicily to lengthen the dream honeymoon come true. The dream, however, was about to become a nightmare.

Continue reading Rockland Wonderland – A Leather Love Story

Marie Hui, table hockey enthusiast

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.
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.
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. Photo  by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
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.
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.

Podcast 053: A Day Late & a Dollar Short

Table Hockey Extravaganza
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

Marques Midfield Madness Should Continue: A Rebuttal

Jun Marques Davidson often seems to be looking in the wrong direction, but he's continued to get starting XI status from coach Martin Rennie. 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

Vancouver Open: Dubois cruises through the first round

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.
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.

More, including more pictures, after the jump.

Continue reading Vancouver Open: Dubois cruises through the first round

Whitecaps FC 2, Sounders FC 0

Tonight’s 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders was one of the most entertaining matches to grace BC Place in years. Two wonderful goals, spectacular netminding from Vancouver Whitecaps keeper Brad Knighton, and high energy fun from supporters of both teams.

Speaking of which, here’s just one of the many fans in blue and white this night.

Match report to follow in another post.

This easy-on-the-eyes fan had a blast, as Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated Seattle Sounders FC 2-0 in front of a sold out BC Place crowd on 6 July 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
This easy-on-the-eyes fan had a blast, as Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated Seattle Sounders FC 2-0 in front of a sold out BC Place crowd on 6 July 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.