Ryan Walter: Stay Hungry. Play Your Best Game.

Ryan Walter is the new assistant to Coach Yogi Bear (artistic rendering of Coach Vigneault by Hanna Barbera). He may not have been a hip TV color analyst despite his almost Kerry Fraser-like 'do, but at least he's hip with the kids with his very own Web site.

Apparently, Mr. Walter is a "leadership expert" (it's a four-year degree course at the University of Mars, according to Dean Otis Sistrunk) so maybe he can give the Nux new captain (we all know Naslund is toast) some tips. He also "synergizes teams" so Canuck fans look for a lot of synergy drinks on the bench in 08/09.


It also looks like his winning strategy involves denying players food before games. Yes, boys, stay hungry and play your best, as Ryan Walter says!

In case you are wondering "Why Ryan?" then wonder no more. His own Web site explains it all:

Why Ryan?

	Has exceptional ability to create inspirational, interactive learning
	Makes meeting planners SHINE
	Customizes Presentations to fit clients' desired outcomes
	Has Masters Degree in Leadership/Business
	Has Celebrity Status: 15 years in the NHL, 12 years as a TV Broadcaster, actor in the movie MIRACLE
	Is a natural communicator using stories in his keynotes and interactive games in his breakout sessions to powerfully connect with people
	Was a leader at a young age (the youngest captain in the NHL), and has passion for being on the cutting edge of leadership
	Will host a dynamic Q&A with your audience
	Understands organization/business problems and leadership solutions
	Leverages personal success stories to inspire the HUNGRY SPIRIT and connect the leadership dots
	You get to wear his Stanley Cup Ring

*Ring wearing may rotate on a counter-clockwise basis around the dressing room and be available only on game nights. Breakout sessions will hopefully involve tape-to-tape passes and not so much of that "off the boards to no one" play (known locally as the Willie Mitchell Special).

Trevor Linden: The Almost Cam Neely

I'm probably a handful of fans who never "got" Trevor Linden. I'm talking about the player not the all-around nice hot Captain Canuck so many fans love and worship. Would someone please explain to me why at the age of 26 he basically began to regress as a goal scorer? That I've never seen explained in print nor ever asked by any media member.

Why is it contemporaries like Wendel Clark (yes, Wendy, the vastly overrated Make Belief) managed four seasons of 30+ goals after age 25 including a whopping 46 at age 27 and a surreal 32 goals in 77 games at age 32 mainly with Tampa (he was a trade deadline pickup for the Wings that 98/99 season)?

Even Kevin Dineen (Mr. Whaler/Hurricane...sorry, Ron Francis) squeezed out two more 30-goal seasons from ages 26 to 30.

Don't even get me started on Rick Tocchet, who lucked out and landed in Mario World where he bagged 48 goals at age 27. Tocchet somehow even managed to squeeze out four 20+ goal season at ages 31 through 34. During this time the closest our Trev got was 19 at age 32.

Think about it. From when he broke in as an 18-year-old through age 25, Linden had seven 30-goal seasons (yes, I'm counting the 18 goals in 48 games played during the 1994/95 strike season as a 30-goal season). At the time, I honestly thought he was headed to be the next Cam Neely and that a 40- or even a 50-goal goal season could be possible. He turned 26 on a team that had Alexander Mogilny, Pavel Bure and a young Markus Naslund in 1996/97 headed into what should have been the prime of his career.

Then something snapped and he was no longer the ironman. After missing just seven games total in those first eight seasons, he played just 49 in that 9-goal 96/7 season. From ages 26 to 30, he averaged a prorated 19 goals over an 82-game schedule. Sad thing was in only his 1998/99 season with the New York Islanders did he manage to play in all 82 games through that span.

His return to Vancouver at the age of 31 seemed to revive his ability to stay healthy and up until last season played in over 96-percent of the Nux games albeit with reduced minutes. His scoring touch was pretty much toast by then lost amidst his travels from the Island to Montreal to DC.

The even more frustrating thing about his career was in the playoffs through his first stint in Vancouver (79 GP, 30G, 80 pts), he was better than all his power forward contemporaries bar Cam Baby. Trev was money in the bank when it counted. Then it suddenly stopped. It's like he went from being Cam Neely, Jr., to an average NHLer from age 26 on.

Well, at least we'll always have New York in the springtime of 1994, but I still wonder what was it that turned Linden from a consistent 30-goal scorer to one who struggled to crack 20 in what should have been any decent hockey player's prime.

We'll always luv ya, Trev, but what did happen to your hands after age 25?

Baseball Season Is Back In Vancouver!

Although the weather is not cooperating, summer is supposedly just around the corner meaning it's baseball season in town. Now fans of the A ball Vancouver Canadians may want to know about some surprising changes and not just the much ballyhooed mascot.

Seems there are no longer general admission tickets. The whole ballpark is reserved seating now. So the cheapest (and let me remind you this is A ball not AAA ball) is now $11.

Here's a quick market comparison with the other teams in the Northwest League as far as cheap seats go:
Boise US$6
Eugene US$5.50 (US$4.50 for kids and seniors)
Everett US$7
Salem-Keizer US$7
Spokane US$6
Tri-City US$5 ((US$4 for kids and seniors)
Yakima US$5.50 (US$4.50 for kids and seniors)

Vancouver C$11

All these teams have their discounted game tickets and this year again Safeway offers that at $7.99 each for the C's, too, but (like last year) these are only vouchers. You have to physically go to the ballpark to exchange these for tickets. This means getting there early to avoid lineups or making a trip to the "used to be the centre of town in the 1920s, but now is located nowhere near anyone works or lives" of Main and 29th Ave. during office hours to the ballpark to snag your ducats through the stadium box office. Not that opening up a visible office downtown would be a good idea, but what do I know? I'm a guy who sees no need to have a Useless Soccer League Whitecaps stadium downtown but would love to spend summers at a downtown ballpark and maybe getting AAA ball back here because of it.

So, despite a claimed 70 percent increase in ticket sales last season, the C's have seen fit to raise the price of their cheapest seat by about the same 70 percent (i.e., last season general admission seats, I believe, were $6.50 at least through Safeway they were).

How Vancouver can they get? Way to go, C's!

Check out the C's site for a look and, oh yeah, try to find any info on Safeway selling vouchers.