WEST COAST ROUNDUP #1
So, on days like today where there is just too much to write about, I’m just going to do a roundup/summary of all the interesting ones. 
SNOW IN WHISTLER!
That’s right, it is ALREADY snowing at Whistler. In September. Sweet! I am told they’ve already got 6 cm of snow. The countdown on the Whistler Blackcomb site says 64 days until the lifts start running again and serving up fresh pow to the public. And on December 12th, the Peak to Peak Gondola will open up… it’s going to be incredible. Too bad it’s going to cost some $$$. If you are interested in checking in on the progress there, you can check out the Peak2Peak Construction Blog.
Photo Credit: WhistlerBlackcomb.com
I can’t wait. Let’s hope that Cypress and the other local mountains are getting some snow too. Speaking of Cypress… Early Bird ticket sales end in 7 days on Sept 30, so get your credit card out ASAP if you are planning on buying a form of a season’s pass this year at any of the local mountains.
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is “officially” starting on September 25th this year, running till October 10th. Be sure to check it out. I found the online film guide super useful for checking out which films are playing this year. Going to the VIFF films are a great way to meet people and expand your horizon in terms of cinema. Are you going to any films? If so, which ones?
Photo Credit: VIFF Media Images
MY VANCOUVER CANUCKS PRE-SEASON RAMBLINGS
So much to talk about in terms of the Canucks.. can you believe it’s only the pre-season so far?
The New Horn: Yes, the Canucks got a new sound system this year… and part of that was a new “goal horn”. If you guys remember the horn from previous years, it was actually pretty quiet. This year they replaced it. The good news — it’s much louder. The bad news — it sounds like a BC Ferries horn. LOL! What do you think of the new horn?
Photo Credit: Shaynesaw
The New NHL Rules: There are a couple new NHL rules… let’s get them out of the way now. Rule 76.2: The first face-off at the beginning of a power play will take place in the defending zone of the team that committed the foul. Awesome, I think it’s great and should make power plays more exciting. Rule 81.1: “Any contact between opposing players while pursuing the puck on an icing must be for the sole purpose of playing the puck and not for eliminating the opponent from playing the puck. Unnecessary or dangerous contact could result in penalties being assessed to the offending player.” Meh. I suppose this just seems to push further in the direction of no-touch icing (which I’m not sure I like). It’s great for ending those brutal injuries in icing battles, but I really don’t want to see any less hussle to the puck than there already is. Rule 85.5: If a puck is shot off the goal frame, post, or crossbar, any subsequent face-off will remain in the end zone where the puck went out of play. Nothing big here. What I want to know is… when are they going to change that AWFUL delay of game penalty when a player accidentally shoots it out of the rink?
The First Two Pre-Season Games: So far so good! 2-0. It’s only the preseason, but there’s lots of be excited about. Personally, I’m trying to find a new favourite since my Linden is gone, but I think it’ll take a few games for that. How about Hodgson, Hansen, and Grabner? I’m pretty impressed so far! Also, Kesler had a great game last night. I was happy to see he was using his wheels. I also really liked how Hordichuk went to the net. Demitra… so far unimpressive, but hey… it’s only been two games. 
Anything else going on in the West Coast I should know about?
Tags: Canucks, Cypress, GM Place, Grabner, Hansen, Hodgson, Hordichuk, Horn, Kesler, NHL Rules, peak to peak gondola, peak2peak, snow, Sound system, Vancouver International Film Festival, VIFF, Whistler
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September 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Snap, it’s snowing already on the mountains? Well I better hit the snowboard shops this weekend and start hunting around… Good thing I kept all those “The Weather at/Current Conditions at” links of all the local mountains – though this year has gone by fast..!
Perhaps the BC Ferries-horn sound was picked for the ultra-bass rumble that you can feel in your spine? I always got a kick out of that sensation when standing on the upper decks when ferries passed each other in the strait, so live games will have an additional feel-good vibe (and possible skull detonation) with each goal.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Haha yeah, I’m actually thinking of maybe doing a “daily snow report” when the winter season starts.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Hey Allie – so glad to see you’re blogging again!! This is a great way to keep us updated on all the fun things you do. I’m going to add you to my blogroll over on blogger (too lazy to do my own themes these days, I fear I have aged and parted ways with Adobe and Macromedia).
Don’t forget Taste of Yaletown coming up – shameless plug for my employer.
September 24th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
the new goalhorn is a little worse than the old one but i don’t care as long as it be goin off six times a night can i get a steve bernier up in this fucker what’s going on
September 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Re: VIFF – I pooled some opinions and looked at the (12 hundred) films on the list, and these are the picks:
Blindness,
Religious,
RocknRolla (Guy Ritchie of Snatch/Lock, Stock & two Smoking Barrels)
September 24th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Mango! Wow… long time no chat. I’m so happy to hear from you. I’ll definitely check out your blog and swap links with you.
Who is your employer? Do you have a link to the Taste of Yaletown?
Mike Works — haha I don’t mind the new horn so much. I’m just glad it’s louder. And yeah, as long as it is going off lots I’m happy too
Thanks, your comment made me LOL.
Mike — yeah! RocknRolla looks awesome. I really want to check that out. Perhaps I should even do a blog report about it
September 24th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Anybody else notice the dude in the middle of the GM place photo rocking out?
September 24th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Hah! I never noticed that till you pointed that out. LOL!
September 25th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Taste of Yaletown – http://www.yaletowninfo.com/events/toy.aspx
Sponsored by Amex and some of the proceeds go to charity. We do it a lot in Toronto but vancouver’s kinda new!
September 25th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I’ve been comparing out Cypress pass prices, and have decided there’s no way in hell I’m going for a season pass again this year – way too expensive (it’s been going up by ~100 per season for the last 3 or so years!). Instead I’m going for a SkiCard, it’s $66.67, gives you your first day free, and 20% discount on future tickets.
http://www.cypressmountain.com/skicard.html
It would take 14 peak season days just to break even on the season pass, and honestly I’m probably going to spend most of my weekends up at Whistler, so… not worth it. It’s pretty much the same story with the NiteTimer and OneNiter passes, though the OneNiter is more reasonable and I’d at least use it more for quick pow pow fixes after work.
So yep – this season I’ll be just going for the SkiCard (and there’s no early bird deadline for it), and likely an Edge card for Whistler.
September 27th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I like the new horn its better than the old one. I also like the opening music they came out to, much improved. Here comes the Boom! I think that was Boom Boom Bieksa call lol. I heard they’ll be installing new boards as well, anyone else here that?
As for VIFF I really want to see Bill Maher Religulous (I hope I spelled that right :S)
Go Canucks, Go!!!
October 1st, 2008 at 9:28 pm
[...] it snowed 6 cm at Whistler recently, I tell you — my heart was in my chest. I CANNOT wait for this [...]