I can’t believe we’re finally here again. It’s been a long road since ’94. The Vancouver Canucks are in the Stanley Cup finals, and we’re just one win away from the Stanley Cup. Ticket giveaway below to the sold-out Canucks Game 6 Viewing at Rogers Arena tomorrow night!

I’ve been a huge Vancouver Canucks fan since I was very young, and I can’t tell you how much this means to me. As ‘Nucks fans know, there’s been a lot of heartbreak, disappointment, and inordinate amounts of stress to follow this team over the years. Fans have jumped on and off the bandwagon, hated the team, loved the team… and despite this many die-hards have retained the faith over the year. Well, it’s all the same now, and the entire city and Vancouver Canucks fans around the world — new or long-time — deserve to call this team their own and take credit in supporting this team in their run for the Cup. Because We Are All Canucks, right? And This Is What We Live For!

Although I’m pretty sure my parents made sure I was a Canucks fan since I was a baby, my relationship with the Vancouver Canucks started during the 1991-1992 season when they won their division title, Trevor Linden was the captain, and Pavel Bure started to shine. I was only 7 years old, and I remember sitting on the floor listening to the radio with my dad, watching him closely to learn when to cheer and when to boo. Just a couple years later I had a much better understanding of hockey, and I was already a die-hard fan with posters and newspapers plastered around my room and doodling Canucks logos while in elementary school. In 1994, my true love affair with the Canucks began, and I remember being on the ultimate high during their playoff run, and I remember the devastating pain and sadness I felt when they lost in Game 7 to the New York Rangers. We could barely afford a working TV back then, so while the picture on the TV was often not very good, I remember we would play the radio over the TV and hang on every word.

Over the years I continued to follow the team with dedication, and later in high school I went to my first Canucks game with a family friend. It was the greatest moment getting caught up in the game, hearing the crunch of the boards and the skates on the ice. My favourite player pretty much since 1991 was (and still is) Trevor Linden. I loved his hard work on the ice, his classy style of leadership, his penalty killing and forecheck, how he carried himself in interviews, and for all the charity work he did off the ice. Other players I loved included Mattias Ohlund, Gino Odjick, and even Ruutu.

In University I followed the Canucks with NHL Centre Ice across the country in Ontario, where Leafs fans reigned supreme. I definitely took some heat there, but tried to catch every game and wore my jersey proudly. When I returned back to Vancouver and started working, I continued to follow the team… even getting to go to some playoff games! I even met Trevor Linden by chance one day, got his autograph on my jersey… which I will treasure forever!

It was a hard transition when Linden decided to retire, and they retired his jersey. I cried my face off watching them raise his number in GM Place, realizing I would never again see him play on the team. I had cheered for him my whole life, and I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself. It felt like a whole new team to me. I would always cheer for them and love them, but it wasn’t quite the same.

Eventually I started to find new players to cheer for, and I started to warm up more and more to Alain Vigneault and his interesting coaching style and way of shuffling the lineups. It feels like like ’94 now, with the stories and the drama… heck, we even have a new set of twins! The characters are emerging and I think I’m starting to have new favourites. My fave player since he got on the team has been Raffi Torres. Yes, I know. I love his grit and balls-out style of playing. Other favourites include Higgins and Lapierre.

So here we are. It’s June 2011 and the Canucks are one win away from the Stanley Cup. The city is going crazy, and fans around the world are going crazy! We’ve waited for this for so long. I’ve waited for this for so long. The team worked hard all year. They worked hard during the playoffs. They deserve to win the Stanley Cup.

Bring it home!

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This year we’ve been saving up for the wedding, so since we’re not going to get to any playoff games this year, we decided to get tickets to the away game viewing at Rogers Arena so we could still experience the energy in the building. Plus we think they might win it tomorrow. I ended up buying a couple extra tickets… so here we go!

VANCOUVER CANUCKS TICKET GIVEAWAY TO SOLD-OUT GAME 6 AWAY VIEWING AT THE ROGERS ARENA

What: I am giving away two pairs of tickets (4 tickets total) to two lucky winners to the sold-out Game 6 Stanley Cup Viewing at Rogers Arena
Where: Great seats for the viewing in Rogers Arena (the best seats for viewing the Jumbotron are in the balcony), so you are entering either for Section 309 Row 2, or Section 324 Row 4.
When: The game is tomorrow, Monday June 13 at 5:00 pm in Vancouver. Please only enter if you can go.
How: You can enter this giveaway just by leaving a comment on this blog post before 11:00 PM today (Sunday June 12). I will draw the random winners tonight and give them them the tickets in person or e-mail the tickets to them.

Extra Entry via Twitter (Tweet this!): I want to win tix to #Canucks Game 6 Sold-Out Viewing at Rogers Arena! #bringithome RT to Enter @VancityAllie http://tinyurl.com/6hy6khr

Good luck! Go Canucks Go!

We celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada this past weekend. I hope everyone had a good one!

My long weekend was filled with Canucks hockey, a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and time with the family, and of course… more furniture sanding, painting, and refinishing.

Thanks to the awesome people at Canucks Hockey Blog (Hi JJ and Mozy!), Allan and I won tickets to the Canucks Open Practice this past Saturday. Now, tickets were free anyway, but they scored us awesome seats in Row 1 right beside the players’ bench!

It was great to see all the fans come out to support the team… and also great to see all the families and kids there. It’s a great event that everyone can afford to go to, and the team put on an exciting performance.

The practice was filled with various drills and scrimmages, and lots of goofing around from the players. I especially enjoyed the showboating during the shootout at the end of the practice. We had an awesome time and it got us all pumped for the game on Sunday night (which the Canucks won in an awesome shootout of course… must have been all that shootout practice … right?).

The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent mostly hunting for furniture, and sanding and painting. It’s amazing how much time it takes. We’ve spent dozens of hours already on just our dressers.

I spent Sunday afternoon cooking in the kitchen with my mom… and I think we put together a pretty nice spread! My dad did the turkey, which is (in my opinion) the best… he makes an amazing overnight brine for the turkey with fresh herbs from the garden… and of course it is cooked all day in the oven until it is fall apart tender.

We also had Kansas City ribs (no pre-made sauces, only fresh herbs and tomato sauce made from tomatoes from the garden, and oranges), avocado and beet salad, home made Ciabatta bread, roasted potatoes with carrots and blue potatoes from the garden, a vegetable tian with parmesan and bread crumbs, sparkling grape juice punch made from homegrown grapes, and some homemade chocolate crème brûlée from dessert.

Judging from the amount of food on Allan’s plate I think it turned out pretty good!

Monday was spent hunting for furniture, and finally completing the last coats of lacquer finish on the dresser. Here’s a shot of our setup in my parent’s garage. I will have before and after photos for you when all the bedroom furniture is done. We still have the bed to do!

Although I try to remember what I am thankful for every day at some point during yoga or prayer, Thanksgiving is always a good time to formalize it. So, here is what I am thankful for…

- Allan… my wonderful partner who means everything to me in this world! Thank you for always making me laugh and that we never get bored of spending time with each other.
- My amazing parents and my little brother… my whole family who I’m so grateful to be so close to.
- Our beautiful city and province where we can do all the activities we love to do
- Friends, for always being there for me
- My job and my coworkers
- A healthy body and mind!

What are you thankful for? What did you do this past weekend?