The Overtime Edition

I'm sure glad life isn't like hockey. Last night I was on an emotional roller coaster as my beloved Vancouver Canucks ended up in a sudden death (or sudden life for the optimists out there) game with last year's Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks. To add even more suspense to an already heart stopping game... it ended up in overtime. Both teams' entire season rested on "next goal wins". Thankfully, there was "the big play" where the hero of the game intercepted a pass and shot it top corner over the goalie to win it for the Canucks. My heart remains unbroken (for now), but they have to win three more series in order to capture the Cup.

Photograph by: Mark Van Manen, The Province

There are 30 teams in the NHL... and for every team that doesn't win, there is the label "failure" awaiting. Sure, some of them did better than they did the previous year...and that's an encouraging sign... but for many others, the early season expectations ended up being disappointments. Out of all those teams, only one will end up with the label "winner". I'm sure glad God doesn't work that way!

In God's system, all who take the gift of grace end up being winners. We humans are not in competition with each other but, rather, our adversary is simply trying to keep us from hearing about "the big play". We just celebrated the greatest overtime winning shot that was heard around the world! Christ's death on the cross put the game of life into overtime... and the adversary thought he had the game won but, hallelujah, Christ arose, defeating the power of sin and death forever. It was sudden life for all of us!

So, regardless of which NHL team you cheer for (if any)... remember, that winning in life is possible for everyone when we put our faith in the "the big play" of the resurrection!

Walking to Rome - FAIL.

Click to embiggen

Why The Vancouver Canucks Will Make It To The Finals

Twitter is a wonderful place to watch the homers and the haters go at it. Here's a quick summary of their oft-repeated rants.

Haters

• The Canucks will not get past their nemesis - Chicago Blackhawks
• Luongo isn't that good in the playoffs
• The Sedins will disappear
• Manny Malholtra is out
• They feasted on the lesser teams to get so many points
  

Homers

• They have dominated all year ever with the most injuries of any NHL team
• Luongo is having a season year and Schneider is ready to go if needed
• The defence has been vastly improved from last year
• Their penalty kills and power plays have been awesome all year

And so it goes back and forth with even Theoren Fluery getting in to the mix on the haters side and suffering the wrath of Canucks Nation.

Still, Canucks fans were pretty excited last year and, frankly, they had a pretty good team. Had Chicago not knocked them off, they may have gone all the way. However, make no mistake about it, this is a very different team. Here's my list of why they will, at the very least, make the Stanley Cup Finals.

1. Defence. The revolving door on the blue line this season has exposed the amazing depth that the Canucks ...and the Manitoba Moose...have developed. The extras in the cast coupled with bona fide stars of Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, and Sami Salo (for as long as he lasts) will mean that Vancouver has a solid back end... that can even take an injury, or two... or three.
2. Luongo. Last year he was overplayed, overstressed (thanks to being the captain) and undersupported by the defence. This year none of these are the case and, oh, there's that gold medal hanging around his neck which, in my books, gets any monkey off his back...and then some.
3. Faceoffs. Granted, a month ago this was a much stronger point but the loss of Manny Malhotra has dampened the impact a tad. Still, last year, especially against Chicago, they couldn't win a faceoff if their playoffs lives depended on it... and it did. Kesler has been schooled by Manny (#2 in the NHL) and is almost dominant with the 7th best percentage in the league. Henrik is now a respectable 38th in the league. Incidentally, Chicago has Jonathan Toews (8th) but nobody else about 50%.
   
4. Ryan Kesler. Perhaps more important than his strong faceoffs, if Ryan's newfound discipline and wrist shot. Both he and Burrows and taken their emotional tirades down by, what I figure, at least 75%. If Kes can retain his cool and his focus... he will provide the Nucks with the solid 2nd line that has brought them much success this season. Oh, and toss Maxim Lapierre into this mix too. Alain Vigneault must have some special sauce to keep him from going off the deep end... and it's helping.
   
5. Special Teams. Again, last year the team was not that special in this department. 1st in PP percentage and 3rd on the PK (yes, some say they would have probably finished in first here too had it not been for the string of no-purpose games at the end). Last season, the PK was 18th and the PP was as respectable 6th. They have obviously learned some good tricks and avoided some bad habits.
   
6. Goals for... and against. Yes, we've all seen high powered offensive teams hit the wall time and time again in the playoffs (Washington, last year being the most recent). Last season, who was right behind the Capitals in goals for? Yes, the Vancouver Canucks. Goals against last year? Canucks 12th. Capitals 16th. This year? You guessed it. Vancouver is #1 in both goals for and goals against. A dynamic 1-2 punch that will allow them to win in a horse race or a marathon. Incidentally, only Boston and San Jose were in the top 10 in both categories.
   

What can derail the Canucks?

1. Kesler getting hurt. By itself, not enough... but a serious blow.
2. Kesler-Burrows-Lapierre losing their cool.
3. Chicago getting Dustin Byfuglien back.... :)
4. The Sedins get zero goals.
   

To me, these 6 factors move the Canucks from "contenders" (like last year) to "serious contenders"... or a "really really gonna have a hard time beating them in a seven game series" team.

Joell

What a Gull-A-Bull

Thomas J. Watson was quoted as saying "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," somewhere around 1943 when he was the head of IBM. This quote has lived in infamy for the past couple decades as computers pop up in every household (and now pockets and purses as well) around the world. The only problem with this quote is: he probably never said it. Researchers have tried, in vain, to find a document that supports that he said that phrase but there isn't even one.

The world has always been a safe place for bad information. Wars have been fought over events that never took place (anyone have a WMD lying around?). People have been imprisoned and even killed for saying things that they didn't say ("Let them eat cake"). Boycotts have been organized against companies that were not associated with whom people thought they were (Proctor and Gamble). Bad news has always travelled fast... and now, with the internet and satellite TV, it travels at the speed of light.

Last week, reports on the internet were that the rebels in Libya had taken the town of Sirt which, at that time, was essentially the last town before Tripoli. People were celebrating all over the world that Gadaffi's days were numbered. Turns out, it wasn't true. Today, the Colonel has almost taken back all of the cities and is tightening his grip on the holdouts.

Christians should be the least gullible people on the planet. The Bible tells us to be champions of the truth and to test everything before accepting it. This means that it's even kosher to question our pastors and teachers if we find some disagreement between them and the Bible (by the way, if you meet a pastor/teacher that isn't open to being corrected...or at least hearing a different perspective... run away). The head of the Church is Christ.. not the pastor, bishop, or some committee that meets in secret in New York... or Melville. The Word of God is Jesus as revealed in the Bible... therefore we use it as our "rule of faith and practice". The job of a pastor/teacher is to translate the truth of the Bible into today's language and culture (can you say "hermeneutics"). Not an easy task... I might add.

So, the next time you hear some newfangled idea, regardless of what sphere it happens to come from (health, theology, economics, politics, sociology, technology, etc) decide to take that information "under advisement" and then test it from the truth of the Bible... and your own common sense...before jumping in with both feet.

Joell
PS. Thomas Watson may have ended up being right by saying the thing he didn't say. We may end up with just 5 computers in the world.... 1. Facebook. 2. Google. 3-5... to be announced. Just some food for thought.

PPS. The Bible has been burned many times in many places around the world. While, it's a tad sad when it happens, there is no reason to be bothered because the book itself isn't sacred. The Word isn't a book...or 66 books (as in the Bible) rather Jesus is the Word... and the Bible reveals to us what/who that Word is. That Word can't be damaged by fire... or any other means of destruction.