Tinkerblue

Vancouver Giants YouTube Challenge (Teddy Bear Toss)

 

New Vancouver 2010 Lucky Loonie out tomorrow - Feb 12th

Tomorrow the Royal Canadian mint releases the Vancouver 2010 Lucky Loonie. You can wait to get one in your change, or you can get them at RBC branches and participating Petro Canada location. 

Don't forget to get one for you collector's card. I think we need 7-8 of them.  I think I'll just go to the bank, rather than trying to find them in my change.  It could take forever.

The story of the Lucky Loonie began at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games.  The icemaker, a Canadian, Trent Evans, buried a loonie under the centre ice.  Both the Canadian men's and women's ice hockey teams went on to win gold.    

Molson Should Match my Donation to Haiti

On the weekend Molson Canadian Hockey House lowered the prices on their fan zone passes to $99.00. The fan zone passes get you in to Hockey House, complimentary food, cash bar and in and out privileges. 

Passes for February 21st (Canada vs USA) and February 28th (Gold Medal) game sold out quickly.  MCHH was on our wish list but we couldn't stretch it to the full VIP pass.  But we decided we could manage the $99 each.  

I have February 18th off, and will be back in Vancouver for the day.  Hubby and Morag don't have any tickets that day, and my Mum and Dad have only one event. I checked the site and there was passes available for the 18th.  And Canada is playing.  Perfect.  5 passes into my shopping cart, enter my visa info and away we go.

The website just timed out. RBC Visa said that there was a temporary charge on my visa for approx $550. So I assumed the purchase had gone through.  Not so much.  For whatever reason it didn't work.  I called the Molson ticket office and they confirmed that they had no record of the purchase.  But by then the 18th had already sold out.  

We can still get the VIP pass, but at $500.00 each they are outside our budget.  Hubby, my parents and Morag might decide to go another night.  There other nights still available.  But the 18th was my only option.

Oh well, you know what?  We'll survive. And after I bitched for a bit, I realised that I was being entirely selfish.  So I took the $200.00 for what would have been the fan zone passes for hubby and I and made a donation to the Red Cross for Haiti.  I think Molson should match it! 

Moving on...

 

We finally got our tickets from the original lottery. Well Mum and Dad's tickets.  They put in for 3 of the Olympic Experience Packages, and were lucky enough to get 2 of the packages, including Opening Ceremony tickets.

 
 

Hubby and I put in for 2 tickets to some of the long track speed skating, short track speed skating, ice hockey, aerials, bobsleigh, skeleton, luge, ski jump, downhill skiing and curling.  Of the 20 or so tickets we requested we "won" 2 for the curling.  

 

We've since managed to pick up a few more from the fan to fan resale site and through the Whistler locals offering, so we are happy with our range of tickets.  Hubby and I also bought tickets to the Paralympics - Sledge Hockey x 2, Biathlon x 4 and Closing Ceremony x 4.  It look like a lot of tickets doesn't it?

  

Also in with the tickets - The Olympic Spectator Guide, the Paralympic Spectator Guide, remainder that Visa is the official payment card of the Games, merchandise offers for the hockey jersey, official souvenir program and commemorative frames for tickets and a pin.

My parents arrive in 20 more sleeps.  I am so excited to see them.  

 

Big news today - Team Canada Announced

Okay, so this isn't going to mean much to Mum and Dad, or Morag. Hell, it doesn't even mean much to hubby and he was born and bred in Canada.  I know more about (ice) hockey than he does.   Although everyone here makes fun of me for calling it ice hockey.  Anyway...

 

Steve Yzerman, as the executive director of Team Canada, announced the roster for Team Canada.  This is the team that is supposed to redeem the disappointment of Torino. Canada didn't make the Gold Medal game, in fact they finished out of the medals. Sweden won gold, Finland won Silver, the Czech Republic took the bronze and the Russians were 4th.

 image CTV
 

So Canada is hungry for gold.  Can they withstand the pressure? On home ice?  No Canadian athlete has ever won gold at an Olympics on Canadian soil, not in Montreal in '76 or Calgary in '88.  

This is a hockey nation, THE hockey nation.  I thought Australia was obsessed by footy (or rugby depending on your state) but Canada is OBSESSED by hockey.  So the expectations are for this team are high.  Nothing less than Gold will satisfy Canadians.  

Can they do it?  I hope so.  Their competition is expected to come from Russia, the US, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

So just who will be wearing the red and white jersey come February? 

Goalies:

• Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils)
• Robert Luongo (Vancouver Canucks)
• Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Defense:

• Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks)
• Drew Doughty (LA Kings)
• Duncan Keith (Chicago  Blackhawks)
• Scott Neidermayer (Anaheim Ducks)
• Chris Pronger (Anaheim Ducks)
• Brent Seabrook (Chicago Blackhawks)
• Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)

Forwards:

• Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
• Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks)
• Dany Heatly (San Jose Sharks)
• Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)
• Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks)
• Brendan Morrow (Dallas Stars)
• Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks)
• Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers)
• Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks)
• Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)

We'll be watching from the local pub, or one of the live sites.  Australia is not fielding a hockey team, so I can cheer for Canada without any guilt.