I was busy looking at potential parade routes in Vancouver the other day. In any given city, this would be a route that celebrates fat heroes (such as Santa Claus); or arguably the two best college football teams (as in the Rose Bowl); or it could be for any number of holidays.
Or, in the case of Vancouver, it could be the route of the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup champions, the Vancouver Canucks.
Now before you assume that I've hit my head on the ice one too many times, I can assure that people wiser and smarter and best-looking than me (does such an animal even exist?) have said the same thing. Well, maybe not quite the parade thing, but many of the hockey gurus have said at worst, the Canucks will take the West, and, at best, possibly win the whole thing.
As many of my fans in newspapercolumnland know, I have been a fan of the Canucks since 1966. That would be before they had an NHL team—four years before, to be precise. Some wags would argue, of course, that they still don't have an NHL team. Pagans, infidels, and bottom-feeders: the bunch of them!
Truth be told, I probably have minimal interest in any form of professional sports these days, partly because I don't watch it much, and partly because of the obscene salaries these guys make. I cannot relate to anyone who makes $35,000 a night, for playing literally twenty to thirty minutes in a game that most play for free beer. When I think of an economy that continues to be on the verge of financial collapse, yet allows its paid athletes to rake in millions of dollars, I am outraged.
They may see green, but I see red.
But NHL hockey, with the Vancouver Canucks in particular, still remains the best ticket in town. Some of the present NHL cities, in my opinion, don't deserve having teams. Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, has made some mistakes in his leadership tenure, but placing teams in Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa Bay, and Miami have been colossal mistakes--especially when there are a few American cities just south of the Canadian border that would be more suitable, to say nothing of a number of Canadian cities.
Vancouver, of course, is a city that justly deserves the right to have a hockey team. One, they are Canadian; two, they have a history of a large fan base; and three, they put out a very good product (most of the time). And this year, according to the pundits, they could go all the way.
Since being ousted by the Blackhawks in the second round of last year's playoffs, they have upgraded in every position, except for goaltending—and there was no need for that. They have done that by jettisoning some players who were dead weights, trading for others who were better, or bringing up "kids" from the farm.
Do I honestly think they are better than the Washington Capitols or the Pittsburgh Penguins? Well, honestly, yes. In both cases, they have a more balanced attack than either team, as they are not so dependent on one superstar. And, again, they have superior goaltending.
Is it too soon to plan the parade? Probably yes. But either way, I'm sure the Canucks will be there, either riding the convertibles and waving at all their fans, or running after the horses, scraping up all their you-know-what.
For that matter, maybe all this hockey talk championship stuff this early in the season is nothing more than all those recycled oats.
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