The Science of A team picking You and not You picking a Team

One thing about being a sports fan is that you don't generally get to pick your favorite teams. There was never a time I signed the dotted line that made me a Vancouver Canucks fan that was basiclly saying that I was signing up for 25 years of heartbreak.

I started to become a fan of Vancouver naturally. I remember listening to games on the radio in bed, watching the 2001 playoff series against Colorado and wishing helplessly that we had a player like Joe Sakic.

I became a Mets fan in 2000 when in Cooperstown, I was instructed to pick any baseball jersey in the store. I was literally picking by design but for the most part of my life it stuck with me.

I was heartbroken when the Vancouver Grizzlies left and because I have parents who own property in Phoenix, I became a Suns fan. The last five years have sucked.

I am a Seattle Seahawks fan, I didn't plan that either. I went on a Facebook friend request rampage in 2010 and I because all of a sudden had a bunch of Seahawks fans on my fb page. That was awesome
and winning my first Championship in 2014 was amazing.

I cheer for Oregon in  College sports because my friend from high school played for their football team.

My point is, most of these things happpened naturally and there have been teams I have tried to get on board with but it wares out after a few weeks.

There are teams that I hope win again or one day:
Edmonton Oilers
Tampa Bay Bucceneers
Sacramento Kings
San Diego Padres
Minnesota Gophers  

All these teams in my lifetime have had failed year in and year out. In fact, these are probably the worst combination in my lifetime and I was born in  1993. The reason that these teams are the worst combination is because all four of these teams had decent runs of success from 1999 to 2006 but that ended 13 years ago.

There was a time that I thought I had the worst combination in sports but my four teams at least have came through in the last 13 years.

Just remember this when some heartbreaker happens in sports. It could always be worse. The fact that it is easy to forget is hard. I'm lucky but the fact that it took me this long to realize it has been hard but I'm super glad that I'm through this super hard stretch. 

Luongo's Bittersweet Legacy was Well Worth It

Most us remember where we were the day Roberto Luongo was traded to Vancouver in 2006. The main piece that was sent to Florida was Todd Bertuzzi. This was at the time an amazing trade for Vancouver and well it still gave us five years of outstanding hockey that should not be tainted.

At the time, it felt like an amazing trade because they only had to give up a third of the West Coast Express line and in return we got a Top five NHL goalie in the game. The previous year, the twins had proven to be capable of producing first line scoring and it was a perfect opportunity for Naslund to pass the torch to the Sedins.

In 2007, Luongo was the only reason why the Canucks made the playoffs. When his stats dropped off in 2008 so did the Canucks wins. From 2009 to 2012 Vancouver had one of the best teams in the NHL every year. It was awesome to have Luongo in net during those years. We missed winning the Cup by one game but by no means Luongo costed us the Cup. Tim Thomas was just better than he
was.

By 2013, Luongo in a Canucks goalie had become stale. It was crystal clear that we weren't going to win a Cup with the current roster. We rebuilt on the fly for the next 3 years but the problem was we traded away both our goalies and Ryan Miller was only a viable starter in 2015.

The only thing I blame Luongo for is requesting a trade after the Winter Classic at BC Place. Your a team player, you do what's best for our team. Now he is costing us something now that he is retired.

Luongo was worth it but it is bittersweet to be curious what would have happened if Luongo wasn't traded back to Florida.

I think the frustrating thing about Luongo was the opening goal that he gave up against Boston in Game 7. It wasn't a hard shot just was redirected in and he never went to his knees. Not sure if that is was good or bad but that goal out of all of them seemed strange.

If the Canucks can make the Cup Finals before 2029, bonehead moves by Gillis will be forgotten but there are same days I wonder if we will ever see a four year stretch like we did from 2009 to 2012.  

Disecting The Canucks Biggest Trade in the Benning Era

The edge of your seat moment for the Vancouver Canucks at this weekends draft happened a day later than expected but as predictable as rainy days in November, it was met with fans having polar opposite views.

The Canucks snagged J.T. Miller from a juggernaut Tampa Bay Lightning team in exchange for the 2019 third round pick, next year's potential 1st from Vancouver were the main pieces going to Tampa Bay.

First reaction from the deal was it is a perfect opportunity to tell your fan base that this team is ready to take the next step and go for the playoffs in 2020 or by the latest 2021. Miller is what we need now because he is 26 and by the time that 1st is ready to make an impact, Miller will be 30 and still should be contributing Top 6 forward production. 

The move, combined with picking Vasili Podkolzin is why this trade makes even more sense. Podkolzin will not be on his entry level deal until October of 2021 and therefore that will mean he won't be an RFA until July 1st 2024. More importantly, this will mean that he will kinda be like our

1st round pick in 2020 because most players that have the talent he does don't need two years. This gives Vancouver the flexibility to roll the dice a bit.

Question: So we really lost a 2019 1st by taking the Russian? Not really. Because Olli Juolevi hasn't played a NHL game yet, he will feel like a more recent draft pick rather than a 2016 draft pick.

Virtanen is playing like a 2016 draft pick because he is taking longer to develop. Both Pettersson and Horvat are playing above there years and because J.T. Miller was a mid round 2011 1st it completely comes full circle in that I don't think we will be needing that 2020 1st and because it's conditioned to if the Canucks make the playoffs or not I'm am certian that we shouldn't be needing our 2021 1st the way that our team is coming together.

Yes, I'm fully aware that there is high risk attached to this deal but the odds that Vancouver is picking #1 in 2021 which would turn into Tampa's #1 overall pick is about 3% and too be  honest, if your not making moves in sports because of a 3% chance it turning out horribly is a bad way to to do your job or live your life.

Going into this weekend I wanted Krebs or Cole Caufield. My biggest concern was that Boeser or Virtanen was going to be traded and I'm thankful that both are still Canucks.

Benning deserves our trust and Miller deserves to be welcomed with open arms.

St. Louis Will Win On Wednesday

It hasn't been easy seeing a team that is playing in a Stanley Cup Final that was below the Vancouver Canucks in the standings in early January. What feels worse is that this years Stanley Cup Final has a few similarities to the 2011 Final.

I don't have any magic potion that will create the result I want. If I did, I would be sports betting for a living. Wednesday will be the first Game 7 since 2011 for the Cup Finals.

The last 6 Game 7's of the SCF have followed a similar pattern. Less than five goals in the game and the first team that scores, will also score the second goal. I'm not getting into it tonight why the Canucks didn't win in 2011. I'm ready to move on.

It's a win-win situation for Vancouver tomorrow. Either we witness Boston lose a Game 7 on home ice or we see St. Louis have the same heart-break we endured. I'm happy either way but I am cheering for Boston tomorrow night.

I wouldn't be surprised if St. Louis won though. They have won a lot on the road this post season and away teams have fared quite well in Championship Game seven's since 2009 in every sport in North America that offers a Game 7. Home teams are only 3-4 in those seven games in the last decade with the three home victories being super close.

I want this Stanley Cup run by St. Louis to inspire NHL GM's that all 31 teams have a chance to win the Cup next year but I don't think it will. The new lottery format has helped but tanking still hasn't been eliminated.

Nevertheless, the last six months has made me thankful that I care about sports from multiple angels and that is what has me excited for the Canucks next year and beyond.

Canada Has Work Cut Out for Them in FIBA World Cup

The 2019 FIBA World Cup is set to tip-off in China this year and it is the first year of the new format. We are weeks away from finding out which players will suite up for Canada. I really feel like what has transpired for Canada in the last four years has created a ton of pessimistic fans that don't think they will qualify for Tokyo 2020.

Lets get things straight, Canada needs to place in the Top two of FIBA Ameicas teams. Those teams include:

Americas (7)

•  Argentina
•  Brazil
•  Canada
•  Dominican Republic
•  Puerto Rico
•  United States
•  Venezuela

USA is going to be in the Top three. So they are going to get one of the berths. Argentina should place between 9th-12th, Brazil might place between 13th-16th, Puerto Rico between 14th-22nd, Venezuela anywhere from 20th-30th and Dominican Republic might be the weak link in the Americas.

Honestly, those are just predictions and because Canada was slotted in the "Group of Death" it is anyone's guess where they finish. They finished 22nd in a 24 team World Cup in 2010 but that was with a super young NBA player lacking team that went 0-5 with three super close losses. Winning the group this time around will shatter all abysmal memories of the Venezuela catastrophic loss that suddenly halted Canada's Olympic dreams in 2015. Lithuania and Australia are not pushovers and it will be a dog fit for those two games. If Senegal can help us out, 1-2 might get us through but that is a big if.    

Canada's large player pool is an embarrassment of riches. However, it only becomes an asset if they skilled players decide to travel half way across the world and put on the maple leaf.

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3	Inactive
C	Tristan Thompson	Dwight Powell	Chris Boucher	Khem Birch	Joel Anthony
PF	Kelly Olynyk	Trey Lyles	Andrew Nicholson	Kyle Wiltjer	Anthony Bennett
SF	Andrew Wiggins	R. J. Barrett	Melvin Ejim	Thomas Scrubb	Dyshawn Pierre
SG	Jamal Murray	Nik Stauskas	Dillon Brooks	Brady Heslip	Andy Rautins
PG	Corey Joseph	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Kevin Pangos	Philip Scrubb	Tyler Ennis

There above is a list of 25 players that will have to be dwindled down to 12 when August 31st comes along. I sure hope we don't have to be fishing for the players ranked 26th - 38th for our players. R.J. Barrett should be a shoe in considering his Dad is the GM. Olynyk has always been faithful to play for Canada and I'm confident that Joseph plays as well. Well, here goes nothing but here are my 12 players that I predict that will be in China this fall.

Anthony Bennett

Joel Anthony

Dillon Brooks

 Brady Heslip

Kevin Pangos

 Melvin Ejim

Tristan Thompson

 Andrew Nicholson

Dwight Powell

 Kelly Olynyk

R. J. Barrett Corey Joseph

Bold means they are starting and anyone that isn't there is my prediction of who doesn't want to be there. My bet is that Canada finishes in the Top 8 or 17th. I think if they don't advance in the first group stage they will be in a 16 team pot where they will be by far the superior team. More to come when I know more.