Does it Matter What the Canucks do This offseason?

 The Canucks come into the shortened 2020 offseason with plenty of unusual decisions that face GM Jim Benning. Things look awfully different from when the Canucks took the ice for a season opener 364 days ago. The team proved to be a winner despite fans not having that one great moment that we can look back on and be happy with. I feel bad for all the season ticket holders that were anticipating playoff hockey for the first time since 2015. 

Honestly, I don't care what the Canucks do roster wise until we can have sell outs at Rogers Arena. Life is too short for us to worry about how long until the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. 

Right now, I am so tired of hearing about Boeser trade proposals that it is tempting to laugh at every one of them. I want to see where the chips fall and see what happens when the dust is settled. 

In past years, there has been a flurry of activity on July 1st to kick off the free agent period. I'm not sure that is going to be the same this year but we will have to wait and see. Vancouver is up against the Cap a bit but I will still be interested to see how creative Vancouver gets. 

My goal right now is to deliver a  quality blog post as much as I can. Things are going good for myself, I'm pain free right now and that is taken for granted sometimes. 

What was your Favorite Duck Moment?

 Was it ever hard to do something or admit to your parents that you believed in something different? I remember watching the 2006 Oregon vs Oklahoma game and the vibe I was getting from Autzen Stadium was that it was a pretty awesome place. 

Oregon went on to win that game 34-33 and I felt good for them. I guess I was born a Duck fan that day but I was scared to admit it. I grew up a Washington fan I think I knew where my heart was. 

It took me nine years to admit I was a Duck fan and I was instantly loved on the facebook groups. One day I want to get to Eugene and meet my favorite family. Find a church and give back to the community that accepted me with open arms. 

I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for loving me like one of your on. This university is special to me. 

My favorite Ducks moment was in 2017 when we opened the scoring against Nebraska on FOX. That was the moment I knew that Oregon was on their way back. We are so close to a Natty I can feel it!!!! And than Covid hit. 

We will get there soon but the wait is terribly frustrating. This was the perfect opportunity for us with Ohio State and Washington at home this year. 

What I love so much about our school is that we always show our school spirit off with wearing our green, yellow and black and our fans always seem happy. 

Thanks for adopting me! 

Why Don't People Do More of This?

 Over the last number of years, I’ve developed a dream and a desire to change the world. When you live alone with no kids or girlfriend to spoil, it is a lot easier to live within the means of what I can afford.

I’ll preface this by saying, I’m not trying to sugarcoat my life in any way because who and where I am in my life now is sadly because I came from a good family. I want to be appreciative of that, but I also think about what an accomplishment it would be if I was given no guidance and managed to become a successful person.

That is what I want VM Help to be about. I want to create an organization that helps people with disadvantages and barriers to get where they want to be.

We live in a world where people that that have challenges not only face challenges in finding work but also in every day life. We need a system in play that can help anyone with anything they are trying to achieve.

I graduated high school in British Columbia, Canada in 2011. From ’12-’15, I was in University. Then from ’15-’17, I spent large parts of the time unemployed. When you’re unemployed you have to make sacrifices and view it as an opportunity to reflect on where you want to live.

People say things like “don’t move when your unemployed”, but for me at the time, moving away to a new city would have brought a new perspective leading to one of two things that could have happened:

1.   I might have found things really hard and might have came back within a year.

2.   I would have grown as a person overcoming obstacles and would have gained boatloads of self esteem.

What happened?

Well I stayed in the Vancouver area, eventually got more hours at work and kept on taking my parents advice until I started to try and branch out. That’s when I landed by fluke in Maple Ridge!

My point is, I don’t think there should be a rule book on how to live your life. We just need to be as loving and as caring as possible.

From a financial point of view, if you have $45,000 and are unemployed, moving away is not as risky. Maybe you move away and set up your life again and you spend maybe $7,000 to do so. As long as the fresh start is what you needed, whatever amount you spent will slingshot you much further.

Money is temporary but our happiness will be what drives to leave a lasting legacy in this world. Not every path works for everyone.

Find your path and don’t let people judge you.

Gregory von Matt

Where Does Vancouver Sit in the Sports City Standings?

 I've had a couple of week to ponder about the Vancouver Canucks emotional exit from the unusual 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I thought it was going to be an easy pill to swallow from a very positive season but it has been very challenging. 

I'm definitely still in pain right now. Part of it is Covid, but part of it is a huge whole in my chest that doesn't go away until the Vancouver Canucks play again. 

It wouldn't be like this if Vancouver had a NFL team or MLB team. Their seasons would be just beginning and still be going on respectively. 

Thinking of what it would be like to have all four major league teams is interesting but in reality it will likely never happen. 

I have tried to put together a mathematical equation that compares sport success with their respective city. This is how the math works:

Expansion Franchise Awarded: 20 points 

Division Championship: 15 points 

Playoff series win: 25 points  

playoff appearance : 10 points 

Conference Championship: 50 points  

League Championship: 100 points 

Team relocates: -40 points 

Picking first overall: 5 points   

I want to do the math for every team and city but it might take me awhile. My hypothesis is that Vancouver Canucks are in the middle of the pack in if you compare the teams by themselves and Vancouver if I compare it to other cities would be average as well. 

To get comparable numbers, if you have four pro teams in your city you have to divide by four to get a accurate number. With two teams divide by two and with three you would divide by three. 

There are 58 cities or boroughs that own a sports franchise in the four professional sports. I will update you when I finish the math.