Towel Power
The Importance of Asking Questions (And Giving Answers...)

I first started paying attention the the Canucks when I was still in my second year of university. At the time, I was living in residence, and I managed to get sucked into the hockey thing during the Olympics. We all crammed ourselves in to the lounge to watch the Canadian Men's team beat the Americans. After that, watching Canucks games seemed like a natural progression.

The earliest memory I have of this time is watching a game along with a friend of mine, Ashley, and one of the guys who lived on our brother floor. I wish I could remember his name, but to be honest, he really wasn't a very interesting person to begin with, so let's just call him Frank.

It was the playoffs; the most important time in hockey. I noticed that Frank always brought a small white towel with him to the lounge when we were watching games, but I never really thought much of it until one day, I overheard Ashley comment on the towel. I asked what the whole meaning of the towel was, and they both just looked at me and said "What, you don't know?" and then laughed it off.

I continued to ask, but they always refused to answer so finally I got fed up and said something along the lines of "Oh, whatever, it's just a stupid towel that you wave around, who cares?"

Oh, how little I knew.

You see, Towel Power is a tradition that started with the Canucks way back in 1982. You can forgive me for not knowing about it, as I was just a wee little newborn in 1982. But for those of you who don't know, well, read on.

In 1982, Roger Neilson was the assistant coach to Harry Neale for the 81-82 season. In March of '82, Neale was suspended for 10 games by the NHL for attempting to hit a fan during a game, after said fan had taken a poke at Tiger Williams around the glass. Neilson then took over as the coach.

Fast forward to the third round of the playoffs. Vancouver was facing off against the Chicago Blackhawks, who had home ice advantage. In the second game of the series, a bad call by the refs and the ensuing powerplay led to the Canucks being behind by a score of 4-2. Frustrated by the bad call, Neilson took a white trainer's towel, draped it over a spare stick and raised it in the air in mock surrender. The officials took exception to this, and tossed Neilson from the game. He was also fined by the NHL for his actions.

The reaction from several of his players, however, was quite different. Many were proud of what he had done and congratulated him. At game 3 in Vancouver, white towels sold outside of the Coliseum were eagerly snatched up by more than 16 000 fans. Inside the rink, fans enthusiastically waved the towels above their heads while cheering, and a tradition was born.

This is something that I had to learn on my own. A bit of quick research gave me the answer, but I have to wonder... What was so hard about telling me this story?

Some people tend to see hockey as some sort of sacred institution. They guard their secrets and are wary to let new people in on their history. Perhaps it is because they have seen so many bandwagon fans come and go. They feel they are more entitled and that they are a better fan. But a bandwagon fan can never become a "true" fan if they are excluded from the culture of the game.

Part of being a good fan, to me, means that you help out new fans. After all, the more the merrier. If someone asks a question about the game or the history of the team, they shouldn't be mocked for not knowing the answer. We should tell them as much as we can, because the more fans a team has, the less likely it is that they will be uprooted from their cities due to lack of support.

And how can anyone ever learn if they are not encouraged to ask questions?

The Vancouver Canucks have a three game road trip coming up, and lord knows it won't be an easy one.

First up are the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. The Sharks are currently 8 - 7 - 2, but more importantly they are 4 - 1 - 1 at home. Their one home regulation loss came courtesy of the Minnesota Wild back on November 5, and they lost in a shootout to the Dallas Stars this past Saturday. Teams they have beaten at home include the surprisingly good Nashville Predators, the slow to heat up Calgary Flames, the abysmal Chicago Blackhawks and the equally terrible Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Canucks recently suffered through a three game losing skid, which ended with their win over the league leading Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Todd Bertuzzi scored a hat trick, and Anson Carter added a goal to make the final score 4 - 1. Pavel Datsyuk was credited with the only goal for the Red Wings, a flukey bounce off of Canucks defenseman Sami Salo.

The Canucks are going to have to show that they learned from their mistakes in order to win this next game. Another flat start could spell disaster, even against a team that is currently sitting at the bottom of the Pacific division along with the Ducks. The Sharks have lost their past three games and will be looking to end that streak. So far they have been decent at home, while the Canucks have struggled on the road, winning only three of their nine road games to date.

The good news is that Canucks netminder Dan Cloutier is back and playing quite well after a few games off due to a concussion suffered in the October 27 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Todd Bertuzzi has apparently shaken the rust off and found some confidence. The bad news is that the defense still has quite a few holes, which management currently seems unable to fill.

Nolan Baumgartner has played as well as can be expected from a 30 year old AHL regular. Steve McCarthy, who hasn't impressed either, is still out with a groin pull that has seen Wade Brookbank back in the line-up on defense. Brookbank's limited ability and ice time has meant the top four defensemen taking on more minutes than they can probably handle for an extended amount of time. Sami Salo is reportedly complaining about feeling burnt out already. Another injury to this team, especially on defense, can be nothing but trouble.

Word on the various message boards is that the Canucks are quietly shopping for another defenseman, an interesting notion given their cap constraints. Canucks scouts were spotted at a Leafs vs. Capitals game last week, but who knows if that will amount to anything. Could a trade be in the cards?

There may be some other light at the end of that tunnel. Kevin Bieksa, a Manitoba Moose defenseman who has been out with an ankle sprain for the past nine weeks or so, recently started skating again and would be a good choice for a call-up. Many expected Bieksa to land a job with the big club before his injury. Here's hoping.

Up Next: The Origins of Towel Power (aka A Lesson In Asking Questions)

Mmmn, it's got that new blog smell still.

This here is going to be my Canucks only blog. And I'm going to put effort into it and everything. Of course right now I am just really gung ho about it but chances are, I'll forget about it and it will be neglected like all my other little projects.

So to start off, a little about me.

Name: Tamara

Age: 23

Location: Vancouver, BC

Favourite Player: This is where things get tricky. My first instinct is to say Todd Bertuzzi but I also have a lot of love for Jarkko Ruutu. So generally I say those two, but then my brain starts screaming "What about Trevor! And Clouts! Naslund! BMo! Matty-ass!..." See? Basically I love all of them, but some of them I love a little more, and some of them, a little less.

Puck Bunny Status: Negative. Yeah, I'm a girl. Yeah, I think some of the players are cute. But don't you dare call me a Puck Bunny or I might have to tear you a new one. I admit, however, that I do have my origins in Puck Bunny-ness. I grew up in a hockey town (Grande Cache, AB - Hometown of Dean McAmmond - barf) but was never really caught up with it. Most of the guys I knew who played were major jerks, so I associated the sport with them. Shortly after I graduated high school, I moved to Vancouver. It took me 2 years of living in this city before I realized that 1) Vancouver has a hockey team and 2) that hockey team is rad.

In the beginning, I had no idea what icing or offside was. I knew it was usually a bad thing, but I couldn't recognize it when it happened. I watched the Detroit - Vancouver series (this was back in 2002) and, although the Canucks lost in the first round, I was hooked.

That following summer, I met my current boyfriend, a hockey obsessed boy from Port Coquitlam. He helped me make the full transition. I started out screaming obscenities at the television and asking questions after every play, and thankfully he was very patient with me. Now, I can actually appreciate a great play, a nice pass, and yes, I do know what icing is. And, let me tell you, it's not just for cakes. I still ask questions now, but mainly they are questions about random trivia or things that happened before my time. I wasn't there for the 1994 Cup run, but I cry whenever I hear about it or see pictures from it. And I will most definitely be there for the 2006 run.



Basically I think that is enough for now. You get the idea.

Up next: Hopefully I'll do a quick yammer about the last game, and talk about the game to come. It should be good times, I promise.