Author Archives: Ethan Allin

A Fury Of Punches Finishes A Trilogy

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@trboxing/Twitter

Last night the boxing world was given what some have described as one of the best heavyweight fights in boxing history. Britain’s Tyson Fury defeated American Deontay Wilder by knockout in the 11th round Saturday night. Fury, who holds a 31-0-1 professional record with 21 knockouts, made a statement knocking out Wilder in a steady fashion.

The ‘Gypsy King’ put on a show last night for boxing fans around the world as Wilder just wouldn’t go down. After a knockdown rocked Deontay in the third round, he would fight back to allow himself the opportunity to stay in the fight. Fury would go on to control much of the fight, landing punches while ducking and weaving round after round.

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@WBCboxing/Twitter

In the fourth round, Wilder would score his biggest points of the night connecting with a massive right hand that dropped Fury. But he wasn’t done thereafter Tyson was able to recover Deontay would capitalize once again after throwing a flurry of punches that would drop the ‘Gypsy King’ once again.

But this wouldn’t stop the Champ who would fight his way back round after round from then on forward to eventually break down his opponent. After taking a beating between much of the seventh and eighth rounds would eventually lead to his inevitable finish.

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@Oddschanger/Twitter

After their first fight was fought to a draw the much-anticipated rematch was set for February 22, 2020, in Las Vegas where Fury would go on to a dominant finish of Wilder in the 7th round. After the fight, Wilder would use a clause within their contracts to force a third and final battle.

As the crowd cheered on Fury the momentum would grow too large as he would wear down Wilder scoring another knockdown in the 10th round. By this point, the fight was already won for Tyson, but that didn’t stop Wilder from staying in the fight. In the 11th round, Fury finally finished Wilder via knockout in brutal fashion to retain his heavyweight title.

 

Canucks Reduce Lineup By Four Players

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@Canucks/Twitter

As the regular season is only a few days away the Vancouver Canucks were primed to make their last few cuts to their lineup. After dropping their last pre-season contest last night 3-2 against the Edmonton Oilers, some players had to know the writing was on the wall.

The Canucks have sent Justin Bailey, Madison Bowey, Philip Di Giuseppe, and Travis Hamonic to their new American Hockey League affiliate team the Abbotsford Canucks. The newly formed team is primed and ready to make a statement after the big club made moves to not only bolster their lineup but also give their prospects something to fight for.

As the team sends Hamonic to the AHL he has to go through waivers, where every team has the option to claim his rights before his 1-way contract can be moved. The Canucks signed Hamonic to a two-year six-million-dollar deal back in July, but after dealing with personal matters he was unable to attend training camp or the pre-season.

This season the Canucks have little to no cap room left the savings the Canucks desperately need could come from either Hamonic being claimed, meaning a team would take on the entire 3 million dollars a year cap hit, or they would get a percentage of relief by sending him to Abbotsford.

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@Canucks/Twitter

This isn’t the end for Bailey, Bowey, Di Giuseppe, and Hamonic or at least we don’t hope so. There is plenty of talent to go around and it may not belong till we see any one of these players in a Vancouver jersey. Bailey a big power-forward has been inching his way to the NHL for years.

Bowey and Di Giuseppe look to make a statement this year in Abbotsford to push their way into the lineup if injuries arise, knowing Vancouver’s luck we will see them soon.

Juolevi Traded To Panthers For Lammikko, Juulsen

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@Canucks/Twitter

The Vancouver Canucks made changes to their blue line Sunday as well as adding some depth upfront. This comes after Vancouver lost their prospect Jonah Gadjovich on waivers to the San Jose Sharks earlier this week.

After a rough at-best training camp and pre-season for the former 1 round pick Olli Juolevi, he has now been flipped to the Florida Panthers in exchange for forward Juho Lammikko and blue-liner Noah Juulsen.

Vancouver originally drafted Juolevi fifth overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He produced two goals and one assist in 23 games last year in Vancouver as a rookie. But that doesn’t tell the full tale of a very high draft pick surrounded by shining stars picked just a few spots after him.

Many fans in Vancouver are quick to burn Jim Benning, the current general manager of the Canucks, for originally drafting him, and then the handling of Olli over the years. Now, Juolevi didn’t do himself much of a favor, with years of injuries plaguing his development, fans were impatient on the return of the team’s investment.

Going into the 2021-2022 season the Canucks look solid upfront but have roster spots open on forward and defense. That’s where Juho Lammiko comes in, he’s 25 years old from Noormarku, Finland. 6’2″ 207lbs, originally selected in the third round, 65th overall by the Florida Panthers.

https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers/status/1447284361947238400?s=20

Lammikko scored 4 goals and 1 assist over 44 games played last season with the Panthers. After producing at a high level in his junior years, this may be a nice addition to the Canucks fourth line, or at the least be able to go to their new farm team in Abbotsford. But that still doesn’t address the blue line.

That’s where Noah Juulsen comes in. The Surrey, BC native comes homes to play for the hometown squad. After being selected the right shot defencemen 26th overall in the 1st round by the Montreal Canadians, Juulsen looks to put right the ship in Vancouver.

After missing a decent amount of time due to vision-related issues while playing with the Canadians, Noah looks to get his career started in a familiar place, and maybe this is exactly what both sides need.

Join The Race To Formula E 2022

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@Canadianefest/Twitter

It’s been 17 long years since Vancouver has hosted any car racing events downtown, but that’s all set to change in 2022. Many will remember the Molson Indy Vancouver, a Champ Car race on a street circuit around BC place running as far as Science World.

From 1990 to 2004 auto racing fans would flock downtown by the thousands to hear to roar of the engines through the buildings, the smell of burning rubber, and sheer excitement as the cars would vibrate through your entire body while flying by.

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Molson Indy Vancouver – @WFLBC/Twitter

For many millennials like me, I sadly don’t have many if any, memories of the Molson Indy. Only the incredible stories passed down to me from my family. This event always sounded so magical when described, making it sound like something I could never imagine happening in the city. Maybe this is because I always secretly wanted to be a racecar driver. But I knew one day it had to make its way back home.

The wait is close to being over though. Come 2022 the city of Vancouver recently voted in favor to host a 2022 FIA Formula E World Championship car race. This three-day event will cover next year’s Canada Day weekend from Thursday, June, 30th to Saturday, July, 2nd.

https://twitter.com/Canadianefest/status/1446913956346486791?s=20

These electric-battery race cars will race a street circuit near East False Creek in downtown Vancouver on a part of the former Molson Indy blueprint. Yes it won’t sound like it once did, nor will it sound like much, but for auto racing fans in British Columbia, this is a total win.

If you’ve been a racing fan your entire life, or maybe recently became a fan of Formula 1 from Netflix’s hit show Ride To Survive, I assure you you cannot miss this event. From as cheap as twenty-five dollars you can go to an event next year. Single and multi-day passes are all available on their website, along with plenty of information on amenities and much more.

New Additions May Just Be What The Lions Need

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@BClions/Twitter

The BC Lions made headlines Friday adding six players to their roster. They would go on to announce the signings of defensive end Alex Bazzie, wide receiver DeVier Posey, full-back Mario Villamizar, running back Shaun Wilson, wide receiver Quadree Henderson, and linebacker Josh Woods.

These signings are a direct result of the BC Lions 4-4 start to the season. The team so far has produced well through their first 8 showings. The Lions haven’t been out of many games so far this season, and at times have been winning most times.

https://twitter.com/BCLions/status/1446551106700513280?s=20

All six newly acquired players will enter the mandatory COVID protocol before they are permitted to practice with the team. After appearing in 50 games with the Lions, Alex Bazzie returns to the Lions after playing four seasons with the team from 2014-17.

As the team has its sights set on their next game against the Calgary Stampeders on October, 16th 2021 they hope the new additions may be able to add the proper spark the team is desperately looking for.

https://twitter.com/BCLions/status/1444120207845326853?s=20

Quarterback Michael Reilly and company will look to bounce back after Zach Collaros threw for 417 yards for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after a 31-9 defeat. Their biggest spread of the season should give BC all the fuel needed to come back and prove the naysayers wrong.

What started as a promising season going 4-2 through their first six games, Vancouver has been on a slide as of late. But as they get ready for Calgary in a week’s time the Lions will be ready and charged to make a statement.

Calgary currently boasting a 4-5 record will be looking to even out their season and knock off Vancouver once again. But if the Lions have any say in the matter they will steady the ship and be back in the win column soon enough. Who is your favorite team in the CFL? Are you a Canadian football fan, let us know in the comment section.

True Best On Best Hockey Is Back This Fall

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@Beijing2022/Twitter

After years of incredible talent entering the NHL, fans have been left to wonder about what it would be like to see their favorite players represent their country center stage at the Olympics. The last time we saw NHL talent grace Olympic ice was back in 2014 when Russia hosted the games in Sochi.

7 years ago the NHL was in a much different place than it is today, with some players only hoping their dream could come true there as well. Beijing 2022 will start on Friday, February 4th, and run through till Sunday, February 20th. This will be the first time in what many hockey fans around the world would describe as must-watch television.

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@IIHFHockey/Twitter

Many of today’s premier talent Including Conor Mcdavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Auston Matthews was not in their respected lineups all that time ago. But what should we expect this time around? Is it going to be another year where Canada, The United States, and Russia duke it out to see who can sit at the thrown of hockey lore? Or will it be a surprise like Germany, Sweden, or Slovakia?

Only time will tell but what we know for sure is that in 20 years’ time we will look back and be thankful that the National Hockey league and the Internation Ice Hockey Federation finally came to terms of an agreement to finally produce the best hockey we’ve seen in years.

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@IIHFHockey/Twitter

Think of a power-play line for team Canada including Sidney Crosby, Conor McDavid, Nathan Mackinnon, Brad Marchand, and Alex Pietrangelo. An absolutely incredible thought that we could see the two men considered to be the greatest of their generations given the opportunity to play together.

This event will not only showcase Canadian talent but also many nations like Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Finland. All of these teams accompanied by NHL talent will make this event very competitive in each and every game. Electrifying hockey is not too far away. I for one cannot wait. Who will you be cheering for at the 2022 Beijing Olympics?

Late Game Heroics Not Enough For Vancouver

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@Canucks/Twitter

It was a game to forget for many Canuck fans Saturday night as the Oilers were in town to finish off what was an abysmal pre-season showing from the hometown team. Now if you were to only see the scoreboard you may not think Edmonton would have controlled most of the play through three periods.

Yes, the game ended 3-2 for yet another victory for the Edmonton Oilers, but don’t let it fool you. The Vancouver Canucks would get out to an early start at one point leading in shots 10-5 in the first period. But that wouldn’t last long as the Oilers would gain a much-needed boost from a power-play goal scored by Evan Bouchard late in the period.

But Edmonton wasn’t done yet, just over a minute later Brendan Perlini would add fuel to the fire scoring his 6th pre-season goal to create the two-goal lead over Vancouver. The second period wouldn’t muster up much creativity as both sides would only combine for 13 shots. Kailer Yamamoto would score six minutes into the period as what some would describe a “snoozefest”.

Nonetheless the Canucks never failed to attempt to make a game of it, if nothing else for the fans. They would again come out firing everything they could to the net, sadly to no avail, but not until Philip Di Giuseppe scored Vancouver’s first of the game assisted by Matthew Highmore and Justin Dowling.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1447040569998397440?s=20

Scored at 13:44, this goal didn’t give the hometown team much time to work with, yet they were destined to make it interesting. With over 3 minutes left in the game the Canucks would pull goaltender Thatcher Demko to allow themselves the extra skater, a risky move at best, but with the potential of greatness.

With the goalie pulled J.T Miller would go on to score with just over two minutes left in the game. A beautiful tip in assisted by Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson. Yet that just wasn’t enough as the Canucks would go on to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner, eventually losing 3-2.

Canucks Come Up Short In Oil Country

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@Canucks/Twitter

The Vancouver Canucks lost 3-2 to the Edmonton Oilers in one of their last pre-season games last night. If you were only to look at the stat line you would see what appears to be a very close game.

The shots were heavy and often last night, 42-39 in favour of the Oilers as they went on to control most of the game. The first period was busy with Edmonton hemming the Canucks in their zone and peppering their goalie with 18 shots. What evidently did them in was their penalty kill, which is questionable at best giving up two goals. The Canucks so far hold a 2-4 record through 6 games played in the pre-season.

But as many of us, Canucks fans know the team has been dealing with contract issues with their two biggest stars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Last week the team was able to sign both multi-year contracts allowing them to get their first taste of game action last night.

As the Oilers dominated the Canucks in the first period with their even strength and more importantly their power-play, Vancouver decided to give them a taste of their own medicine in the second. Hughes came out firing with all cylinders as the Canucks pounced on their powerplay opportunity. Quinn blasted a shot from the point to giving Vancouver fans hope while showing no rust whatsoever.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1446300138989768711?s=20

Then it was Petterson’s turn to get on the score sheet as the team was able to capitalize once again on the power-play with a goal scored by Nic Petan, assisted by Pettersson and Hughes. Even though Derek Ryan would eventually score what would go on to be the winning goal near the end of the second period this game proved a lot to Canucks fans.Image

The team showed grit, determination, and the ability to win last night even in defeat. Young players like Vasily Podkolzin and newcomers, Conor Garland, have shown that the future looks bright or at least upfront. Make sure to catch the Canucks and Oilers back in action for Vancouver final pre-season game Saturday October 8th, 2021.

 

Canadians Favourite Pastime Back In Vancouver Spring 2022

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Nat Bailey Stadium – Home Of The Vancouver Canadians @Vancanadians/Twitter

As the peanuts, cotton candy, and smell of hotdogs filled the air I can remember walking up the stairs hearing the crowd cheering and chanting. And then there it was Nat Bailey Stadium. The field looked massive, nothing like what I had ever played on.

I was so mesmerized by the players on the field as my father and I navigated our way to our seats through the men yelling “Get your fifty-fifty, only two for five, 3 for ten, or your entire arm’s length for 15 dollars”. We finally found our seats, about 15 rows up halfway down the third baseline.

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@Vancanadians/Twitter

There I was, this wide-eyed child in total awe of what’s to come. The crack of the bat, snap of the glove was tantalizing. There was nothing like that playing recreationally with my friends. We make 20 errors a game, these players looked unstoppable. The Canadians would cruise onto win creating a fan in me.

Now fast forward to 2021, present time, the Vancouver Canadians haven’t played a game at Nat Bailey Stadium since 2019 due to covid restriction and their ability to cross the border safely. Because of that, they were forced to play their last season in Hillsboro, Oregon. There were original plans to finish off the 2021 campaign in Vancouver, but they never came to fruition.

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Classic Sushi Races @Vancanadians/Twitter

So as we are headed into the dreaded winter in British Columbia we can thankfully look forward to a new season that will finally be back where it should belong. With that comes the three-foot-long hot dog, sushi races, and grounds crew dancing on the dugouts live in Vancouver on April 19th, 2022.

I’m excited to fall in love with baseball, the Nat, and the Canadians once again and I hope you do too. Have you ever been to a live baseball game? Or better yet, ever watched a game in Vancouver? If you haven’t 2022 is the year. The food is great, tickets are cheap, and the experience is big-league. I hope to see you there come springtime.

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@Vancanadians/Twitter

Season tickets are available on their website, as we welcome the C’s back to Vancouver. Make sure to follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and always remember you can listen live on Sportnet650.

Beyond The Sidelines: Softball

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Hi, I’m Ethan Allin, your host of Beyond The Sidelines, and today we had a conversation about the world of baseball, that eventually turned into softball for many of us as we grew older. For many, these beer leagues can be an integral part of their lives, and become a place where many come to compete.

Have you ever played in a beer league? Softball? Most likely hockey. Well if so then you’ll understand my love for these leagues. If not then I implore you to listen to the stories I’ve gathered throughout my years playing within British Columbia. Let us know in the comments where and what sport you have played. Once again thanks for listening, enjoy!