Author Archives: Ryan Plessl

Toronto Raptors Increase Their Chances For A Playoff Run!

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The Toronto Raptors increased their chances for a playoff run Tuesday night after their impressive win over the Miami Heat.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqZ5yePu1wY/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

It’s a tight race to the playoffs in both the Eastern and Western conference right now. Every win counts for the teams currently ranked 4th-12th which is why it’s so important that the Raptors win every game they play over the course of the next few weeks. You can read about the race to the playoffs for the Raptors in this article here:

Will The Raptors Make Playoffs?

The Raptors looked to better their playoff/play-in chances in their game against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. The teams were evenly matched in the first and second quarter but the Raptors started to run away with it in the third. The Heat started to make a comeback in the fourth but it wasn’t enough for them to secure the victory.

Final score 106-92 for the Raptors.

However, even with the win the Raptors are still only ranked ninth in the East which just barely gives them a spot in the play-in tournament. Let’s hope the Canadian team can put together some nice wins over the next few weeks to secure their spot in the playoffs.

The Raptors play the 76ers tonight!

Vancouver Canucks Finally Lose!

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The Vancouver Canucks faced of against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night in an exciting back and forth match up!

The Canucks started out strong with a rebounded goal from Quinn Hughes going straight in to give the team the early lead. The Blues battled back fast though as Alexei Toropchencko and Justin Faulk both scored to take the 2-1 lead. It seemed as though the Blues would carry this lead into the second period but Andrei Kuzmenko had other plans, scoring late into the first to tie the game.

The second period started out with a goal from Jakob Vrána to take the lead for the Blues once again. Jake Neighbors then delivered a nasty hit to Ethan Bears right in front of the referees with no call issued. Kyle Burroughs took issue with that and went right after Jake starting a back and forth fight that saw both men have their moments before getting separated. Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchenvich both scored shortly after the fight to give the Blues a three goal lead. Brock Boeser did his best to close the distance before the third period though as he scored to decrease the lead to two.

The Canucks fought back hard in the third period as Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes both scored to tie the game forcing a overtime!

However, the Blues were able to secure the victory in overtime as Jakob Vrána scored fast to win the game!

Final score 6-5 for the Blues.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqW2GwCMpF6/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

The Canucks lost the game which made fans happy but they still secured a point for going to overtime leaving fans once again disappointed in the team. They can kiss Bedard goodbye at this point.

Ariel Helwani Shares His Thoughts On Controversial Decision!

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Ariel Helwani shared his opinion on the controversial decision that took place when Marlon Chito Vera faced off against Cory Sandhagen Saturday night.

Ariel Helwani is a Canadian born combat sports journalist. In his two decades of experience he’s covered promotions like UFC, Bellator, Pride, and many more. His large popularity in the sport is due to his hard hitting questions, and professionalism he brings to every interview. He is without a doubt the face of combat sports journalism.

Bottom line-Ariel knows what he’s talking about.

When Marlon Vera faced off against Cory Sandhagen in the Main event of UFC Fight Night, fans expected a clear cut unanimous decision win for Sandhagen after he dominated the fight.

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However, that was not the case as one judge scored the fight for Marlon. Fans were fuming about this outcome and looked to a professional for their expert opinion.

Ariel was happy to provide his. He tweeted the following:

Ariel seemed unbothered about the decision as at least the right man won the fight. Judging continues to be an issue in the UFC though and if this doesn’t change fast fans are going to start rioting.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!

Canadian Wrestling Championship Comes To B.C.

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The 2023 Canadian Wrestling Championships returned to British Columbia for an action packed three day event!

The event was held March 24th-26th at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The event had eight mats running at a time and the whole thing was live-streamed on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/live/Lka7WujB7kg?feature=share

Friday hosted the U15 and U17 divisions taking the mat on Friday. Local team Coast Wrestling stood out on this day collecting multiple podium positions throughout the day.

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Friday was packed but Saturday was another level. Saturday the U19 divisions and the rest of the U15 division wrestlers took the mat throughout the course of a eleven hour day. The arena was intense and the competitors could feel the nervous energy.

After the finals matches were set the official Hall Of Fame ceremony took place and the finalists faced off against each other. Then the intensity really picked up for the finals matches as fans, coaches, and family members screamed at the top of their lungs trying to will on their competitors.

Sunday was the final day of the event which focused on Greco Roman wrestling. This day was similar to Friday with a less intense atmosphere. Make no mistake about it though, every competitor was there to win and take home the title of best wrestler in the country.

It was exciting to have the National Championship back in B.C again and wrestlers will be training hard for next years season and their next chance to be a national champion.

Grappling Industries Takes Over BCIT!

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International Jiu jitsu competition Grappling Industries hosted their most recent competition at the British Columbia Institute Of Technology (BCIT) on Saturday.

The event hosted nearly five hundred competitors including some of the local scenes biggest names.

Huge Grappling superstar and videographer Stuart Cooper made his return to competition and took gold in his division.

Jordan Stutt scored second in both the open and weight division. However, he was stacked up against other grappling superstars with much more experience and he had a very impressive showing against Stuart Cooper and Matt Kwan.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqO9GWUJunE/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Which leads us to the comeback of Matt Kwan. Matt has been out of competition since the summer of 2020 due to some health issues. Matt came back to win his weight division in the gi, open division in the gi, and open division in no-gi. This was a super impressive showing for someone who hasn’t competed in three years and it just further proves that Matt is one of the best competitors in all of B.C.

It was great to see such huge names in the grappling scene taking the mats again. Let’s hope we see these competitors return again soon!

BCIT Rec Hosts Fun Games And Activities!

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British Columbia Institute of Technology Recreation (BCIT Rec) Centre is back once again with their fun activities!

BCIT Rec has put on some super fun activities and events for BCIT students over the course of the past few months.

They hosted unique event nights like Glow Week, which saw events like volleyball, yoga, spin, and zumba all turned into glow in the dark themed activities.

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They hosted a new event recently at the BCIT downtown campus. The event was called Pop Up De-Stress Games Day. The event had video games, table sports, and doughnuts and was introduced as a way for students to de-stress.

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Just this weekend BCIT Rec hosted a Jiu jitsu tournament called Grappling Industries. The tournament was huge with competitors like Stuart Cooper, Matt Kwan, and Jordan Stutt coming out to compete!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqO9GWUJunE/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

BCIT Rec does a great job of making students feel as though they are in a warm welcoming environment and makes the games and activities they do fun and accessible to all!

Follow @bcitrec on instagram for updates on up coming activities and events they’re hosting!

Raptors Increase Their Playoff Chances!

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The Toronto Raptors increased their chances for a playoff run today after their impressive win over the Washington Wizards.

It’s a tight race to the playoffs in both the Eastern and Western conference right now. Every win counts for these teams which is why it’s so important that the Raptors win every game they play over the course of the next few weeks. You can read about the race to the playoffs for the Raptors in this article here:

Will The Raptors Make Playoffs?

The Raptors took on the Wizards earlier today in a match up that was set to be a close one. These two teams have been going back and forth all year so it was anyones game heading into this one.

The Raptors came out ready to play today scoring 37 points in the first period! The Wizards quickly fell behind only scoring 21. The Raptors held on to the lead in the second and ended the half leading by 17 points.

The Wizards made a amazing comeback in the third period scoring 38 points to the Raptors 24. The Raptors were able to keep their lead though and out scored the Wizards again in the fourth to win the game.

Final score 114-104 for the Raptors.

If the Raptors keep this up they may have a chance at getting out of the play-in tournament and into the playoff tournament itself! The Raptors have a tough schedule coming up though so it’s still largely up in the air where they will end up come the end of the season.

The Raptors play the Heat Tuesday night at home.

Joe Rogan Insults Canadian MMA Fighter!

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Joe Rogan is under fire this week after making comments that Canadian Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) legend George St Pierre is not on the same level of guys like Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman.

George St Pierre has been considered the greatest of all time (GOAT) of MMA for the past 20 years. His time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization was legendary and his dominance in the sport is almost unprecedented to this day!

Popular UFC commentator Joe Rogan seems to hold a different opinion then fans who consider George the GOAT though. Joe took to his podcast to share that he thinks the level of fighters George faced isn’t even close to Kamaru Usman:

“I just think the level of competition he (Usman) faced is higher. GSP was so good he raised the bar, but, you look at GSP’s victories. He beat some very good guys, but I think the guys Kamaru Usman beat — Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Tyron Woodley — I think they are better.”

Popular country star Luke Combs happened to be Rogans guest in the podcast and questioned Joes claims. Joe doubled down on what he was saying though:

“Yeah, I think if Masvidal was around at that time he would be dangerous for everybody, I think he is on another level. I think everyone is on another level. The Masvidal that knocked out Ben Askren, that was one of the craftiest moves that anyone has ever done. He went sideways and ran straight at him and Askren’s instincts kicked in and he kneed him into the dark lands. Just one shot, boom, into the shadow realm. Masvidal, I mean he knocked out Yves Edwards with a f—g head kick back in the day. He is a f*cking assassin. Masvidal is a gangster.”

While Joes claims about Usman being close to George’s level aren’t completely off the mark, his remarks that Masividal is better then George are a extreme case of recency bias. Let’s hope Rogan has come to his senses since the podcast.

Why Do They Keep Winning!?

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The Vancouver Canucks faced off against the Dallas Stars last night. The Canucks did what they do best and once again disappointed countless fans.

The Canucks attacked the Stars goal early and often in the first period. The Stars were able to withstand the early onslaught though and fired back. Ryan Suter put one past Thatcher Demko to take the early lead for the Stars. The Canucks battled back though as Dakota Joshua scored while short handed to tie the game. The Canucks now lead the league with fourteen short handed goals scored.

The second period started out with a nice exchange between Brock Boeser and JT Miller that led to Boeser scoring for the Canucks. Shortly after young defenseman Jack Rathbone scored for the team to give them a two goal lead heading into the third period.

The third period saw very little action with no goals scored leading to the Canucks winning the game 3-2.

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While it’s nice Vancouver finally has a winning team and promising future, the Canucks started out the season so bad that they should only have had one goal for the second half of the year. Lose. Now the team is winning multiple games in a row and has the best record in the whole NHL for the last ten games!

At this point the team can kiss Connor Bedard goodbye because their chances of getting the number one draft pick are very slim.

The Canucks return this afternoon to face the Chicago Blackhawks

AEW Comes To Winnipeg!

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Canadian wrestling superstars Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho got a huge reaction from their hometown crowd Wednesday night when All Elite Wrestling (AEW) made its Canada debut!

Kenny and Jericho are two of the biggest stars outside of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) right now. This is largely due to their long tenure with All Elite Wrestling, where they have helped build the promotion from the ground up. Kenny always was more involved with behind the scenes aspects then Jericho was though. When Kenny first signed on to help grow AEW he dreamed of taking the show international:

“When AEW became a thing, we always thought ‘Boy, wouldn’t it be cool if this really was an international wrestling product.’ And not only international by how you consume it via television or internet, but I really wanted to do live shows all around the world.”

AEW has finally grown to the point now where they are constantly starting to branch out and do international shows. One of the first locations they headed to was Kenny and Chris’s home town of Winnipeg. Kenny was pretty ecstatic to be able to preform for his hometown crowd:

“For one of our first international shows, and one of our first Canadian shows, to be in my hometown is a really cool thing and I’m sure Chris has a very similar feeling towards it.”

Fans sure had similar feelings towards it. When Kenny Omegas entrance music hit the crowd lost their minds and “Kenny, Kenny, Kenny,” cants rang throughout the arena. Then when Jericho enter end the whole crowd screamed his entrance song.

Jericho and Omega then shared a moment in the ring and thanked Winnipeg for being so welcoming of them.

It was truly a special moment and it was great to see these Canadian wrestlers back home again.