Daniel Byers

Journalism student with a brain filled with odd things.

Home sweet home

Hero Hour, Music Vault, Uncategorized No Responses »

Dec 082011

One-point-five hours until my last exam. Fifteen-point-five hours until my 19th birthday. Fifty-six-point-five hours until I’ll be boarding Air Canada and sprouting on down to Beautiful British Columbia. Let’s just say life’s pretty friggin’ great right about meow.

http://grooveshark.com/s/Home+For+The+Holidays/3AXfwk?src=5

This song comes from J Cole’s mixtape Friday Night Lights. I’ve been listening to this tune for over a year now, but it always seems to get at me once Christmas time nears. Cole is a lyrical genius and lets hope he keeps on with his meaningful lyrics and doesn’t turn into an industry rapper after the mass amounts of success Cole World brought him.

Home for the holidays.

Hometown roots

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Dec 072011

The Sunshine Coast is a tiny group of communities in BC off of the Georgia Straight which stands in between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland (Vancouver, the city).

When people think of the Sunshine Coast they usually think of the one in Australia, but nope it’s just a bunch of communities up the coast by the names of Langdale, Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Davis Bay, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay and then finally Pender Harbour which then leads you to Powell River.

The Wilderness Crew is a hip-hop group based out of this little hippy town called Roberts Creek, which is just 10-15 minutes out of Gibsons (my turf). The group started out as three high-school buddies by the names of Evan Quinn, Brett Mjanes and Eli Dill. The three boys grew up together, and started out as a backyard hip-hop group just hanging out in eachothers basements spitting rhymes. As they got more serious another member by the name of Eric Amberg joined, and that’s where the Wilderness Crew evolved. The music is inspiring and touches home to anyone who lives on the Sunshine Coast. Because after all, we are a small community where everyone knows each other.

They’ve got one album out so far selling on ITunes and they say they’re working on another.

The album can be found here. I’ve bought the album twice just because I want to support a local group that is trying to make it big.

Always on

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Dec 012011

This song was created by a Canadian hip-hop artist to accompany Nike’s three minute promotional video with PK Subban of the Montreal Canadiens.

PK is a young defenceman who plays hard and acts even harder. He goes out there every shift and tries to make magic happen. This is why he is ALWAYS ON.

Song: Say I-Saukrates

Sauce in Town

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Nov 172011

It only took me two month’s in Toronto to meet my future wife, Alyonka Larionov. Pretty damn good if you ask me.

Alyonka did an autograph signing at Real Sports Apparel in Maple Leaf Square on November 15th promoting the perfect hockey swagger, Sauce Hockey. Sauce is a clothing brand that endorses the life of a hockey player. Chucking lunar sauce, hard work, big tilly’s, chirps and off-ice shenanigans.

The future wife.

The brand that is Sauce has finally made it into the big old city of Toronto. A small company out of Arizona that was created by two dudes with a dream in 2009 has grown like wildfire inside the hockey community by word of mouth and social media.

The twitter-famous Phoenix Coyote left winger, Paul Bissonnette has been vital in the growth of the product created by Eric Kleineck and Brett Beckfield (the dudes beforementioned). With the Biz (referring to his twitter handle BizNasty2point0) flawlessly promoting the brand with his quirky tweets and unmistakable humour, the brand has been kicked into overdrive with Biznasty followers leading the pack in honing this brand. Biz has been such a staple for the company that he has his own clothing line with Sauce called ‘Biznasty’. His line incorporates his twitter humour and his 4th line status on his NHL club and has created a line of clothing that depicts the way he lives his life.

Livin’ the dream. Designer clothing for the perfect hockey swagger. Epic sauce. Grocery stick. If anybody chucked out one of these quick one-liners to a Sauce Hockey fanatic they would know exactly what you are talking about. Sauce Hockey.

The ‘Stache

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Oct 252011

Since the coveted month of Movember is approaching us, I have decided to list my five favourite moustaches in the current day NHL. Why the NHL? That answer is simple. Hockey players love to grow facial hair. It is something that will forever be apart of the sport.
Now let’s have a look at these beauties flaunting their Mo’s.

Numero cinco: Olli Jokinen
This dude probably hones the creepiest muzzy in the league. This ginger handlebar ‘stache is an attempt to re-enact Lanny McDonald’s moustache that he wore with pride in his 1989 run to the Stanley Cup Playoff’s with the Flames. Calgary won the cup that year, and Lanny (as captain) was the first one to lift Lord Stanley’s cup over his head, and his ‘stache.
As a Canucks fan I hope that Olli wont be lifting that cup in his lifetime with the Flames, but it would be kind of a cool sight to see.

Numero quatro: Mike Brown
Another version of the handlebar moustache with a bit more flare than Joke’s. A 5th overall draft pick by none-other than the Vancouver Canucks (yeah that’s right). Mike Brown is now a speedy 4th liner for the Leafs and hits anything in sight.
His bushy version of the handlebar ‘stache has become some sort of hockey icon in the NHL today.
On my list he topped off at number four; however.

Numero tres: Cal Clutterbuck
This young-gun for the Minnesota Wild broke into the league in ’06 and has already made his moustache a staple in the NHL. His ‘stache looks like he’s a soldier going to war, with the slick hair and caterpillar like ‘stache that bushes underneath the nose.
Cal led the league in hits in only his second season, so his playing style directly reflects the way he looks.
I’d say he’s got the classiest muzzy in the ‘chel.

Numero dos: Mike Commodore
Another red-haired beauty has taken a spot in my top five.
When I was thinking about who honed my favourite moustaches in the current NHL, I knew that Commodore needed a seat. With the curly red locks and the thick red beard, his facial prowess is unstoppable. Unlike the boys mentioned before him, Mike’s full beard complimented with his thick 80′s afro is a perfect candidate for facial hair king.
Imagine if this guy shaved off his beard and just kept his moustache. Unreal, right?
Or even better yet, imagine if he completely spit-shined his head and just kept the beard. The combinations for Commie’s style are limitless.

Numero uno: George Parros
The king of moustaches in the NHL. The big kahuna. The caterpillar of all caterpillar moustaches. This guys upper lip flow is next-level.
A fighter for the Anaheim Ducks, Parros grows his moustache every year starting Movember 1st and then going 365 days (366 if it’s a leap-year) until Halloween (October 31st for all you weirdo’s out there).
He loves his caterpillar so much that his twitter account is a tribute to the bushy little bugger. @Stache16. Like most hockey players are, Parros is a twitter sensation. I guess it’s just the culture of hockey and how players love to chirp each other and entertain their fans.
George even has his own clothing line called Stache Gear. Check it out, it’s got some pretty sick stuff.
Now, take a look at his beauty.

Rick Tributes

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Oct 202011

Here is the Vancouver Canucks tribute to Rick as well as the Winnepeg Jets tribute.

Both these videos nearly brought a tear to my eye, and I’m a pretty manly dude.

Rest in peace Rick.

Oh, and Happy Birthday dad.

Remembering Rick

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Oct 192011

Tenacious, hardworking and will are just three words that sum up the type of player that former Canuck Rick Rypien was.

Rick passed away on August 15th 2011 after suffering from depression. He was said to have been suffering it because of his role as a fighter to make a living in the NHL. His long time pal Kevin Bieksa said this wasn’t true in a featured article in the Vancouver Sun. Bieksa said Rypien’s illness was too complicated to be explained by one event or circumstance, such as the car-accident death nearly a decade ago of Rypien’s girlfriend or the constant stream of injuries that slowed his NHL career (Iain MaCintyre, Rick Rypien: the one everyone leaned on).

It was obvious that Rick was a well-liked member of the Canucks. Even though he didn’t play too much because of his injury setbacks and leaves of absences, Rick did everything he could when he got the call to ignite his team and stand-up for his mates. He may have only been 5’11″ but he was huge at heart. Rick was the kind of guy that would drop the gloves with anyone. He didn’t care if he was going toe-to-toe with a beast like Hal Gill (who is a whomping eight inches taller), because he was full of heart and determination.

After a six year stint within the Canucks organization, whether it be in the ‘chel’ or with the farm team in Manitoba, Rick was set for a fresh-start with the re-birth of the Winnepeg Jets. Rick had just signed a one year, $700,000 contract but passed away just prior to training camp.

Tonight on TSN before the Canucks and Rangers game there will be a special tribute to the former Canuck, and it will without a doubt be an extremely emotional evening; not only for the organization but for the fans as well.

Rest in peace Ryp.

Hockey Season Baby

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Oct 062011

Tonights the night. The night that I have been waiting for ever since the heartbreaking loss on June 15th that saw the streets of Vancouver burst into flames.

Being a Vancouverite I got to see the riots first-hand. But I ain’t here to talk about that stuff. It’s in the past. The Canucks are looking to rebound and hopefully paint the exact same picture from last season; without the tears of defeat.

With almost an identical team from last year, it looks like the Nucks’ should be able to rekindle what they had in that historic season. They’ve got what it takes to be a championship winning squadron. Grit, talent, goaltending and two Swedish dudes who won back-to-back Art Ross trophies.

With Kesler and Raymond out for the first bit of the season with injuries, rookie Cody Hodgson and veteran Marco Sturm will fill their voids on the second line alongside Mikael Samuelsson. Cody worked hard all summer long training with the likes of Steven Stamkos at Gary Roberts’ house this Summer in Newmarket. ‘Coho’ is looking a lot quicker this season and he looks like he will finally be able to be that force that we have patiently been waiting for.

The season is 82 games long so there is no point in doing any of those predictions you see people posting. It’s hockey. A full contact sport. Anything can happen, be it injuries or just not performing. Any team can look good on paper, but it’s the teams that can gel that make it big.

Canucks and Penguins tonight baby.

Game 5′s

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Oct 062011

The 2011 MLB playoffs are in full-flight and the first round has seen ahandful of exciting games.

Three out of the four series’ are going into the decisive game five.

The Yanks and the Tigers are matching up tonight in New York after each team split on the road. Ivan Nova is taking the mound for the Yanks while Doug Fister has duty for the Tigers. This we will be a rematch of game one as Fister is looking to redeem himself after pitching 4 1/3 innings and giving up six runs. The rookie Nova was calm-and-collected in game one going 6 1/3 only giving up two. The winner of this series has the Rangers waiting for them as they took down Tampa in four games.

Tomorrow night boasts the Diamondbacks in Brew Crew territory while the Phillies look to stop the Cards push to the NLCS.

Milwaukee took a commanding 2-0 lead early in the series taking both games at home. They seemed to have this one in the bag, but the Dbacks have fought back with two commanding victories back home in the desert. Yovani Gallardo is taking the mound against Diamondback ace Ian Kennedy. Gallardo threw an absolute gem in game one shutting down the Diamondback offence and allowing only one run on a solo-bomb. He is gonna be looking to repeat that performance tomorrow night.

Out in Philly its gonna be Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter. Two aces. Two guys that can quiet an entire batting line-up. This one looks as if it’s going to be a pitchers duel.

Rain Delay

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Sep 292011

Two fairytale regular season successes have ended the 2011 season wildcard race. The Rays who at one point were 10 games back of the Red Sox have pushed their way into the playoffs in dramatic fashion. In the NL the Cards were 7.5 games back of the Braves in the beginning of September. Both teams completed improbable comebacks today with the help of the season ending slides by the Sox and Braves.

Things were looking beautifully early on for the Sox tonight. Nursing a 3-2 lead into the 7th inning that ended in a one hour rain delay where everything changed. The Yankees seemed to have been taking care of the Rays with a 7-0 lead up until the 8th inning when the Rays put on a surge. They scored six runs in the 8th inning with a three run bomb by Evan Longoria with two outs. Going into the 9th all they needed to do was score one run to put this thing into extra innings. They did just that. Dan Johnson got his first at bat of the game, and his home-run couldn’t have came at a better time. Bottom of the 9th, two out, every baseball player dreams of this moment. And boy did Dan come up clutch unleashing a solo bomb over the right-field wall.

The game then went into a stand still up until the bottom of the 12th inning.

The Sox and Orioles had resumed play after their drawn out rain delay and the Sox seemed to have things under control. Going into the bottom of the 9th inning up by a run and their stud closer coming in to get the save. Jonathan Papelbon struck out the first two batters with ease. But then back-to-back two out stand up doubles brought in the tying run followed by a walk-off single by Robert Andino. The win didn’t mean much for the Orioles standings-wise but it sure must of felt good to be able to put the Sox out of the playoffs.

Literally minutes after the Orioles knocked the Sox out of the playoffs none other than Evan Longoria comes up with another clutch hit. This time, it was a two out solo home-run in walk-off fashion. This guy has got to be the most clutch human-being ever to step on the face of the planet. Two late-game home-runs with two out. One three-run bomb and the other a walk-off solo shot. Unreal.

Over in the National League it was the same story, only not even close to as exciting. Mind you the Braves did take the Phillies to 13 innings. That definitely could be classified as exciting. The Cards tranced the Astros in a 8-0 laugher. Chris Carpenter threw a complete-game two-hitter. So I guess you could say he chucked an absolute beauty.

The Braves on the other-hand decided to blow a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th just like the Sox. The difference however would be the fact that the Braves took the Phillies into the bottom of the 13th inning before losing this one. Hunter Pence hit a bloop single to put the Phillies ahead at 4-3. With the Braves unable to score a run in the bottom half of the inning, David Herndon earned his first save of the season. Not only did the Phillies knock out the Braves but they propelled themselves into a franchise record 102nd win of the season.

With the wildcard drama complete the postseason matchup’s are as follows: NYY hosting DET, TEX hosting TB, STL hosting PHI and ARI hosting MIL.

This should be an insane postseason and I’ll be keeping you dudes up to date round-by-round.

For highlights and stuff check out http://mlb.mlb.com/index.jsp
Danny

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