A Marriage of Crime Scenes, Pucks and Rocks

                                   photo link

by Lisa Ovens

It appears the USA Network has become a bizarre blend of Police Procedural dramas, Men's Olympic Hockey and Olympic Curling. After being in the United States for almost a year and a half, I've learned that the USA Network is the place to go when you want to watch Law and Order's, NCIS's or CSI's ALL DAY LONG. For now, the binge viewing style network has become a refuge for errant hockey games and curling competitions.

Of course it took me six days of the 2014 Winter Olympics to discover there was this hidden gem of hockey nestled amongst the hard boiled detectives and lab geeks. However, I do have an excuse for my rusty sports viewing skills: I've spent the last year and a half away from sports working on a time consuming project! Heck, my blogging skills are also rusty! I can count the number of blog posts on one hand for the entire year of 2013!

So, in order to assist myself, I am going to list the Men's Hockey Schedule for the USA Network right here in this post...(all times in ET)

Fri. Feb.14 12pm   Canada vs. Austria
Sat. Feb.15 12pm   Sweden vs. Latvia
Sun. Feb.16  3am   Austria vs. Norway
                7:30am   Russia vs. Slovakia
                   12pm   Finland vs. Canada
We. Feb.19 12pm   Men's Quarter Final Game

Gotta love those nooners!!!

Olympic Hockey Appreciation in Florida

by Lisa Ovens

Look what arrived in my inbox this morning... a Sochi/ Team USA Watching Party hosted by the Florida Panthers Announcement! Nice work, Panthers! Two early morning "Hockey Brunches" will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday this weekend during Team USA's tilts against Team Russia (Feb.15th) and Team Slovenia (Feb.16).

The Sochi watching parties are taking place at the Break-Away  Bar and Grill in the recently re-branded Florida Panthers IceDen, the Cat's official practice facility in Coral Springs, Fl. . Yes...it is no longer called the Saveology Iceplex. The Florida Panthers IceDen is a far better name and hopefully will add a nice boost to the Panthers hockey profile in South, Florida.

In other Panther news...Panther fans have two "Cats" to keep an eye on during the Men's Olympic Hockey tournament at the Sochi 2014Winter Olympics: left winger,Tomas Kopecky is lacing up the skates for Team Slovakia for the second time, and making his Olympic debut, center, Aleksander Barkov will be playing for Team Finland. Barkov is Finnish/Russian, so obviously he had a choice in countries to try out for. Click here to learn how he came to choose Finland


Enjoy the pancakes, hockey fans!!

SOCHI 2014!

by Lisa Ovens

Four years ago today, The 2010 Winter Olympic Games opened in my hometown, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Oh, the memories! I created this very blog for those games, and the many posts below will always be a trip down memory lane for me. Now, it's back to spectating from the sofa again.  It's safe to say I will never be a Winter Olympic athlete, but I sure now what it is like to be a "host" of the games.

And, this is a first: I am not in Canada during the Winter Olympics! It's been almost a year and six months since I left Vancouver. I wasn't planning to be away this long...last June I was granted an O1B Visa, so, I am still in the United States for a few more months.

 The only Olympic swag I happened to have on me for my trip down south is what you see above: my Rick Nash Team Canada Hockey Sweater Key Chain. It's been jingling and jangling from my handbag for the last month. GO  CANADA!!

Apart from the lack of Olympic swag, watching the 2014 Winter Games is the other issue I'm dealing with. I am at the mercy of NBC's scheduling; two channels to choose from (NBC, NBCSPN) with bits of coverage on MSNBC and CNBC! After checking out Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium and the bounty of channels pumping out the events, I am a little envious of the Olympic loving folks back home. I'm not complaining, I am adjusting!

Okay, time to change channels! Go CANADA GO!!!

Cute 2012 Team Canada T-Shirt!

By Lisa Ovens

Well,  my Canucks have been knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so I now have a little more time on my hands. I was curious about the latest Team Canada Apparel from The Hudson's Bay and decided to have a look. The above t-shirt is definitely my favorite. It's the colorful crest that did it for me. I wasn't able to capture a larger example of it, so please click here to check it out....

"Canadian pride gets a retro-inspired makeover in this crest tee from HBC's Olympic Collection. The tee features vintage lettering combined with a colorful crest displaying iconic Canadian imagery".

It's all about the iconic Canadian imagery! Plus I find the crew neck to be refreshing change from the plunging necklines we often see in NHL clothing for women. The shirt cost $20 and comes in black, white, red or green.

One Year Later: Inside my 2010 Winter Olympics Box of Stuff

by Lisa Ovens

Well, there it is...my 2010 Winter Olympics Box of  Stuff.  If you are wondering why...please read the column below as an introduction. As you can see, Lisa's Big O stuff  didn't all fit inside. Locating more Olympic stuff in the far reaches of hockeyandhighheels.com's headquarters just didn't fit into the plan, so I strategically placed two: the Holland Heineken House Hat, and one of the many Petro Canada Olympic glasses that I own.

There it is, dumped out onto my 2010 Winter Olympics fleece blanket that conveniently folds up into a small pillow. That 's one item of Olympic stuff that's been frequently used. Some things that aren't used at all...

These pins...


and...



These other...


Trinkets...

I have a small army of CBC buttons that are in the plastic bag in the bottom corner of the above photo. Those were relatively easy to come by: every time I walked by the CBC's studio I was given one. Don't worry, at the third pin I was protesting, but those cheery "street team people" would have none of it!

Here you can see more of the paper items, like my Olympic visitor guide, some ticket stubs, various torch relay and hockey game cheering accessories, an Olympic scratch and win (I won $30), an un-chewed pack of Exel gum, and a wrist band and a server's note pad from Holland Heineken House. And speaking of Heineken...look at the hat...

A fabulous hat when you are in a Holland Heineken House and there's an Olympics going on in the background. And, being the hat person I am, I must admit, I have not worn the hat since Feb.19, 2010, the night my friends and I tore it up at Holland Heineken House. In my travels since the Olympics have ended, I have yet to see anyone else wearing this hat. And you know a few of those babies sold - there were only $15.00!

I do like knowing I have the newspaper with Canada's first Gold win on home soil featured on the cover (bottom right corner)...

That was a thrill for us Canucks, eh? So was claiming as our own, the hottest winter accessory in recent years...the red Olympic mittens.

I was just at the Hudson's Bay downtown store on Thursday, and they have the new look mittens available...

...and they also have the original mittens, but only for those with small hands.

Oh those mittens! I know I wasn't the only one running around for those. They sold out every day! But I finally hit it on the right day during the last week of the Olympics; had to pick up a pair for my good friend, and fellow hockey writer, Jan Snyder, down there in Houston, Texas. She got them for Christmas. She told me she took them to the NHL's 2011 Winter Classic featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals.  Apparently they kept her brother-in-law's hands warm, because he was one of those guys that arrived unprepared for what turned out to be a chilly evening.

As for my pair...never worn. But hey, there's always Sochi 2014!

So, everyone, as we'll be bombarded with Vancouver 2010 memories from the local media this coming week, don't forget to drag out you 2010 Winter Olympic Box of Stuff and show the souvenirs, the trinkets and the occasional piece of crap some love.

Oh yeah...Happy Hockey Day in Canada!

Piece of crap item not shown above: a flimsy, black ball cap advertising Parmesan cheese. Oh yes. You know you waited in line at the Italian House for that puppy, admit it! ;o)

One Year Later: Looking inside the 2010 Winter Olympics Box of Stuff

photo: Quatchi in Goal by Lisa Ovens

                                                   

by Lisa Ovens

I'm sure most everyone in Vancouver has a box on a shelf, full of stuff they accumulated during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games last February. I know I do. The box is in the photo above, acting as a backdrop to one item of stuff: my "Quatchi in Goal" Olympic toy from MacDonald's. Yes, something that I just couldn't live without! But, that was the fever that plenty of locals caught, as we made our way around the city either buying stuff, or opening up our hands to receive the stuff that was being given away. I remember visiting with my cousin, Jen during the Olympics, and she had this tiny coin purse in the shape of Sumi, the Paralympic Games mascot.

Jen: Look what I got...isn't it cute?

less than a week later she would say...

Jen: I don't know why I bought this. What am I going to do with this?

Today it's one week before the one year anniversary and I've opened up my Olympic box of stuff. I'm taking a trip down memory lane. Re-visiting my life, the times and the stuff from those fun filled two weeks in February 2010.

more photos to come...

With Glowing Hearts: a Movie Premiere

by Lisa Ovens

The one year anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympics is just a few weeks away. What are your plans to celebrate? Where will you go? What will you do?

I have an idea...

A wonderful new documentary film will be screened on Saturday, February 12th, 2011 and I recommend everyone that can fit this into their weekend should do just that.

A very good friend of mine, diector, Andrew Lavigne, along with Animal Mother Films will be screening the final cut of With Glowing Hearts: Vancouver 2010, A Social Media Story at the Simon Fraser University Woodward's Theatre. 

Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics will go down as many things, and one of those is it truly was the "Social Media Olympics". But this isn't just about how the sponsors and the mainstream media utilized social media tools to get their message out. It's about members of a downtown community, and how they used social media to reach out to the world.

From the filmmakers...

With Glowing Hearts is a film about a revolution, one of social change and a precedent-setting shift in media representation. Vancouver sets the stage for our story about a marginalized community embracing leading-edge communication technologies, to empower, inspire, and break down the digital divide.


So put down your stuffed Quatchi, and that silly "Hockey's Canada's Game" placard for one evening, Saturday, Feb.12th, 2011 in particular, and experience something truly new to the Olympic Movement!
Tickets are Free...yes...FREE. But you need to make a reservation before they run out...

Reserve your Tickets now by clicking here


For more details, please visit With Glowing Hearts website

Bored? Relive Vancouver 2010....

by Lisa Ovens


In case you didn't know, there is a pretty complete Vancouver 2010 youtube channel covering oodles and oodles of Winter Olympic magic.

Vancouver 2010 youtube Channel

And, oh, it's all in HD!  Pop some popcorn and catch the moments you might have missed :o)

Happy Movember everyone!

New Hockey Book From Lisa Ovens

For the Love of Empty Net Goals By Lisa Ovens will be released November 2010. Please follow the link below to learn more and reserve your copy of this hilarious and informative follow up to Lisa's first book, Hockey & High Heels. Also, check out the Pre-Sale Special...Both books for only $35 plus shipping and handling.

For the Love of Empty Net Goals: excerpts and purchase information

Thanks for stopping by...don't forget to tell your friends and help spread the Love!

Blog Break Excuse: New Hockey Book on the Horizon!!

                                        Hockey author, Lisa Ovens

Yes, its true. After many delays, the much anticipated follow up to my first book, Hockey and High Heels - a Different Kind of Hockey Book is on a collision course with a date circled on my calendar (the date is in October, just in time for the 2010/11 NHL season).


And because of that, I have been and will continue to devote my time to the production of what I feel will be another ground breaking hockey book.

There will be minimal posting here this summer, but I will keep you all informed on book two developments as they occur.

Please have a happy, safe summer - now go outside and PLAY!!!!

xxoo,

Lisa O.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

Hope you all are enjoying Easter Long Weekend :o)

Skate at the Richmond Olympic Oval This Weekend!

by Lisa Ovens

Hey everyone, I am back at it! Here's some news from Richmond for skating and Olympic enthusiasts...

The Richmond Olympic Oval is hosting public skates this Easter Weekend, April 3, 4, and 5th, 2010.


Time: 1 - 5 p.m.
Location: 6111 River Road (limited parking onsite for $2)
Cost: entry $2, skates $3, helmets $2

Please bring your own skates and helmets to avoid line-ups (very limited quantity of rental skates/helmets.)

As you can see from the crowds waiting to take to the ice at a past public skating event, this weekend will attract plenty people anxious to skate on the same ice as the speedskating stars of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Happy Skating!

Ouch!

By Lisa Ovens

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing great. I am typing with one hand due to a hand sprain. Ouch!!! It hurts :o(

I will return soon with more content. In the mean time, if you like, why not start at the beginning of the blog? Click here

Or, please visit Lisa's Hockey Lounge...I will have some exciting new hockey posts up there this afternoon. But the latest post about rink board advertising by regular hockeyandhighheels.com contributor Jan Snyder is a good read, too!

Now time to ice the hand...

Cheers :o)

-Lisa O.

Three Little Things I will Miss about the Olympics

by Lisa Ovens

People all over the lower mainland are already missing the 2010 Winter Olympics. That feeling actually set in on March 1st. Then the Paralympic Games started up and we had a chance to get into the routine again: don our Olympic fun wear, travel to see events and cheer. But it's all over now.

Thinking back to July 2nd 2003, when Vancouver/ Whistler learned the 2010 games would take place here, well, it seems like so long ago. And having the games in mind for a seven year period, whatever are we going to think about now? London 2012...and Sochi 2014 I guess.

Right now I am thinking of the little things I am going to miss about having the Olympic movement take up shop in my backyard, and here are a few....

Television Crews Making the News

This was an hourly occurance on some days...compact TV crews finding a place, any place to capture the story. Often you had to be careful not to accidentally walk right in and steal a scene :o)

GrandDaddy Visa

What I mean is Morgan Freeman's voice overs during the Olympic Visa commercials. It was like he was a grandfatherly figure speaking to the whole country when he congratulated us on winning our first gold on home soil. And when we won another gold he was right there to give us kudos again. Then he would tell a little story from Torino 2006; the one about the Norwegian cross country ski coach that gave a canadian skiier a pole mid race when her's broke and she won a silver so we sent Norway 500 tons of maple syrup. Morgan caps the annecdote with "I hope you like pancakes, Norway."
 I almost expected I'd hear him comment when I was making a cup of cocoa in the evening after a long day of Olympic revelry... "Go ahead and add a few more mini marshmallows to that cup, Lisa, you've been a good girl today. Mmm, cocoa...."

Decoration

I loved the look of the Games. It was beautiful to me, so beautiful I don't even want to call it "a brand". From the pretty event tickets to the fence banner above...this just looks how the beautiful south coast of British Columbia ought to look for a monumental event like the Olympics.

all photos by Lisa Ovens

2010 and High Heels Tuesday Photo: Olympic Flags

by Lisa Ovens

I went to see some Paralympic Wheelchair Curling tonight and was dazzled by the evening sun highlighting these Winter Olympic flags.

Only a few more days left of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic happenings. Sigh...

The Goal Called...Around the World

Something cool to listen to: Sidney Crosby's overtime goal calls from around the world...Enjoy! Especially the one from France TV - it's pretty priceless :o)

Paralympics and the Art of Adapting

by Lisa Ovens

On Friday I was very lucky to be invited to attend the 2010 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony (many thanks, Eterre!).

It was an energetic spectacle that moved the audience to sing, dance, cheer and occasionally cry. We remembered and we were reminded: sometimes when we hold onto the past we deny our ability to adapt to change.

The athletes that paraded into BC Place on Friday night have taken their ability to adapt to its highest level, and it doesn't end at sport either.

This is definitely something to celebrate.

I am sure I wasn't the only one out of the thousands watching to consider our own lives and how we can be better. Because there always seems to be something  "holding us back" and often times we just allow that to happen.

So in the spirit of the Paralympic athletes, past and present, I will exercise my "adapt muscle".

My Favorite Ceremony Moments...

I loved the whole production, but a few highlights include:

Justine, the dancer: looking up at the big screen at the same moment my second cousin, Justine was on camera dancing with the other performers!

The DJs during the Parade of Athletes: not sure how it sounded on TV, but I loved their tunes and the way they directed the crowd... "SIDE to SIDE!!!"

Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli breakdance: Now he can add the 2010 Paralympic Opening Ceremony to his already lengthy list of accomplishments.


The Terry Fox speech clip...I really like the clip shown of Fox speaking about his motivation for The Marathon of Hope. He spoke frankly and his commentary on celebrity and the drive to be famous are timeless words.

Rick Hansen: the world can never have enough of this Man in Motion!

The Audience Participation Kit: My green poncho, light up pom pom and a stunning example of print design success (the program) will be treasured!

Gone Bottom Shelf: Hockey Canada Frozen Pizza!

by Lisa Ovens

This is like a Tuesday photo, but only it's Wednesday. I wandered the city today and witnessed some post Olympic dismantling: Alberta House is still in the throws of decontruction, with a classic Vancouver saloon underneath just waiting to be freed (that would be the Atlantic Trap and Gill), the Bell Ice Cube, now melted, is but a pile of black metals rods, and although the Olympic Superstore still crazy busy, you can see noticeable empty spaces growing larger on the racks and shelves.

But what is happening to this pizza? The Hockey Canada Frozen Pizza has been relegated to a bottom shelf. Is this not blasphemy? There is a contest on right now until June 30th, 2010...win one of 50 official Team Canada Hockey jerseys visit Delissio Hockey Now to enter!

Four years ago I purchased Hockey Canada puck shaped brownies (they were disgusting) I managed to hang onto them until 2008 (they were lost in a move). I kick myself for not capturing them permanently in a photo. They would have looked great with the pizza.

        -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Olympic Volunteer Quote of the Day overheard on a bus...

"Where are you 'smurfin' at'?" Translation...Where is your volunteer assignment?

- volunteers wear blue jackets...a Smurf like blue

Don Cherry to Salute Paralymics Games Wednesday

 

updated: Mar.10, 11:38am
by Lisa Ovens

Today, at about the same time the Paralympic Flame arrives in Vancouver, a big gathering will also be taking place to celebrate the Paralympic Movement.

The Official Olympic and Paralympic cold and flu remedy sponsor, Cold FX will be hosting a luncheon at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. Among the speakers; one of the top ten greatest Canadians (as voted by Canadians), Donald S. Cherry of Hockey Night in Canada.

Love him or hate him, the 400 guests will be in for a treat when Grapes takes the podium. Though the big question is...what will he be wearing??

Will Don present professionally? Or boldly?

For readers not aware of the famous Don Cherry Suit, please visit this post on my other blog (Lisa's Hockey Lounge) and watch the video. Or visit the Don Cherry Suit Fest Page for variety! And just a heads up...the two part Don Cherry biopic Keep Your Head Up, Kid airs Sunday March 28th and Monday March 29th, 2010 on CBC.

Also speaking: BC Premier Gordon Campbell, the world's top Paralympic sledge hockey goalie Paul Rosen and Dr. Robert Steadward who is the founding president of the International Paralympic Committee.

Over four hundred guests will include Paralympic medallists, 50 young hockey players and 100 coaches and physical education teachers from Vancouver area schools as well as leaders from business, education, finance, law, medicine, journalism and the military.

This event is an opportunity to raise the profile of the Paralympic Games. This shouldn't be too hard to do in Vancouver: 40% of Canada's Paralympic Team are from British Columbia!

 A few days ago I heard the Paralympic Opening Ceremony is close to selling out and the Gold Medal Sledge Hockey Game is already sold out.

Come on Vancouver, lets help make this the most successful Paralympics ever!

For Paralympic ticket information please click here.

For Cold FX website, please click here (did you know Clara Hughes, the only Olympian to win medals in both the summer and winter games swears by Cold FX??)

Don't Forget: Paralympic Games open March 12th, 2010!

by Lisa Ovens


We are officially on a break in Vancouver. Actually we are pressing the reset button and gearing up for the Paralympic Games, opening on Friday March 12th, 2010.

The Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion is on the move and will re-open for the Games. Canada's Northern House is still open, and much of Robson Square's Olympic dressing will remain,, including the Zipline, the skating rink and the BC Pavilion.

The Paralympic Torch Relay begins in Ottawa on Wednesday, and there are still tickets available for the Opening Ceremony at BC Place.

Paralympic Game Tickets webpage

1350 athletes from over 40 countries will be in Vancouver/ Whistler competing in five sports. This can mean only one thing Vancouverites: we'll get to cheer on the world all over again!!!

More Paralympic posts and post Olympic pondering to come, but for now,  I'm going to take a day off from posting!

Thanks everyone for stopping by at 2010andhighheels!!  :o)

See you in a day or two!

- Lisa O.