Hello from St. Petersburg!
I've made it to my home for the next two weeks, and all is well so far.
The weather is beautiful - sunny and warm, much like Vancouver has been over the last few weeks. For the most part, it's expected to stay this way. But because it's close to the Arctic Circle at a latitude of 60 degrees N (compared to 49 degrees for Vancouver), twilight settled in about 9:45 p.m. last night—a few hours after I arrived at my hotel. It was already starting to get light when I woke up at 3:45 a.m. local time this morning (grrr—time change—jet lag!)
In Canada, the 60 degree line marks the division between the provinces and the territories—separating B.C. from the Yukon and Northwest Territories. I travelled to Whitehorse once—also in May, when daylight lingers until nearly midnight—so I guess this is the second most-northerly destination I've ever visited.
I had a chance to read up a bit on the city's history and prime attractions during my flights, so it was pretty amazing to drive past some of the museums, churches and monuments on the way from the airport to my hotel. Once I get my act together, I'll try to tweet some photos and other updates at
@pool88 as things progress.
For today, I'll borrow a couple of shots from TSN's Gord Miller, who has already had a chance to get out and see some of the sights:
The Russian economic transition is in full swing. The majestic old buildings stand out, of course, and there are plenty of big blocks of workmanlike apartments from eras gone by, but they're now side-by-side with huge complexes of new condos that are also popping up—and commanding massive rents, I was told.
Another place where the culture seems to be changing rapidly is on the culinary front. It's not all borscht and perogies anymore, it seems. Being a port city with lots of access to fresh fish, I was surprised to learn that sushi is popular here, although the locals prefer to pair it with less-expensive local vodka rather than more typically-traditional sake.
I also spotted Italian and Mexican restaurants on the drive through town, and more than one Irish Pub. So it looks like the food options while I'm here will be more diverse than I was expecting.
The other great part of the journey is that I can now finally weigh in on the debate that fuelled our comments section for months: Deadpool or Star Wars?
Both movies were offered as options on KLM's extensive in-flight entertainment system, so I had the chance to watch them in the same sitting.
Though I'm not much of a superhero/comic book/action film fan, I enjoyed them both.
I got a chuckle out of keeping the streets of Vancouver and that big Georgia Viaduct scene from Deadpool on my seatback screen for a couple of hours as I jetted away, then also felt the local connection for Star Wars, knowing that the Vancouver office of Industrial Light & Magic contributed to a wide range of the key visual shots.
But—I wasn't knowledgable enough about all the mythology of either film to be able to capture all the nuances. And while I thought Ryan Reynolds' approach to the Deadpool chracter does make him stand out from so many of the other more traditional superheroes, the conceit got a little heavy-handed at times for me.
Still—both were excellent options to wile away the hours on the long transcontinental flight, and now I know what all the fuss was about!
So—back to hockey!
The tournament gets underway on Friday, with a marquee matchup between Canada and the U.S. kicking things off here in St. Petersburg.
If all goes according to plan, I hope to catch the morning skates for both teams and stick my microphone in the faces of Mr. McDavid and Mr. Matthews—the star attractions of tonight's game. My Canadian Press game story should go live shortly after the game finishes, and I'll have some other content coming for other outlets as well that I'll share with you as things get rolling.
You can catch the action live on TSN1 at 6 a.m. PT, while Sweden and Latvia kick off the action in Moscow at the same time on TSN2. The later games will feature Czech Republic vs. Russia from Moscow and Finland vs. Belarus from here in St. Petersburg, which will air at 10 a.m. PT.
I will also try to pick up Canucks content wherever I can.
I'm excited to see that Canucks.com has recruited Ben Hutton to blog about his experience.
Interesting to hear that Hutton and Tanev are roommates even when they're not halfway around the world. Here's how Hutton found out he made the cut for his first-ever experience with Team Canada:
Funny story: Jim called me and I missed the call and then he called Chris Tanev, my roommate, because he knows we’re always together and what-do-you-know, I just happened to be with him and Chris was like “the phone is for you...” I was surprised and then again when Jim said Team Canada wanted me. He said to take a minute to think about it, but I knew right away I was going.
John Chayka's Canucks Connection
If you missed it, the Arizona Coyotes went off the board on Thursday when they announced the promotion of 26-year-old John Chayka to the position of the team's general manager, replacing longtime hockey man Don Maloney.
Chayka had spent one season with the Coyotes as an assistant general manager before being promoted. Before that, it turns out, he was quietly working with the Canucks for three seasons through his company Stathletes, according to
James Mirtle at
The Globe and Mail.
It sounds like Chayka and Dave Tippett made a real connection this year in Phoenix. It'll be interesting to see how the new structure works out for them going forward as more of their young players come into their primes. From our point of view, I find it intriguing that the Canucks had a figure like Chayka working on analytics behind the scenes without any kind of public profile—and that his company was originally brought in by the Mike Gillis regime but also worked for one year with the Linden/Benning group.
Brock Boeser Goes to Prom
I'll wrap up today with a couple of notes on Brock Boeser.
The heartwarmer from yesterday—Boeser accepted an invitation to prom from Baylee Bjorge, a student with Down syndrome who was named Homecoming Queen at Grand Forks Central high school.
The really nice part of this story—Boeser had to go out of his way to track Baylee down and make this moment happen. Great stuff!
Iain MacIntyre also had a terrific piece on Boeser earlier in the week.
With word starting to circle that Drake Caggiula is expected to pick his NHL team on Friday, how excited should we get about this quote?
“He just got back here at school,” Boeser told MacIntyre while he was out golfing with Caggiula. “He hasn’t said too much about it, but I’m trying to get it out of him and convince him to come to Van. He said it was a great trip and he really got along with the staff and stuff.”
MacIntyre also notes that Boeser's decision to stay in college for another year was made even though his family could really have benefited from the instant cash infusion that would have come from turning pro. His mom is the family's sole breadwinner and is working two jobs because his father suffers from Parkinson's disease.
Boeser and Caggiula both picked up more hardware in their award-filled season on Thursday night at UND's
Night of Champions. Caggiula was named Male Athlete of the Year, while Boeser earned the prize for top Male Freshman.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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