Watching the Clock to Witness the Russian
Thanks to Miss 604 (in these comments), I hear that the new scoreclock is being unveiled tonight in the Garage:
The new scoreclock was supposed to be ready for the start of the season.It contains four main screens for replays and live action and four corner screens displaying information.
Rotating rings above and below the main screens will carry advertising. Daktronics also installed the 950-foot LED “ribbon” along the edge of the upper bowl.
And tonight is the long-awaited visit of Alexander Ovechkin:
Witnesses in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, were initially confounded by the subject’s sudden appearance, but investigators were able to identify him as Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.
Naturalists were mystified how such a creature made it to the West Coast to play the Vancouver Canucks tonight at GM Place, but the migration was apparently caused by an imbecilic, short-sighted National Hockey League schedule that calls for players from the Eastern Conference to be spotted in each Western city only once every three years.
Ovechkin, arguably the most dynamic player to enter the NHL since Pavel Bure arrived nearly a generation ago, has been in the league for 13 months and 57 goals and makes his Vancouver debut tonight. Be thankful.
How many times in your life can you ever say it was a great night for hockey when the Caps came to town? Enjoy the game!
October 27th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
Apropos of nothing, that Soviet clock looks pretty damned cool.
October 28th, 2006 at 2:09 am
Yeah, I know. I’m kinda wanting it myself…
October 29th, 2006 at 9:13 am
It’s kind of lame… CBC managed to bring to light the fact in the Oilers vs Caps game last night that after last night’s game, the Capitals won’t have to leave their own time zone for the rest of the season. The Oilers (and probably every other western team) will have to change time zones another 38 times.
I think the schedule is kind of screwed actually. Hasn’t this type of schedule been in place for years and years and years? If the NHL is trying to re-invent itself to make the game more exciting, looking at the schedule and tweaking it might be a good thing too.
October 29th, 2006 at 9:53 am
The new scoreboard is freakin’ amazing. I just wish the folks in charge would be more forthcoming with replays, and less inclined to surf the croowd everytime there is a whistle.
Oh yeah, and the game on Friday was pretty good too
The refs let the capitals back in the game, whch was highly annoying, but I’m glad the Canucks got the two points.
October 29th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
I downloaded an watched a Leafs v Canadiens game from 1959 this summer…THAT was a game clock. Whatever happened to the days of going to the game, for the game?
October 30th, 2006 at 12:33 am
If you skip over to my blog @ www.debsbox.blogspot.com you’ll see the new scoreboard/clock. I have better shots of it and will be posting them later. There are also some Superskills pics there. Enjoy!! Go Canucks.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Tydes – The fact that the Caps won’t leave their time zone for the rest of the season now is totally insane. And this schedule is worse than it used to be because of the division rivalries that the NHL has built into the sched. I like the divisional rivalries to some degree, but I think they can ease up on it a bit.
Besides, with someone like AO playing, don’t you want to be showcasing guys like that all over the league? That’s what the NHL needs to keep in mind as well.
About the clock stuff – Damned expensive, but probably the kind of thing the team needs to do to respond to the fans and all the money this city spends supporting the Canucks. Obsolete technology would ultimately have created a backlash to the organization, I think.
Deb — Thanks for the link. Great photos! But keep in mind: I do get bitter and jealous towards people who get to go to games more often than I.
November 12th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
[…] When The Ovechkins came to town recently, Vancouver was treated to the skills of a mysterious Russian player from the East named Alexander Ovechkin. Now some enterprising YouTubers have recreated this ‘historic’ game. […]