What an Olympics it has been. The last two or so weeks have been enthralling, with each of the events having its own drama and excitement. Personally, the snowboard cross and the skiing cross were a lot of fun to watch, as were the moguls and some of the shorter distance speed skating. However, no event could compare to the Hockey.

The women’s hockey team did their job from day one as they were expected to and simply blew away the competition. It is great that Canada succeeded in this event and took the gold, however, I for one, am hoping that in four years time, the competition will be slightly harder to make for more exciting games. Nonetheless, very well done to the women’s team.

In the men’s competition, boy were we treated to some energetic and quality ice hockey. The surprise package of this tournament has to be the Slovakian team. They played with so much determination and pride that I feel bad they did not take home a medal. A fourth place finish is no mean feat considering the Russians and Swedes (whom Slovakia defeated) did not place in the top four at all.

The Canadian team started off a little tentatively, and who can blame them? The pressure they were under to do well in their own country must have been enormous and it would be a very proud player who would not admit to feeling incredibly nervous. However, when it counted, they got the job done. They destroyed their old enemy Russia for the first time in 50 years at Olympic level which was a huge feat in itself. They also did the business against the Slovakians in a difficult semi-final.

However, none of this compares to coming back from an early round defeat to the Americans to then face them again in the final and beat them to take the gold medal. They came out strong and played to their strengths. Even Crosby, who had had a relatively quiet tournament came up big for Canada in the end, netting the overtime winner to send the Canadian fans, and Canada itself, into raptures.

Important news, the three valleys ski bookings for our winter trip have been sorted. I need part of the cost by Saturday.

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Much like Canada, Russia could be found guilty of underachieving recently at the Winter Olympics. They have not won a gold medal in some time now and it is hard to see why. The Russians always bring a strong team forward to compete and on paper, they look formidable.

For this year’s upcoming Winter Olympics, the Russians, once again, are bringing a strong team to the games. If we were to compare all the teams just by looking at the roster, then it should be said that team Canada do look the strongest, but the Russians are not far behind them, along with Sweden and the USA.

Starting with the goalies you have Ilya Bryzgalov, who has been a fortress between the pipes for the surprise package Coyotes this NHL season. He has played no small part in their success and should do a great job if called upon by the Russians. Nabokov, for the San Jose Sharks has also impressed, as has Varlamov for the Capitals. The Russians seem to have the goaltending more than covered.

When it comes to the Russian defense, it becomes a little harder to work out how well they will perform. Sure, there are some top players from the NHL in there, such as Vochenkov, Gonchar and Grebeshkov. However, there are a lot players from Russian teams in there as well. This is perhaps the Russians weakness, their defense may lack a little something that could give an advantage to other teams.

However, if the Russians can be accused of weakness in the defense, they more than make up for it in their forward lines. The names Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk should send a shiver down anyone’s spine. Ovechkin is arguably the best player year in year out in the NHL and has proved it on more than one occasion this season. Malkin is playing at the top of his game for Pittsburgh, and Kovalchuk is having a season to savour for the Thrashers also. With Semin and Datsyuk also a part of the Russian side, look to this team to score plenty, and I mean plenty of goals.

The Russians come into the Winter Olympics well prepared and with a very strong line up. With their strengths in their goaltending and forward line, they should be successful, however a weakness in defense may make that gold medal a little hard to reach.

Before I log off I have some vaguely interesting news, as you all know I have been working on the conversion rate for the tattoo removal page. Which yes is ironic considering how many tattoos I actually have. But the good news is that the conversaion rate has actually jumped after all that version testing! How exciting is that?

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As the Winter Olympics draws near, we all get caught up in the excitement that surrounds the Hockey. Each country starts to weigh up their chances of taking the gold, some with a more realistic chance than others. The front runners for this Winter Olympics have to be Canada, Russia, Sweden, the USA and then Finland and the Czech Republic, probably in that order as well when one looks at the rosters.

Canada will no doubt be eager to do better than their performances in Turin back in 2006 when they finished outside of the medals. By just glancing through their roster it is easy to see that their team is full of superstars and has real strength in depth. The forwards look like they will create and score many goals with Heatley, Thornton and Marleau (all from the San Jose Sharks) in such top form in the NHL. Crosby will be a massive part of whichever forward line he is on, as will Toews who has been on fire for the Chicago Blackhawks this season.

In defense sits Seabrook, Boyle and Keith amongst others, who have all been outstanding so far this season and have been major factors in the success of the San Jose Sharks and the Chicago Blackhawks respectively.

Roberto Luongo has been awesome goaltending for the Canucks as has Martin Brodeur for the New Jersey Devils. With the strong defense and formidable goaltending that Canada possess, it will be difficult for any team to score more than a couple of goals a game against them.

As I mentioned earlier, there is strength in depth to this team. Even if the front runners aren’t performing there is still talent coming off the bench on the third and fourth lines. There are plenty of goals in this Canada team and if they manage to cancel out their opponents firepower, as they are more than capable of, they should perform very well.

On a completely seperate but equally Canadian note. A friend of mine the other day asked me to check out val thorens ski and tell them how it compared to Canada. And I mean, I know that I am in Britian now and not everyone knows the majesty and wonder that are the rockies, but really, I can’t actually take this question seriously. It’s completely absurd!

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What many people who adore Alfred Hitchock’s films don’t seem to realize is that Hitchcock was no more a fantastic script-writer than anyone else in the business…

…yes, his films were incredible—ground-breaking, willing to take creative risks that others shied away from—but his scripts were often no more than a basic blue-print; a tone setting device rather than a definitive outline to be followed rigidly. Hitchcock himself was not ashamed to admit these things, citing that film-making was something which had to be envisioned powerfully in ones mid before being transferred to first script, then celluloid.

I wonder if film-making of Hitchcock’s caliber could be achieved today with such an ethos and a million script discussion meetings? Something tells me that’s highly unlikely; the very story-line of recent Daniel Day Lewis film debacle ‘Nine’, directed by Rob Marshall, championed the ‘no script, just passion’ ideal, but, unlike Hitchcock’s films—which all flourished from a solid idea of what would eventually happen and where things would begin—it fell flat on its face with a big thump, despite an enormous budget and a slew of some of the hottest female actresses ever to grace the silver screen.

It’s a good question: could Alfred Hitchcock cope with todays behemoth budgets and fixation with casting, sex appeal and obsession for aesthetics over good old-fashioned creative vision? Somehow I doubt things would be the same.

Take The Birds, for example—one of Hitchcock’s most renowned pieces besides Psycho. By all accounts it’s a great film, but what if it hadn’t been made and the idea had surfaced instead in 2010 under the guidance of someone else? Would the evil birds have looked any better brought to life with CGI technology and crazy amount of cash? Or was it that slightly dodgy fluttering shadow quality that gave the birds the menace, as well as their violent action?

Sadly, it seems the days of vision over script are gone for good—but never-mind, we’ll always have Hitchcock for that.

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For any fan of Twin Peaks, ‘Fire Walk with Me’ is a must-see. In fact, after the painful cancellation of the television series, it is a much-needed extra chunk of David Lynch’s fertile imagination.

Because it is a prequel, there are lots of things to find out; and if you want to try and get to the bottom of Laura Palmer’s death, then this is a very good place to start. The whole thing gives fans an extra bit of insight into the events leading up to her murder.

The first treat of the movie is the cameo by David Lynch as Gordon Cole. But try not to laugh too much at the absurdity of his character in case you miss out on any of his strange dialogue with Agent Chester Desmond. And this previously unseen Agent is the second treat. Chris Isaak is perfect in the role and puts in a very fine performance indeed.

‘Fire Walk with Me’ is a very, very strange film. Although, we would never have wanted it any other way, would we? There are some really peculiar moments, like when a very scary-looking David Bowie suddenly appears in a corridor. And then there is the scene in a bar where the dialogue is purposely drowned-out by music.

All in all this film is vintage Lynch; it is an outing into the strange, disturbing and intriguing world of ‘Twin Peaks’. If you liked the series, then you are going to love this. Many of the show’s characters are here, along with a couple of interesting new additions in the forms of Harry Dean Stanton and Kiefer Sutherland.

But do not expect too many answers… It may just be that you will simply end up with far more questions. Although that is what makes it all so very interesting in the first place…

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What a way to win a game on Stars territory for the first time in three years. It has been on everyones mind lately, with the Oilers hanging around the bottom of the Western conference if they were going to make a playoff run they would need to hurry up and do it quickly. Being plagued with injuries and illness (including the dreaded H1N1) and star forward Hemsky out on a season ending injury, it was looking for awhile that the only hope for the Oilers was a top pick in the spring.

But then tonight happened, and the team seemed to take coach Pat Quinn’s advice to just carry on to heart. The reward? Edmonton’s first back to back win since October when the plight of of injuries started. Won with a slightly fluky goal in the 5th round shootout by favorite Horcoff, this still in my opinion wasn’t the most exciting part of the game.

What was the most exhilarating aspect for me was the fantastic show of goaltending on both sides of centre ice. After fan favorite Dwayne Roloson was traded to the Islanders for (considerably less attractive) Khabibulin, I didn’t really know how to react. But with Khabibulin banged up and out of the game it was left to Deslauriers to step up. And step up he did! Turco and Deslauriers were making the forwards throughout the game work hard for every shot. Not to mention that Turco’s glove hand was pretty much a magnet for the entire night. But the first star of the night inevitably went to Deslauriers! All in all, good show, and showing that the Oilers may be starting to turn their luck around, or at least keep their heads above the water!

More good news, the Habs celebrated a win during their centennial game helped out by Mike Cammalleri’s hat trick! Another notable centennial celebration was Lach and Bouchard having their numbers brought up to the rafters to join the Habs elite with retired numbers.

That’s all for now really, when I started this blog it really wasn’t intended to be all about hockey. But I just figure thats more interesting then stories about me cleaning my bathroom or getting drunk off champagne at the company Christmas party last night. Well maybe not more interesting then that last bit…more varied and exciting updates coming soon!

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Keith Ballard

Keith Ballard, what can I say? To be honest a player that was drafted in the 1^st round and 11^th overall, I expected better. But apparently his previous success didn’t curb his anger enough to prevent him from two handing Tomas Vokoun over the head with his stick in the middle of a tamper tantrum. And it is not the first time either, I recall in recent memory when he was caught on camera having a rather heated argument with a Canucks fan. (To be completely fair, I understand the need to point out the stupidity of Canucks fans, but don’t forget Ballard, you play for the Panthers…)

The point is the NHL will not take action against this because it was his own teammate. How ridiculous is that? If it was a player on the other team then Ballard would have been called out and banned for the season! And now because he is wearing the same jersey, the NHL and the Panthers look the other way. To quote Colin Campbell of the NHL, “It will be on every sports highlight show for the next week, if that’s not enough of a punishment . . . ”

The point is Colin, that’s not enough of a punishment. And it never was. Lacerating the ear and hospitalizing ANY player on that ice is not what the game is about. If the NHL can’t show that to all of the players on the ice, then they need to seriously reconsider what hockey is about.

In short, Ballard control your damn temper and Campbell get your damn act together.

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More bad news for Oilers fans. It seems this season is a series of tears and injuries, and that play-off spot is moving from far away to impossible. Hemsky is out for the year, and it is looking more like Horcoff will be joining him. With a shoot differential of -5.5, a standing in the conference at last in points percentage, and tied for last in wins the outlook is anything but sunny. If they carry on this way and finish in the bottom 3 of the NHL it will be the first time in Oilers NHL history. At the beginning of the season all the fans knew that this one was going to be tough, but come on boys! They seem to be earmarked as a lottery club, but now at least we can hope for a top prospect to join the team in the spring…

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Why has California stolen all my favorite players? Seriously, it doesn’t even snow there yet Smyth and Koivu decide to move, and may I add get injured (karma for leaving far superior teams…) The real question is how are these players that were deeply rooted in a particular team coping with the change?

Well the Ducks are trying really hard to get themselves out of a rather ugly start of season but despite the glimmers of hope that Koivu’s lineup (Teemu, Selanne) are showing recently, they are just not translating into actual goals. Koivu is still proving his grit against the West with his physical game, but the line seems to hit a block when faced with a top of the league goaltender. Other then their notable effort in shutting out Chicago, they are letting a lot of their games slip away in late letdowns. Where the Ducks are lacking can be summed up in one simple word; offense. At least Koivu is back on the ice after his groin injury, and who knows they may pull through, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Ducks surprised.

Now on to Ryan Smyth, my lost Oiler. I think that the best way I could describe his contribution to this team is the disaster that ensued in his absence. With a power play at 0 for 13 over the last four games, they could really use him back. Smyth is not only a brilliant player but has proven himself to be exceptional at pushing entire teams. With the young players that are on the Kings, the fit has optimal. However, since Smyth’s injury on the 16^th, Kopitar is shying from the net and hasn’t scored in nine games. Other teammates follow suit, and no one knows where Smyth stands with his mysterious upper or lower body (depending on what news article your reading) injury. Smyth’s hard working puck possession worked for the Oilers, and is proving to be a powerful asset for the Kings, one that they may not be able to survive without.

It’s Ducks vs. Kings tonight, and it is a critical game for both, I for one will be staying up to the early hours of the morning to watch it.

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I realize that I am being depressing, so on a lighter note… Happy 100 Montreal Canadians! (on December 4)

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