All articles posted in April 2010.
Henrik Sedin during pre-game skate
The mantle in Henrik Sedin’s house looks to be getting heavier this season. In addition to winning the Art Ross Trophy for most points obtained in a season, the Swedish winger has been nominated for the Hart Trophy, as the most valuable player to his team.
Both Alex Ovechkin, of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins are candidates for the Hart Trophy as well.
Source: Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have released their schedule for the second round against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The CEO of Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Eric P. Sherman, posted his view on why anime is going to die out. Eric attributes his reasoning of this due to the popularity of fan-subbing, where groups of people take recordings from Japanese television and translate them with English (or another language) subtitles. These videos are easily available through torrents or are sometimes chopped up and posted on streaming video sites like YouTube.
Eric has pointed the finger at fan-subs for the demise Geneon Entertainment USA and ADV Films which have gone under due to a lack of sales. If fans of the series continue to download and watch ill gotten episodes, more companies will follow suit and cease operations.
North American companies that perform the localization (which includes dubbing) and distribution of licensed series, companies such as Viz Media, FUNimation and Bang Zoom! Entertainment, have become very outspoken over fan-subbing. This is due to the idea that once someone downloads and watches the show on their computer, they most likely will not go out and purchase the DVD or Blu-ray. There are a few reasons behind this:
It seems that there are two sides to the story with a delicate industry caught in the middle. However, both sides — the fans and the companies, need to reach a plateau where they get their money’s worth for and from the end product, be it DVD or manga. It’s unfair though for one side to harbour all of the blame when the reasons behind it should be looked at. But in the mean time, go out and buy a DVD or Blu-ray and maybe send some (polite!) feedback to the company that holds the North American license to show how you feel about the pricing and content of your favourite series.
Source: Anime News Network
The Vancouver Canucks will be in the Windy City to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference semi-finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Blackhawks knocked out the Nashville Predators 5-3 in game six.
This is the second time the Canucks have faced the Blackhawks in the post season, which last year saw the boys in blue exit after six games. Roberto Luongo and the rest of the Canucks are looking for retribution after a 7-5 loss in game six last May.
The first game is on Friday, April 30th in Chicago. A schedule will be posted shortly.
Correction
The Canucks will play their first game on Saturday, not Friday as previously mentioned. Confirmed by News1130.
It took six games, but the Vancouver Canucks are on their way to the second round. It was a close series with lots of goals scored between Vancouver and the Los Angeles Kings. However, the Canucks managed overcome Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick when it counted with a final score in game six of 4-2.
The Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, made some big plays along with Mikael Samuelsson, who proved his worth from playoffs of the past. Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Michal Handzus caused a few headaches for the Vancouver team, but Roberto Luongo looked sharp with a number of spectacular saves to keep his team in the game.
The Canucks are now waiting for the outcome of the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators series to see who they face in the second round.
TransLink, along with the British Columbia provincial government, is conducting studies for expanding rapid transit out to the University of British Columbia. The route to the university is one of the busiest in the city and the transportation authority is looking for feedback and input on what would be the best method of providing reliable transit along the Broadway corridor.
Six transportation methods, including bus, light rail (e.g. Olympic Line), rail rapid transit (e.g. SkyTrain), or a mixture of bus and rail rapid transit, are being put on the table. Commuters and local residents are being asked to participate to help shape how they will get around the area along with what would be the most practical and economical mode of transportation.
Visit TransLink’s Be Part of the Plan page for more information and to take the survey.
Chicago commuters, rejoice! The CTA is rolling out the long awaited 5000-series rail cars on the Red Line in the coming weeks. Currently, the Red Line runs the 2600-series cars, most of which date back to the early 1980s. The 5000-series will be tested on the other lines as well to ensure they are able to handle rush hour crowds and the city’s temperamental weather.
While the new cars have the appearance of the existing 3200-series that are already in service on the Brown, Orange and Yellow Lines, there are many distinct amenities on-board. New digital destination signs replace the familiar coloured roller curtains, improved lighting inside with glow-in-the-dark flooring to assist in alighting during emergencies, security cameras for enhanced passenger safety, interior destination displays with electronic maps, and updated air conditioning and heating elements for comfort. The side doors have been revised with enhanced sensors and visual displays to alert passengers when they are about to close. For passengers using wheelchairs, new spaces have been provided to allow handicapped passengers enjoy a safer ride.
Another major change is an updated seating arrangement — instead of the traditional forward/backward facing seats, the seats will face the aisle to allow more standing passengers. As a result, additional stanchions have been added to accommodate support for commuters that are holding on.
The Bombardier-built 5000-series will eventually replace the ageing 2200 and 2400-series which have been in service since the late 1960s and mid-1970s respectively.
Check out the photos of the new 5000-series cars on CTA’s flickr photostream. View the full press release on the CTA web site.
Ninja fans looking to pick up a copy of the latest Naruto Shippuden box set won’t have to wait much longer for it. The second collection, featuring rogue ninja Deidara, also comes with a limited edition figure of the artistic bomber in a separate special edition version. Box Set 2 contains episodes 14-26 across three discs.
The next installation of the Naruto Shippuden box sets is scheduled for launch on April 20th, 2010.
The Vancouver Canucks have released their schedule for the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vancouver will be taking on the Los Angeles Kings in the quarter-finals.
Henrik Sedin during pre-game skate
It’s official – Vancouver Canucks centre Henrik Sedin has beat Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin in a close race for the coveted Art Ross Trophy. The trophy is awarded to the player with the most points achieved during the regular season in the NHL.
Henrik finished with 112 points on the season last night in a 7-3 win over the Calgary Flames, while Ovechkin came close behind with 109 points after a 4-3 shoot-out loss against the Boston Bruins.
Henrik is the first Canuck to receive the Art Ross Trophy in team history.
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