One of the benefits of listening to sports talk radio is that you hear about breaking news shortly after it breaks.

Although what I heard today shocked me and compares with the Roberto Luongo trade, it wasn't as uplifting -- Vancouver Canucks GM Dave Nonis was fired.

Hearing calls for Nonis' head is nothing new; the same degenerates who call in with "Fire Dave Nonis" takes think that Luongo's wife doesn't like it here and that we should trade old Louie.

Makes perfect sense, why would a woman endure a difficult pregnancy amongst her family in Florida when she can be by her lonesome in Vancouver? But I digress.

The Vancouver Canucks didn't really give reasons besides the standard, "It's not acceptable to our fans or to us as owners that our team isn't in the playoffs, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Yes, Nonis was not owner Francesco Aquilini's man and he (with hindsight being 20/20) hamstrung the team with long-term deals to Naslund and Morrison but the thinking was he was going to make a splash this offseason.

The firing also raises more questions:

I really hate it when my teams lose and although I have a side to cheer for in almost every sport, few compare to my hometown Canucks.

Forget the late season collapse, it's worse when you see other Canadian cities enjoying NHL playoff fever whilst we drown in our sorrows.

Believe it or not, I even saw a chalkboard at a local restaurant that said, "Go Flames Go!"

Correct me if I'm wrong but fans in the Bronx don't cheer for the Red Sox if the Yankees don't make the postseason do they?

When, where and why the Canucks missed the playoffs has been analyzed already and we are a few games into the playoffs so why not reminisce about better times?

I know it's been hard to watch Canucks games lately.

Roberto Luongo has seen his defensemen play like the ones I see when I play floor hockey and the team is in danger of missing the playoffs for the second time in three years.

But if you're a fan like me, hope springs eternal and until the headline, "Canucks out of playoffs" graces the cover of the sports page, I'm keeping the faith.

Even if you don't think the Ca-knuckle Heads will get an invite to the big dance, there is incentive to at least watch the final two Sportsnet Pacific (S-Pac) games against the Flames (tonight) and the Avs (Tuesday).

As Dave Roberts mentioned in an earlier post, Sportsnet's Jim Hughson will be doing his last Canuck play-by-play calls on the S-Pac.

The first time I watched members of the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Hockey Team play, it was in the Gianfranco Giammaria hockey game and I got another chance to catch them in action this weekend.

It was an adventure getting to Queen's Park Arena in New West as I was given the address to Moody Park, but I digress -- just another funny tale to tell around the campfire.

The opposition this day was the B.C. Rockies Hockey Club; did I mention the team is comprised of players who are hearing impaired?

Aiming to raise funds for the 7th Canadian Deaf Ice Hockey Championships that take place this year in Whitby, Ontario, the Rockies took on the likes of Dave Babych, Cliff Ronning, Kirk McLean and Gary Nylund, all for a good cause.

Although the Rockies did end up losing, they put up a good fight and it was a good show overall.

More pictures inside.

After a tough day at the office, I was looking forward to the Phoenix Coyotes vs. Vancouver Canucks PPV game last night; the playoffs are near and the hockey can only get better.

Was it worth it to spend about $13.00 on a hockey game? Why the hell not?

The Canucks jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first period with Henrik and Daniel Sedin actually chipping in on a goal to boot.

The Sedins were also a factor in another goal in the second period and Canucks were up 3-1; I was really content.

Then came the third and the troubles began.

When I was at the semifinal game at the Telus B.C. Boys 'AAA' Basketball Provincial Championships and the Yale Lions were down to the top-seeded Vancouver College Fighting Irish, I thought the rest of the game would be long.

Yale proved me wrong as they came back to literally win in the last second 67-65.

When I found out they were playing White Rock Christian Academy in the championship game, I thought the stagecoach was about to turn back into a pumpkin; again I was wrong.

Yale took home the provincal championship by a final score of 76-62.

Congratulations to the Yale Lions and Joel Friesen, who was named MVP.

More pics inside.