Kevin Statham photo

Best place to witness a body slam

Sit in the front row at an Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling event and be prepared to leap out of your chair as a sweaty wrestler comes hurtling in your direction. It could be because villain Azeem the Dream is being flung over the top rope by masked fan favourite El Phantasmo, or maybe tag-team boys Egos and Icons are running after Brilliant Billy Suede. And whether you’re donning your own Manther mask or rooting on the bleached-blond and buffed heavyweight champion Scotty Mac, this frolicking live show is bound to entertain with its humour, athletics, and a crowd that jeers and cheers, fuelling the wrestlers’ in-ring personas. With Hardcore and SuperGirl divisions, the variety in matches has something for everyone. Rotating between Surrey, Coquitlam, and the heart of Kitsilano, ECCW draws a diverse and eager audience, with wrestlers ready and willing to show you the ropes.  Kevin Statham photo.

Best move by the Canucks

Some fans make a big deal out of the fact that the Vancouver Canucks didn’t do a lot of wheeling and dealing during the summer—but who’s to say they had to? The 2008-09 team looked pretty good. Sure, they came up short in the playoffs, but they won the Northwest Division and did it without the services of number-one goaltender Roberto Luongo for 24 regular-season games. With Mats Sundin, Taylor Pyatt, and Mattias Ohlund out of the picture, you may think that certain key elements are missing, but that won’t change the heart of the team. Luongo, Ryan Kesler, and Alex Burrows are still in the lineup, and the defensive corps is still among the better ones in the NHL. The addition of Mikael Samuelsson and Cody Hodgson should help to rejuvenate the scoring. And, of course, the club re-signed the Sedin twins, two of the most consistent point getters in the league. That’s as good an off-season move as any.

Best reason to believe Canada will win 2010 Olympic hockey gold

Home ice, baby, home ice. Some hockey nations crumble under the weight of fan and media expectations when they host a major tournament. (The Finns are a classic example: they took a 5–1 lead over Sweden in the World Championship quarter-finals in Helsinki in 2003, but managed to lose 6–5.) Canada’s national teams of both genders, however, love playing at home. Including the Worlds, World Juniors, Canada Cups, World Cups, and World Women’s Championships, in cases where the tournament format has included a final, deciding game (as opposed to a round-robin, like the ’88 Calgary Olympics), the Canadians have failed only once to make the final when hosting: the 1978 World Juniors in Montreal. Canada’s record in those finals is 12 wins and five losses. Bottom line? Start practising your “O Canada” for GM Place in February.

Best incentive to embrace the state of Minnesota

Local hockey fans have despised Minnesota ever since the Wild rallied from a 3–1 series deficit to eliminate the Canucks in the second round of the 2003 NHL playoffs. But Vancouver selected University of Minnesota scoring star Jordan Schroeder with the 22nd overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft, and the 18-year-old offensive centre just might give this city a reason to love the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Despite standing just 5-8 and weighing 175 pounds, the native of Burnsville, Minnesota, brings razzle-dazzle stickhandling and playmaking skills that should enable him to continue the Canuck tradition of talented titches such as André Boudrias and Cliff Ronning.

Best way to save your relationship, hockey player edition

The Sports Exchange
2151 Burrard Street
604-739-8990

Girlfriend giving you a hard time about the foul odour coming from your hockey bag? It’s true, you know: it totally smells like something died in there. It’s not manly or authentic; it’s a biohazard. Even if you don’t care about your girlfriend, do you really want to be breathing that? Take the damn gear down to the Sports Exchange. For $25, they’ll stick your stinking gloves, pants, and pads in their Sani Sport deodorizer. Takes half an hour, and you’ll think they’re new.

Best way to learn how to play soccer like Ronaldo

North Coquitlam United Soccer Club

Brazilian soccer players are known for their tremendous skill, flair, and flamboyant goal celebrations. What most people don’t know is that many of Brazil’s top footballers honed their skills playing futsal, a fast-paced indoor version of soccer. Futsal has often been described as Brazil’s secret weapon for developing soccer stars. Its fast pace encourages passing, ball-handling, and quick decision-making.

There are several places to play futsal in the Lower Mainland. Perhaps your best bet is the North Coquitlam United Soccer Club, which hosts a youth futsal tournament on December 12 and 13. The club also hosts futsal clinics that teach young people all the skill and flair of the Brazilian game. The goal celebrations are something you’ll have to practise on your own time.

Best police incident that didn’t involve tasers or beating up newspaper delivery men

The city was abuzz this summer with the arrival of the World Police and Fire Games, which descended for a week from July 31 to August 9 onto our pre-Olympic city. Spread out through Vancouver and its surrounding suburbs, the events were all free and varied, including bodybuilding, swimming, wrist wrestling, lawn bowling, paintball, and ultimate firefighting. With teams from places like India, Austria, Spain, Russia, China, and the USA, this truly was an event on a global scale.

Best bicycle-powered (well, partially) gym

Steve Nash Sports Club
10251 St. Edwards Drive, Richmond
604-273-5213

A second Steve Nash Sports Club opened in Richmond in early June and has more than doubled projected membership of 1,200 to 2,500 in three months. Both locations (Richmond and 610 Granville Street) adhere to Nash’s penchant for sustainable and green design and use LEED standards to limit their environmental footprint. The Richmond club has a green workout space with Green Revolution spinning bikes—the first in Canada—that generate power that is fed back into the club’s power grid. The 20 cycles can generate 250 to 300 watts per hour, adding up to a possible 10,000 watts per class. It may not get them discounts on their memberships or free juice, but members love the motivation. According to Jay Whelan, creator and CEO of Green Revolution Inc., a cycling class with about 20 bikes could generate 3,600,000 watts of renewable energy a year, enough power to light 72 homes for a month.

Best place to spot a B-list celebrity looking sweaty

Studeo 55
1114 Alberni Street
604-684-0544

We’ve never seen Vancouver mentioned as many times in Us Weekly as when Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were in town shooting Twilight or when The Bachelorette, Jillian Harris, decided to bring her beaus to her hometown. Besides the usual celebrity haunts, however—any Glowbal Group restaurant, the Opus Hotel, Gerard Lounge at the Sutton Place Hotel, and Absolute Spa at the Century Plaza Hotel—this year marked the introduction of a new location to our city’s list of celebrity hot spots. And hot it is, indeed: Studeo 55 saw several pretty young things hit up their ellipticals, treadmills, and weight machines for a personal training session or two. In addition to Twilight cast members such as Elizabeth Reaser, catch other celebs like the very-petite Olivia Wilde from TV’s House.