Kesler, Canucks won't use injuries as an excuse

By Brad Ziemer, Postmedia NewsJune 16, 2011

 

 

Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic fights for the puck against Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks during Game 7 of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup final. The Bruins won 4-0.

Photograph by: Harry How, Getty Images

VANCOUVER — Ryan Kesler struggled to find the words, but the Vancouver Canucks' gritty centre really didn't have to. His face told the whole story.

His tear-filled, red eyes, his quivering lip, said it all.

This one hurt more than words could ever say.

"Tough," Kesler said before pausing to compose himself. "I really thought we were going to win. I can't put it into words right now."

Kesler had just one assist in the seven-game Stanley Cup final that ended Wednesday night when the Boston Bruins beat the Canucks 4-0 at Rogers Arena.

He was one of the big guns on the Canucks who couldn't score. Vancouver was outscored 23-8 by the Bruins in the series.

Kesler clearly did not have all the bullets in his pistol. He pulled up lame in Game 5 of the Western Conference final against San Jose, but returned to score a late goal to force overtime and allow Kevin Bieska to score the series-clinching goal against the Sharks.

That was the last goal of the playoffs for Kesler, who collected 41 goals in the regular season.

The suspicion is that Kesler played the rest of the playoffs with some type of groin tear and was being shot up with painkillers before each game.

Kesler would not discuss his health.

"I'm not going to sit here and complain about injuries," he said. "I was out there. I gave it everything I had tonight and I'm proud of that, I'm proud of the guys that were in this dressing room. It's disappointing, but we are going to stick together through this one.

"I gave it everything I've got and I can walk out saying it didn't happen. It's tough, obviously, it's emotional, it's tough to talk about right now, but for me, for a lot of guys in this room, we can hold out heads up high.

"It's Game 7, no excuses, you've got to lay it out there. We laid it out there, we gave everything we had . . . I'm a leader on this team and I did everything I possibly could. I can hold my head up high but it hurts. It definitely hurts right now."

Kesler gave credit to Boston goalie Tim Thomas and the entire Bruins team.

"We had our shots, we definitely had our shots," he said. "Thomas played great. He stopped everything he needed to.

"They are a good team. They didn't get here by chance, we didn't get here by chance. Game 7, anything can happen. We had a chance to put them away in their building (in Game 6) and we didn't."

The Canucks obviously took Wednesday night's loss hard. Kesler, the Sedin twins and goalie Roberto Luongo all came out to face the media, but many of the players did not. Bieksa, who had a terrific post-season and is the team's most eloquent player, did not appear. Nor did, among others, Sami Salo, Manny Malhotra or Alex Burrows.

Kesler said he hopes after some reflection he and the rest of the team will be able to look back at some of the positives of the past season.

"It was a great season for us, Western Conference champs, Presidents' Trophy, one game away from a Stanley Cup," Kesler said. "It's hard to swallow, it's emotional, it's tough. Hopefully we can reflect on this for a couple of days and get over it."

Kesler is believed to be just one of a long list of Vancouver players who were playing through some sort of injury.

Defenceman Alex Edler acknowledged he was playing Game 7 with a pair of broken fingers. Winger Chris Higgins may have been playing with a broken foot suffered in the second round. There is a suspicion that Henrik Sedin was playing hurt and defenceman Christian Ehrhoff was banged up. There were probably others.

To their credit, the Canucks didn't want to make excuses.

"Everybody was fine," said coach Alain Vigneault. "We're not going to use injuries as a reason for not getting it done."

Vancouver Sun

bziemer@vancouversun.com

Canada Pic

Actor Alec Baldwin hints at run to be New York mayor

By Steven Edwards, Postmedia News June 8, 2011

 

Alec Baldwin may use the scandal over Congressman Anthony Weiner's online habits to thrust himself into the New York mayoralty race.

Photograph by: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters, National Post

NEW YORK — The Facebook and Twitter indiscretions of U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner appear set to scuttle his ambition of becoming mayor of New York — but actor Alec Baldwin appears ready to fill the embattled politician's shoes as a candidate to run the City that Never Sleeps.
The star of 30 Rock has mused since the 1990s about entering politics, and was an active commentator on civic issues a decade ago when he lived with former wife Kim Basinger and their daughter Ireland in the exclusive Long Island community of East Hampton.
But he also has his own past scandals — such as the one that erupted over his angry 2007 voice mail to Ireland, then 11, calling her a "rude, thoughtless little pig" for not picking up the phone when she knew he'd be calling.
Indeed, some might argue that just about the only time Baldwin's been seen to be consistently diplomatic was when he played the part of Mr. Conductor in the children's movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad in 2000.
None of which stopped Baldwin's representative, Matthew Hiltzik, from tweeting Wednesday about a possible mayoral run for Baldwin, saying he — the rep — "wouldn't rule it out."
Baldwin himself muddied the waters with a series of tweets. One contained the YouTube address of a clip from the 1949 musical On the Town showing Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Jules Munshin performing the song New York, New York.
In another, he said it was a "long way 'til November of 2013" — the month the next mayoral election will take place to choose a successor to current Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In yet another, Baldwin said that Weiner, who sits as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives for a constituency that straddles the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, should not resign over the current scandal. But whether he steps down after admitting Monday to having had inappropriate online exchanges with at least six women, opinion polls since the scandal broke show that he is now virtually unelectable as mayor after being a favourite to win.
With other likely candidates in the race having far less name recognition beyond the people who track civic politics, word emerged Wednesday that Baldwin fancied his chances at being elected on a Democratic ticket.
"Alec said, 'Hey, maybe this changes the race. The dynamics have shifted,'" according to an unidentified Baldwin friend cited by the online news outlet The Daily.
"The Democrats need a high-profile candidate, and Alec can fill that bill."
Stars who've gone on to politics include, just to cite the higher-profile examples, Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood and Sonny Bono.
By contrast, other likely mayoral candidates for New York's 2013 race include city council Speaker Christine Quinn, councilman Bill de Blasio and former New York comptroller Bill Thompson, who lost to Bloomberg after the mayor had New York City's term limit withdrawn and stood for a third term in 2009.
But experts say Baldwin's name recognition and fame may not be enough.
"The rule is you have to have done something executive-like to be considered a candidate for office," said David Epstein, a political-science professor at Columbia University.
"That's what Bloomberg had, obviously. It's even what Schwarzenegger had, because he was a businessman as well as an actor. When it comes down to it, people are going to wonder about his knowledge and ability to run a large organization."
Baldwin noted during a 1997 interview with The New Yorker, when he was 39, that the "men and women who run the world are in their 50s." Now 53, he told CNN in January that he is "very very interested" in running for political office. While he admitted that to leave acting would be "extremely painful," he has already said 2012 will be his last year on 30 Rock.
Baldwin is sufficiently left-leaning that even New York's far-left Working Families Party considered him for its gubernatorial ticket last year.
As for Baldwin's political skills, he spurred many of his East Hampton neighbours to call for him to leave the country after he said he would move overseas if George W. Bush entered the White House.
"I decided to stay around to fight with you ignorant people," he snapped at a town meeting during which he'd been railing against plans over a building project.
A little more than a year later, newspaper columnists were raging after he said in Florida and New York that Bush's disputed presidential victory in 2000 was a tragedy equalling the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

Postal workers strike in 13 communities

Canada Post reduces staffing, service as mail volume drops

The Canadian Press

 
Calgary postal workers walk the picket line Wednesday. (Mary-Catherine McIntosh/CBC News)

Canada Post and the union representing most of its employees are turning up the pressure on each other and the public, as their negotiators grind away with little sign of movement at the table after nearly a week of rotating strikes.

There will be 13 communities affected by the 24-hour strikes on Thursday — the most since walkouts began last week — and the postal service is preparing to reduce mail deliveries to three times a week starting Monday.

Canada Post will also cut staffing levels at its mail sorting plants and pay unionized letter carriers only for the three days they work, Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said in an interview Wednesday.

"This is all as a result of the 50 per cent drop we've seen in our volumes in the last five days due to the union's rotating strike activity," Hamilton said.

"We can't keep our costs the same while we've seen our business drop by half. We need to take action now to avoid significant losses that would harm our financial self-sustainability."

Union national president Denis Lemelin said Canada Post's announcement wasn't all that surprising and wouldn't change the union's negotiating strategy.

"That's what they expect for next week, but [it's] only Wednesday," Lemelin said. "We'll see what happens tomorrow at the table."

Lemelin said the union told the federal mediator Wednesday evening that it wanted to meet with Canada Post and present a response to the company's latest proposals.

He said CUPW chose 13 smaller locals for Thursday's strike "because we want to address the issue of jobs in the community and expansion of services to the community in smaller places in the country."

The communities are: Labrador City, N.L., Acadie-Bathurst, N.B., Summerside, P.E.I., Ste-Therese and Ste-Jerome, Que.; the Ontario cities of Thunder Bay, Hearst, Brantford and St. Thomas, Flin Flon, Man., Vernon, B.C., and the territorial capitals of Yellowknife and Whitehorse.

Public confidence lost: Canada Post

Canada Post's spokesman said the strikes have had a disastrous effect on customer confidence.

"While the union has had rotating strikes in certain communities, their activity has caused Canadians from coast to coast to lose confidence — hopefully temporarily — in our ability to deliver and therefore are putting a lot less mail into the system," Hamilton said.

The president of a CUPW local in Edmonton — one of two cities where strikes were held Wednesday — said that mail volume in their plant hasn't dropped by as much as the company says.

"People are saying, actually, that there's still mail being moved and we haven't seen the reductions that Canada Post is claiming as a result of the strikes," Bev Ray said from Edmonton. "We have not seen a 50 per cent drop.

Ray did say that fewer parcels were being shipped and those that were being sent were being diverted to courier service Purolator, in which Canada Post owns a major stake.

Hamilton said Canada Post stands by its numbers and repeated the company's position.

"We have up-to-date counts on the amount of mail and parcels and all that in the system. But all you would have to do is walk through any of our facilities and you could see quite clearly that we are dealing with a lot less mail than we normally do," Hamilton said from Ottawa.

He also repeated the company's position that the strikes aren't necessary because union and Canada Post negotiators continue to talk — although there hasn't been much progress and many issues.

"The union keeps saying they're having rotating strikes because the want to get the company to the table. We're at the table," Hamilton said.

"But we're not at the table to discuss adding a billion dollars of labour costs over the next four years, we're not at the table to discuss stopping any efforts under way to modernize this company and secure our future. That's not what we're there to talk about. We're there to talk about generous terms and conditions for the next four years that will make our employees better off than they are today."

Canada Post has said its latest offer includes annual wage increases that for current employees would bring the top wage rate to $26 an hour, job security, no changes to a defined benefit pension plan, medical benefits and "generous" vacation leave that tops out at seven weeks per year.

Future hires would get a starting wage of $19 an hour, rising to a maximum $26 an hour, up to six weeks vacation and a defined benefit pension by age 60.

Rotating strikes began last Friday in Winnipeg and have since been held in Hamilton, Montreal, Moncton, N.B., Victoria, Calgary and Edmonton.

Oil moving again through Keystone pipeline: TransCanada

Postmedia News June 6, 2011

 

 

This 2010 file photo shows TransCanada's Keystone oil pipeline contruction in North Dakota.

Photograph by: Handout, TransCanada

TransCanada Corp. says it has started transporting crude oil through its massive Keystone pipeline again following a nearly weeklong shutdown.

The Calgary-based company said late Sunday the line was flowing again.

It was on Saturday, just one day after refusing to let the company restart the pipeline that takes oil from Alberta in the States, that the U.S. government relented and gave TransCanada the green light, under "restrictive conditions."

The Obama administration had initially blocked the reopening after an investigation into two spills in less than a month.

That probe had found "serious" concerns about safety in pump stations along the 3,450-kilometre, 600,000-barrel-per-day pipeline.

TransCanada said the pipeline shutdown, which it initiated voluntarily on May 29, stemmed from an "above-ground incident at a pump station in Kansas involving less than 10 barrels of oil."

The U.S. Department of Transportation indicated in a weekend statement that the company has addressed at least some of the government's concerns.

"Restart of the pipeline will be under restricted conditions and closely monitored," the department said.

TransCanada is seeking a permit for the construction of a second major pipeline, the Keystone XL, across the U.S. Great Plains to the Gulf Coast in Texas.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department is scheduled to complete public consultations into an environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL.

Environmental groups and landowners along the planned route of the new pipeline fear a major spill could cause irreparable damage to sensitive ecosystems.

The original Keystone pipeline — which began delivery of oilsands crude from Hardisty, Alta., in June 2010 — has so far had 11 breaks along the 2,100-kilometre U.S. portion of the line.

Exclusive: Keystone XL pipeline would accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil: report

By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News June 3, 2011

 

 

A controversial $13-billion pipeline project originating in Hardisty, Alta., will accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil, says a newly-released report from Natural Resources Canada.

Photograph by: Courtesy of TransCanada, Calgary Herald

OTTAWA — A controversial $13-billion pipeline project originating in Hardisty, Alta., will accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil, says a newly-released report from Natural Resources Canada.

"The Keystone XL project is seen as both furthering U.S. dependence on oil, and enabling more oilsands crude to enter the U.S. market," said the document, released through access to information legislation.

The document, which assessed the ongoing debate about the project in the U.S., noted a growing opposition that was stalling the U.S. State Department from issuing the presidential permit required to authorize the project.

"Although the Keystone XL pipeline was certificated in Canada in late April 2010, the company continues to wait for approvals in the U.S. before it can begin construction," said the report, obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin. "This . . . has been caused by U.S. opposition to imports of 'dirty' Canadian crude oil from the 'tar sands.'"

If approved, the 90-centimetre pipeline proposed by TransCanada, an Alberta-based energy company, would connect the oilsands region with the U.S. Midwest through to Texas along a 2,700 kilometre route.

But opposition has been mounting since the summer when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency raised concerns about the project's impact and questioned whether it should be approved.

Environmental groups have suggested the oilsands produce "dirty oil" because of a large environmental footprint in production that they say pollutes the land, air, and water.

President Barack Obama also weighed into the issue in April by raising his own questions about the "destructive" nature of what he also referred to as the "tarsands."

The Natural Resources Canada report, entitled "Current Pipeline Issues," was finalized on Oct. 22, 2010, and listed senior bureaucrats, John Foran, Bruce Akins and Lisanne Bazinet, from the oil and gas policy and regulatory division of the department as its key contacts.

It noted that Canada's chief negotiator for international climate change discussions, Guy St. Jacques, had also publicly endorsed the Canadian government's support for the Keystone XL project in June 2010 when he was deputy ambassador at the Washington Embassy.

It also speculated that there could be mixed consequences of remarks made during an Oct. 15 speech in San Francisco by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she "let slip that 'we've not signed off on it (the Presidential permit), but we are inclined to do so.'"

"Although this sounds positive for the Keystone XL approval, Ms. Clinton's remarks have led to charges that she has pre-judged the outcome of her department's decision," said the Natural Resources Canada report. "Finally, note that there is also considerable support for the project within the U.S., given its economic benefits. Several congressmen and large trade unions have pledged their support."

mdesouza@postmedia.com

U.S. order keeps Keystone pipeline shut down

 

By Sheldon Alberts, Postmedia News June 3, 2011

 

 

 

Enbridge’s contract oil storage terminal at Hardisty, Alberta. TransCanada’s $7-billion expansion, Keystone XL, will add a line from Hardisty to Steele City, Nebraska, and an extension from Cushing to Nederland, Texas, to take Canadian crude oil to the Gulf Coast refining hub. The Obama administration issued an order Friday preventing Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. from restarting the massive Keystone oil pipeline after an investigation into two spills in less than a month found concerns about safety at pump stations along the 2,130-kilometre line.

Photograph by: Chris Schwarz

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration issued an order Friday preventing Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. from restarting its massive Keystone oil pipeline after an investigation into two spills in less than a month found "serious" concerns about safety in pump stations along the 3,450-kilometre line.

"After evaluating the foregoing preliminary findings of fact, I find that the continued operation of the pipeline without corrective action would be hazardous to life, property and the environment," Jeffrey Wiese, the associate pipeline safety administrator with the U.S. Department of Transportation, wrote in a letter to TransCanada executives.

The order to keep the 600,000-barrel-per-day pipeline shut down comes after investigations into separate spills at Keystone pumping stations in North Dakota and Kansas determined "cyclical fatigue" contributed to the failure on pipe fittings at both facilities. It requires TransCanada meet 14 conditions before the pipeline can resume operations.

The problems along the existing Keystone pipeline come at a critical time for TransCanada, which is seeking a presidential permit approving the construction of a second major pipeline, the Keystone XL, across the U.S. Great Plains to the Gulf Coast in Texas.

The U.S. State Department is completing public consultations on Monday into an environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL Line.

Environmental groups and landowners along the planned route of the new pipeline fear a major spill could cause irreparable damage to sensitive ecosystems like the Sand Hills in Nebraska. There are also concerns, particularly in Nebraska, about environmental threats to the Ogallala Aquifer, a major groundwater source for residents in the Great Plains states. Keystone XL would cross the aquifer.

"We recognize that these instances would lead to negative public perception about our pipelines," TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said Friday afternoon. "But we take these things very seriously and we are taking the necessary steps to be done to ensure the integrity of the system."

The original Keystone pipeline — which began delivery of oilsands crude from Hardisty, Alberta, in June 2010 — has so far had 11 breaks along the 2,100-kilometre U.S. portion of the line.

The pipeline was shut down May 7 after about 400 barrels of oil spilled at the Ludden pump station in Sargent County, North Dakota. The pipeline was restarted on May 13.

TransCanada was forced to shut down the pipeline again following the failure of another fitting at the Severance pump station in Doniphan County, Kansas.

About 10 barrels of oil were spilled in Kansas, and TransCanada officials said this week they hoped to restart the pipeline again within days.

The Department of Transportation order revealed a third, previously unreported leak, on May 25 at the Roswell pumping station in South Dakota. That spill was not big enough "to meet reportable criteria," but it was also caused by cyclical fatigue on a transmitter fitting.

"I'm concerned about the environmental risk. There have been 11 spills in TransCanada pipelines in the last year, I believe. That seems to me to be a rather high number," said Bill Avery, a Nebraska state senator who opposes the construction of the new Keystone XL.

"The spills validate some of the concerns that a number of us have had all along. Maybe TransCanada is not leveling with the public . . . about the safety of its pipeline."

The corrective ordered issued on Friday "prevents TransCanada from restarting operations on their Keystone crude oil pipeline until (the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) is satisfied with the ongoing repairs and is confident that all immediate safety concerns have been addressed," Julia Valentine, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.

"In addition to immediate repairs and testing, PHMSA's order requires TransCanada to perform metallurgical testing and root cause failure analysis, review other parts of the pipeline system for concerns similar to those involved in the recent failures, make permanent repairs and continue ongoing monitoring."

The North Dakota spill in early May was sourced to a small "swaged nipple" on piping that had cracked "as a result of over-torque during installation," the Department of Transportation said.

TransCanada determined "the cyclic bending stress fatigue due to normal operational vibration propagated the cracks to failure," according to the corrective action order.

The Keystone break in Kansas on May 29 was on a half-inch diameter nipple that also indicated "cyclical fatigue."

In the corrective action order, Wiese writes that there is "potential for the conditions causing the failures to be present elsewhere on the pipeline."

TransCanada must now send the U.S. government a detailed "re-start plan" including information about repairs, evidence of proper pump station monitoring and communication with local emergency officials along the route.

"I don't have a timeline as to when the start-up will be taking place," said Cunha. "But we are implementing all the 14 conditions outlined, and hope to have them implemented right away so that way we could have the system up and running as soon as possible."

The pipeline has, as of Friday, been shut down for six consecutive days. TransCanada remains hopeful Keystone can "deliver all of our obligations for the month of June," Cunha said.

salberts@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/sheldonalberts