A deafening roar exploded from the fan zones in downtown Vancouver Friday night as the final buzzer sounded, signalling the Canucks' third win in the Stanley Cup final.

Ecstatic fans poured out of Rogers Arena in a sea of blue Canucks sweaters, joining tens of thousands that had gathered in the zones, where the huge crowd watched the game on three giant video screens.

Unlike the games Monday and Wednesday -- both losses, which saw shocked supporters leave the downtown area quickly and quietly -- they stuck around to whoop it up Friday and savour the tightly fought 1-0 victory together.

The win boosted the home team to a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series

Vote in the CBC poll question here.

What do the Canucks need to do to get over their disastrous road trip in Boston? News1130 spoke with a sports psychologist this morning to find out.

Fans are on edge but the team can't be, says Dr. Saul Miller, who seems to agree with what Roberto Luongo has been saying: You have to leave the past behind you.

"I think when you play at the level of the NHL and you're playing in these Stanley Cup playoffs, you certainly have to have that ability to tune out what happened... You have to have a short memory for that."

As a die hard Vancouver Canucks fan, I ran across this image of the Old Spice Guy wearing a Canucks jersey in Boston talking to some of the local media and just had to share it. I would have just seeded it, but the original page is from a secure account and, therefore, it wasn't possible in this instance to simply seed the photo and caption.

Underneath the photo was the following caption:

Hello, ladies, look at your team, now at the Canucks, now back at your team, now back to the Canucks. Sadly, your team isn't the Canucks, but if they stopped having average players and switched to Swedish twins, they could be like the Canucks. Look down, back up, where are you? You're in the Stanley Cup Finals with the team your team could be like. What's in your hand, back at me. I have it, it's Ryan Kesler. Look again, Ryan Kesler is now diamonds. Anything is possible when your team plays like the Vancouver Canucks and not anyone else.

I thought it was hilarious and the caption actually is something that you might hear come out of his mouth.

GO CANUCKS GO.

Just like Boston Pizza is now known as Vancouver Pizza and the Boston Cream donut at Tim Horton’s is the Vancouver Cream the small town of Boston Bar will now be known as Vancouver Bar for the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Boston Bar is close to Yale and Lytton and has about 800 people residing in it.

All these little gestures are quite cool. Anything to support to the Canucks!

This group of Canucks fans, who were downtown June 8, 2011, for the hometown team's Stanely Cup final Game 4 loss think the boys in blue can still win it all.

In the front lobby of Rogers Arena, a mural of a timeline adorns the far wall, mapping out the history of the Canucks. But besides the forming of the franchise in 1970 and the building of their arena in 1995, just two milestone years seem to be worth noting: 1982 and 1994.

1982: A Tradition Born, it reads. It was then, in the Canucks' first Stanley Cup Final appearance, that a city began to develop a hockey identity of its own. Up until that point, Vancouver had won just three playoff games in 11 years, and many Vancouver hockey fans weren't necessarily rooting for the Canucks.

"I was one of the first here in 1970 when they expanded," said former Canucks player, coach and general manager Pat Quinn. "And people who came to the rink weren't necessarily Canucks fans. They were hockey fans, [but] they liked Toronto and Montreal and the old original six teams. The only reason they suffered the Canucks was because it was the place they had to go to watch the other teams play."

We all knew this was coming as soon as the Bruins advanced to the finals. This is the screenshot I took from BostonVancouver Pizza’s website.

Earlier this spring, while we were all distracted with Royal Wedding fever and playoff hockey, a very special honour was quietly bestowed on our own hometown airport.   At the prestigious (and little known) World Airport Awards in Copenhagen, Vancouver International Airport (YVR, to us regulars) took home the prize for North America’s best airport.

Award organizers collected 11 million questionnaires from travelers around the world.  More than 240 airports were ranked on 39 different criteria, including accessibility, public transportation options, cleanliness, comfort, friendliness of staff, clarity of signage and other amenities.

And when the smoke cleared, YVR was North America’s best.

Some defaced transit buses; others kicked cars. One masked demonstrator spray-painted the anarchy symbol on the side of an SUV carrying Olympic officials.

Still, a few cracked panes and some bemused motorists falls a long way short of what the organizers of this morning's disruption must have envisioned. For months, a whole spectrum of protest movements have been promising to turn these Games into a platform for their assorted causes, from aboriginal land rights to homelessness. A few warned they'd get nasty if the police got in their way.

Yet so far they seem to be spinning their wheels, running up against public indifference and a platoon of riot cops who resolutely refuse to be drawn into confrontations.

When you tune in to the Winter Olympics next week, be on the lookout for bright red tents dotting the snowy Vancouver scenery. The Red Tent Campaign is taking to the streets of Vancuver, distributing 500 red pop-up tents...

The demonstration, sponsored by the Pivot Legal Society, has some critics shaking their heads. Why, they wonder, is this group trying to make the city look bad during its big moment in the world spotlight?

Sponsor a tent..

"False flag operations are covert operations which are designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities." -- Wikipedia

The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are finally upon us and will be held in Vancouver, Canada, from February 12 to 28. Hands down, it will be the largest security operation in Canadian history. Military and government planners everywhere will undoubtedly use Vancouver 2010 as a role model for securing future high profile events around the world.

Canadian security officials have worked very closely with their American counterparts to prepare for the challenge that the Games may pose to the security of its shared border. Integration of Canada's security and military structures with the U.S. have already been moved forward through the NORAD, NORTHCOM, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), the Bi-National Planning Group, the Civil Assistance Plan, as well as several other initiatives. Training and security provisions for Vancouver 2010 might be used to further accelerate the merging of U.S-Canada command structures and the militarization of North America.

Despite all of the unprecedented military grade security measures being taken to make the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games the most secured in history, it's become abundantly clear to many associated with the mushrooming truth community that the upcoming Games may be used to stage [what's referred to as] a false flag act of terrorism. In fact, the trail of evidence has been so visible that everything's already been reported, separate event by separate event, by mainstream media around the world. However, if you look at all of these separate events and circumstantial evidence more collectively, suddenly you start to realize and understand that, perhaps, something else much more diabolical has been in the works.

To many people that can apparently see the forest through the trees, there's now reasonable grounds to consider that there may be a serious false flag attack staged during the Olympics. I've personally researched the evidence derived from various sources and put together a presentation of facts, historic evidence, and current events that will let the reader decide if something more dangerous is being planned to happen sometime in the next four weeks.

On January 19, Lisa Rossington of CTV News followed up on an earlier [in the month] news broadcast about two tons of missing ammonium nitrate stolen from a local warehouse storage facility [located in Surrey, British Columbia] owned by North Vancouver company Kinder Morgan. Kinder Morgan Energy partners, L.P. is a leading pipeline transportation and energy storage company in North America. Kinder Morgan owns or operates approximately 26,000 miles of pipelines transporting primarily natural gas, crude oil and petroleum products. BC Solicitor General Bill Elliott and RCMP Commissioner Kash Heed have both went on record about their significant apprehension with respect to that much ammonium nitrate being unaccounted and possibly in the wrong hands. Mark Lalonde, a security expert from Canpro Global, speaking to Lisa Rossington has said that if these explosives were actually stolen, it would have had to have been "a very sophisticated job" to accomplish the task.

More disturbingly, Kinder Morgan is owned lock, stock, and barrel by a Consortium of some of the world's largest financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, AIG, and The Carlyle Group. Kinder Morgan didn't report the missing explosives for over a month and when they did report it they came back a week later and said they made a "clerical error". Many pundits believe that the same people that have significant ownership stakes in these financial institutions are also members of global steering committees like Bilderberg, Trilateral Commission, and Council on Foreign Relations. The suggestion is that these steering committees are some of the actual entities that plan, implement, and execute global policy initiatives that would be considered historic milestones and, more importantly, shape the direction global society takes in the short and long terms. Furthermore, many people already believe that governments around the world use "making us safer" as an excuse to strip us of our fundamental freedoms, and there's now also a very broad mainstream alliance that believes 9/11 was a false flag event staged by the U.S. government to limit our freedoms and prepare us for more government control in the future. Having explained this background, it's not hard to imagine that some might consider it quite suspicious, to say the very least, that two tons of ammonium nitrate goes missing right before a major global event and these companies are once again involved in the mix.

Another fact to take into account is the mainstream media's excessive scare mongering over the past couple months, reporting that terror levels around the world are "severe" and significantly targeting and associating legitimate protesters with terrorism. It not enough that peoples' rights to freedom of expression and assembly [during Games-time] have been severely stifled, but the media has to portray those that do manage to protest [while still adhering to the law] as terrorists.

The significance of this coverage is that, often before a major attack takes place anywhere in the world, the media begins to drop clues and, for all intents and purposes, prepare our mindset to be scared and anticipate the worst. They might even remind us of a past terrorist attack, make comparisons, and reinforce our basic fears. In fact, our programming to believe that terrorism is eminent and only the government can protect us by limiting our inherent rights has been a process dating back decades. When we're reminded of a past act of terrorism, it triggers our programming at a subconscious level and conditions our mindset to accept whatever happens next as well as the ensuing consequences with respect to our freedoms. Another interesting coincidence is that, while the media on one hand has reported stolen ammonium nitrate, international media on the other hand has been reporting that terrorists in Afghanistan are now using the same chemical for explosives. Let's also not forget that the mainstream media is owned by the same people that own the world's largest financial institutions so it's not hard to imagine that the media would be in step with other aspects of the mix.

Security is another integral element to the successful planning and implementation of the upcoming Winter Games and unprecedented measures have been taken for this international event to ensure that nothing diabolical happens next month. To be absolutely sure, officials have been coordinating closely with foreign intelligence and policing agencies, more than 4000 private security forces have been planned, law enforcement from all over the world will be present, black helicopters can be seen regularly flying over the region, high-level security drills have been completed, and more CCTV cameras have been deployed in and around Vancouver than are used for any other single region in the world.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been given the sole authority to shoot down a prospective hostile plane, in the exact same manner that Dick Cheney was given the same control over airspace in the days before September 11, 2001. It's common knowledge now in broad circles that when NORAD detected and reported the rogue airplanes on that fateful date, Dick Cheney himself told NORAD to stand down and that anything they might detect is part of schedule security exercises.

Another major concern about Vancouver 2010 security is the quality of service being demonstrated [and reported in the local media] with respect to the contracted 4000+ private security forces being provided by a company called Contemporary Services Canada. CSC is a brand new company that was established for the sole purpose of providing Asset Protection Services for the Games. It is owned by a larger U.S. based company, called Contemporary International, that boasts over 200 satellite offices around the world. According to former and current employees that wish to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, when orientating new asset protection guards the impression is clearly given [by the company] that they've managed event security in the past. However, further investigation has found that although Contemporary International has consulted [with respect to event services] at previous Olympic Games and other large events around the world, they've never handled asset protection for an event of this magnitude. In recent weeks and months, CBC and Global TV News have both reported that guards are not being given proper training [or no training in some cases], site guards are complaining about very poor working conditions, and low morale is rampant at all of the venue sites. Other inside sources close to CSC management personnel have also confirmed numerous changes in operational management, staffing mistakes, scheduling nightmares, and unmanned sites [from time to time] due to scheduling conflicts and inadequate human resources.

We've got the media telling us to expect the worse and be prepared for possible acts of terrorism; Vancouver 2010 officials are declaring this will be the safest games of all time; and then finally the local media's been reporting major holes and problems with security. With so many conflicting reports and media coverage akin to what's happened in the past before other major false flag events, it's difficult to truly decide what's fact and what's fiction.

Another suspicious move recently by the Conservative Canadian Government is Prime Minister Harper's order to prorogue Parliament until March 3, after the Games have finished. While the government is prorogued, Harper will have unprecedented dictatorial powers as the only active member of Canada's federal governing body. It's been long thought that Stephen Harper is a card-carrying, longstanding member of the so-called global elite, participating and having membership in all of the aforesaid steering committees. Mr. Harper was one of George W. Bush's biggest international supporters [while he was U.S. President] and has a long history of embracing the same conservative ideals and principles as people like Bush, Cheney, Rothschild, Rockefeller, Prince Charles, Rumsfeld, Dr. Eric Pianka, and Rush Limbaugh. That's why when Harper prorogues the government, it sets off alarms and reg flags for a lot of people that believe he's already on the same page as those who would use terrorism as a means to reach broader political goals.

Another potential major hole in security for the Games might come about as a result of the company providing all of the state-of-the-art camera systems being deployed around the Lower Mainland and throughout the province. Verint, another U.S. company, from New York also provided camera surveillance systems that were in place during the 7/7 London bombings and 9/11, and are currently being used at the Vancouver International Airport. Strangely, whenever a major act of terrorism has occurred, Verint's stock has went up in value including after 9/11 and 7/7. What a lot of people don't realize, though, is that Verint is also one of the companies being contracted by governments and companies around the world to provide advanced biometric technology. Many believe that biometrics is a sophisticated tool that will eventually be used by governments to track, control and manipulate the public.

Another huge factor that many of those in the truth community will point out as proof of an impending false flag terror attack is Osama Bin Laden surfacing right on cue, praising recent attempts at terrorism, and promising more serious attacks in the very near future and beyond. Unquestionably, Bin Laden always surfaces on either audio or video immediately before an act of terror, whether or not the act actually occurs or it has been "foiled" by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It's now a matter of record that Bin Laden was a CIA operative during the 1980s when Afghanistan was being occupied by the Soviets. Then, in the mid-1990s he was suddenly named one of the most prolific terrorists of our time and, going forward, was used as the poster boy for terror. It almost become possible to predict Bin Laden would be used as a scapegoat for major acts of terrorism by the turn of the century and, it just so happened that, somebody did make that prediction. On July 21, 2001, Alex Jones, a U.S. based investigative journalist and film maker, clearly predicted the events of 9/11, said the attack was being orchestrated by the government for ulterior motives, and said that Osama Bin Laden would be blamed. Video proof of this astounding prediction can easily be found by searching for it on Google.

Another mitigating factor is that it appears, like with 9/11 and 7/7, the local elites have seemingly already been warned and, it would appear that some, have taken precautions months in advance. It's on record that, in the weeks leading up to 9/11, politicians, celebrities and other elites were warned not to visit New York on September 11, 2001.

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said that he was warned 8 hours before the the first planes hit not to fly and advised that "Americans should be cautious about their air travel". On May 17, 2002, U.S.-based Pacifica Radio reported that Brown's warning came directly from Condolezza Rice. In July of 2001, John Ashcroft started using leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines. In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term. It's also a known fact that after all aircraft over U.S. soil were suspended in hours after 9/11, but members of the Bin Laden family were allowed to charter a private aircraft and leave the country. Similar warning were given before 7/7.

On a more local note with respect to Vancouver 2010, it's been reported in the media that school districts in North and West Vancouver have suspended classes until the end of the Olympics. When asked what they'll be doing during their Olympic break, many students and parents alike have stated they'll be spending time in warmer locales like Hawaii, Florida, and Cancun. Strangely, though, the elite class districts are the only districts that have planned ahead to close schools during the Games. According to local sources, these neighborhoods have absolutely no events planned [during the Games] while numerous other neighborhoods that are hosting major events haven't suspended their classrooms. Is it possible that there are those with foreknowledge that have deliberately made arrangements to protect their families in case something happens?

After going through all of the facts and circumstantial evidence it's becomes clear why there's so many people that are suspicious and expect the worse from their leaders. History easily establishes that governments have used false flag attacks for centuries to control the masses, there's evidence that 9/11 and 7/7 were such events, and all of the tell-tale warning signs seem to be present. However, there's also many that don't believe that their leaders could be capable of these type of actions and, for what it's worth, nobody wants to live their lives constantly looking over their shoulder. And ultimately, evidence is in the eye of the beholder and what's suspicious to one person may not be strange to another.

Hello Newsviners,

The Winter Games are almost upon us. Being based here in Seattle, we're totally pumped up for the Winter Olympics - so, I've created the official Newsvine 2010 Olympics Group, open to all. Please join me in seeding, clipping and writing about the Winter Olympics.

Especially useful will be accounts from Newsviners on the ground in Vancouver or Whistler, during the Games. Tell us what you're seeing and hearing - even if you're not one of the lucky few that somehow got tickets to an event. What is the nightlife like? Has your city been turned upside down? Is public transportation what the VANOC promised it would be, back when Vancouver/Whistler won the games? Have you seen any of the athletes out and about town? Are you planning to travel to the Olympic Games, and if so - how have you gone about making your plans? Share your experiences by writing an article.

I was reading about record snowfall up at Whistler a couple weeks ago. Last week it was clear down here in Seattle, but now it's raining again and I hope its dumping up in Whistler!

Let's all pool our resources together by publishing anything Winter Olympics-related to this group, the winter-olympics tag page and the Vancouver region page.

Here's to an exciting new year and the 2010 Winter Olympics!