BC Sculptor Immortalizes Vancouver Canucks Coach

Vancouver, BC, Canada (PRWEB) April 10, 2011

Abbotsford sculptor Norm Williams (http://www.normwilliams-sculptor.com) figures it was his passion for hockey that lead the Vancouver Canucks to choose him to create a bronze sculpture of legendary NHL coach Roger Neilson. The larger than life sculpture is located outside of Gate 3 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, and was unveiled on April 7, 2011 as part of the team?s 40th anniversary celebrations. The sculpture of Roger stands 12 feet tall from his feet to the top of the extended hockey stick. It weighs approximately 750 pounds.

The sculpture depicts Neilson waving a towel at the end of a hockey stick. It captures the moment during a 1982 playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks, when Neilson felt the Canucks were continually and unfairly penalized during the third period. He took a trainer's white towel and held it on a hockey stick, as if to wave a white flag. By doing this, Neilson inadvertently started an NHL tradition. It is a playoff tradition that continues to this day and is widely copied by other sports teams around the world.

Norm was one of several sculptors initially considered for the project. He knew his competition would be steep, so he had to find a way to stand out beyond the quality of his work.

He focused on the fact that he was a local boy with a deep passion for hockey, and made the case that such a piece would require someone with a lot of hockey knowledge. ?My edge was my understanding of hockey. Serious hockey fans care about the details. If something about the subject?s expression or movement doesn?t ring true, then they are not going to like it.? 67-year-old Williams is a Canucks fan of long-standing and began following the team before they entered the NHL.

?You would be surprised at how little good photography there is of Neilson from the early 1980s. There are either posed photos where he?s looking straight at the camera and smiling, or action shots that are quite grainy,? explains Norm. ?In 1982 I was watching that game of course, and I remember the moment when he waved the towel and how he looked. His facial expression was one of exasperated defiance. Really it was a polite middle finger to the officials, and they took it that way by ejecting him from the game.?

He began work on the sculpture in July 2010 and completed the plaster version of it at the beginning of January 2011. At that point it was shipped to the IN BRONZE foundry in Langley, BC where it was cast in bronze.

Norm studied under well know sculptors Bill Reid, Bill Koochin and Leonard Epp. The focus of Norm?s sculpture is realism that portrays nature or historical events. Norm?s studio is in a barn on his Abbotsford property. Norm has worked in private collections throughout North America, as well as England, Germany, Japan and China.

# # #

More Nhl Standings Press Releases

Career Coach Hallie Crawford Encourages Job Seekers to Make Their New Year?s Resolutions Count

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) January 26, 2012

The unemployment rate continued to trend down in December, the Department of Labor reported recently, dropping to 8.5 percent. Equally important for the mindset of the job seeker, perhaps, the number of unemployed who report they are ?discouraged? (not looking for work because they believe there is nothing for them) dropped to 945,000?a decrease of 373,000 from the previous year. Career Coach Hallie Crawford finds these signs encouraging and says job seekers should make New Year?s resolutions that help them find new job opportunities.

?Although there are more openings now than in most of the past three years, employers are still gun shy about advertising them. As a result, networking, using social media, and keeping an open-minded attitude remain some of a job seeker?s most important tactics,? says Crawford, founder of Create Your Career Path. Crawford recommends her clients use their New Year?s resolutions as a means of sharpening their job-hunting approaches in 2012. A few of her tips include:

????Write career search resolutions that are honest but also realistic enough to propel your search forward. One idea is to create a job search plan that includes your ideal career direction plus two other possible ideas related to that goal. This lets you expand your search over time if necessary.

????Make your career search goals very specific. This enables you to enjoy a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that you are doing something concrete to change your outcome. One specific, important goal is to polish your ?elevator speech??what you could say in only one or two minutes that would incent someone to hire you.

????Another specific goal is to define your brand. You are a product, just like Lay?s Potato Chips or Geico Insurance. Everyone knows what they have to offer. Ask yourself, what makes you unique or valuable? What strengths do you bring to the table? If you are not sure, ask others their opinions to help you with this brand building exercise.

????Increase your exposure. Networking is still the best way to get a job, whether you are setting up informational interviews (shoot for two per week) or volunteering to do work that teaches you an important work skill. Any time you can put yourself in front of people who might help you in your job search, you are making progress. Interacting with others also feels good and should also help you avoid ?desperation mode,? which never works for anyone.

In the end, Crawford notes, things are getting better, but landing a job still takes time, and securing a ?perfect? one can be quite elusive. ?If a not-so-perfect offer presets, ask yourself if you can be positive about the position and view it as different, not worse or better,? says Crawford. ?Those who radiate a positive attitude in any situation are most likely to find a job?and turn the experience into a stepping stone to a better opportunity, down the road.?

About Create Your Career Path

Since 2002 Create Your Career Path and their team of certified career coaches have helped job searchers nationwide identify their ideal career path, navigate their career transition and achieve their career goals. New college grads through mid-career professionals have used our career coaches to find their dream job. Create Your Career Path was founded by certified career coach, speaker and author Hallie Crawford. Crawford has served on the Board of the Georgia Coach Association, and is regularly featured as a career expert on CNN, Fox Business News, the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo HotJobs and Entrepreneur Magazine.

###