What Is Going On?!

This is the weirdest series I have ever seen in my life. Fives games, the Canucks have six goals, and Bahston has 14, yet the Canucks hold a 3-2 series lead. Insanity. Last night about killed me. The back and forth was ridiculous at times. A few posts hit, and some very timely blocked shots, by both teams, was enough to give my circulatory system quite the workout.

But this was a classic Canucks playoff win. Keep it close, try to minimize mistakes, and pull one out in the end. The best part was after Lapierre's goal, in the waning minutes of the third, the Bruins couldn't muster any chances. Manny had half a chance to bury an empty-netter as well, which would have blown the roof off of Rogers Arena for sure.

I would be ignorant to ignore a certain goaltender who looks like Borat's French-Canadian cousin. Luongo played out of his mind. He stopped all 31 shots Bahston had, with some amazing stops through traffic and deflections on point-shots. And yes some friendly posts, but its not like Tim Thomas hasn't had any luck. 

Viewers in the US didn't have much luck either watching the game on NBC. We were subjected to Mike Emrick calling Henrik Alex Edler through half a Canucks PP, Mike Milbury saying he is impartial and then laughing, and Pierre McGuire saying the penalty on Kesler was a good call, even though replays clearly showed it was Chara. NBC is an abomination of a sports network. I don't know what happened since the glory days of the NBA on NBC, but it has fallen off the rails.

The officiating wasn't much better. I have said it all series, its not awful in regards to being biased one way or the other, its just awful all the way around. Ever since the lockout the NHL has been calling games differently in the playoffs as opposed to the regular season. Its a joke. What if the NFL just stopped calling holding in the playoffs? This is reflective of leadership, and I can only hope, and with, that with the ascension of Brendan Shanahan will be an era of common sense and logical decisions. Unlike what we have had under the Troll's minion.

My Drunken Claims

So if you follow me on Twitter (if not WTF man?!), you will have seen my claim this evening: If the Canucks win the Cup I will get a Robert Luongo tattoo. This is not a BS claim or something to get more readers. I WILL get a Luongo tattoo if they win. I am even considering opening it up to a vote. They win, you choose the tattoo and I get it. Win-win for you guys. 

I Am At A Loss

This isn't me, but this is how I feel. I...mmmmmmm....uhhhhhhhhh...I....WHAT THE F**K?! Really?! Really?! You get ABSOLUTELY HUMILIATED in Game 3...just destroyed, and you come out for Game 4 playing like that?! Despicable, just disgusting. This is how you respond?!

And what in the Hell is with all these second period collapses?! It happens every game. They were playing like they knew they weren't good enough. they were lazy with their passes, their checking was a joke, and the general attitude was meh. And don't even get me started on those two GUTLESS Swedes.

Are they injured? Don't appear to be. Are they just being swarmed every time they are on the ice? The Bruins have been playing them tight, but that was expected. Do they lack talent? Hell no. SO WHY IN THE HELL ARE THEY PLAYING LIKE THAT?! Oh I know, maybe its because they are GUTLESS! Just like in the first round, once Chicago amped it up, they slithered into a hole, and waited for their teammates to bail them out. If this team had any on-ice leadership out of their "captain" this is a different series. But no, we have a gutless wimp who crumbles at the first sight of adversity.

My faith has been shaken, but I said it last post and this will be true forever, I have lost all respect and any shred of admiration I had for those two losers. They are done in my book. This team will win because of people like Kesler, Bieksa, Burrows and Raymond. Guys who refuse to quit on their teammates. Go Canucks Go!  

Speechless For All The Wrong Reasons

Let me first state I have not lost faith in this team. I think a lot of times, especially in the last 10 to 15 years, people who follow sports associate criticism with hatred or "jumping off the band-wagon." Well I have been a Canucks fan for over 20 years now, (I have the Mogilny jersey to prove it) so I ain't going anywhere. Criticism just shows you care...unless you are threatening horrible things upon the players. If thats the case please ignore my tweets.

Losing does not make me angry. It doesn't make me happy, but its illogical to think a team will never lose, especially in the playoffs. Giving up on the other hand, drives me insane. This I have a big problem with, and it seems that the Canucks tend to just give up when they are down. Not everyone, but two in particular: The Valium Twins.

Daniel and Henrik have an uncanny ability to just roll-over and die when the team is losing, and they did just that. The Canucks had a not-so-great secon period, as they tend to do, and the Twins just quit. Their passes were sloppy, their shots weak and to call their back-checking lazy is an understatement. It was a disgrace, and sadly not the first time (see First Round vs Chicago, games 4-7), and I guarantee you not the last.

You are down four goals, its not looking good, but you know whats worse than losing 4-0? Losing 8-1 in a Stanley Cup Final game. What compounds this is they are supposed to be the leaders of this team, so for them to give up makes it that much worse. Also making it worse? Mann Malhotra out there with one eye, playing with twice as much heart, energy, and pride than those two combined.

They are not the only ones that rolled-over. Other than Kesler (who's groin injury looked like it wasn't helping), Burrows, and Mason Raymond, the entire team only has to look into the mirror for someone to blame. It was a joke, a disgrace, and made me ashamed to be a Canucks fan.

Do I think the Canucks are still going to win? Of course! They still have a 2-1 series lead. They are still the best team by far, and they still have momentum. But no matter how this series plays out, one thing is for sure. I have lost all respect for Daniel and Henrik Sedin. They clearly don't have the heart or guts to be leaders. Henrik may be leading the playoffs in points, but when his team needed him the most against Chicago in the first round, he was nowhere to be found. That speaks louder than words right there.

Two Down, Two To Go!

First thing's first, that game was awesome. There were countless odd-man rushes, some amazing saves by both goalies, and some very memorable goals. Luongo played out of his mind, and came through big time yet again. Thomas was huge for Boston as well, and carried them when the rest of the team couldn't. But made one big gaff at the end.

NBC didn't have much of a post-game, which was a good thing, because I am sure Mike Milbury would have gone on a rant about how that goal shouldn't be allowed because it was scored by Burrows. The NBC coverage is such a joke. They have Mike Milbury, a former BRUINS player and coach, and there is not one shred of him that is objective. 

Also the media should be ashamed of themselves. They will not shut up about a player biting another player through his glove. THROUGH HIS GLOVE. It didn't even break the skin or leave a mark. Yet Krejci cross-checks a guy in the head with a history of concussions, who missed Game 2 because of it, and nothing is said. Yeah that makes sense.

Mike Milbury is the Matt Millen of the NHL. He has never made a good trade, he just mouths off, and never shows any effort at being objective ever. I am sick of people blaming the lack of ratings in the United States on popularity. It might be due to the fact that we are forced to listen to Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury ramble on about their own agendas.

Don't even get me started on Mike Emrick either. He is awful. He comes up with terrible sayings, and never has any clue whats going on. Twice during Game 2 as they were cutting to commercial because a penalty was called he said "There is a stop in play, we'll be back." He had no idea what was going on. Then they come back from commercial and there is no mention of what the penalty was or a replay of it. Its a joke.