NHL Playoffs

[Asher]

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110608/bc_playoff_police_injuries_110708/20110608?hub=BritishColumbiaHome&utm_source=ctvbc.ca

In other classy Canucks news, 3 cops have been hospitalized in Vancouver after dealing with Canucks fans in crowds.

[Ben Kenobi]

And the Canucks hate-on continues, don't you ever tire, Asher?

[Asher]

If you were a cop I would punch you right now !!

[Ben Kenobi]

Blablablablablablablabla

Canucks suck

Blablablablablablabla

I bet I've said more things critical about them then you've said positive things.

[Asher]

I like how much you care about my opinion.

[Garth Vader]

Blablablablablablablabla

I bet I've said more things critical about them then you've said positive things.

0=0

[Tupac Shakur]

<--- Prescient.

Dude, Vancouver is still going to win the Cup. They'll win the next game at home, have a good chance of closing the series out in Boston, but will definitely wrap it up in a Game 7 in Vancouver.

[Asher]

I don't think Lou Lou Lemon can do it.

He only won gold in the Olympics because the team infront of him was unbelievably talented. Vancouver played above their level throughout the season, and the regression to the mean is a ***** when it happens.

[Asher]

The bandwagon just got a lot more space on it in Vancouver.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/canucks-fans-desperate-to-keep-the-faith/article2054426/

Canucks fans desperate to keep the faith

The blue jerseys became more difficult to spot, the cacophony of car horns eased and even the skies turned grey as a city’s spirits flagged as badly as the Canucks’ defence.

In Vancouver, the Canucks’ two-game trouncing by the Boston Bruins turned what had been a jubilant, even cocky mood into something considerably more sombre.

The same “social contagion” phenomenon that propelled thousands of people into the streets and fuelled the face-painting, jersey-wearing jubilance of the cup run’s early days is evident in the subdued behaviour and potential backlash if the Canucks keep up their losing ways, says clinical psychologist Joti Samra.

“If I’m at home watching television on my own and [the Canucks] lose, that’s going to have a certain effect,” Dr. Samra said on Thursday. “Now let’s say I’m in a pub with 200 people and everyone is frustrated and upset – that’s going to amplify my emotional state.”

The rioting that followed the Canucks’ Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers in the 1994 Stanley Cup finals is an extreme example of such group-think mentality, she said, characterized by the tendency of people in pumped-up, anonymous crowds to do things they typically wouldn’t do.

For the moment, Vancouver fans appear desperate to keep the faith.

At the Canucks Team store on Robson St., fans were still looking for sold-out Canucks jerseys. But, in a stark departure from a few days ago, they had lots of room to browse.

“On Saturday, 50 people were lining up outside at any given time between 11 [a.m.] and closing,” security guard Peter Lipkis said. “[Wednesday] there was no line-up, but who knows – it might be because it was mid-week, and it was an away game.”

Vincent Teo, who had been browsing for a Kesler or Burrows jersey during his lunch break, said he remains optimistic.

“Oh, I knew they were going to lose after the first goal,” said Mr. Teo, who had been at Rogers Arena with five other friends on Wednesday night. “I got up to get a hot dog right after that, and by third period, almost half of the people had already left the arena, but we’re still believing. We’ll have the home ice advantage tomorrow. We can still win this.”

In coffee shops, latte-buyers groused about Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo and the opposition’s tank-like Tim Thomas.

On the radio, former Canucks captain Trevor Linden, who headed the Canucks on their last Stanley Cup run, was asked whether and how the team could get back on track.

The upside, if there is one, for Canucks fans? Ticket prices have dropped, with Game 5 tickets dropping from a previous $1,200-$1,500 range to below $1,000.

Also, arts and theatre groups are looking forward to getting their audience back.

On Friday night, hockey fan – and Cellar Jazz club owner and musician Cory Weeds – will be playing a gig, at which he expects a smaller than usual crowd.

He books acts three months in advance and, based on recent years’ experience, had no reason to believe the Canucks would be playing in the finals, he said wryly.

Had the Canucks won Game 4 in Boston, setting the stage for a potential Stanley Cup victory in Game 5, he likely would have adjusted his plans, Mr. Weeds said. As it is, he’ll play and hope patrons show up.

On Wednesday night, he closed his club, “but you can’t close on a Friday night,” he said.

For restaurants and bars that make hockey the main event, the Canucks’ Stanley Cup run has generated “spectacular” business, said Ian Tostenson, president of the British Columbia Restaurant and Foodservices Association.

But unless the club picks up its performance, that business is expected to fizzle along with fans’ spirits, Mr. Tostenson said, adding that many fans check out early when a game’s outcome is no longer in doubt.

“If we don’t pull up our socks, I think you’ll see a lot of people go home early,” he said.

Half empty arena in the third period of a playoff game...cheering when your own goalie is pulled. Special kind of people.

And then there's this editorial: http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/article/1006100--cox-loving-these-canucks-sure-isn-t-easy?bn=1

Loving these Canucks sure isn’t easy

If they were first-graders, they’d be encouraged to try and colour inside the lines more consistently.

And let’s face it, there have been more than a few occasions this spring when the Vancouver Canucks have resembled first-graders.

The biting. The bullying. The pretending the next kid in line started it. The sticking out of the tongue at classmates and authority figures.

Yessir, these Canucks have tons of talent and lots of experienced bodies, and since October they’ve been trying to convince one and all that they have the character required to win it all.

Problem is, we’re four games into the 2011 Stanley Cup final, and the Canucks’ claims suddenly aren’t as believable as they were last week.

And they’re not a very likeable team, are they?

Question is, is this the sign of a committed, hardnosed hockey club simply willing to do whatever it takes to win, cross any line, break any rule, injure any opponent?

Or is this the Canucks’ tragic flaw, a flaw that has gradually revealed itself over the course of this post-season and now, coming off two embarrassing defeats in Boston, will ultimately block the championship that the Lower Mainland so badly wants?

As the two teams exchanged hot, sunny Boston for mild, overcast Vancouver on Thursday and the analysis from the Bruins’ two-game aggregate triumph of 12-1 continued to pile up, we were left to consider the deteriorating image of the Canucks.

They aren’t unusual in hockey. There are always villains and villainous teams, although few win championships. The Broadstreet Bullies of the ’70s were an exception if only because their willingness to break the rules came at a time when the NHL had not yet learned to enforce rules very well at all.

What about the ’07 Anaheim Ducks, another team partially constructed by Brian Burke, a team that led the NHL in fighting en route to the Cup? Sure, but there’s a difference, most hockey people would acknowledge, between a team likes to drop ’em and a team willing to pitchfork you in the groin without blinking.

Then again, Chris Pronger was on that team, wasn’t he?

In some ways, there are elements of comparison between these Canucks and the Maple Leafs of the early 2000s that featured Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Shayne Corson. In 2002, that 100-point team locked horns with the New York Islanders in one of the ugliest, filthiest series played in recent memory. The Isles chirped and challenged the Leafs and brought out the worst in Pat Quinn’s team, which won but won no fans in doing it.

The punctuation mark of that series remains Corson kicking at Eric Cairns in a vicious fight. Injuries to Mats Sundin and others slowed the Leafs that spring, but the fact was they only had to beat the Carolina Hurricanes to get to the Cup final and couldn’t do it.

Now there was a team with a tragic flaw; too many players lacking in restraint and willingness to truly sacrifice for the overall goal.

To understand why so many screw their faces at these Canucks like they just heard Sarah Palin make another historical funny, there are many points of reference to consider.

Bringing in Max Lapierre from Montreal at the trade deadline just added a trash-talking player notorious for faking injuries and fouls. As one joke goes, when Lapierre left the Canadiens, it meant Alexandre Despatie was left as the No. 1 diver in Quebec.

This is a team of Bill Barbers, and the last thing it needed for its image was another one.

Kevin Bieksa has beat up two non-fighters in the post-season, Viktor Stalberg and Patrick Marleau, and both bouts lacked any sense of honour. The head shots by Raffi Torres and Aaron Rome that left opposing players concussed at the same time the sports world in general frets about brain injuries were reckless and unnecessary.

Alex Burrows lowered the bar with his chomp on the peaceful Patrice Bergeron in Game 1, made worse by the league’s decision not to do anything about it and Lapierre’s mocking of that decision in Game 2. Burrows got into a stick-fight with Boston goalie Tim Thomas in Game 4, a fight he started.

Every game, it seems, there’s another line crossed. In Game 4, Ryan Kesler got back to his old whine-at-the-refs mode, something he’d removed from his repertoire.

Pressure and push-back does funny things, huh?

Again, the Canucks probably don’t really care how they’re remembered. They just want to win, and history will take care of itself in the Land of the Hockey Conspiracy Theory.

But if they don’t, we’ll be left to wonder if what seemed to be an inability to draw within the lines was really a tip-off that the Canucks couldn’t walk a straight one when they needed to.

[Asher]

AWW@W! Thanks ^_^

[joncha]

Even the skies turned grey? In Vancouver?!?

[Flubber]

Not been in here for a few days. Ben's contention that the "crosscheck" on Hamhuis was suspension-worthy is probably the most laugahable thing I have ever read--- No Ben I don't intend to resurrect that "debate" but I do thank for the chuckle

[Flubber]

Canucks are still in good shape despite the last two games, if they can get their heads straight.

Luongo? The Canucks pretty much have to ride him the rest of the way. They have said he will start game 5. If he wins, you cannot sit him for 6. If he loses (either playing well or stinking its irrelevant) again you have to start him in game 6. heck any true number one plays in the key games or they don't stay as a number one.

Luongo may end up being great-- he may really really suck-- the problem is that there has been far too much suck-- You never know if you are going to get a scintillating shutout or 3 weak goals from absurdly bad angles

[Ben Kenobi]

the problem is that there has been far too much suck-- You never know if you are going to get a scintillating shutout or 3 weak goals from absurdly bad angles

Where were you two games ago? Oh right, y'all were all quiet. I love the mood swings here. Everytime he does poorly, you hate on him, and yet forget just how good he's been. Look, fact is he's at present still the best goalie the Canucks ever have, playoffs or not.

[Ben Kenobi]

I don't think Lou Lou Lemon can do it.

You were so quiet after game two. I see nothing to indicate that he can't close this out.

He only won gold in the Olympics because the team infront of him was unbelievably talented. Vancouver played above their level throughout the season, and the regression to the mean is a ***** when it happens.

Complete bullcrap. You obviously don't understand regression. Regress to the mean would mean his playoff numbers would approach his season numbers. Until game 3 he had finally regressed to the mean. Now, they've come down again. That to me suggests that he's been unlucky. Just the opposite of what you are seeing here.