Round 1 Rant

[se7entse7en]

What do I think of game 7 and the first round?
1) The Sedin sisters are way too pass-happy. Shoot the freaking puck already. For crying out loud, what the f was he thinking yesterday.
2) No finish. They must have had three solid minutes of sustained pressure on Chicago at the end of the 2nd and failed to put the game away.
3) No finish. Kesler missed a WIDE OPEN NET in the dying minutes of the 3rd period. No finish. Yes, he did other great things in the series, but... FINISH IT.
4) Luongo the Bobble-Glove Master. Not impressed with his play in these playoffs. I know Schneider let in two brutal goals in game 6, but even still, he looked WAY better than Luongo in net.
5) The entire team needs to work on the shoot-out. The players need to learn how to score, and the goalies (Luongo in particular) need to learn how to stop the puck. Seriously, that was bad. I would have put $100 bucks on Burrows missing the penalty shot yesterday... and I would have won.
6) The series was almost lost way back in game 3. Yes, the Canucks won that game, but they gave up two two goal leads allowing the Hawks to come within one. Before then the hawks were down and out. They were finished. They were demoralized. The series was all but won, but then instead of putting the game away, the Canucks allowed them to rally back... and then they dominated the next two games. Game 3 was the turning point.
7) Chicago was the 8th place team... but after Game 3, they definitely were not playing like the 8th place team.

I think (hope) Nashville will go down easier, but I also hope that Vigneault does a better job managing his goalies the rest of the way. Seriously... Luongo gets lit up in game 4. Game 5 comes around and he's still getting lit up like a Christmas tree (.66 save percentage? wth??), but he doesn't pull him until the score is 4-0 before even the halfway mark in the game? Sure, his defense were not doing him any favors, but this is playoff hockey... You have to find a way to stop the puck!! Luongo lost game 4. Vigneault lost game 5. Cory Schneider kept them in it in game 6. 'Them' being both the Canucks and the Hawks... but at least he gave his team a fighting chance. The game was lost in OT when Bobble-glove Luongo went down after the first shot (as he seems to be doing a lot of lately) and gave the Hawks a wide open net to shoot into.

Can the Canucks get the cup? Yeah, I think so, but the first line needs to show up and they need more consistant goaltending.

I think I'm in a bad mood because of my knee.

[jeSteR]

Actually, I thought that the Sedins did play well in Game 7. (Except that Hank really did need to shoot or deke instead of make that horrible pass).

They backchecked like mad, they had possession of the puck for a huge majority of the time and they really did wear out Chicago's best defensive pair and line so that free'd up Kes and Burr to shine.

They just weren't built to rack up points on a team like Chicago or San Jose. Nashville and Detroit on the otherhand, you'll see the points come.

Lou..... IMHO most overated goalie around still

[joel]

the nucks tighten up on the gap control a lot more late in game 6 and in game 7. but to let the chicago back in it with a short handed goal with only 2 minutes to go.

i agree with Shaun, the team needs to learn to finish off opponents. if they have a team on the ropes they need to learn to put them away and not give them the chance to get back into it.

i still feel like this team lacks a sense of heart/emotion... like toews game tying goal (holding off 2 dmen)... that was all heart. pure determination. even keith in game 4 you could see the emotion on his sleeve on that game and it helped lift them in that game. too me it seemed like chicago wanted that series more. there's something to be said about being business-like in a game and staying focused and disciplined i supposed... but to me its just more compelling seeing a team that just so desperately wants it and is willing to lay it all on the line.

[Duncan]

All i know is that the sedins' game isn't built for the playoffs... there's not enough time and space for them to get their cycle game going. You see all the goals that daniel scored, there wasn't a single "Sedin-esque" goal... still, they did look a little better in game 7... but they need another gear to get it going against nashville.

Lou needs to set his mind straight now and wall up the net. I hope they don't get too high on this win and blow game 1 tomorrow, although i think it'd be good for the canucks to blow game 1 to wake them up for the rest of the series.

I think the team has heart and emotion, but just not in the form the general public want to see from their "captain". You could easily point to the wings and say they lack heart and emotion from their leaders too. Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, etc. You could say that those guys are plenty even keel and they have that workman attitude w/o the emotions on the sleeves either. They've done it year after year and the canucks are modeled after them, not the hawks. You can build a team in many different ways, and many different teams win in many more different ways. The past cup winners were: Hawks, Pens, Wings, Ducks, Canes, Lightning, Devils, Wings, Avs, Devils. All different leaders, all different type teams, all winners. All i know is that the wings won the cup 4 time in 11 years, and the hawks won their first cup in 50 years and they just got ousted in the first round by a team that "can't finish" or "lacks emotion"... I think i like our chances with the team we have now. Call me a homer, but the playoffs are still on in Vancouver, and the hawks are planning their rounds in the links...

[joel]

i still think about the 94 nucks playoff run. that was a great playoff run. maybe it was b/c they were the underdogs all the way... or maybe that team had more heart... just hasn't seemed the same ever since...

as much as I believe this is the best team vancouver has put together in their history... I just don't seem that excited that they barely got past the 1st round after dominating in the regular season. It's still the first round so things may change yet... it's possible that chicago may be their toughest competition they may have to face this post season and they might breeze through the next 3 rounds... that'll be a bit anticlimatic...