In a game seven that was more exciting to watch than the 4-0 score indicates the Boston Bruins brought the haughty Canucks back down to earth and into off-season depression...and rioting - more on that later. PuckDaddy's got the game covered, including some great video coverage so read that and then this one and come on back here.
Images that will give me pleasure for a lifetime:
- Tim Thomas doing his winning goalie ritual of banging each post of the goal with his stick before he succumbed to being mobbed by his team mates.
- The smile on Tim Thomas's face when he finally took his mask off.
- Mark Recchi, 43 years old and playing in his last season, receiving the Stanley Cup first from captain Chara.
- Nathan Horton pouring water from Boston onto Vancouver's ice before the game.
- Nathan Horton - able to be with his team for game seven, his uniform and skates hanging in the locker room for good luck.
- Top-Notch Officiating through this entire series. Best refs in an NHL series - EVER.
- The Canucks, every last one of them, being called for diving, unsportsmanlike conduct and getting suspended - as they should have been.
- Okay, Kesler especially, being called for diving...and the Sedins...and Burrows...
- Roberto Luongo choking BIG TIME in yet another important series of games.
- Luongo and Kesler and Burrows crying.
Of all the comments I've read in the dozens of articles regarding the difference between Boston and Vancouver this one sticks with me: Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.
And The All-Time Loser Award Goes To - The Vancouver Canucks and Their Fans!
For a team that dominated the league with superior play for almost the entire regular season the Canucks were Hell-Bent on degrading themselves, the game and their legions of fans once the post season started. It was like watching a train wreck and you just couldn't look away as the disaster unfolded right before you. It's too bad they didn't shoot themselves in the foot more seriously just one round prior to making it to the Cup Final. Luongo didn't just start to choke in the Cup Final - he kinda has a history of it and had been giving up beach ball goals in the previous series. Burrows, Kesler, Bieska, Torres, LaPierre, Rome - all seemed to be in some kind of competition for dirty hits and diving: 263 PIMS between them. Heck, even the Sedins combined for 48 PIMS. The twins should have spent their energy actually trying to put the puck in the net during the playoffs. I never thought I'd live to see the day where another NHL team would make the Flyers look like angels on ice. And while I take comfort in knowing an arch rival of my Wild is suffering great embarrassment I have to temper it with the knowledge that the Canucks still got a lot further than my Wild did this season...or the last three seasons for that matter.
The sport I love so much deserved a much better lasting impression than what was shown around the world Wednesday night: riots, fights, looting and fires in the losing team's city. Vancouver - way to represent the sport...and your team and your fan's intelligence levels. I don't want to hear how it was just a handful of hooligans who were involved. The live tv shots, hundreds of cell phone pictures and videos on youtube don't lie. There were thousands and thousands of idiots involved in the trashing of Vancouver. You just had to know there was a reason why the rest of Canada was never behind Vancouver in the playoffs. Nobody likes to associate with the felons of the family. The league should pretty much adopt the same approach.
I'll be back later to respond to the announcement of Mike Yeo being named the new Head Coach for the Wild. I need some time to stop the screaming in my head...oh wait, that's me making all that noise out loud. Good thing I live alone.
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