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lay it on the line

Posted by cris on 8 May 2010, 3:42 pm

it’s been tough lately to be a canucks fan, but the road just got added a few extra bumps. the canucks have simply melted like the snow on cypress mountain during the olympics during round 2. game one of the second round seems like a distant memory. it seems like a small mistake of the blackhawks, rather than a huge showing by the vancouver hockey club. staring game two, the canucks fell apart. the bandwagon fans have since fell off and have turned into haters

the games have slowly gotten away from the canucks, and with every second their season is slowly coming to a very early end. inconsistent officiating in the playoffs has proven once again that the nhl has no desire for canadian teams to do well. however, the canucks are not making their life easier. while a good portion of the penalties taken are questionable, there is no excuse for not taking advantage of the power-plays they did obtain. their poor showing in goals for is simply horrible. they got away from their game and not are facing a huge climb back into this series.

what has gone wrong? well, they simply thought they can out hit chicago. however, that has not been their game plan the entire year. adaptation to a series is huge in the playoffs, and the team that can adapt faster will move on. the canucks have tried to adapt, but they are simply not playing smart. the ‘play from whistle to whistle’ exist for a reason in hockey. they are throwing punches at the hawks at the wrong times, and they are being called for them. to add insult to injury, the hawks are putting the puck in the net with every powerplay chance. something the kings did in the first round against the canucks.

to advance, they need to simplify their game. take the hits, if they are there. finish the checks, and stop the retaliation. stop the extra activities after the whistle. improve their penalty kill and take advantage of their chances on the powerplay. all sounds simple right? however, these are all things the canucks have done quite well this whole season. take the game back to basics, add a player in front of niemi and put the pucks on net. niemi has not been tested in the last two games. put more pucks on net, from everywhere and get players there to pick up the rebounds. take the series one a game-by-game basis, and simplify it. until the fourth loss is in the books…i still believe they can turn it around.

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another cinderella story?

Posted by cris on 18 April 2010, 10:42 pm

with the 2010 nhl playoffs in full swing, there’s hockey everywhere (well…if you’re in canada that is). games over games, goals after goals, and a surprising increase of over-time games. speaking of surprises, there’s quite a few in this year’s playoffs. a minor surprise is that all 8 series were tied at 1 game a piece after the first two games. this most likely is one of the side-effects of a ‘salary-cap’ era in nhl. have to admit it, but this is making the league more balanced and thus more difficult.

another surprise occurred prior to the playoffs kicking off. 7 out of 8 teams in the west had 100+ points. on one side, definitely balance…but for those points to be earned some teams had to lose them. so although there seems to be somewhat of a balance at the top, there’s quite a discrepancy between the top 10 teams in the western conference and the other 5. anyhow, moving along as there’s another bigger surprise in the making. one might even call it a cinderella story.

no, it’s not the montreal canadiens. even thought they beat the president’s trophy winning team in the first game of their series. they also surrendered a 4-1 lead to lose the game only 19 seconds into over-time. it’s not the phoenix coyotes, even though they’re currently leading the series 2-1 after a win in game 3. their qualification into post-season may have surprised some, but not really. their team is a nice combination of older experienced players with a younger touch. however, the pieces have been into place for a few years…it just took a more experienced coach to polish that diamond in the rough. it’s also not the los angeles kings. yes, their stars are young, but the team is held together by stanley cup winning players. while the team is counting on a young goalie, the leaders of the team are quite experience when it comes to the playoffs. it’s also not the vancouver canucks. sure they have the point leader for this season, but the team has been put together to be a force in the playoffs.

the cinderella story in the making are the colorado avalanche. this team was supposed to fight for the first draft pick in june, not for the second round of the playoffs. they barely made into the playoffs with 95 points (good enough for 5th place…only if they were in the eastern conference). the team is based on 19 and 20 year olds that are playing rolls that usually will be suited for more experienced players. their no.1 goalie was thought to be a back-up goalie back in september. their coach…was a nhl playoff virgin a week ago. to make things ever harder…their first round match-up are the perennial playoff under-achievers winners of the western conference, san jose sharks. the key to the series…perennial playoff under-achievers.

after game three, where colorado showed signs of another northwestern division team (edmonton oilers of 2006), the seed of doubt is finally starting to grow roots for the sharks. the sharks threw everything at anderson (the colorado goalie) in the first three games. yet, the avalanche are leading the best of 7 series by 2-1. it got so frustrating in game three that dan boyle scored on his own net, so they won’t be ‘shut-out’ in the game. but with all laughs aside, anderson is proving to handle every shot. the avalanche are playing a defense first game (it’s as if mourinho is coaching them). they shoot scarcely, they have a hot-hot goalie, and make sure to keep the game close going into the final minutes of the game. all the players are buying into what the coach is preaching, and the san jose sharks are starting to show frustration. if this keeps up in game four, the series could be over by game 5.

however, the story may not be all due to the avalanche, but also due to the lack of proper managment/coaching from san jose. the team is lead by shaky and fail under-pressure joe thorton, ex-fluke-captain marleau and cry-baby always wanting a trade heatley. the minute leading player of the team is a 40 year old defence-man. blake is a great player, but he’s 40. the goalie got raped by canada in the olympics for 7 goals…and never recovered. how this team manages to win the conference…and never show up in the playoffs will always ‘remain a mystery’. they play great as long as there is no pressure on them to deliver. as soon as the playoffs hit…the sharks drown.

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enough already

Posted by cris on 1 March 2010, 8:17 pm

…enough of crosby already! yes, you’ve heard me, enough of him already. i am not doubting his talent, his determination and his professionalism. the guy is a very very good hockey player, but he’s not the greatest and he will never be. there was this guy named gretzky and there is this russian kid named ovechkin. the arguments that crosby won more at a younger age than gretzky is a weak argument. why? simply put gretzky made the players around him great, crosby is the opposite. without malkin, stall and fleury he would have never won the stanley cup by this point. malkin had an incredible season, and fleury was great when he needed to be. stall was great throughout the season. crosby, just needed to play his game.

ever since the overtime goal everyone is praising crosby. all of a sudden crosby had a great tournament. has anyone watch the entire hockey portion? yes he scored a very important goal. guess what? if toews, or stall, or anyone else on this star-heavy roster would have been in that position they probably would have scored. crosby never showed up for the olympics. his passing was off. his puck handling was horrible. for at least half the games he was less than mediocre. and while some might argue big players show up for big games…he never showed up. he got a lucky bounce of the ref, and then shot the puck. miller made a mistake. his first mistake in the olympics…and all of a sudden crosby is reaching legendary status. it’s undeserved at this point. the other olimpic medalists are more deserving of some mediatization. there were 13 other gold medals in the last two weeks. thh 14th, was won by stall, nash, getzlaf and the rest of the team. he missed a clear break-away in the game. he had the game on the stick, and when the pressure was on him he lost the puck. so…enough of crosby…let’s give the other athletes that represented canada a bit more time on tv.

i personally am growing sick of this already. hockey is canada’s game, but last i checked so is being humble. at this point i’d rather hear about bilodeau or rochette. i’d rather the sports channels stop hyping up crosby and promote the other sports that brought some gold medals. crosby did nothing special in the last two weeks, there are others that did. out of 14 medals, only 2 were hockey. this record would have never happened if in the other 16 days the canadian athletes did not put on their best show.

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