Raonic Bows Out

It's part of the tennis world that's tough to stomach sometimes, more so when it's juxtaposed against the injuries and agonies of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

For the playoffs, NHLers will endure pretty much anything and everything. "It's just teeth," said Martin St. Louis of the Lightning in the first round when asked how he managed to recover so quickly and play.

Tennis, however, often sees players bow out of tournament play for a variety of reasons, and only occasionally it seems to be serious or painful injuries that simply prevent them from continuing.

Such was the intriguing case today for Canada's Milos Raonic, now ranked No. 27 in the world, in his semifinal match at the ATP event in Estoril, Portugal against Spain's Fernando Verdasco. When he went on court in the early evening, it was actually the 20-year-old Raonic's third warmup of the day. His match the previous day against Gilles Simon of France had been halted by darkness in the first set, and when they resumed early Saturday, it was briefly stopped by rain.

Raonic got past the No. 22 ranked Simon to face Verdasco, who also had to play his second match of the day. On serve at 3-2 for Verdasco, Raonic asked for the ATP trainer and appeared to get a vigorous shoulder/back massage to loosen him up.

The match resumed, and at 5-4 Verdasco, Raonic faced a break point on his serve that would cost him the first set if he lost it. He did, and then walked over to the umpire and packed it in for the day.

He looked fine, was serving big and seemingly moving well, not bleeding or limping or cramping or favouring his shoulder. Perhaps it was an old injury he didn't want to irritate, or perhaps this just wasn't a big enough event - one of three ATP tourneys this week - for him to risk something that just wasn't feeling right.

So he retired, allowing Verdasco a pass through to the final against Juan Martin del Potro.

As Raonic left the court, he heard it from more than a few fans in the non-sellout crowd who were disappointed that instead of receiving at least one more set of tennis entertainment the match was over.

Could Raonic have played on? Again, there was no obvious sign of physical distress, but he did miss time earlier this season with a shoulder problem. Still,if this was a Grand Slam event, you have to guess he would have tried to play through the injury. Still, just getting through to the semifinals and past a tough veteran like Simon will likely see Raonic's ranking improve next week.

His retirement from the Verdasco match, meanwhile, is what you see on a regular basis in the tennis world. It's a rip-off for the fans and bad for competition, but by the same token, the physical demands of the players on a tour that refuses to limit itself to a logical number of tournaments is heavy. Players have to watch out for themselves because the tour doesn't. It just wants them to play as often as humanly possible.

So players have to gauge what events matter the most, and when they have to conserve themselves and protect themselves against injury that would knock them out of action for weeks or longer.

But it's still disappointing when you see it happen.

 

 

And We Will Have A New Champion

VANCOUVER--And a city, a province, can breathe again. For a few days, anyway.

Soon, Vancouver's Canucks will turn their attention to the Nashville Predators, and try very, very hard to convince themselves that they didn't win the Stanley Cup Tuesday night at Rogers Arena.

It just felt like it.

It just felt like it after Alex Burrows, seemingly torn between being hero or goat all night long, jumped to grab a misplayed clearing attempt by Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Chris Campoli in the sixth minute of overtime, dropped the puck in front of his skates and raced to the middle of the Chicago zone in front of netminder Corey Crawford.

The puck was rolling, ideally so in Burrows' mind.

"When the puck is rolling like that, it's tough for any goalie to pick it up. It dips, it changes directions," said Burrows. "If he stops it, it's because it hits him."

It didn't. Instead, the spinning puck flew past the upper right arm of Crawford to give Vancouver a 2-1 triumph on the eighth consecutive night of Stanley Cup playoffs overtime action, ending the Chicago goaltender's brilliant night and the one-year championship reign of the Blackhawks. This was a champion torn in half by the demands of the six-year-old NHL salary cap system, and it was thus symbolic, perhaps, that Campoli and Crawford, neither of whom was on the team that beat Philly in six last June, were victimized on the goal that killed the champs.

Not that either was to blame, necessarily, but having to replace so many parts was too much for the Hawks to overcome. Still, they went out on their collective shield, fighting back from a 3-0 series deficit to force Tuesday's savagely beautiful Game 7 clash.

"Who knows how far we could have gone if we had won this game," said a despondent but defiant Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, who nearly saved the Hawks with an extraordinary shorthanded goal in the dying minutes of regulation.

"We have a lot to be proud of. This was a learning experience. But as I said before, (Vancouver) was a beatable team, they have holes. . . .and we know what we have in this locker room. Putting ourselves three games to none just made it too tough."

While technically only a first round series, this was one built over three years and made excruciatingly dramatic by the refusal of the Hawks to roll over and die. They hammered the Canucks in Games 4 and 5, won Game 6 in overtime on rookie Ben Smith's goal and turned what at first appeared to be an easy series victory for the Presidents Trophy-winning Canucks into a terrific scrap.

In the end, the goaltending gamble of Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault to start backup Cory Schneider in Game 6 and then return his team's fate to the pads of Vezina Trophy nominee Roberto Luongo for Game 7 worked perfectly. It changed the narrative of the series, altered the loosey-goosey manner in which the NHL's best defensive team had played in the fourth and fifth games and ultimately served notice to Luongo that he needed to perform to stay in the crease.

Luongo did that with 31 saves, although he was actually outshone by Crawford, and in so doing Luongo restored the faith of Vancouver fans in his ability just one year after backstopping the Canadian Olympic team to a gold medal on the same ice surface.

"This one may be better than the Olympics," he said with a wide smile.

Burrows, meanwhile, scored Vancouver's first goal, missed a third period penalty shot, was one of the Canucks who failed to stop Toews on his shorthanded goal at 18:04 of the third and then took an offensive zone holding penalty just 24 seconds into OT.

After Vancouver GM Mike Gillis had ripped the league's officials the day before for allegedly favouring the Hawks in the series, it seemed like just desserts for such obvious gamesmanship. But the Canucks killed the penalty brilliantly, just as they had with a Jannik Hansen tripping penalty earlier, and both saved Burrows from being the goat and gave him the chance to be the hero.

Campoli, deep in his team's own zone, tried to flip the puck in the air over Burrows and into neutral ice. But he partially flubbed the attempt, allowing Burrows to intercept and fire Vancouver's 38th shot of the night.

"I didn't get a clear read on it," said Crawford of the OT winner. Asked if it felt good to have played so well in a Game 7 situation as a rookie, he said: "It would have felt great if we had won."

Burrows said he was impressed by the way his team responded after Toews scored late to turn a victory party into an overtime nail-biter.

"We didn't feel good about it," he said. "But it would have been easy for us to fold. It would have been an easy excuse to quit. But we regrouped."

Defeat, of course, would have produced an endless off-season in Vancouver, probably cost Vigneault his job and maybe pushed Luongo out the door. Instead, a second round joust with the Predators awaits after Nashville eliminated Anaheim in the first round.

B.C boy Shea Weber will lead the Preds into Vancouver, and the matchup will feature two Vezina finalists in Luongo and Pekka Rinne of Nashville.

"For us, it's a matter of using this as a starting point," said Vigneault. "We didn't get into the playoffs just to get by one round. But the Stanley Cup champions sure pushed us to the limit."

Both teams made two lineup changes for the game, one each forced by injury. Vancouver blueliner Sami Salo couldn't go, so Keith Ballard went in for the big Finn after being a healthy scratch for two games. Grinder Tanner Glass was inserted for rookie centre Cody Hodgson.

For Chicago, left winger Bryan Bickell couldn't play because of a wrist problem, and head coach Joel Quenneville took out enforcer John Scott, intriguing in that the Hawks hadn't lost since Scott had gone in the wake of the controversial Raffi Torres hit on Brent Seabrook in Game 3. Lineup additions for the champs were youngster Marcus Kruger and Fernando Pisani, the former Oiler playoff hero.

Ballard played very well, while neither Kruger nor Pisani was able to adequately compensate for the loss of the big, grinding Bickell.

The Canucks got precisely the start they wanted, with Burrows scoring his second in two games at 2:43 of the first period. Chicago got caught on a line change, allowing Mason Raymond to redirect a short pass to a speeding Ryan Kesler just outside the Hawk blueline.

Kesler feinted inside, then wheeled to the outside and around 2010 Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith. Eschewing the shot, he backhanded a perfect pass across the goalmouth to Burrows, who slammed it into the open side for the only goal of the first.

The Hawks outshot Vancouver 12-8 in the period, and after that early Canuck push, the visitors were the better team for the rest of the period and killed off a chintzy cross-checking call on Seabrook, as well.

Partway through the second the Hawks got their first power play of the night on a tripping call on Hansen, but the Vancouver penalty kill was brilliant, generating two shots to none for the visitors. After that, the home team dominated the final eight minutes, twice bottling Chicago in its own end for extended periods and forcing Crawford to make a variety of excellent saves.

The Canucks also got a break partway through the period on a quick whistle when Luongo appeared to freeze the puck off a Keith shot, but as he fell backwards the puck came loose and bounced into the net behind him.

Over two periods, the Canucks built a 23-18 shots advantage.

It looked like they might take that 1-0 margin to victory, but several missed golden Canuck scoring chances and Crawford's brilliant goaltending kept the defending champions in the game. Just 21 seconds into the third, Burrows was awarded a penalty shot after being hauled down by Keith on a clean breakaway on fresh ice, but the Vancouver winger was stoned by Crawford on a five-hole attempt.

With eight minutes gone in the third, Henrik Sedin and Burrows found themselves in a two-on-none situation deep in the Chicago zone, but Sedin inexplicably passed up the chance from a perfect shooting position and passed off to Burrows, who fumbled the puck away into Crawford.

Then, with five minutes left in regulation, Crawford make three consecutive stops, first on Chris Higgins, then Burrows, then Kesler, who couldn't lift the puck over the fallen Hawks goaltender.

Just over a minute later, Keith found himself chasing Burrows on a breakaway yet again, and was forced to hook him to give the Canucks a late power play. But on an incredible effort by Toews, the Chicago captain fought off Burrows and Dan Hamhuis trying to haul him to the ice and got the puck to the crease when Marian Hossa swiped at it.

Luongo made that stop, but Toews, on his knees, chopped the loose puck into the Vancouver net to send the game to OT.

It was almost enough to save the champs, but not quite. And it allowed this Canadian city to breathe again, at least until the next drama begins to unfold.

 

 

 

 

History in the Making II?

Surely, it's not possible.

Not two years in a row. Not to these Vancouver Canucks.

Well, maybe it is possible. But my oh my, if the Canucks choke away this entire Western Conference series to the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, it would be a collapse that would dwarf last year's Eastern Conference series in which the Boston Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead and lost to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Why? Well, because Vancouver was the NHL's best team during the regular season, and because in the first 2 1/2 games of this series they seemed to make a convincing statement that their historic problems with the Hawks were all a thing of the past.

But at 12:14 of the second period of Game 3, with the Canucks leading 2-1, it all changed. It all changed apparently when Raffi Torres blindsided Chicago blueliner Brent Seabrook with a dirty head shot that was penalized (interference) and should have been a suspendable offence. The NHL, however, in its infinite wisdom, produced a dubious legislative loophole for Torres, a serial headhunter, and that glaring injustice seems to have produced a purpose for the Hawks.

Since Torres' hit, they've outscored the Canucks 13-3 and routed them in Games 4 and 5, setting up a highly emotional Game 6 at the United Centre on Sunday with the Hawks, in the words of captain Jonathon Toews, having demonstrated quite vividly that the Canucks aren't nearly as good a team as they've been given credit for.

The degree of Chicago dominance in the past two games is what has been really stunning. The champs haven't squeaked out a couple of wins. They've run roughshod over the Canucks, and almost toyed with Vancouver Thursday night in an easy 5-0 romp.

Vancouver starting goalie Roberto Luongo was excellent in Game 1, mediocre in Game 2, solid in Game 3 and now dreadful in Games 4 and 5, allowing 10 goals on the last 40 shots he has faced. He was yanked in front of his home crowd in Game 5, and head coach Alain Vigneault has a decision to make as to whether to give youngster Cory Schneider a shot in Game 6.

It would be a big gamble, and it appears Vigneault won't give it more than a moment's consideration. After Game 5, he told the press that Luongo would start Game 6, and Luongo himself showed enormous class by not hiding from the tough questions after the ugly loss.

That said, the United Centre has been Luongo's personal House of Horrors, and were he to fumble away the sixth game, it would really put the Canucks in a bind for Game 7 on home ice. But if Schneider were to start Game 6, Vigneault could always come back with Luongo if necessary for Game 7.

While the Torres hit seems to have produced an emotional rallying cry for the Hawks, the return of David Bolland to bother the Sedins has been a big factor in the past two games, as has the brilliant play of 2010 Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith, unfazed by the absence of his concussed partner, Seabrook.

Both Daniel and Henrik Sedin were silent in Game 5. Meanwhile, neither Ryan Kesler nor Alex Burrows has scored in the series, and the Chicago power play has torn Vancouver's penalty killing brigade to shreds. The Hawks killed off an early minor to Brian Campbell in Game 5 and then quickly built a 3-0 lead that would be more than enough.

Vancouver seemed shellshocked from that point onwards, and at the bare minimum, they've got to recapture some sense of passion and energy before Game 6 if they want to avoid returning home for what would be a pressure cooker in Vancouver.

It was less than two weeks ago that the Hawks lost to Detroit and needed a Minnesota upset over Dallas on the final day of the season just to get into the Stanley Cup tournament. For the first two games against Vancouver, they seemed almost embarrassed to have been caught backing into the post-season, but in Games 4 and 5 they've looked more like champions and less like a team that had half of its roster deleted through salary cap considerations in the summer. Toews leadership has been a beacon for the rest of the Hawks.

After three games, it seemed nearly certain the Chicago season was over. But they've started down a remarkable comeback trail, or at least one that will be remarkable if it includes two more wins. Philly did it last year, a playoff season in which Montreal also fought back from a 3-1 deficit to upset Washington. This spring, the Bruins have battled their way back into their series with the Habs after losing the first two games on home ice, and now, lo and behold, the Hawks have turned the Lower Mainland into a trembling landscape of doubt.

Could the Torres hit somehow have done this much damage to his own team by offending and thus awakening the champions?

Something certainly changed in this series, and dramatically so. If the Canucks can't find a way to change it back again, it will be a B.C. sporting catastrophe that will be talked about for decades.

 

 

 

 

So That's That

There's still time for a Hail Mary pass.

Then again, 99 per cent of Hail Mary passes aren't completed.

So while Gary Bettman and Matthew Hulsizer could come up with some 11th hour deal to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix - and clearly, that's still what Bettman wants - it seems unlikely.

But when will we know? That's not clear either.

What we do know is that the Coyotes season ended Wednesday night in the desert, with a 6-3 loss to Detroit putting Phoenix out in four straight games, a result Coyotes captain Shane Doan called embarrassing. Last year, after all, the Coyotes were able to extend Detroit to seven games.

A 3-3 tie in the third was broken open by a bad angle goal by Dan Cleary past Ilya Bryzgalov to put an end to a wild night of NHL post-season action that featured a pair of double OT games and, of course, possibly the last game ever played by this franchise, at least, in Arizona.

Tears were shed in the crowd at Jobing.com Arena, and the fans chanted "Thank You Coyotes," but it was all rather empty given the tepid support the team has received in recent years. That a team that was heisted out of Winnipeg 15 years ago and never won a playoff series as the Coyotes may be ripped out of the desert and sent right back north to Manitoba is hardly an unfair event. In some ways, it's poetic justice.

In various media interviews on Wednesday, a combative Bettman sought to assure the hockey world that he and Hulsizer were still committed to saving the Coyotes for the City of Glendale, but at the same time Bettman offered no guarantees and gave no details. He certainly didn't deny that talks were already well along to send the Phoenix franchise back to Winnipeg.

But really, the NHL has done anything but give straight answers since taking over the franchise in late 2009, as one prospective owner after another has shown up, then faded away. Bettman now wants to make the Goldwater Institute the bad guy for holding up the public bonds issue, but this is a sale arrangement to Hulsizer that stinks to high heaven, a cooked up transaction in which Glendale quite probably gets hosed again.

Unless somebody, Hulsizer or somebody else, wants to buy the Coyotes with their own money and make a private investment in this team that doesn't require hundreds of milliions of taxpayer dollars, they need to let this team go and let Glendale get on with the process of digging itself out of the hole in which it placed itself by doing business with former owner Steve Ellman in the first place.

Bettman, meanwhile, has a tricky political wire to walk now. If this team ends up in Winnipeg he wants to be seen as champion of that effort, not as the executive who did everything to make sure it didn't happen. Pretending that a team on life support has a fabulous future in Arizona may end up being a costly process for the NHL commissioner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never A Shortage of Perps

So Raffi Torres got off scott-free. Will the same apply to Chris Kunitz and Steve Downie?

Unlikely, because while Torres didn't even get a lecture, both Kunitz and Downie have hearings with NHL authorities Tuesday morning after their actions in a nasty Game 3 encounter between Kunitz's Pittsburgh Penguins and Downie's Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night. You'd think both Kunitz and Downie would be facing suspensions.

But with the NHL, you just never know, do you?

Kunitz delivered a dirty elbow to the back of the head of Simon Gagne, and given similar cheap shots delivered recently by Dany Heatley and Brad Marchand, a two-game suspension seems likely.

But with the NHL, you just never know.

Downie, meanwhile, could really be in trouble. He raced down the ice, jumped and drove his shoulder into the chest/head area of Pittsburgh's Ben Lovejoy behind the Pittsburgh net. He was going to get a two-minute penalty, but the Pens went down the ice and scored.

What's interesting, however, is that four years ago while with the Philadelphia Flyers, Downie was suspended 20 games by the NHL for a flying shoulder to the head of Ottawa's Dean McAmmond. At the time, it was the fourth longest suspension in NHL history.

So that makes him a repeat offender, and the the hit on Lovejoy wasn't as reckless as that on McAmmond, but it was in the same ballpark. Then again, Monday's revelation that there is a "hitting zone" behind the nets in which head shots are apparently okay could work in Downie's favour.

But if Colin Campbell gave Downie 20 games before, what in the world does he give him this time? Maybe 21 games? Maybe one game?

With the NHL, you just never, ever know.

You've Just Gotta Marvel At The Circus

I'm in a good mood, so let's look for the silver lining.

And that would be that with Raffi Torres' Houdini-like escape from all sensible laws of hockey justice, there won't be a fan in Vancouver today buying into any of the silly conspiracy theories that have in the past circulated this time of year about the NHL wanting Chicago to beat the Canucks or how Mike Murphy wants the Kings to win or any nonsense like that.

See. Don't you feel better already?

Actually, what was really heartening about the reaction to the Torres' patently illegal hit and rather obvious violation of the NHL's head shot rule - obvious to everyone but the NHL, that is - was the large number of Vancouver fans who emailed or tweeted and said while they support their team, they felt Torres should receive a significant suspension for his cheap shot on Brent Seabrook.

Thank you, Vancouver!

Now, to the meat of the NHL's decision, or non-decision, or whatever this can be termed, since there's no official word from the league on why Torres will be out headhuntin' as usual for Game 4 of the Chicago-Vancouver series.

In a ruling eerily reminiscent of the 1999 Brett Hull toe-in-the-crease-but-it's-okay ruling, the league apparently dug deep into its files of memos and off-the-cuff remarks and came up with a magical reason to keep Torres skating. Hull, you remember, was in the crease on his Cup-winning goal against Buffalo after a season in which dozens of goals hadn't been allowed for that very reason. But after the television cameras invaded the ice and bedlam ensued, the NHL decided it couldn't even review the goal and instead held the funniest press conference of all time in which Bryan Lewis produced a magical memo detailing a "continuous possession" rule that made the Hull goal a good one.

In the Torres-Seabrook case, the ruling is apparently that because the hit took place behind the Chicago net, the rules that usually apply on illegal hits didn't apply, that this is a special hitting zone in which otherwise illegal play is okay. League disciplinarian Colin Campbell took the unusual step of releasing an explanation of why Torres wasn't suspended in which he said that there was never any intention to make Rule 48 - the blindside head shot rule - apply to hits involving forecheckers hitting defencemen behind the net.

"We distributed a video to all players and teams that showed a similar hit on a defenceman by an attacking forward coming from the opposite direction behind the net and stated this is a 'legal play,'" he said in the release.

Now, the Torres/hitting zone ruling might come as a bit of a surprise to Jarret Stoll given that he was given a one-game suspension last week for hitting San Jose's Ian White into the glass behind the net. So the "hitting zone" - "separate head from body zone?" - area apparently doesn't extend all the way from the goal line to the glass, but just to some ill-defined area immediately behind the net.

Having been now to three of four GMs meetings and NHL board of governors meetings at which head shots and concussions were extensively discussed, I can assure you I've never, EVER heard of any special rules for hits behind the net. Several NHL managers were mystified about this concept when contacted.

Of course, one of the more celebrated incidents that started the current head shot debate came in the OHL two seasons ago when Mike Liambas fractured the skull of Kitchener's Ben Fanelli with a hit into the end glass behind the net.

Liambas was booted out of the league for good for that hit. No special hitting zone area was in play. But that was the OHL.

Where this special NHL understanding or ruling - another magic memo! - came from is anyone's guess. Torres' hit was from the blindside, Seabrook was unsuspecting and vulnerable, it was a shoulder to the head, and it was of the kind that GM after GM argued at the most recent winter meetings that the "league just doesn't need." Totally gratuitous, nothing to do with pursuing the puck, and dangerous.

It was Matt Cooke on Marc Savard - the same hit - except that it took place in a different part of the ice surface.

Seabrook's error, one supposes, is that his skull didn't crack, and that he wasn't carted off on a stretcher.

Under this interpretation of the NHL rules, apparently anything goes back of the cage. it's the equivalent of a dark alley. Don't want to get mugged? Don't go in there.

That's fine, I suppose, but shouldn't it have come up before? it's weird. The NHL creates the rules, then itself seems to search for loopholes and reasons not to enforce the very rules it created.

On one hand, the Torres ruling is kind of funny. It's like the circus; one can only marvel at the acts.

It's truly amazing how many times this league can make itself look utterly ridiculous, promising to crack down on something and then doing the opposite. There's no point being particularly bothered about it; they're the ones hurting themselves. It's similar to why I can't muster any sympathy for those who suffered facial injuries that would have been easily preventable if they'd only had the common sense to wear a visor.

But it's also kind of sad. The league's GMs and governors, in their desperation to attract the UFC-minded while fighting terrible attendance problems throughout the league, are dancing as fast as they can, trying to allow some head hits while outlawing others with rules few can articulate or understand. So confusion reigns.

Eventually, as in the OHL, all hits to the head in the NHL will be illegal. But these guys will keep dancing this dance as long as possible, forcing Colin Campbell to apply these bizarre and convoluted rules that make little or no sense. The NHL rulebook expands and expands, and while doing so makes less and less sense.

Along the way, as was the case before the lockout, those who run the league are determined to protect the lowest common denominator, the Raffi Torres players of the league, and ignore the safety concerns of the talented players, the Brent Seabrook types.

But let's end on another nice note, another silver lining.

At least Cooke won't feel alone anymore. In Torres, he's got a buddy, somebody who plays the game exactly the same way. And Cooke could be back in action next week if the Penguins advance to the next round.

 

A Special Category of Player

Raffi Torres, meet Trevor Gillies. Two player who don't get the message no matter if its delivered in CAPITAL LETTERS with the speakers turned up to 11.

I mean, really. We established that Gillies wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer during the season with his shenanigans.

But how about Torres, who is at least a real hockey player?

No sooner did the Vancouver forward return on Sunday night from a four-game suspension for his head shot on Jordan Eberle of the Oilers than he took a run at Brent Seabrook of the Chicago Blackhawks and committed about as obvious a violation of the new Rule 48 as one can imagine.

Somehow, Torres got only two minutes for his blindside head shot. But it's unlikely Colin Campbell will be that lenient.

If we follow the Gillies model, Torres should get five games. Then again, the previous one was for two regular season games and two playoff games, so what the next level up from there is would be anyone's guess.

You wonder how Torres could possibly imagine he could get away with the hit on Seabrook. Then again, the officials didn't call Rule 48, so you imagine guys like Torres believe they can get away with this stuff because they often do. Plus, it probably helped his team, delivering a significant blow to a key Chicago player like Seabrook even though the Hawks scored on the resulting power play. With the game on the line Seabrook wasn't his usual effective self, and you've got to believe that's why teams employ heat-seeking missiles like Torres.

The playoffs aren't even a week old and we've already had two suspensions (Jarret Stoll, Bobby Ryan) and Torres, you have to believe, will make three. At least Stoll and Ryan were first-time offenders. Torres? Anything but.

 

 

 

Eight Games In

Dunno if you stayed up late to watch San Jose-Los Angeles last night. I didn't, but PVRed my way back into that series first thing this ayem.

That's just the way the playoffs are meant to be watched some days; on tape-delay. The trick is avoiding knowing the score.

Anyway, well, Joe Pavelski. Again. The Big Pavelski potted the OT winner for the Sharks, but probably the surprising element was just how competitive the Kings were, with many wondering if L.A. could stay with the Sharks without top centre Anze Kopitar. Well, not only could they stay with them stride-for-stride, the Kings were the better team at times, with Justin Williams stunningly dominant at times as he came back from injury. A bad goal by Logan Couture off a missed hip check by Drew Doughty was probably the difference, although in a frenetic game like that, it's difficult to pinpoint one play as the difference maker.

With the crowd in San Jose chanting "Beat L.A.!" all night, there was great spirit in this one from the start. A bad hit by Jarrett Stoll on Ian White may cost the Kings the services of Stoll for Game 2, another big loss up the middle with Stoll particularly proficient on draws.

And Montreal-Boston? Well, of course we should have known that the Canadiens would again look like a much better club in the post-season than they did in the regular season, right? Brian Gionta turns into Bob Nystrom with every big goal and Scott Gomez wakes up. P.K. Subban cemented his rep as a youngster unafraid of the big moment, James Wisniewski might be the best mid-season pickup by any team and Carey Price looks like the best goalie in hockey right now, utterly unflappable. You don't hear anyone in Montreal debating the Price versus Jaroslav Halak choice anymore.

The Bruins just didn't get big games out of their big players. Tomas Kaberle turned it over on the first Montreal goal and Milan Lucic coughed it up on the second.

Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy was already painting a gloomy scenario in Beantown this morning, reflecting back (you had to know this was coming) to the four straight losses suffered by the Bruins last spring after jumping ahead 3-0 on Philly.

"Since that fateful night, we have seen the Lakers beat the Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals (a game the Celtics led by 13 points)," wrote Shaugnessy. "We have seen the Rex Ryan Jets humble the 14-2 Patriots in a playoff game at Gillette Stadium. We have seen the Red Sox miss the playoffs for the second time in eight years, appear to vault over the Yankees during an expensive winter, only to fall five games behind the Bronx Bombers in a thus-far miserable season.

"And now the Bruins are playing their Original Six nemeses in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 33d time since 1929 and we are worried about a great depression. The favored Bruins lost Game 1 last night, 2-0.

"Frustration. It’s called Bruins."

And that after one game. You'd think a strong regular season would count for a little more, but then, I was always surprised during the season how little the smell from last spring's collapse was lingering around the Bruins. Guess it had all been covered up with heavy perfume like a lady in Victorian England. Now the heat is up and the smell is once again apparent. Hard to shake something like that.

Suddenly the heat is on in Boston for Game 2. Sure didn't take long.

 

 

 

 

 

Off And Running

After 60 minutes of playoff competition, there's no reason yet to doubt the Vancouver Canucks are the favourites to win the Stanley Cup this spring after being the NHL's best team during the regular season.

In a 2-0 victory in Game 1 against Chicago on Wednesday night, all the elements were there for the Canucks: excellent, 32-save netminding from Roberto Luongo, a take-charge first period, better depth than the opponent and a physical, aggressive style without the self-defeating nonsense of other years.

Someone may beat the Canucks in these playoffs and deny them the Cup.

But they appear to be a team unlikely to beat themselves this time.

Sure, the defending champion Blackhawks are, really, the defending champs in name only. On an opening night of generally tepid playoff competition - only Washington-Rangers was really a tight one - the Hawks seemed almost surprised to be a participant in the first period after backing into the tournament on the weekend.

Basically, half the team that won it all last spring has moved on, and in Game 1 against Vancouver, it sure looked like the Hawks have been reduced to a one-line team, with Ryan Johnson, Ben Smith and Jake Dowell not supplying a whole lot of experience or productivity up the middle behind captain Jonathan Toews. Having Troy Brouwer get in Luongo's space isn't the same as having Dustin Byfuglien crashing the crease, and the Hawks don't have an energy player like Ben Eager to run around and terrorize the Vancouver defence.

Toews, Pat Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp were played to near exhaustion - all played more than 20 minutes - and after that first period, they actually helped the Hawks play to even terms against the Canucks in a game that was surprisingly open at times. In fact, had Luongo not made a spectacular right toe save against Brian Campbell late in the first period, the game might have proceeded differently.

As it was the Hawks did spring to life in the second, but Luongo made 15 saves. Vancouver, meanwhile, got those two first period goals from depth players Jannik Hanson and Chris Higgins on a night when the Sedin twins were mostly held in check.

Vancouver will take that winning formula every night. This team has matured, and doesn't necessarily need the Sedins to be terrific to win. While a little sketchy defensively in the second, the Canucks had the upper-hand physically all night and in the third didn't go into a defensive shell but kept pushing.

With Dave Bolland out, and with Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd elsewhere, the Hawks didn't have that annoying, chattering third line to throw out and irritate the Canucks, and generally speaking the game didn't include the roughhousing and chippiness that typified many of the post-season matches between the two clubs over the past two years.

Chicago was in the game, however, and the best news for the champs was that rookie goalie Corey Crawford played well with 31 savesl, and didn't look nearly as nervous or uncertain as he had in losing Game 82 against Detroit on the weekend.

The bad news for Chicago was that Vancouver didn't really show any weaknesses. We'll see if any emerge in Game 2.

 

 

 

Whew, That Was Close

And wouldn't that have been one more kick in the head for the Leafs?

The New Jersey Devils, sitting just one spot ahead of the Boston Bruins for Tuesday's NHL draft lottery, ended up winning the thing despite only a 3.6 per cent chance of success.

And the Bruins, at least in probability theory, just missed turning the Phil Kessel deal into another top five pick. Imagine the play on that story if it had occurred.

Instead, the Bruins stayed at No. 9 and the Devils moved from the No. 8 spot to to the No. 4 slot, which is a nice improvement, but also showed both the reason why the NHL draft lottery is so boring and highlighted the flaw that prevents it from being more meaningful.

See, it's all supposed to be about integrity, about making sure every team plays it out until the bitter end, and that no team tanks to get the top pick.

Well, Edmonton didn't tank, although it's hard to guess how they could have fared much worse by purposely doing so.

But despite having the odds in their favour, they lost the lottery and still kept the top pick. Makes no sense.

Why the rule that teams can only move up four slots and down only one? In theory, of course, the entry draft is supposed to be all about re-stocking bad teams with good prospects to ensure future success, except that while it works for some teams - Pittsburgh, Washington, Chicago - it doesn't seem to work for others like Florida, Columbus and the Islanders.

It rewards futility rather than excellence. The crappier you are, the better pick you get. 

The lottery, however, is supposed to throw real uncertainty into the mix to make sure there is no benefit at all for losing on purpose.

So if you win it, you should win the top pick. Jersey, then, should have the top selection in June, and Edmonton, which certainly earned nothing, should go down to the No. 2 pick, and so on.

Otherwise, why bother with a draft lottery at all? If Edmonton had tanked, what price would they have paid?