Five Stunning Days in April

There was no sign this was coming. No sign at all six days ago that either the Vancouver Canucks or the Pittsburgh Penguins were in danger, or would quickly lose their first three games of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs and find themselves on the precipice.

Even those who predicted the Pens and Canucks would lose in the first round foresaw long, drawn out series.

But then, nobody saw that the Canucks wouldn't be able to score - five goals in three games against L.A., seven goals in their last seven playoff matches - or that the Penguins wouldn't be able to defend. Pitt coughed up an unearthly 16 goals against in losing Games 2 and 3 to Philly, and while Marc-Andre Fleury has been stinky, he's hardly been provided with a wall in front of him.

Vancouver, meanwhile, can't get it going without Daniel Sedin, which would be an excuse if not for the fact they couldn't get it going on the attack with Daniel Sedin in the latter part of last spring's Cup final either. All that talent up front and nobody can find the net, while the players acquired by GM Mike Gillis in trades along the way this season - Zack Kassian, David Booth and Sammy Pahlsson - have added nothing to the attack.

Barring a spectacular comeback by either club, we'll soon be looking at the changes coming in both cities. In Pittsburgh, it will be whether its time to move on from the trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin and Jordan Staal. In Vancouver, there will be questions about head coach Alain Vigneault, and which of goalies Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo will be moving on to a new home this summer.

Just last Tuesday there were 14 unhappy teams lining up for the draft lottery. In a matter of days, there will be eight more first round losers, some of whom will be more hungry for change than the teams that didn't make the dance at all.

But before that, what about the teams that have pushed Vancouver and Pittsburgh to the brink?

The fates of the Flyers and Kings, its fair to say, are substantially linked. Philly traded Mike Richards to L.A. in exchange for Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and a second round pick, a deal that both teams are pretty pleased with at the moment. Ex-Flyer Jeff Carter also ended up in L.A. after the Kings gave up defenceman Jack Johnson to get him.

Its fair to say that both GMs, Paul Holmgren and Dean Lombardi, stuck their necks out this season. Holmgren boldly decided the Richards-Carter combo wouldn't work for Philly and peddled both in stunning trades that made the Flyers younger and seemed to represent a competitive step back in the short-term. Instead, the Flyers are better despite the fact that once again, they brought in a goaltender (Ilya Bryzgalov) who has proven so far in the post-season to be anything but airtight..

Lombardi, meanwhile, lost out in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes and got burnt on dealing for Dustin Penner last year before the playoffs. He kept making moves, made a much-criticized decision to bring in Darryl Sutter as head coach to replace Terry Murray, and this time the combination of players in front of brilliant goalie Jonathan Quick and the coaching change worked.

Oddly, however, it was the deal Lombardi didn't make - hanging on to Dustin Brown rather than moving him at the deadline - that might have been his shrewdest move. Outside of Quick and maybe Drew Doughty, Brown has been the best King and made the two biggest plays Sunday night, laying out Henrik Sedin and scoring the only goal of the game.

Now, wouldn't it be interesting if these were the two teams that ended up meeting in the Cup final?

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Adam]

Vancouver has four goals in three games.

Vancouver's problem is their system. Diving and avoiding physical plays to draw penalties. While their power play undoubtedly highly skilled, this approach does not work in the playoffs when the intensity heats up. Whether you support fighting or not, the players and coaches agree that it has a spot in the playoffs (Laviolette on Crosby/Giroux, Babcock on Bertuzzi/Weber). Last night after Brown's hit on Sedin was met with clutching and grabbing by Vancouver. While I don't think Brown should have to answer for a clean it, the Canucks should have a response to their best player being hit. Instead of stepping up their play physically (not necessarily fighting, but showing they will respond), Kesler gets pushed behind the net and collapses to the ice. A team that responds like that shows they can be pushed around much like Boston did to them last year. While they were only one win away from the cup, I don't think anyone would try and argue they were close to obtaining that critical fourth win.

The first thing they need to do is bring in a coach who won't tolerate the diving/embellishment/whining that has become so associated with the team. The Sedin's are great skilled players. Burrows, Kesler, and Lapierre could be effectively if they concentrated on playing the game. As long as that is allowed to continue, the Canucks will never be successful.

[John Carss]

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that in that phone commercial where the guy is frozen in the ice the Kings are playing the Flyers.

[Johnny Canucklehead]

Before we go all ga ga over LA, they are being outshot by a mile. The team is not playing well at all. It's the goalie, stupid. Maybe he'll do a Roloson '06 or a Kiprusoff '04 or even a Giguere '03. I'm sorry, it's not like the Canucks are playing awful. If you outshoot a team 48-26 then 41-20, it's the goalie that is saving LA's bacon.

I'll give you that Game 1 the Nux stunk and LA played well but what kind of idiot watches hockey and only looks at the score and goes, "Oh, the team up 3-0 must be dominating the series in all aspects." Come on! Have we not learned anything since Patrick Roy '86? Great goaltending covers up a lot and can even take average teams to the Final.

The Nux need to find a Norris Trophy type D-man and they'll be fine. Problem is you really have to draft one or hope a Niedermayer or Pronger is available as a UFA. Until then the '06 Canes D-by-committee model does not work with Van in generating offence.