'Nucks IceMan

Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson

I gotta tell you, this series is making me crazy! I’ve had to go for so many walks to chill out, that I’m wearing a path on the seawall.

Who knows which Roberto Luongo will show up tonight? Is it the Boston one or the Vancouver one? You can bet the fans will be holding their collective breath with the first shots on him.

The first goal again is the key, because in every game the team that has scored the first goal - has won. Having to come back against Tim Thomas to score not one but two to win, looks like a trip up Mount Everest in a blizzard.

Will the Canucks power play finally find it’s mojo? Will the Sedins play the game of their lives? How about Ryan Kesler, will he somehow find another part of his injured leg to be a factor?

Alex Edler was on the ice so he’s good to go for tonight’s game, but there’s another player that got hurt in game sixand that was Andrew Alberts. Alberts was out during the season with a knee injury and it looked on the Kaberle hit, that he injured it again.

If you see Keith Ballard in the line-up then you know Alberts was more injured then first reported.

With Mason Raymond out with a compressed vertebrae, he will be lucky to play again in November, so he’s out and Jeff Tambellini draws in. At least Tambellini has played on the Kesler line before and let’s hope his freshness pumps some life into that line.

Tambellini is at least as fast as Raymond and more physical, so he should add a little spark to the rest and lord knows the Canucks need a spark.

This Canucks team and its depleted line-up is starting to resemble the one that played Chicago in game six in last years play-offs, when the defense was down to a number of Manitoba Moose players. It’s not as bad this year, only because GM Mike Gillis went out and signed Dan Hamhuis and Keith Ballard for depth, but it’s currently at the bottomof the depth chart.

That was a great move but look at where they are now. Hamhuis is out and Ballard is in Vigneault’s dog-house and hasn’t played more than a few games in the play-offs. Further to that, Ballard was bumped down the depth charts by rookie Chris Tanev.

Who can blame Vigneault? Tanev has been one of the steadiest and most dependable D-men in the games he has played in, while Ballard just looked to tentative. You can’t survive in the play-offs making the mistakes Ballard was putting forth.

These Boston Bruins have beat-up the Canucks physically and it sure hurts to watch Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand, Dennis Seidenberg and others, make a mockery of the Sedins swatting, hacking and rubbing their faces in it. Just once, I’d like to see one of the Twins haul off and drop a Marchand, because they wouldn’t be expecting it.

But then again, I always tried to preach to the players I was coaching, you stand up for each other and if you want to get even, pile the goals up on the scoreboard, that’s payment enough. I hope the Sedins come out tonight and stick it to the Bruins on the scoreboard.

This has been the strangest series I can ever remember, with the home team winning all the games and Boston completely dominating the Canucks in Boston. I spoke about the officiating before and I will repeat, this has been the poorest bunch of officials I ever saw call the games.

Aaron Rome gets four games, setting a precedent for most games suspended in the Stanley Cup finals, while Johnny Boychuck doesn’t even get a penalty or a suspension, for breaking Raymond’s back. The seemly one-sidedness of the NHL‘s decisions and officiating in this series, against the Canucks, makes one think that they are trying their best to affect the outcome in Boston’s favour. How else do you explain it?

I have spent the last two days in a whirlwind, like 24/2, selling my two seats in the lower bowl – row six. Why would you do that if you’re a season ticket holder, you ask? Hey, it’s a long story but I worked hard at purchasing another pair in the upper bowl, so I’ll be at the game tonight giving as much energy as I can to the team.

Am I optimistic that they will win? After 40 years of suffering, supporting, waiting and hoping, what do you think? Of course I am, because after all “We are all Canucks!”

Footnotes: I don’t know why, but I got this feeling that the Canucks will score a power play goal or two and win 3-1. We shall soon see. Got to head out to the game. See you there.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

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Filed under: Vancouver Canucks