Seven Things – 7 May 2011
1 – The Canucks had a chance to close out the Nashville Predators this evening at home. They failed. For the second time in these playoffs, Vancouver has put themselves in a position to close out a series early and then failed to get the job done. The Canucks are now a woeful 1-4 in games where they can send their opponent packing. For a team that’s shown an exquisite ability to get the key goal and the key win all season, that simply won’t cut the mustard.
2 – Alexander Edler had his worst game as a Canuck that I can recall. It was his soft play along the boards that led directly to Nashville’s third goal. Also, while I can appreciate that the sight of the puck coming at you from an unusual direction – like from over your goaltender’s shoulder – might be startling, I would expect Edler to remain a little more composed, and not react like this guy.
3 – Punching the puck into his own net gets Edler singled out, but his defensive partner was equally bad. Ehrhoff was responsible for Nashville’s third goal for the same reason: soft play on the boards. Sloppy doesn’t begin to describe Ehrhoff’s play tonight. Maxim Lapierre should be the recipient of a shiny new French-English dictionary, on Ehrhoff’s dime, after making a great diving stop in the first period; it was a stop he had to make because #5 half-heartedly waved at a loose puck in his own zone instead of, y’know, skating to it.
4 – Joel Ward is kinda good at hockey. His game tonight has some people making comparisons to a certain fugly player from the Canucks last two second-round series. Let’s be clear: comparisons between Ward and Dustin Byfuglien should be limited to “they’re both large and not caucasian.” Ward is a talented forward who’s capitalizing on defensive breakdowns by the Canucks, not a large immobile defenseman standing in front of the net to open space for two of the best snipers in the game.
5 – Kesler GOOD. So good, in fact, that a meme is developing on twitter wherein people make up Ryan Kesler facts, along the lines of the infamous Chuck Norris facts. I encourage this. Jason doesn’t, but he’s lame like that.
(Article continued after the following sports-related ad content, which you really ought to read.)
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(Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled chicanery.)
6 – File this under “statistics that may or may not be relevant”. When the Canucks travel to Nashville for game six, they will do so without a single player on their roster whose name has been engraved on the Stanley Cup. Mikael Samuelsson was injured in game five and, while he hasn’t had an outstanding playoffs, he’s been reasonably competent. He brought stability to the fourth line, got shots through on the powerplay and was the only Canuck to have actually gone to the promised land. If Kesler comes through clutch again and the Canucks get the job done, all will be forgotten. If, however, the Predators stretch this series to seven, questions will be asked about the lack of players on this team that have gone the distance.
7 – I attended game five. For the most part, the atmosphere in the building was simply breathtaking, and it was a shame the Canucks couldn’t close things out for the passionate people in attendance. That said, there were a few people in attendance who shouldn’t be allowed in. I now address that minority. To the couple seated (and I mean SEATED) beside me: GET. THE HELL. UP! Seriously. If you’re not moved to stand by the Canucks intro, by 18,840 people cheering and waving towels while U2’s Where the Streets Have No Name plays, you have no soul. And if you can’t be bothered to stand for a single hockey-related play the entire game, why are you watching this event in person? Let someone who cares attend. And, to the gentleman to my left: I applaud
your enthusiasm, but if the extent of your contribution is “GO”, “SHOOT”, “SCORE” and “GET IT OUT” – the latter often shouted when the puck was in the neutral zone – please limit yourself to blowing a vuvuzela or dragging your nails over a chalkboard as the effect is essentially the same.