Live-blogging the Canucks-Oilers game
Ah, the negativity surrounding the Canucks re-ensues as the Oilers come to the Garage to try to play Spoilers tonight. To prove the negativity up here in Smithers I posted the pic to the left. It was from a great Canucks fan who is also my cousin. But don't great Canucks fans hang in there with their team until the very end? I know Mr. Positivity is hangin', so everybody jump back on board until this game is over.
Go Blues and Go Nucks!
-0-0 Preds and Blues with 8:00 left in period 1.
- 3-2 Preds with 13:00 left. Can you believe it? Jan Hlavac is back to haunt his old team. 3 assists for the inconsistent homeless one. This is terrible.
The Preds have won 3-2. So now you got to think the Canucks know this fact, and it will be interesting to see how they respond. We will now hope for the Nucks to win out the season and for the Hawks to pummel those damned Preds tomorrow night. Will the Preds' back-to-back games play any role? The Hawks killed the Wings in their last game. The Preds-Hawks game will be in Chicago.
Game time!!!
PERIOD 1
- the Canucks looked focussed pregame and now nervous to start. The Oilers have nothing to lose and the pressure is on Vancouver. Let's see if that plays a role.
10:53- Yeah, the Oilers are playing loose and the Canucks look tight. Vancouver blew it's first power play chance. Look at the Oilers making those long breakout passes....
It looks like Rick Rypien has changed the tide a bit by having a huge shift and smoking every Oiler he saw, and then drawing a penalty. Nice!
The Canucks look great on this PP, and then Pitkanen takes a penalty on Hank. 5-on-3! C'mon! Bag one!
-Oh shit, Roloson looks awesome to start. 3 big saves early on the 5-on-3. No doing on the PP's.
6:40- I have to say that Markus Naslund is alive tonight. He is playing with a vengeance. The shots are 8-0 Vancouver. Hey, that's almost the score of the Leafs-Sens game! (Gutless, quitter Leafs.)
End of Period 1- Lots of chances for the Nucks but no finish. The story of the year isn't it?
I like seeing the Nucks block alot of shots, like on the Oilers' PP. Guys like Mitchell, Ritchie and Pettinger are sacrificing their bodies out there.
Not a lot of great chances for Edmonton of their 7 shots. Vancouver is playing fairly well defensively.
Shots after 1: Canucks 12 Oilers 7.
PERIOD 2
18:40- The Canucks are now 0-for-4 on the PP. Not cool I say. These guys score about as much as Ugly Betty.
A few minutes later and the overall shots are 18-7 Vancouver. Rolie Polie is playing super.
-Marty Reasoner has just made 1-0 Oilers. FUUUUUUCK!!! See the look on Vigneault's face? He looks like he just shit his pants and is hoping nobody smells it. Or his face looks like a deer in traffic for all you Christians reading this. Deflating. Kind of a flukey bounce goal, but almost expected the way this one is going.One of 2 things can happen now. The Canucks can keep their cool and try tie it, or the Oilers are going to blow these guys out.
- Matt Roy just got a 5 minute major for boarding Mike Weaver. Nasty hit. Can the Canucks take over here? It will be a travesty if they don't score. Pressure's on!
-See Roloson bat the puck out of the air? He's ultra confident right now and looks like he's going to stop every shot that comes his way. That means the Nucks have to put more traffic in front of him.
-Canucks are 0-for-5 on the PP. A wasted chance again. Roloson is a stoner! And now they are getting another chance on the PP.
-Another blown PP after that, and Linden gets a slashing penalty. The Oilers get 2 glorious chances to score right away on the PP and score on the 2nd one. 2-0 Oilers. Jarret fucking Stool.
I was getting really tired of watching our Swedish trio suck it on the powerplay anyways. Bunch of perimeter-useless tits! Crash the net you shits!!! The only goal going past Roli tonight is a screen or garbage goal.
-The Canucks get boo'ed off the ice when the 2nd period ends. No shit! This is nasty stuff. This effort is not good enough. Sure the shots are 24-13 and Roloson is to be credited, but I'm not seeing desperation hockey. See Reasoner's goal? Crash the net-garbage goal. That's desperation.
-Anyone else notice that Kesler and Burrows are invisible tonight?
PERIOD 3
- Tough to watch, huh? I'm drinking beer but should have shot a 26-er of Captain Morgan's instead. Quick fix. Complete drunk. All I'm doing now is drinking beer, typing, crying and pissing. Why does beer flow though you so fast? Make you piss like a race horse?
Oh yeah, there's a game on.... I'm looking down the bench for a hero and all I see is a bunch of jobbers. Larscheid just mentioned the lack of desperation by Vancouver....way ahead of you, Tommy-boy. Story of the night.
12:20- At least the Canucks are crashing the net more now, but it's a little late for that.
9:40- A close-up of Trevor Linden's face shows disappointment yet a sign of no-quit. This is almost it for Trevor and it's a sad tale.
-Another Canucks PP coming up, but they are 0-for-7 tonight. The crowd gives a big rallying cheer as the PP starts. ALEX BURROWS HAS JUST SCORED A GARBAGE GOAL!!!!! 2-1!! Thank GAAAWWWD!! This will be a great finish.
"Hold on! We're coming back!" says Larschied. The Canucks are going now! Leave it to the Can-US line to bag one at a critical time.
-The Canucks press, but generate nothing for a few minutes. The Oilers have a tenacious forecheck going and it's causing headaches for the Canucks to break out of their zone.
- 2 minutes left....this sucks. Oh! And Henrik "Captain Hook" gets a hooking call with under 2 left. Asshole! Mindless fuck!
-1 minute left, Luongo is pulled to even up, but the Canucks can't generate anything. Now Edler takes a slashing penalty on Reasoner, who was going to score into the open net. It's over in 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.......
It's easy to blame Henrik for the loss here, but realistically, the Canucks team is to be blamed. They have not been good enough in the final quarter of the season, and fittingly didn't make the playoffs. I was hoping they'd get into the playoffs and "we'll see what happens", but this is a fate that they deserved.
All I can say now is: Go Sharks! I'm on the San Jose wagon no doubt. I'll root for the Capitals in the East if they make it, but also the Rangers just because I'm picking a Sharks-Rangers final and I want to be right.
The questions surrounding the Canucks free agents now become front and center. Is this the last we'll see of Morrison and Naslund after the Flames game? Probably yes as far as Naslund goes. I won't miss him. Nice guy, but not good enough at his price.Naslund post game: "Very disappointed. If we don't win these games then we don't believe to be there (playoffs)."
"We haven't been a sharp team when it counted."
"Obviously something is missing here (with the team)"
Linden post game: "Oilers did a good job defending."
"We executed the way we wanted to but didn't get the results." (bullshit)
Bieksa post game: "You can't blame injuries."
"Not disappointed in the Canucks' effort tonight"
Dan Sedin: "We can only blame ourselves."
"If you get 38 shots you should get more than 1 goal."
-Geez, only Naslund and Dank kept it real post game. Good in the locker room in front of reporters, but shitty on the ice.
Luongo post game: "It's tough to take right now."
Louie was sniffling a lot, like he was sick or crying.
"Emotionally it's been a rough couple of weeks...a lot of highs and lows."
"As far as my play...hardest season I've played for many reasons and not just the ones that you guys (media) think."
Louie was quite emotional and angered during his interview.
How are you Canucks fans holding up? Who are you cheering for now? Are you still going to watch the playoffs?
GAME SUMMARY
T Tags: Canucks Oilers Spoilers Season+over Live+blog
17 Comments:
well, that was sad...
but, already looking forward to next year. hope nonis will pull the trigger for a REAL sniper (yes, naslund has his wheels back, but his shot is MIA). re-balanced schedule should also help Nux, and prob entire NW division...hey, all 5 teams in the NW could make the playoffs next year....instead of NW teams just beating each other to a pulp.
luongo should have his head fully back in the game (1st baby and all, i can understand), defense can get healthy, and offense will have a shake up...get rid of some of the dead weight.
yes, this is a long comment...but need it's helping me deal...hey, if the capitals can make the playoffs, will give me something to watch.
Bloody 'ell. Guess what today is in China...I got the day off work for it and everything; Tombsweeping Day. How appropriate, eh?
Hmmm...as Naslund says...something was missing. I don't know if it was Nonis lack of getting help, or if it was something to do with Viggy's coaching and system. I've got to think there is something amiss between some of the players and Viggy. When looking back on the season there were a few times in which players had to call out the coach (Naslund saying they had to be allowed to play...Mitchell harping on being called out by the coach...Cooke's comments upon being traded away)...and I think there is still something there. So, does Nonis clean house with the players and get robots to follow Viggy...or does he do somethign with Viggy?
Personally...I think we should start the Linden for Head Coach campaign right now.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to the summer to see what Nonis does. Almost anything is better than dummies like Naslund and perhaps Morrison. There will be a lot to talk about in Canuckland even though they have missed the playoffs.
A depressing game and a deserved loss, regardless of the shots. I really hate our Swedish forwards right now. Our big money guys sucked the big tit at a time when we needed them most, which was over the last 20 games or so.
I don't like the Luongo excuse. Sure he has a newborn baby and all that, but we needed him and paid his ass to stop pucks at a superstar level and he didn't come through. He somewhat admitted that in his post game interview. Well now he can go hang out with his family, and yes, he will be better next year.
Expat: Nah, Viggy is good. Nonis should shed the idiots from the team. How long did we have to endure all-out offence Canucks teams with shitty defence? This structure is much better. How many Cups have the Devils won with this coaching strategy? It works, and the players didn't execute. Of course, we didn't have any guys like Elias, Sykora or Arnott either. And Luoie did not play like Brodeur does.
What the heck is "Tombsweeping Day"??????? A day where people clean off tombstones????
You got it...Tombsweeping day is the official kick off of the Ching Ming Festival month. Families go back to their home towns and clean up the family tombs of ancestors that can go back several generations in some parts.
I'll be scouring the hillside seeking the Canucks tomb...I'll clean it up a bit and wait for another year.
The Devils haven't won a cup in how many years?? The system is boring...now the old days were exciting, but it was 180 degrees in the opposite direction. There needs to be balance. For these Cup playoffs, I am hoping the team with exciting offense and scoring goes all the way...if the Ducks win again, it will be another year of boring hockey. 6 or 7 guys standing in front of the crease waiting for a puck to bounce off of them into the net is not what I call hockey...
Oh yeah...and I agree with your assessement of the Swedish forwards. The Sedin's exemplify boring hockey...back to the play, f*ing with the puck along the boards. They won't win anything playing like that. Naslund was never that good of a fit with those guys...in fact, the best Naslund was all year was when he was paired with Morrison and Pettinger for a short while.
I think I could easily say good bye to Morrison...but Naslund could go elsewhere and really bite the Canucks in the ass.
Naslund might bite our ass in the regular season, but not the playoffs. He's a suck! No love from me. Yeah, I wouldn't miss Morrison either. But...he is a BC boy and can put up a few points still.. I dunno. I'm so confused right now. I need a shrink. :)
Hey, if you see a Canucks tomb, you should whip your pants down and pull a #2 on it! See? I need a shrink!
Tough way to end the season.
I say we all look East and cheer for those overachieving, hardworking, never give up Bruins:)!
I give you props for making it through the entire game man.
Look on the bright side...Nonis has no where to hide now. Another big off season of changes for this team but hopefully he'll get it right this time.
As for the playoffs...Sharks/Pens final would be awesome. Or Sharks/Habs. But if I see the fucking Rangers anywhere near that Cup I'm going to lose what left I have of my mind!
All I can say is Thank You Oilers! I never thought they could roll into Van and do that. I was sure it was going to be a showdown for the playoffs on Saturday night, and I really doubt the Flames could've won. Nice to be in the playoffs, it's just too bad our team couldnt have won their way in.
GO FLAMES!
As painful as it was to watch, this game, and especially the 2nd Period, was a microcosm of the entire Canucks season:
Skill, but no drive;
Desire, but no determination;
Teamwork, but no chemistry.
That major in the 2nd was just awful, as Swede played tag-a-Swede back and forth back and forth.
You may think me crazy but I would trade Pisani--sick and all--for both Sedins without any hesitation whatsoever. THERE is a guy who wants to play and wants to win.
It's too bad the Oilers are out because they showed us something this year, just like they did 2 years ago.
As for the playoffs, I'm a big believer in supporting one's division come playoff time if the Canucks aren't there, so I'm pulling for the other NW teams. Hope they don't have to play each other first round, but I'm guessing Calgary gets the Avs (I'm so messed up from last night's game, I forget the exact standings right now).
I love those guys, but too many Swedes. I don't care if I ever see another Sedin pass to Sedin again in my life. I'm sick to death of it.
Matt: Screw off, ya bastard!
JimBuff: I'm rootin' for the Habs (or the Caps if they make it).
But it's hard not to like the Bruins. Wouldn't upset me at all to see Glen Murray skate around the Gardens with the Cup above his head.
I forgot to add: how ironic is it that the only Canuck in the post-season is a likely very, very happy and amused Matt Cooke, who probably had to resist the urge to call Nonis last night and gloat, thanking him for the trade.
i agree with zanstorm: naslund and bmo have to go--not b/c they aren't good or useful, and not b/c of the cap, but b/c Nonis has to finish putting his mark on this team. that means getting rid of the older generation of leaders (except Linden, who would be great a la Teemu Selanne).
the sedins are what they are: slow and pokey, but they can control the puck well when they are stationary. if there hadn't been a crackdown on interference, hooking and holding, they might be very effective. but they can't cross the blueline with the puck under control. look at how forsberg or spezza gain the opposing zone--in full flight.
anyway, it'll be a very interesting off-season, b/c we'll get a chance to see what Nonis is really made of.
calgary got in Mike, but boy, you can't be pleased. they also have some demons, and their D is slow (except Phaneuf). Minnie's peaking at the right time, and the Avs could be a dark horse if they stay healthy. but, who are we kidding--w/ detroit, sj, and anaheim, is anybody else even got a real chance?
and i'd like to remind you all, that before anaheim became anaheim, they played a system a lot like AV's.
i'm also a sens backer, but they have been the suck lately too. i'm kinda rooting for washington to make it, b/c i like the unlikely run they've made. well, if you can call a team with the 1st rounders they have "unlikely".
The Flames don't have a chance of getting far. They are far too inconsistent. They are like Vancouver, except they have guys that can sctually score. $50 says they don't go past 1 round!
The Sedins cheese me off still. Gutless twerps. They just aren't a 1st line. They are a second line at best. The biggest reason is that they thrive better when not under pressure and out of the spotlight. If Nonis can acquire some kind of top line to take the light and heat off the twins, I'm sure they'll be more effective.
But yeah, their cycling game is grating my nerves!!! Oh, and I should do an official count on Henrik Sedin hooking obstruction penalties. Whenever he gets beat he hooks like a bastard. I got really tired of that too this season.
Still torn a bit on Morrison though....but I would like to see more size and skill up front.
Sisyphus: Oh god, why did you bring up that Cooke scenario? That angers me!! :)
"Skill, but no drive;
Desire, but no determination;
Teamwork, but no chemistry"
Nicely put. You forgot skill, but no finish!
Hey, big suprise! Chicago beat Nashville. Damned Blues couldn't help us out....
JimBuff: The Bruins are too much like Calgary as well in my opinion. At least they are in the playoffs!
Too much like Calgary???
The Ducks are the Western team that resemble the B's the most but only slightly in their team 1st approach.
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