nation of cif :)

Lu has altered his mechanics over the years here so he doesn't make those acrobatic saves often anymore. Frankly he's vulnerable when he does that now. Instead, a lot of his big and timely saves now look really simple. He is not a Tim Thomas/Hasek and wouldn't want him to be.

Are there flaws in his style still? Absolutely, and actually more noticeable than ever. Still he manages to find his way through.

+1
Exactly how I feel.

:werd:

WINNIPEG'S ENTRANCE TO NHL REQUIRES SUPPORT OF MOST OWNERS

who owns the phoenix coyotes? oh right, the nhl (gary bettman) does :troll:

Sums up why the rest of Canada hates the Canucks

Original article: http://thetyee.ca/Life/2011/05/20/WorldTeamCanucks/

So apparently not only are the Vancouver Canucks not "Canada's team," but Vancouver isn't actually Canadian.

It started with a couple of writers for Toronto's two allegedly national newspapers trying to stir the pot -- or as we prefer to call it in B.C., "bud" -- by listing off reasons not to cheer for the Canucks.

But by the time the New York Times latched onto the story people had begun questioning whether Vancouver was still part of Confederation. Perhaps if Sarah Palin becomes America's president we can create a country with L.A. and New York since the moose-hunting hockey mom declared they're not part of the "real America." No wonder people are so excited about Winnipeg potentially taking over the Atlanta Thrashers -- that way Canada will be back to having six teams.

It's not too surprising to hear the Canucks aren't Canada's hockey team, they're certainly not Hockey Night in Canada's hockey team. That's apparent watching CBC war correspondent Don Cherry gleefully mangle the names of Kevin Bieksa and Roberto Luongo. Part of the former hockey commentator's shtick has always been mispronouncing the names of players from other countries and/or "distinct societies," but he generally seems to make an effort with good old English Canadian boys.

But apparently it doesn't matter that Bieksa hails from Grimsby and Luuuuu was born and raised in Montreal -- if they're wearing the whale on their jersey, their names aren't worth learning. This is the same cornered coach who dubbed Canucks' superstar Pavel Bure, "a little weasel."

Cherry's side-kicker Ron "The Ref's Always Right" MacLean spent a whole segment last season dissecting the play of Canucks' left winger Alexandre Burrows with a savage righteousness not seen on TV since Edward R. Murrow's evisceration of Senator Joe McCarthy (who played right wing). The Canucks were so impressed with the coverage that they briefly boycotted interviews on Canada's iconic hockey showcase.

The schadenfreude factor

In the Times piece, André Richelieu, a professor of marketing at Université Laval, declared the Canucks a "regional brand" and said if Vancouver faced off against Tampa Bay, "a lot of Quebecers would support the Lightning, just as they did in 2004 against the Calgary Flames. They have Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier -- even the coach, Guy Boucher. That has a strong resonance here in Quebec." Unlike the Canucks who have Burrows, Maxime Lapierre and coach, Alain Vigneault.

The Edmonton Sun ran a reader poll where 55 per cent of respondents from the City of Former Champions declared they were rooting for anybody but Vancouver.

As a lifelong Canucks fan who has cheered (at least once) for every Canadian team in the playoffs, I'm disappointed by the national diss, but not surprised. Since the Oilers era ended Canadian Cup contenders have usually been underdogs, and this year the Canucks have been Vegas favourites since before the first puck dropped. The Globe's Gary Mason suggested that's why some Canadians are experiencing schadenfreude, which is German for, "the Leafs won't win another Cup 'til Bill Barilko comes back as a zombie and eats the brains of at least one member of the Tragically Hip." He also repeated the case against the Canucks that the team has fewer Canadians in the lineup than the Sharks and, I suppose, that the ones we do have aren't pure laine.

Multinational operation

The temptation is to respond by rattling off all the Canadians on the roster and pointing out that there's at least one player from every province west of New Brunswick. But to me the player who says the most about what kind of team the Canucks are -- and have been for decades -- isn't our gold-medal-winning Canadian goalie, but Jannik Hansen, the first Dane ever to get a point in an NHL playoff game.

The 1978 Canucks started three Swedes -- Thomas Gradin and a pair of Larses -- Zetterstrom and Lindgren. Gradin still scouts Europe for the Canucks and his wacky ideas for potential draftees included the Sedins and Alex Edler.

In the 1990s while Harold Ballard was vowing that no Russian would ever be allowed to disgrace a Maple Leaf uniform by scoring goals and winning games, the Canucks were Team Glasnost, outfitting Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov in black and gold pyjamas. The Canucks drafted Larionov in '85 when the chances of a Russian playing for an NHL team were more remote than an NHL team playing in Florida.

During the 2010 Olympics, the Canucks had seven players named to their respective national teams and the Swedish general manager was mercilessly abused for not including Mikael Samuelsson in his line up. Only one team had more players in the Olympics, the San Jose Sharks -- with eight, four on Team Canada. The Canucks had to settle for seven players, spread across six teams. And the Canucks weren't just on the teams, most of them were standouts -- including gold-medal round rivals Ryan Kesler and Roberto Luongo.

So I guess that means if the Canucks can't be Canada's team, they'll just have to settle for being the world's. [Tyee]

What the fuck is with our obsession with what our rivaling Canadian cities think of us?

Who the fuck cares. TOR, CGY, EDM, MTL, OTT, WIN, won't be powerhouses anytime soon and any post season run will at best be cinderella-types if they're ever lucky enough.

The more we give attention about other cities' opinions, the more Vancouver's inferiority complex shows.

we'll take next one.

i didn't expect us to sweep them.

Lu needs to keep that five hole shut! He made some big saves though, expecting to him to play the full 60 minutes well on Sunday.

I say put the fourth line back to what we've had previous success with, IE: no Bolduc. CoHo has looked better out there imo, and has played more.

Ehrhoff will be a big loss if he doesn't play, though glad we have Ballard there to slot in if needed. Alberts/Rome is meh, not a fan of Rome really but hope he's alright!

Anyway, looking forward to a big (albeit early) game on Sunday!

I really hope Ballard doesn't hold a grudge and plays his heart out.

wutever
jokes on the Sharks for letting letting up 3goals like that. Yea it came on a PP, but a good hockey team doesnt let these things happen.

I would be insulted if the Canucks couldnt come back to at least within one judging by the usual trend
Jokes on you SJ.

Really? cool story bro!

I noticed that since Ehrhoff left the game, we haven't been able to use our usual PP breakout (Ehrhoff drops to Hank in the neutral zone, then either skates into the zone or passes to Kes on the right wing). I hope this doesn't affect us long run, else I think Newell should run Bieksa in that spot for Hoff, since IMO he's our next fastest D-man.

I think we'll be okay in the series, but losing the 'Hoff for several games could hurt us. Ballard can skate and can look brilliant at times, but his play in the corners is suspect and will have trouble stopping San Jose's cycle game.

The game wasn't that bad, but it sucked how the game was determined by the refs. I was very very impressed at how the Canucks kept battling and made it a close game, and respectable. When it was 3-0, I just didn't want it to end up like game 4 against the Hawks. The Canucks have since killed 8 straight pp's and the only glitch in their game tonight was the first period. They still need to be more disciplined, but the penalties went both ways. The only call I have an issue with, and it was the call that cost the Nucks, was the Burrows call. I still think it is ridiculous the goalie is hands off when they leave the crease to play the puck. the funny thing is, the goalie has the most protective gear on of all players on the ice, yet they are protected by officials like they are humpty dumpty.

I still have a lot of confidence and refuse to really blame anyone player for tonight's loss, like most fairweather fans do. Lu did not play bad. He could have stopped a couple of goals, but in the end, you can't really blame a goalie for letting in a goal during a PP. He made quite a bit of key saves and faced 38 shots. The Canucks have owned the Sharks 5 on 5, and the only period they had a blip was tonight's first.

Go get em Sunday boys!

With the equipment that he's using, I'm not surprised that he's choosing to play more technical, cut angles, and just do the simple things to make the save. The pads that he's wearing are longer and cover the lower end much more, but make it harder to do the acrobatic style.

Jeff Patterson on Team1040 is absolutely ripping Tanner Glass and good on him. :lol

Oh ya... I hope Couture is out.. the hit looked pretty bad... He is a KEy guy for them

I thought it was a good game too - I think if there was a chance for Luongo to steal a period or have a break out period, it would have been period 1, since SJ was coming in hard. There really hasn't been much of a chance for Luongo to really steal a game, much less a period so far in the playoffs, considering how Vancouver's forwards and d-men have been very very effective. When you stand out there for long stretches with nothing to do, you cool off very quickly and its hard to get back in when the play moves back into your zone.

Luongo's new goalie coach is teaching him different techniques...
But I don't think Luongo was an acrobatic style goalie to begin with, ever.

I think him holding a grudge will make him play better if anything. He's got to use this opportunity to solidfy himself onto the blueline, AV can't scratch him if he's playing well.

Time to rock my #4 jersey on Sunday :fuckyea:

He was a little bit, in 2007. Since then, he's played a more conservative butterfly style. It gets the job done, but its nothing like Tim Thomas, who can spin around and then make a reflex save.

Anyone still have the Third Red Skate jersey, besides me? lol

It would be incredibly dumb if he did. If he plays shitty, we lose. If he plays awesome, we have a shot at winning.

Regardless of how many games he plays now, if the Canucks win the Cup, his name is still on it. There's no way Ballard is a disruption in the room right now...I'm sure he knows what's at stake.

Even Manny's name will be on the cup when we win.