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stuff99 · 06-15-2011, 11:31 PM

Gallagher: Canucks not the team they were

By Tony Gallagher, The ProvinceJune 16, 2011 12:02 AM

Ryan Kesler mumbled his way through a tearful interview and the Sedin twins stood and took the blame for coming up blanks in the final, pointing at themselves constantly as they stayed and answered questions for well over a half an hour.

The twins may not yet be Stanley Cup champions but they are unquestionable superstars of life no matter what Mike Milbury or anyone else might want to say about them.

The Boston Bruins were finally the team to piece together a great road game to win it here in Vancouver, and certainly on the 23-8 goal differential they were more than worthy winners behind a brilliant Tim Thomas in goal.

But it's amazing what can happen to a team over the long run of a run to a Cup final and now the Canucks have watched it happen to them two years in a row. You pretty much start with the team you have had most of the season give or take a player or two but by the end there is scarcely a remote resemblance to the same team.

By the time the Bruins were taking their advantage in the second period last night, can you honestly say that was the Vancouver Canuck team out there? They were hard to recognize.

For the second straight year they appeared not to have enough bodies on the back end despite a cast big enough to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean several times over. In game seven you had rookie Chris Tanev, a spare part in Andrew Alberts and four other guys who were regulars, but only Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa looking anything close to top form. Christian Ehrhoff's shoulder was so banged up it was like somebody having come in off the street and deciding to play in his stead and Alex Edler could neither shoot (with two broken fingers on his left hand suffered on a slash in game six), hit nor turn anything like the guy who was so great in game five.

Losing Dan Hamhuis was an absolute killer. And the fact Keith Ballard was not kept in the mix earlier ended up really hurting the offence in Hamhuis' absence. If there was any doubt as to the Smithers native's effectiveness in this team with respect to moving the puck and making Bieksa a better player it was pushed aside once he took his leave. Against Boston the Canucks did something they didn't do all year—have trouble moving the puck to their forwards in full flight. None of that happened in this series. Certainly the Bruins deserve a lot of credit for that but his loss in Vancouver's eyes was nothing short of devastating.

Up front it was more of the same although Ryan Kesler was seeming to get his skating legs back at the end. But it has been so long since he had any energy given the torn hip flexor which plagued him since the end of the San Jose series, it was like he was getting used to moving again. And by that time Mason Raymond was deteriorating and was eventually mangled in Boston and Chris Higgins was creeping around the ice like a guy his grandfather's age given the foot problem. End of second line.

The Sedins were flat out shut down by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on D along with Patrice Bergeron's gifted line in much the same way as they were in Nashville.

“It's up to us to score and we didn't do it,” said Henrik. “We're the offensive players and we have to get the job done. Their goalie was unbelievable, but it's our job to score and we take the blame for that.”

When Henrik was asked if he was suffering from anything during the playoffs his response was: “A scoring slump.'

Nobody was willing to cop to injury but given the ease with which he was pushed off the puck for much of the playoffs it's hard to believe he was completely healthy. If he was, this is going to be a persistent problem for the rest of his career.

And then there was this team's staple all season, the power play. What they mangled the Sharks with turned around and bit them in the hind quarters in the final, their 2-33 performance dreadful but only half the bad news. The three shorthanded goals they surrendered—a shocking six over the course of the playoffs—literally did them in. How do you plan for something like that?

You build a great power play, it functions brilliantly much of the way and then suddenly freezes up like a cheap piece of junk at the most crucial moment.

And how about the road performance in the final after being terrific all season. As good as he was at home, Roberto Luongo who was strong everywhere during the regular season was laughable in the three road games in this series.

“We gave them three freebies in Boston and you can't win doing that,” said Jannik Hansen.

The officiating played it's role in all this as it usually does, particularly in Boston, but not in game seven.

Where they go from here will take more than a few days to figure out.

© Copyright (c) The Province

06-15-2011, 11:31 PM	#40916
stuff99 I subscribe to the Fight Club ONLY Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver Posts: 7,316 Thanked 212 Times in 79 Posts Failed 35 Times in 23 Posts	Gallagher: Canucks not the team they were By Tony Gallagher, The ProvinceJune 16, 2011 12:02 AM Ryan Kesler mumbled his way through a tearful interview and the Sedin twins stood and took the blame for coming up blanks in the final, pointing at themselves constantly as they stayed and answered questions for well over a half an hour. The twins may not yet be Stanley Cup champions but they are unquestionable superstars of life no matter what Mike Milbury or anyone else might want to say about them. The Boston Bruins were finally the team to piece together a great road game to win it here in Vancouver, and certainly on the 23-8 goal differential they were more than worthy winners behind a brilliant Tim Thomas in goal. But it's amazing what can happen to a team over the long run of a run to a Cup final and now the Canucks have watched it happen to them two years in a row. You pretty much start with the team you have had most of the season give or take a player or two but by the end there is scarcely a remote resemblance to the same team. By the time the Bruins were taking their advantage in the second period last night, can you honestly say that was the Vancouver Canuck team out there? They were hard to recognize. For the second straight year they appeared not to have enough bodies on the back end despite a cast big enough to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean several times over. In game seven you had rookie Chris Tanev, a spare part in Andrew Alberts and four other guys who were regulars, but only Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa looking anything close to top form. Christian Ehrhoff's shoulder was so banged up it was like somebody having come in off the street and deciding to play in his stead and Alex Edler could neither shoot (with two broken fingers on his left hand suffered on a slash in game six), hit nor turn anything like the guy who was so great in game five. Losing Dan Hamhuis was an absolute killer. And the fact Keith Ballard was not kept in the mix earlier ended up really hurting the offence in Hamhuis' absence. If there was any doubt as to the Smithers native's effectiveness in this team with respect to moving the puck and making Bieksa a better player it was pushed aside once he took his leave. Against Boston the Canucks did something they didn't do all year—have trouble moving the puck to their forwards in full flight. None of that happened in this series. Certainly the Bruins deserve a lot of credit for that but his loss in Vancouver's eyes was nothing short of devastating. Up front it was more of the same although Ryan Kesler was seeming to get his skating legs back at the end. But it has been so long since he had any energy given the torn hip flexor which plagued him since the end of the San Jose series, it was like he was getting used to moving again. And by that time Mason Raymond was deteriorating and was eventually mangled in Boston and Chris Higgins was creeping around the ice like a guy his grandfather's age given the foot problem. End of second line. The Sedins were flat out shut down by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on D along with Patrice Bergeron's gifted line in much the same way as they were in Nashville. “It's up to us to score and we didn't do it,” said Henrik. “We're the offensive players and we have to get the job done. Their goalie was unbelievable, but it's our job to score and we take the blame for that.” When Henrik was asked if he was suffering from anything during the playoffs his response was: “A scoring slump.' Nobody was willing to cop to injury but given the ease with which he was pushed off the puck for much of the playoffs it's hard to believe he was completely healthy. If he was, this is going to be a persistent problem for the rest of his career. And then there was this team's staple all season, the power play. What they mangled the Sharks with turned around and bit them in the hind quarters in the final, their 2-33 performance dreadful but only half the bad news. The three shorthanded goals they surrendered—a shocking six over the course of the playoffs—literally did them in. How do you plan for something like that? You build a great power play, it functions brilliantly much of the way and then suddenly freezes up like a cheap piece of junk at the most crucial moment. And how about the road performance in the final after being terrific all season. As good as he was at home, Roberto Luongo who was strong everywhere during the regular season was laughable in the three road games in this series. “We gave them three freebies in Boston and you can't win doing that,” said Jannik Hansen. The officiating played it's role in all this as it usually does, particularly in Boston, but not in game seven. Where they go from here will take more than a few days to figure out. © Copyright (c) The Province __________________ ....