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LotusBlossom wrote:they should and did win this series and easily.
Agreed with everything except that one...from my vantage point this series was alot closer than the record indicated. Very well evenly matched. The deciding factor in my opinion was we had a stellar superstar world class goaltender playing in the zone and they had a very good effective goaltender was caught lightning in a bottle and was on fire for the 2nd half of the season. In the end, it was an amazing leg save here, a crossbar there, a timely save whenever the game was on the line and the mental edge he brings for his teammates (and gets into the psyche of the opposition) that was the difference. All that might add up to one goal difference per game but thats the HUGE difference that always eluded us in the 90s when (at best) we had competent goaltending. Going up against guys like Roy & Hasek we stood very little hope.
What a freaking relief to be on the other side of that coin! Letting Lu go and bringing Schnieder into the fold is unthinkable and out of the question as far as I'm concerned. Resigning Luongo has to be Gillis' #1 priority this summer, far greater than looking at any outside help. We're really starting to see his true value now. If these playoffs keep going the way they're going I can't see Brodeur starting over Lu in 2010.
No I am not discounting the amazing Luongo, Clam. I'm just saying that the Canucks are giving him the support he deserves to win some games. I believe he brings a winning culture to the team. His competitiveness brings out the best in teammates.
Having a goaltender that intimidates shooters is huge, no question, but I am not going to ignore the help his team has given him when it counted so far.
I can't wait for round 2
parfois, je veux juste laisser tinber un coude volant sur le monde
Besides Luongo (obviously), I think the biggest difference was the respective D. Salo / Mitchell, Edler / Ohlund, and BXA / SOB easily outplayed their d of Jackman, McKee, Coliacovo, Woywitka, Polak, and Weaver. If they had Brewer and Johnson, I think it might have gone at least 6 games; the lack of an intimidating shooting presence at the point (Johnson) really made their PP pretty one-dimensional...
Obviously, the next round opponent should be tougher, especially if it ends up being Detroit or Chicago - all of a sudden, our depth on D advantage is nullified... I expected the St. Louis youth and speed would put a lot of pressure on our D but it turned out their experience easily overcame that. I see no such advantage against Detroit.
the Cunning Linguist wrote:Besides Luongo (obviously), I think the biggest difference was the respective D. Salo / Mitchell, Edler / Ohlund, and BXA / SOB easily outplayed their d of Jackman, McKee, Coliacovo, Woywitka, Polak, and Weaver. If they had Brewer and Johnson, I think it might have gone at least 6 games; the lack of an intimidating shooting presence at the point (Johnson) really made their PP pretty one-dimensional...
Obviously, the next round opponent should be tougher, especially if it ends up being Detroit or Chicago - all of a sudden, our depth on D advantage is nullified... I expected the St. Louis youth and speed would put a lot of pressure on our D but it turned out their experience easily overcame that. I see no such advantage against Detroit.
I like our chances against Calgary.
This is why Anaheim scares me quite a bit. Look at their D. Pronger, Niedermayer, Beauchemin and Whitney? Yikes. They don't have the forward depth at the bottom of the roster like we do, but Hillier is playing out of his mind and if Sundin isn't back their top 6 is at least as good as ours. Anaheim scares me much more than Chicago, and I'm glad we won't be playing them next round.
You'll have plenty of chances in the future with the kids you got.
Anyhoo, I'm not worried about Anaheim cause I think they'll be playing Detroit in a tough 7 game, physical series, where Pronger will get a suspension for doing 1/20 stupid things in the series. And Detroit will come out on top, bruised and bloodied. We will be playing either Calgary or Chicago, both teams ones which we should beat in 6 games I think. Calgary would be nice because of the travel factor. But with our team, I ain't afraid!!!
nucks_girl wrote:Anyhoo, I'm not worried about Anaheim cause I think they'll be playing Detroit in a tough 7 game, physical series, where Pronger will get a suspension for doing 1/20 stupid things in the series. And Detroit will come out on top, bruised and bloodied. We will be playing either Calgary or Chicago, both teams ones which we should beat in 6 games I think. Calgary would be nice because of the travel factor. But with our team, I ain't afraid!!!
