GDT: Canucks @ Beantown - 10am - Snet / NHLN-US

[LotusBlossom]

...

Walk into Boston, stand up for yourselves, take the two points and move on. It was the most playoff intensive game I've seen this season, league-wide. Good on the Canucks for taking it (Hodgson... statement game), and hopefully this reminds them how hard they need to play come April-June.

Great entertainment and the NHL fucks up again with not nationally televising this game with either CBC or NBC. How lame.

Seems to me the Canucks have learned from their past mistakes in Boston, and the whole starting Cory thing from what I have heard was it was scheduled in. He played well in front of his home town.

If Marchand gets a suspension, it should be hefty. I can't believe the crap this kid gets away with. First the punches to the head of Daniel and now taking out Sami Salo at the knees. I hope someone does it to him, just so he knows what a piece of shit he really is.

Man, talk about being charged up for a 10AM start. Breakfast, coffee and a great tilt. It was the first thing in a long time that inspired me to write for CC again.

Looking forward to seeing the boys play live in St Louis.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

Didn't get a chance to catch the game, but got a chance to watch the highlights. Wow, what a bomb by CoHo!!! He's showing that he has a pretty good slap shot and this is not the first time I have seen him do this. It's a good attribute to have for a winger. I don't think the Nucks had a winger that could slap the puck like that off the rush since Geoff Courtnall.

Little bit disappointed in Dale Weise though. He gave Horton a good scrap which was great to see, but I didn't like it when he acted like he wanted to take on Thornton and then weasle out like that. That's just yellow and makes what guys like Mark Recchi say about our team being a bunch of classless/gutless guys true. I know Weiser is probably pretty beat after fighting Horton, but if he doesn't want to fight, he should not be goading Thornton like that. It just makes him and our team look bad around the league.

[Waffle]

Don Cherry commented on the game on Coach’s Corner in the first intermission in the Toronto/Detroit game.

Firstly he said that the Flames getting trashed by Boston meant nothing as they had travelled a zillion miles and were tired at the end of a long road trip.

Then he bemoaned that Vancouver got 11 power plays (his stats, not mine) and had the audacity to actually score on them. He didn’t mention Boston getting 3 power plays in the final period to none for Vancouver. He said that Alex Burrows practices his agitation moves like tapping the skate of the Boston player that started the non fight in the first period. He thought it was perfectly justified for the Boston player to charge Burrows and throw a punch for something pretty timid compared to what Boston does to other players. He showed a clip of Weiss backing away from Thorton. He showed a clip of Jody Shelley calling Mike Rupp out for hitting some rookie....he didn’t include the part where Rupp tells him to F off as he is irrelevant as pointed out in these forums. He talked about Ken Holland and the comment that the “rats” are taking over the game because there are no thugs to control them. And he showed the Marchand hit and said it was terrible and the worse thing you can do in hockey. I don’t think he realized that he was calling Marchand a rat which was okay by me. There was some other stuff but I wasn't really paying that close attention.

Leafs beat Detroit....start planning the Stanley Cup parade please!!

[Jano]

Thorton reacted like a caveman, but Burrows should keep his stick down.

Marchand should get suspended. Ducking hits like that, especially so close to the boards, is really dangerous.

[ukcanuck]

Some thoughts after reading this thread and other sources of commentary

All those haters who are so quick to point fingers, the line scrum was started by the Bruins, it was Thornton who charged at Burrows for swinging his stick near his face never mind that Thornton did the same thing a moment before. Typical bully mentality
As for Weise taking on a first liner in Horton, it looked to me like Horton wanted to go and wasn't forced into it. But if we are to stop picking on their skill guys, when can we expect the Bruins to lay off our skill guys? The Sedins are not secretive about their desire to play clean straight up hockey yet they have to contend with Marchand who is given the green light from that fat two-faced coach.
As far as I’m concerned, Thornton is as much a coward and cheat as any that they claim we are. He tried to goad Weise into a second fight knowing he had just had a long fight minutes before. Weise would have been exhausted from that tilt and not in good condition it would not have been a fair fight and Thornton knows it, yet still tries to claim the high ground...what an ass.

The haters say the refs gave us the game, but sorry PP goals are part of the game and the Bruins had the option of not taking them. In the end they had to back off and go back to playing hockey in the third and didn’t receive one penalty in that frame, while the Canucks drew three, including one in the final minute that was dicey.

I guess GMMG proved his point about team toughness, they answer the rough stuff by scoring goals on the power play... it worked yesterday anyway.
The obvious problem is the refs like to swallow their whistles as the games get more intense and PP's are harder to come by. Last year our PP dried up as our personnel suffered through attrition, and if last night were the start of the Stanley cup final this June, it would have started with losing our best defence man and Ebbit. we cant afford to lose 2 players a game in a 7 game series...
If it were up to me I would have MG continue the great job he is doing, but i dont see why we don’t grab a Colton Orr of waivers and bring him and another body similar to sit in the press box during the playoffs. I know they are not skilled enough to take a regular shift or to take a spot on the active roster but someone to beat down Thornton and shut him up early in a series would be worth the insurance policy and as far as understand it, the rules surrounding rosters relax in the playoffs


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6UvBmVd ... e=youtu.be
a little piece of extra bullshite from Thomas the sportsman

[Meds]

So someone tells me after the game that the Bruins beat us 5-on-5 and if not for penalties we would have lost 3-0. After smacking my wife up-side the head I explained to her that when Boston deserves to be in the box for 50 minutes of a 60 minute game, and winds up shorthanded for 20+ minutes, what choice did the Canucks have?

The good.....

1. The win, obviously. More importantly: it was in Boston.

2. The PP. Exposed the Bruins for being thugs and showed everyone what happens when Boston is kept (somewhat) in check by the officiating. I loved that we moved the puck quickly, picked our shooting lanes, and didn't try too much fancy BS.

3. Schneider. Great game. Hung out to dry by Hamhuis on the 3rd goal, caught off guard by the waived off icing on the 2nd goal, beat clean on the first goal. R-O-B-B-E-D Paille on the penalty shot.

4. Team effort, good push back, played strong hockey and weren't intimidated. This was a good example of how these teams match up when Vancouver is not hampered with multiple players playing through pretty tough injuries.

5. Hodgson. He is really rounding out as a player.

The bad.....

1. The officiating. While we did get 11 PP opportunities, like I said Boston deserved to be in the box for at least 50 minutes of that game. After nearly every faceoff, it seemed, the Boston center would hack or deliver a decent cross-check to the Vancouver player.....didn't matter who won the draw. That is part of hockey, but the Bruin's play went beyond that. When we lost a draw in the Bruin's end, or tried to win it forward, on the PP to start the 3rd period, Daniel was totally interefered with as he tried to move after the puck. No call. His stick gets slightly tied up with a Boston player on the first faceoff stoppage following Hodgson's goal and there is an instant makeup call that kills our PP. Did Seidenberg even get a penalty for his hit on Ebbet? Elbow to the head? Regardless of intention, the new rules put the owness on the hitter and that was a prime example.

2. Even strength. Boston is indeed the team to beat in the NHL when it comes to 5-on-5 hockey. Their size and strength was never more obvious than when they were pressuring our 3rd and 4th lines on the forecheck. Whenever they gained the zone, regardless of which Canuck line was out, once they setup there was no moving them off the puck and we were forced to simply clear the zone or hope for a faceoff win to move out. The Bruin's weren't dirty when it came to that, they were simply stronger. I often saw a Canuck throw a hit only to bounce off and Boston keep control of the play.

All-in-all this was a great game to watch, I am still feel bad for any team that meets Boston in the playoffs. Nobody can match their size, strength, and intimidation tactics 5-on-5. Come the post-season the officials put the whistles away and the Bruins are allowed to run amok.

Thornton's post-game comment about Burrows.....

"I just wanted to let him know I was there after he slashed one of our guys on the way to the bench, he turns around and spears me in the throat."

and.....

"It's just too bad that they have 7 players on the ice and we lose one of our guys to a game misconduct." (roughly)

LMAO! What a moron.

Chara is a pussy. I have never seen him try to intimidate anyone who is remotely close to his size. When Boogaard was still playing Chara wouldn't go near him. The only people that loser goes after are guys he has 40 or more pounds on.

I liked the way Thomas handled himself today. When he got tied up with Burrows, and when Vancouver tied it up with Burrows screening, he didn't complain. Both times there was nothing to be called. Both times Burrows was in the clear. Thomas seemed to recognize it and just take his "lumps".

Up until today I still liked Marchand for his tenacious play and effort. No more. It's at the point with Boston now where Shannahan needs to show up at the next team meeting and inform their roster that the magnifying glass is now fixed over their heads (never gonna happen, I know). So long as the Stanley Cup champions are allowed to be an embarrassment to the game of hockey with their consistent lack of respect, honor, and sportsmanship, the NHL looks like a joke. If I'm Sami Salo there, my reaction after that hit is frustration rooted in the fact that this latest injury occurred because the NHL has TOTALLY FAILED at enforcing the rules and keeping the game clean.

[tantalum]

I find it interesting that if a team wins a game but goes 0-for-8 on the PP and only kills 50% of penalties they shouldn't have won the game. Or the opposite where special teams play is good and 5-on-5 they lost, they shouldn't have won because they weren't as good 5-on-5. Etc Etc Etc

Fact is the Bruins had a PS and tons of PPs as well and couldn't do anything with that man advantage (and I mean nothing). THeir PK was terrible hence it gave up 4 goals. Last time I checked that is part of the game. Canucks were fine 5-on-5 the first 10 minutes and final 15 of the game. In between they DOMINATED the special teams. THey are full marks for the win.

[Uncle dans leg]

"If guys start protecting themselves with the way Marchand did, maybe guys will stop taking runs at other guys because that's the consequences you end up paying for taking runs at guys, too. Who knows where we're going to going with this. I know we're all trying hard to fix that part of the game, but it's still there and it's still not fixed."

— Bruins coach Claude Julien on whether Marchand crossed the line on hit that send Salo head over heels.

This POS is why they play this way. You really gotta watch out for that dirty bastard Sami Salo. You never know when he's gonna take your head off. What a joke.
If Tampa had been given a fair shake in game seven of round three last year he probably wouldve lost his job.
How can the NHL allow this team the leeway with the rules to punch, slash, facewash, shove and pull after each and every whistle in games they're getting outskilled in in? It's inconceivable to me that this is a reality.

[hist]

Thorton reacted like a caveman, but Burrows should keep his stick down.

Thornton actually gives Burrows a little tap first.

Watch the replay starting around the 1:57 mark.

http://youtu.be/ixcp91LqvH8

(how the hell do you embed a video?)

[RoyalDude]

Little bit disappointed in Dale Weise though. He gave Horton a good scrap which was great to see, but I didn't like it when he acted like he wanted to take on Thornton and then weasle out like that. That's just yellow and makes what guys like Mark Recchi say about our team being a bunch of classless/gutless guys true. I know Weiser is probably pretty beat after fighting Horton, but if he doesn't want to fight, he should not be goading Thornton like that. It just makes him and our team look bad around the league.

I agree. Weise role here is to fight but here is the problem, he can't fight like Oreskovich can't fight. It's not uncommon to see teams 'designated tough guys' fight twice in a game, in fact. Weise looked very yellow in this case and just gave Canuck haters more fuel. That being said, it was probably in Weise's best interest not to fight Thornton, cause if he gets tuned by non-fighters like Foligno and Horton what would the damage be if he actually dropped his gloves with Thornton? Excessive most likely, or he would have looked extremely foolish just hanging in there getting rag dolled.

[RoyalDude]

Don Cherry commented on the game on Coach’s Corner in the first intermission in the Toronto/Detroit game.

Firstly he said that the Flames getting trashed by Boston meant nothing as they had travelled a zillion miles and were tired at the end of a long road trip.

Then he bemoaned that Vancouver got 11 power plays (his stats, not mine) and had the audacity to actually score on them. He didn’t mention Boston getting 3 power plays in the final period to none for Vancouver. He said that Alex Burrows practices his agitation moves like tapping the skate of the Boston player that started the non fight in the first period. He thought it was perfectly justified for the Boston player to charge Burrows and throw a punch for something pretty timid compared to what Boston does to other players. He showed a clip of Weiss backing away from Thorton. He showed a clip of Jody Shelley calling Mike Rupp out for hitting some rookie....he didn’t include the part where Rupp tells him to F off as he is irrelevant as pointed out in these forums. He talked about Ken Holland and the comment that the “rats” are taking over the game because there are no thugs to control them. And he showed the Marchand hit and said it was terrible and the worse thing you can do in hockey. I don’t think he realized that he was calling Marchand a rat which was okay by me. There was some other stuff but I wasn't really paying that close attention.

Leafs beat Detroit....start planning the Stanley Cup parade please!!

I caught that fucking imbecile dumb-ass Don Cherry and that ass-fuck Alberta lover Ron Maclean's little faggy Coach's Corner show. The only good thing he said about the Canucks was regarding Salo 'I like Salo cause he is the only guy there who plays it straight." Are you fucking kidding me, the only guy here who plays it straight? And so all the shit between the whiste that his beloved Bruins do is OK? The kind of antics that apparently bothered Cherry in the past. I love how he goes on about how he loves Brad Marchand, good guy and all, it was almost like he was defending the guy and that he just made a minor mistake, no big deal. Do you remember how much he went off on Brian Marchment for submarining guys? The guy is such a biased fucking a-hole and that weasel Ron Maclean just sits their supporting his hatred for the Canucks in that subtle lawyer like way that he does, "yeah, you know Burrows. That was just completely awful for tapping that guys skate like that, but hey it's OK when the great Canadian from Ontario Joe Thornton slashes Burrows wrists and shoves his gloves in Swedes faces cause well, he is a good Canadian kid from Ontario there. That love tap on the skate by Burrows was just fucking viscious, a cause for world war 3, really.

[RoyalDude]

THe only guy I pinpoint as coming out would be Raymond. However, to replace Raymond you need to be cognizant of the fact that his speed, PK ability and general skill level does help the team. You can't trade all of that in just for some grit and toughness. But if you can find a guy who has that grit combined with good speed and some special teams ability then yes you more than consider moving Raymond.

LMAO, fuck Tant, your killing me here.

[RoyalDude]

Or Gillis can find a top 6 winger to play with Kesler and Booth and knock Higgins down to play with Hodgson and Hansen. That of course necessitates Raymond being moved for that piece.

Did I not just read this two of your posts ago? LOL

Raymond ain't going anywhere Tant. Much to your disliking, the Canucks Brass and Coaching staff actually like having him here, consider him a valuable member of the team. If there will be a trade it won't be trading an asset from the current starting line-up, maybe Ballard, but his contract combined with inconsistent play makes it near impossible trading him. It will most like be prospects (like a Schroeder) and picks heading out. I feel the same way about Malhotra as you do Raymond, but even I can see that Malhotra ain't going anyhwere. Like you with Raymond, I just can't stand having him here.

It's the 4th line that needs fixing. If you noticed yesterday, our top 3 lines can handle whatever is thrown at them. When Booth comes back, he will be back with Kesler and Higgins and CoHo will be with Raymond and Hansen. You may see Higgins and Raymond switch lines with each other and you may also see Booth play with CoHo like he was before his injury. Much to your disliking, Raymond and Kesler actually have good chemistry together. So, as you can see, the top 9 forwards on this team is set when healthy, it's the 4th line outside of Lapierre that needs helping. We need a Sean Thornton presence on our 4th line and would dearly love a 6th defenseman like a Matt Carkner.

Oh yeah, good luck finding a Milan Lucic who can play on the top 2 lines. That is about as hard as finding good goaltending when you don't have any, probably harder. When teams are lucky enough to have those players, they don't trade them, the Neely's, Lucic's, Ryan Clowe's don't grow on trees. So, next best scenario is finding decent toughness for the 4th line who can actually play a little, unlike your Hordichuks and Colton Orr's.

Jordan Tootoo is a UFA at seasons end. If Nashville is out of the playoffs like they are now, I can see him being a desirable that could be had for something but not at the expense of a Mason Raymond. UFA pending players at the deadline like a Tootoo should only cost you a 2nd round pick at the most.

[Jovorock]

This line brawl from a Boston side of things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YgVgSiU ... re=related

The Bruins were picked on!

[Mondi]

At least the Canucks demonstrated that when refs decide to call penalties reasonably close to the books, the Bruins are beatable. If this was your average late playoffs, no-penalty game, it would be 3-0 Bruins. What a difference that makes!

The western conference has shown all year that the Bruins are beatable. under 0.500 against the west. Stupid record against the east (+25 in goal differential from leaf games alone, +34 from leafs and flames games )

I just have to point out that Boston is 7-4-1 against the West.

Love your point about the Leafs and Flames however.