Nemo_3

As you stated in the playoffs ANYTHING can happen, this means that the BEST team may NOT win...

One fans veiw that is somewhat limited. Not truly understanding the full game.

This 7 game final for the CUP was the strangest CUP FINALS I have EVER experienced in over 30 years of watching! It was like watching a completely different teams when on the road (Boston) and when at home, it was odd. In the regular season we scored the most goals and had the least goals against. We also had the best PP and our PK was in the top 3 of the whole league. In the finals for the cup (not counting the 7th game) we had scored a total of 8 goals - 5 at home and 3 on the road, and we gave up 19 - 2 at home and 17 on the road. It was like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. It is not just the skaters and the scores that was the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde but also Roberto had 2 shutouts in the 3 games at home (not counting the 7th game) and only allowed 2 goals in those 3 games. In Boston Roberto allowed 17 goals. It is truly the strangest series ever! As the series went along I could see the effect of "Tim Thomas" on the players. Tim Thomas is a good goalie, but he is not the Wayne Gretzky of Goalies. I could see how Tim Thomas got into the heads of the whole team, specially after that body-check he gave Henrik. That body-check by Thomas set it in the minds of the whole Canuck team that Thomas was NOT GOING TO BE DENIED. What I mean by the whole team is that this fear of Thomas was even in the minds of the Coaching staff as well as the players. The 7th Game; With the 7th game this mind game was all set. Roberto was overly concerned too. If the skaters cannot score on Thomas, Roberto cannot win the game for us, 0-0 does not produce a winner. Someone has to score and if the Canucks cannot score on Thomas where does that leaves Roberto. Finally; Boston did not beat us for the CUP, Thomas beat us. The biggest lesson we have to learn from this is how important the mind game is in these playoffs. How our determination needs to be stronger than the opposition. Not allowing a single player to get into our heads...

The biggest lesson of this playoffs is the difficulty of winning that 4th win in the best of 7 series. We seemed to get better at it as the playoffs continued, beating the Blackhawks in 7 games, beating Predators in 6 games, and then the Sharks in 5 games. It looked like we started to understand the difficulty of that 4th win. I thought for sure we would take Bruins in 4 games, maybe 5 if we lost one in Boston. What happened....Tim Thomas!

Following the Canucks for over 30 years this last season has been the most exciting and the most rewarding. Winning the President's Cup and being the best team in the League was something I never thought I would see. Ending the season with a good cushion over the red-wings and the sharks was truly awesome. It has been decades where most of my friends and family have told me that the Canucks will never make it to the playoffs. It was truly a year of justification in being a true fan. Having Daniel leading the scoring with 104 points, the year after Henrik was truly awesome. The last 2 seasons has really shown the value of the Sedin twins. Bieksa ending the season a +32 and 22 points after a summer of being on the trading block is truly amazing. Kesler with a +24 and 73 points including 41 goals was great. The 2010 - 2011 season was the best Canuck season in 40 years, for the TEAM and for many of the individual players.

I have been a follower of the Canucks since the mid 70s and have always enjoyed the review of the games and the seasons and now will be able to blog them here. I know it is easy to critize after the fact but it is what being a FAN is all about. I may critique players and coaches but they are from a position of frustration when we lose. Patience with a player or a system is difficult when one is losing and is easier when winning. I will be posting on the season and the lovely play-offs shortly.