Was Now The Best Time To Recall Thatcher Demko?

On Thursday the Vancouver Canucks recalled prospect Thatcher Demko from the AHL and waived newly acquired Mike McKenna with the intention of sending him to their AHL affiliate in Utica.  On Friday McKenna was claimed off waivers by the Flyers before he could report. Now their farm team is left with one of the AHL's worst back-up goalies (Ivan Kulbakov, 3.98 GAA and .880 SV%) to lead them through a very busy stretch of their schedule (5 games in the next 8 days). The Canucks themselves have a light schedule over the next 2 weeks, which means limited opportunities for Demko to start. 

Demko already missed a big chunk of the season with a concussion, so at this point the best thing for his development is to play hockey games. If they awarded a Vezina trophy for each month of the season, Jakob Markstrom would have been the December winner in a landslide. It has this team sniffing a playoff spot (the fan base is split on whether or not this is even a good thing). Are you now taking the starters duties away from your red hot goalie, or will Demko be the back-up?  You need Demko to get regular playing time and the Canucks play 3 games over the next 11 days.

I'm not suggesting that the decision to recall Demko was itself a bad decision, but rather the timing. He's the future in Vancouver and he's going to be coming up eventually. Losing McKenna sure doesn't seem like a big deal in a vacuum. He's not any better than your average waiver wire claim. But if you dig a little deeper and look at Utica's upcoming schedule and the Canuck's schedule, then the timing of the recall and waive looks a little more negligent.

The next rebuttal is that the front office did not expect McKenna would get claimed. It wasn't their intention to leave Utica in this difficult situation, it was an accident. Okay, but there has been a unique game of back-up goalie "musical chairs" going on in the league this season and at this particular moment several goalies are injured. There was every reason to believe that this was at least a real possibility, regardless of how good or bad McKenna may be.

I'm sure Travis Green wants to make playoffs. He'll get Coach of the Year consideration if he takes a team many projected to finish near the bottom of the standings and gets them into the postseason. Green will want to start his hot goalie often until either the Canucks fall out of playoff contention, or Markstrom falters (which hasn't happened yet) or is injured. It's questionable how much Demko will even be able to play while he's up. There is every reason to question the timing of this recall, especially given the shit sandwich you've passed to your AHL affiliate (who needs to sell tickets too).

Jim Benning is almost certainly going to put in a claim for the next goalie put on waivers, or make a minor trade for a guy who at least meets the minimum threshold of quality to play NHL or AHL (which Kulbakov does not). Hopefully this doesn't take too long. The Canucks could find themselves in a very perilous situation if they run into any injury problems between the pipes in the immediate future.

Vancouver Canucks 12 Days of Christmas

Here is my 2013 version of the Vancouver Canucks 12 days of Christmas as told by a non-Canucks fan living in Vancouver. Note that there are statistics in this song, as of Dec 21, 2013.

On the 12th day of Christmas the Canucks gave to me,

 

-12 for Alex Edler

 

11 3rd line forwards

 

10 no trade clauses

 

9 more years of Loui

 

8 goals for Hodgson

 

7 straight playoff loses

 

6 goals for Nichushkin

 

5 coach's tantrums

 

4 million dollars for Booth

 

only 3 decent prospects

 

2 downtown riots

 

and 0 Stanley Cup Trophies

Should Zack Kassian Be Returned To Sedin Line?

Perhaps I need to stop listening to local Vancouver sports talk radio, but over the last 2 weeks there has been an influx of angry callers demanding that Zack Kassian be returned to the first line with Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Kassian scored 5 goals in the first two weeks while playing on the top line, but over that time the Sedins did not play well at all. It was not until being reunited with Alex Burrows that they resumed producing at an elite level. The Sedins are great for Kassian, but Kassian is not good for the Sedins. Burrows is the perfect player to complement what the Sedins do, and the Canucks maximize the output of all three players by playing them together.

So why are all these Canucks fans calling the local radio station demanding that Kassian be returned to the top line? It's clearly not what's best for the team. Are these people who have Kassian in their hockey pool? Maybe. When he got off to that fast start, Vancouver fell in love with the power forward, but his production has dried up since being taken off the Sedin line (he's stuck at 7 points while Cody Hodgson is up to 15 points in Buffalo). Last spring when the LA Kings eliminated Vancouver in the first round, I listened to talk radio for my entire hour long drive home from work. Every second caller brought up Hodgson, traded for Kassian straight up before the trade deadline. The Canucks were eliminated because they couldn't score goals, and last season Hodgson scored 19 goals, Kassian scored 4.

That trade has been a point of contention among the fan base all summer. Kassian's fast start won over the hearts and minds of many Nuck fans. Anybody who has been arguing that Hodsgon for Kassian was a good trade for Vancouver does not want to see Zack's production come to a crashing stop. That's not helping them win their argument, especially while Cody is transforming into a superstar in Buffalo. Is that why a segment of Canucks fans are making angry phone calls to the radio station demanding that Kassian be put back on the Sedin line? I'm trying to make some sense of it all, why you would be demanding a move that diminishes the production of 3 of your best players, just to boost the output of one guy? It seems completely illogical to me as an outside observer, a non-Canucks fan who lives in the city of Vancouver. Then again, at this point the irrational behavior of Canucks fans should no longer be a shock.

2011/12 Vancouver Canucks R.I.P

The LA Kings SLAYED THE DRAGON!!! Sorry, that one was hard to resist after tonight's overtime series victory by LA over the Vancouver Canucks in five games (during which Vancouver scored just 8 goals). The parade for the President's trophy will be held on the May long weekend. Clearly goaltender Jonathon Quick was the 1st star of the series, followed by Dustin Brown and Cory Schneider. Ryan Kesler hasn't scored in the last 17 games (he scored 41 last season), Booth scored 1 point in the playoffs, Higgins had none, and Henrik Sedin scored a point on 63% of Vancouver's goals. At least the Sedins showed up to play in this series, and they would never have fallen behind 0-3 had Daniel been in the line-up from game 1. If there was any Thelma and Louise on the roster, it was Kesler and Booth. Kesler spent most of his time trying to win an academy award.



Driving home this evening, I listened to an hour of Vancouver sportstalk radio, flipping back and forth between CKNW 980 and the Team 1040. They went to the phones, which is always the most entertaining time to listen, immediately after a playoff elimination. There were a number of reoccurring themes; 1) the name Cody Hodgson came up about 45 times, 2) Cory Schneider is the future, 3) frequently harsh criticisms of GM Mike Gillis and coach Alain Vigneault. Zach Kassian was no help to the team at all in the playoffs in the series. The only move of significance they made at the deadline was trading 19 goals for 4 goals. If your window is now, that's a poorly timed step backwards. Kassian might develop into a fine player, but Hodgson gave the team far more offense right now.

There seems to be a general consensus among Canuck fans that Schneider should be the #1 goalie on this team, and I tend to agree. He's younger, better, and less expensive (which will change as he becomes a RFA in the very near future). If you want to sign him to anything beyond a qualifying offer, he can command between $4M to $5M on the open market. Has a team in the salary cap era won a championship while eating up over $10M in cap space in net? Luongo has a no trade clause, so will only be moved to a destination of his choice if he even wants to move at all. The joke on the talk shows is that all the best moves Gillis has made involved locking up Burke/Nonis players to new contracts. Ballard was a huge whiff. David Booth was a miss, though they traded dead weight to acquire him; the dead weight were expiring contracts, Booth has 3 more years left at $4.3M.

At least this year there were no riots. By all accounts, the city was almost eerily quiet. Vancouver at least has some class, they only torch downtown when they get bounced from the Stanley Cup finals. Sorry, that was a far too tempting low blow. I watched the brief overtime in an arena lobby with about 30 Canucks fans, and when the Kings scored there was dead silence. A few seconds later somebody blurted out "so it's over?" The crowd then quickly and obediently dispersed. That might be the best way to summarize their 2011/12 season.

Will they be able to find an approved buyer for Luongo? I'd cut the head off of a live chicken if it guaranteed he'd become a Toronto Maple Leafs. Sorry PETA, but I hate the Maple Leafs that much...

Canucks And Penguins Battle Back

The odds are still stacked against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks winning their respective first round series, but being down 1-3 is less daunting than being down 0-3. A 15% chance is far more appealing than a 5% chance. The Penguins hammered the Flyers 10-3 on Wednesday, and Cory Schneider led the Canucks to a 3-1 victory a few hours later. With Luongo sitting on the bench, Vancouver's future franchise goaltender put on a clinic, including a climactic stop on a crucial penalty shot which could have tied the game. Schneider stopped Dustin Brown, and Vancouver scored their 3rd goal minutes later.

There was a bloodbath in Philadelphia as the Pens dominated and decimated the Flyers. Despite missing 4 regular players due to suspensions/injuries and falling behind early, Pittsburgh settled down and soundly beat the shit out of their opponent. Marc Andre Fleury looked terrible again early, getting beat five hole twice in the first ten minutes. This prompted me to Tweet "To recycle an old Alan Bester joke: Did you hear MA Fleury was hit by a bus? He'll be okay though, it went through his legs." However Pitt settled down, and so did Fleury. The better team was the best team on this night, showing that it was improbable for Philly to have jumped out to a 3-0 series lead.

The TSN expert panel consensus had Pittsburgh Vancouver meeting in the finals. Both fell down 0-3 in the first round, and both won tonight. Stay tuned to find out how this ends.

Vancouver Canucks President's Trophy Parade

Speculation has now begun that the Vancouver Canucks might consider holding a parade through downtown Vancouver to celebrate winning the President's Trophy for winning the NHL's regular season. Team officials have given no indication that they are currently considering it, but perhaps with enough fan pressure, that might change. One could argue that winning the President's Trophy is a more impressive accomplishment than the Stanley Cup. A team only needs to win 16 games to win the Cup, but close to 50 to win the regular season. One trophy requires far more wins than the other. A team's ability to feast on weak opponents should absolutely count when determining the league's #1 team at season's end. For that very season, the Canucks should be considering a celebration of excellence because this is a fan base in dire need of celebrating something. I don't care if it means deploying thousands of riot police, this celebration of excellence must be allowed to happen.

If the team doesn't have the fortitude to make this happen, then perhaps Christy Clark might consider naming her new stat holiday "President's Trophy Day" or "Canucks Day" and hold a provincial parade, with or without the team's blessing. Christy has to be desperate enough right now that she'd be willing to try just about anything. The whole province can get a day off to celebrate the Canucks. That would not be seen as vote pandering at all and is a fabulous idea. Christy Clark might be considering this idea. Thus far she hasn't denied it.

Doctor Mark Recchi

Some techie out there sure has a sense of humour. When Henrik Sedin passed Mark Recchi on the list of all-time NHL iron man streaks, a graphic appeared on the television screen that identified him as "Doctor" Mark Recchi, which was no accident. That was a sarcastic moniker applied to Recchi last season when he disputed the seriousness of Max Paccorietty's injuries inflicted by his teammate Zdeno Chara. The fact that the nickname was shown during a Canucks broadcast is not only hilarious, it is awesome! It might diminish the significance and difficulty of playing 570 consecutive games, but here's to hoping the guy who did this not only keeps his job, that he's encouraged to do similar gags in the future.

By the way, it is unlikely that either Henrik or Jay Bouwmeester will pass Doug Jarvis. Jay-Bo being 3 years younger has a better chance. The Jarvis record is actually quite remarkable when you crunch the numbers, arguably more impressive than Cal Ripken given the amount of physical punishment sustained by the athletes (which leads to shorter careers for hockey players).

CKNW 980 Hires David Pratt

Big Daddy is back on the Vancouver radio waves, being hired at CKNW Newstalk 980AM to do daily 2 minute rants while Neil McRae is on vacation. It is not yet clear whether he will be getting his own show. He will either be a substitute for Dan Russell's Sportstalk from 9pm to midnight, and/or may co-host every so often; or hopefully the news radio station adds a new daily sports show, shifting more content from news to sports. This is the station which used to carry Canuck games until they were replaced by the Team 1040 as the Canucks primary carrier a few years ago.

Pratt is a degenerate jackass, but I want him on my radio. I hate him as much as I've missed his deliberately provocative, frequently ridiculous rants. He is a character who endeavors to be like Bob McCown, but isn't on that level. In any event, welcome back Dave, I'm happy that you've returned, even if you are just filling in McRae's vacation hours.

Byron Bitz Is Not Cam Neely

If you have spent any time listening to Vancouver sportstalk radio over the last week, you might be convinced that Byron Bitz is the next Cam Neely rather than another Jeff Cowan. He has already been anointed with the nickname "Lord Byron", prompting me to scream at my radio "come on man!" The two hosts were marvelling at his size, grit, and offensive gifts. With 21 PTS in 90 career GP, this man is the next Todd Bertuzzi, a power forward with unique skills, which is I'm sure why Florida declined to make him a qualifying offer. Now that he seems recovered from his groin, hip, and hernia injuries that sidelined him for all of last season and part of this season, he's ready to be all that Vancouver wants him to be.

You know who Cam Neely is, but you might not remember Jeff Cowan. One game he scored a goal and a woman threw her bra out onto the ice, and the city went bananas for "Cowan the Brabarian". Cowan finished with 11 PTS in 88 games played in a Canucks jersey. He hasn't played in the NHL since, and is currently earning a paycheque in Germany. Vancouver is the same fan base that elected Rory Fitzpatrick to the NHL all-star game, though his NHL career ended 19 games after his 58 game stint with the Nucks. I'm not a Canucks hater, but this is not an entirely rational fan base. They get sucked into irrational hype at the drop of a puck. Is Byron Bitz the next great power forward? I won't hold my breath.

Corey Perry Heading For Vancouver?

Today the Vancouver Province is reporting speculation that a major deal could be in the works to send Corey Perry to the Canucks for a package including Cory Schneider, Keith Ballard, Mason Raymond and a draft pick. I'm not sure that the Ducks, or any NHL team for that matter, is interested in Keith Ballard at $4.2M for 3 more seasons. A player who is that turnover and mistake prone is a risk for any team, even if he shows flashes of quality play. If the Ducks are even willing to ship Perry to Vancouver (which they might not be), they would almost certainly demand Cody Hodgson be included in the deal. Clearly Schneider and Raymond are being shopped, but they are not good enough to acquire the league MVP. Both of them are restricted free agents at the end of the season and need to be re-signed.

Cody Hodgson has been playing great as of late, leading the team in scoring for the month of January. Mason Raymond has been average at best. Schneider has value, as he is ready to be a starter and it looks like he's going to be a solid goaltender in this league for many years to come. There are likely negotiations taking place between Vancouver and Anaheim for a trade. They have a history of making deals and I'm sure Canucks GM Gillis is talking to every team that's selling before the deadline. Whether or not Corey Perry is included in a potential deal is just speculation at this point, but rest assured it will cost more than the rumoured deal in today's newspaper.

Cory Schneider Leads Vancouver To Victory Over Boston

With Roberto Luongo sitting on the bench, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Boston Bruins 4-3 in a rematch of the Stanley Cup final rivals. Back-up goaltender Cory Schneider played a strong game as Bruin fans chanted "WE WANT LUONGO" all night. The game did not disappoint Canuck fans who set their alarm clocks to get up for the early morning start. There were over 100 minutes in penalties in what has become among the most heated rivalries in the NHL. The Canucks power play scored 4 goals, including one by fan favourite Alex Burrows.

After Luongo's meltdown in last year's final that inspired riots and looting in the streets of Vancouver, it was the right move by the coach to put him on the bench. Infact if it were me, I'd have sent him right to their next destination and just kept Roberto away from Boston altogether. He sat on the bench and watched his back-up do something he could not do 6 months ago (win in Boston), while the fans repeatedly mocked him with chants all night. Given his fragile psyche, there was no good reason to have him in the building where he could get his feelings hurt. He's been playing very well in December and January (as he always does) and you don't want to risk derailing that in a city where he is prone to meltdowns.

Brad Marchand taking out Sami Salo at the knees was a malicious play worthy of a suspension. Boston coach Claude Julien should also get a game for his ridiculous statement after the game that he teaches his players to defend themselves so they don't get hurt like Marc Savard. Seriously??? Launching himself like a torpedo into Salo's knees is self defense? Both players were skating for a loose puck and Marchand ignored the puck and turned into an unsuspecting player with a submarine hit. And for that the coach is invoking the memory of Marc Savard? That's insane.

Canucks Defeat Leafs, Red Wings As Team Heats Up

Don't look now, but after a mediocre start that saw the team sitting outside of a playoff spot for the first month + of the season, the Vancouver Canucks are quickly regaining their spot as one of the best teams in hockey. Tonight they soundly defeated the Detroit Red Wings, who have been one of the best teams in the league thus far. Beating the Maple Leafs on Saturday was a less impressive accomplishment, but still a punch in the face for Leaf fans. The much hated Alex Burrows scored the game winning goals in both victories. This pundit has a higher opinion of Alexandre than most of my contemporaries. Roberto Luongo made 38 saves against the Wings, and 26 against the Leafs, as the winning goaltender in both contests.

That should quiet the Luongo detractors for the time being, as his GAA has shrunk from over 3 to 2.46 since coming back from injury. Cory Schneider's seat on the bench has been re-established, and order has been restored in Vancouver. The Canucks will almost certainly cruise into the playoffs as the Sedin BROTHERS continue another Hart Trophy calibre season. Canucks fans still calling them the sisters do not appreciate how lucky they are to have the opportunity to watch this talented duo on a nightly basis. Those idiots shouldn't call themselves fans. I'm a Red Wings fan, and even when I'm disappointed, I don't call local talk radio claiming their players have female genitalia. That's bad karma.

The Canucks will make the playoffs and once again lose in magnificent fashion.

Vancouver Sportstalk Radio Has A Problem

TSN Radio cannot come fast enough to Vancouver. Despite having two radio stations dedicated to sports (run by the same company), I'm driving home from work on a Saturday night and both stations are 100% dedicated to NCAA football. This being the biggest night in the NHL, they don't have a hockey show when the Canucks don't play. Hockey is far more popular that American college football in this market, so not having a hockey show when it matters most exposes a structural problem in TEAM 1040 and 1410 programming. Since they don't have a non-Canuck hockey show, they both revert to ESPN programming which doesn't care for hockey and loves college football. There might be some college fans, but give them one station, not both.

Look, the Team 1040 has a giant hole in their roster without David Pratt, and they have done nothing to replace him. B-Mac and Taylor suck. They spend a lot of time laughing at each other, and I spend no time laughing with them. The fact that I can't get hockey talk from either of these stations at the end of the games on a f**king Saturday night is a serious problem. Even if the Canucks play, they'll spend more time debating the 7th defenseman than talking about the rest of the NHL.

Please TSN, come to Vancouver. I can't be the only one eagerly anticipating your arrival.

Cory Schneider Lit Up By Chicago, Steve Montador On Fire

The Chicago Blackhawks have once again blown out the Vancouver Canucks, this time in a 5-1 romp against Cory Scheinder. The Luongo haters in Vancouver are not going to like this result, as Cory "the next one" did not play well at all. Scheinder has put up better numbers than Luongo so far this season, but this kind of meltdown is not going to help the argument that Luongo should be either benched or shipped out of town. For now Loo is injured, which may provide Cory more opportunities to start depending on its severity. Vancouver fans could get to see a preview of life without Loo, and this was not a good start.

Also, don't look now, but Hawks D-man Steve Montador is suddenly on fire with 4 goals in his last 4 games! I've been one of the few holding on to Stevie in fantasy hockey, and it is now paying off dividends in my 20 team league. If you can't trust Steve Montador, who can you trust? After a slow start, this hot streak has renewed my faith in the hockey Gods.

Canucks Trade Sturm, Samuelsson For Booth, Reinprecht, Draft Pick

The Vancouver Canucks have traded Marco Sturm and Mikael Samuelsson to the Florida Panthers for David Booth, Steve Reinprecht, and a 3rd round draft pick. At first glance I thought that this was a terrible hockey move for Florida, but it makes sense from a financial standpoint. Marco Sturm was on his last legs 2 years ago and last season the Canucks were a better team when Samuelsson was injured. However both are on expiring contracts and sure to attract some attention at the trade deadline. The Canucks get the best player in the deal in Booth who is only 26 and nearing his prime, while also re-acquiring their own 3rd round pick this summer. Reinprecht was a salary dump. The Canucks will eat his salary in the minors.

Florida does not make their team immediately better, and it won't be until the trade deadline that we can fully evaluate who won or lost this deal. I live in Vancouver and get to see a lot of Canucks games on TV; Sturm and Samuelsson just aren't that good anymore. For Florida it was a business move and they clearly hope to flip these assets if there is a feeding frenzy. The Panthers have started the season 4-3, but their roster is not good enough for extended success with Jose Theodore as their best goaltender. If they remain in contention maybe they'll hold on to these guys, but this roster will NOT win a playoff series. I'd put money on that.

Vancouver Turning On Luongo

The season is only one week old, and already the city of Vancouver is reaching a boiling point of resentment towards goaltender Roberto Luongo. He has only played a few games and let in a few bad goals, but already the angry phone calls are flooding in to Sportstalk radio. It would seem that the people have not forgotten Lou's embarrassing collapse in last year's playoffs. He's like a Dr.Jeckyl-Mr.Hyde character who is either great or brutal. You can tell when a meltdown is coming because he gets a specific kind of desperate look in his eyes. If cameras zoom in on his face after a goal and his expression is like an 8 year old watching Night of the Living Dead, expect another goal and soon, possibly on the next shot. This is magnified in the playoffs.

Coming off of a Vezina nomination, you'd expect a little more goodwill towards Luongo in this city, but no. He was great in the playoffs against Nashville and San Jose, but had epic meltdowns against Chicago and Boston. That Olympic gold medal was "so" 2010. I don't believe that he deserves this treatment from the fans, but he definitely deserves a fair share of the blame for Vancouver's meltdown against Boston. The Canucks lack of team toughness also played a part, and Tim Thomas was brilliant.
Whether I believe Roberto deserves it or not, the animosity in this city is very real and very palpable. You don't need to spend much time listening to the Team 1040 to understand. It won't be long before the fans are chanting "Boooooooooo" instead of "Loooooooooo".

Jannik Hansen Locked Up For 3 Years

The Vancouver Canucks made a fantastic signing today, locking up one of their most under-appreciated players to a 3 year $4 million dollar contract. $1.3M per season for the next 3 years is a bargain for the feisty forechecker who played a key role in Vancouver's run to the Stanley Cup final. He may only have 65 PTS in 189 career games played, but he is one of the best defensive players in the league, very effective on the penalty kill. He was on the ice for an even strength goal against for every 35.68 minutes of ES ice time, which at 45 seconds per shift means he is scored on roughly once every 47 shifts (even strength). That puts him near the best in the league for that metric. He had 9 PTS in 25 playoff games while logging 16 valuable minutes per game.

Well done Mike Gillis. The Sturm contract was a bad decision, and the Ballard trade was one of the worst of the year. But this Hansen contract is something that Canucks fans can get excited about. I had him valued at $1.8M for his arbitration hearing (which now won't happen) based on market comparables, and getting him for $500K less is great for the team.

Christian Ehrhoff Production And Value

It would seem by listening to Vancouver sports talk radio that Canucks fans are prepared to say goodbye to 50 point defenseman Christian Ehrhoff saying that he does not deserve to be paid more than Dan Hamhuis (who had 23 PTS in 2010/11). The question is being asked; has Ehrhoff been successful because he's on a great offensive team, or is the team strong on offense because of Ehrhoff's puck moving ability? Here's all you need to know, when the Canucks acquired Christian Ehrhoff as a salary dump from San Jose, his production went up only 2% from 42 to 44 PTS. He did not experience a large jump in numbers because he joined teams with the Sedins. On the flip side, Henrik Sedin jumped from 82 to 112 PTS when Ehrhoff joined the team because they finally added an effective puck moving defenseman to improve the break-out and transition through the neutral zone. Ryan Kesler had 59 PTS pre Ehrhoff, and jumped to 75 when he was added to the roster.

I'd say the Canucks benefited far more from having Christian Ehrhoff than the player benefited from playing on this team. Canuck fans saying that Ehrhoff should not be paid more than Dan Hamhuis need to give their collective heads a serious shake. Hamhuis is a 25 point defenseman, Ehrhoff is a 50 point defenseman. He is worth at least $5 million, though because of position scarcity in free agency, he could get as much as $6.5M. I doubt Detroit will offer him more than Lidstrom.

Jumping Off The Vancouver Canucks Bandwagon

The Vancouver Canucks are not your 2011 Stanley Cup champions, losing game 7 at home. Following the game downtown Vancouver erupted in rioting, leaving a cloud of black smoke that was visible for miles. I was guilty of jumping on the Vancouver bandwagon when Detroit was eliminated from the playoffs, but I have now officially jumped off the bandwagon. I'm cancelling my subscription and taking down my car flag. 11 more years of Roberto Luongo? Thanks but no thanks. Loooooooooser. Boston fans chanting his name while he sitting on the bench long after getting pulled in Game 6 may have caused permanent psychological damage to Roberto's already frail ego. He needs people to pump his tires. Team USA should have started Tim Thomas in the 2010 Olympic gold medal game.

Regarding the riots, there are some people saying that this was perpetrated by a small group of anarchists spread among a crowd of thousands. From what I've been hearing from people who witnessed the event is that it was a lot more than just a few people participating in this civil disobedience. There were hundreds if not a few thousand hooligans, with hardly anybody wearing black pajamas.

The Sedin BROTHERS

Nothing agitates me more than Vancouver Canuck fans who refer to Daniel and Henrik Sedin as "the sisters", and now Mike Milbury calling them Thelma and Louise. These are two tremendous hockey players without whom Vancouver would not be in the Stanley Cup finals. Yes they are under performing in this series and it is fair to say they need to be more productive, but questioning their gender is hardly a fair and moral assessment of the situation; especially since we have no idea what injuries they may or may not be playing with. I'm not a Canucks fan but I live in Vancouver, enjoy watching their games and the Sedins are a big part of that.

I know that we shouldn't take Milbury seriously, as he was one of the worst General Managers this league has ever seen with a playing career that's only remembered for the video of him in the stands beating a fan with a shoe. Alexei Yashin, that was a real man's man, right Mike? Better try to keep your day job Mr. Milburry, because no owner is going to hire you again to run their hockey team.