Where have all the good times gone?

Poor Roberto Luongo.

Heading into a critical Game 4 matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks in which the Canucks could have exorcised their demons of years' past in more ways than one, Roberto Luongo was one of the relatively few Canucks who remembered that the puck was dropping.

My Dad summed up last night's game with a good quote. I do not know if he thought this up himself, or if it's been said before, so pardon my plagiarism: "The Canucks came in playing not to lose, the Hawks came in playing to win." And boy was he right.

From the drop of the puck, the Blackhawks came at the Canucks in waves, only pausing briefly for two dumb penalties by Dave Bolland and Duncan Keith, the latter of the two being lucky to only get away with a 2-minute minor for his part in a little fracas around the Chicago net. That power play resulted in the Canucks' only goal for quite some time--a Sami Salo drive that ping-ponged its way into the net.

But after that brief marker, it was all Blackhawks. Roberto Luongo did his best, and made several big stops to keep the Canucks in it. But with his vaunted deep defense turning into a firedrill in front of him, and the top offense in the league(boasting the last two Art Ross Trophy winners) mounting absolutely nothing in terms of offensive attack, it didn't take long before the Blackhawks began burying pucks with alarming frequency.

Luongo didn't even get a mercy hook until after the score was 6-1. It was clear much earlier that the boys in blue were not up to snuff on this night.

The game ended 7-2. The Madhouse lived up to its name, and the Blackhawks staved off elimination on this night. Dave Bolland turned in perhaps the best single-game effort of this post-season thus far with 1 goal and 3 assists on a night where he looked like he could have beaten the Canucks all by himself.

The task at hand now for Vancouver's team is to put this debacle behind them so they can end this series at Rogers Arena on Thursday night. It will be a tough test for the Canucks, a team that has shown impressive discipline and an ability to move forward through controversy this year. But these are the playoffs and everything is different now. The Blackhawks--while short a few weapons from seasons' past--still have a few claws, and showed in Game 4 just what they are capable of when pushed into a corner.

Now the Canucks need to come back with an answer of their own. In front of 18,000+ screaming Vancouverites on Thursday night, they get their second chance to exorcise their playoff demon.

Let's just hope Roberto Luongo isn't the only one to remember what time the puck drops.