Canuck Nation has now had a few days to digest the fact that our boys in blue are off to the Stanley Cup Final. The screams of joy have faded, the cross-examining of the series against the San Jose Sharks is well underway, but the excitement for the Final is really just beginning.
Tonight the Canucks will find out just who they will be facing on the NHL's biggest stage. The Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning will clash in a seventh and deciding game in tonight's conclusion of a tough, back-and-forth series that has seen a surprising amount of offense. Heading into the series, netminders Tim Thomas and Dwayne Roloson were on a roll. Thomas is the favorite to win this year's Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender, and Roloson was deep in the discussion of potential Conn Smythe candidates as the Playoff MVP given his sensational play to get the Lightning to the 3rd round.
But the Eastern Conference Final hasn't really been a game for goaltenders. High scoring affairs have been a hallmark of this series as these two supposedly stingy defensive teams have traded goals with speed and efficiency. Thomas has faired better than Roloson, managing a shutout and a 1-goal against victory. Roloson was also held back from starting in Game 5 in place of backup Mike Smith (sound familiar, Canuck fans?) before returning to guide his team to victory in Game 6.
I use the term "guide" loosely, as Roloson was far from unbeatable in another high-scoring battle. But I digress.
The Boston Bruins are trying to win their first Stanley Cup since the 1970s, when names like Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito were still patrolling the ice for the Bruins. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the most recent Cup winners of the remaining teams, having taken home the grail in 2004. Both also feature a Vancouver connection--for Boston, it is Vancouver bread Milan Lucic. The young power forward, best known amongst Vancouverites for his days as a Vancouver Giant in the WHL, is extremely popular in his home province. His mix of size, skill, intimidation and absolutely formiddable fighting ability is an easy combination for a fan favorite. Many (myself included) fondly remember "the shift" during the Memorial Cup held in Vancouver, where Lucic did his best impersonation of a runaway freight train--flattening several players before accepting a challenge to a fight that he won handily.
On Tampa Bay's side, one of the most recognizable faces in Vancouver Canucks history awaits. Mattias Ohlund--he of the most points scored in the history of the franchise by a defensemen--is enjoying his first lengthy post-season run of his career. While his offense has dried up, the earmarks of Ohlund's game remain--namely calm, cool defensive play, good leadership in the room, and a propensity to destroy oncoming forwards who have the ill fortune of skating with their heads down.
The question has been asked many times--who is the better opponent for the Canucks? My answer is neither. These are two teams that will have fought tooth and nail to arrive in the Finals. These are two teams that can hurt you in any number of ways. Picking and choosing an opponent is not how Cups are won, it is about beating the best in order to be the best.
So the Canucks will continue to wait.
And we can continue to dissect the most beautiful "ugly" goal many of us have ever seen. Kevin Bieksa's "duck shot" from the blueline that fooled the no-longer-unbeaten-in-a-playoff-series Antti Niemi to propel the Canucks into the Finals. A Final where, regardless of the opponent, they will be the favorite.
My darling wife remarked to me that when Bieksa scored, I sounded like I was dying. (hint - a lot of screaming, which may not have sounded entirely masculine, ensued) She didn't think it was possible for me to go any more completely ballistic than I had when Alex Burrows scored the series-clinching goal over the Chicago Blackhawks all the way back in Round 1. But I did.
But I'm hoping that just like the Canucks, I can ramp it up just one more time.
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