The Canucks and the city of Vancouver melting down on hockey's biggest stage. The Canucks showed absolutely no fight last night and let the Bruins walk away with one of the easiest game seven victories in history, which paved the way for riots in the streets shortly after. 'If we win we're legends' was the quote from Ryan Kesler on Tuesday heading into the game. However, he forgot to mention the alternative label for the team if they lost, which is gutless. Aside from Kevin Bieksa no Canuck played with any passion and there just didn't seem to be any urgency in their game even after giving up the first, second and third goals of the game. But what would you expect from a team filled with great regular season players who aren't willing to pay the price in the playoffs? The Sedins being the most glaring example. Ryan Kesler even got in on the action and was a non factor in the game last night and the entire series, registering only one point. In fact, he was barely noticeable from the Nashville series on. To be fair, he was likely playing through a groin injury but Steve Yzerman managed to win a stanley cup on one leg in his mid thirties and so did many other past players who wanted to win badly enough.The only Canuck that played with some consistency in the playoffs was Alex Burrows and that's pretty sad because he's still not much of a factor and softer than a marshmellow. Lastly, Roberto Luongo lived up to his billing as a goalie who doesn't show up for big games or come through in the clutch. It is unfair to blame him entirely for last night's game but he had a legitimate chance to make a save on all three Boston goals he let in and looked a step behind on each one, unlike his counterpart Tim Thomas who was sharp all night and throughout the series. If Luongo could have kept the game scoreless for just a while longer perhaps the Canucks could have gotten the opening goal they desperately needed to ease the pressure that clearly got to them? But then again, the forwards didn't mount too many scoring chances anyways so perhaps the outcome would have been no different if Luongo stood on his head. Regardless, he'll ultimately take the brunt of the loss and his jersey is now as fashionable to wear as wallet chains and LA Gear shoes (especially the ones with the lights). Luongo clearly needs a change of scenery and both him and the fans are no longer enamoured with one another. Vancouver probably has as good a chance to win with Corey Schneider but trading Luongo's contract won't be an easy task. They sure won't get fair market value for him but perhaps the gain will be through subtraction.
I should mention the Bruins in this BMOD because they do deserve a lot of credit. They were definitely the best team (not the most talented) in the playoffs this year and worked extremely well together. Tim Thomas deserves a lot of praise and rightfully won the conn smythe trophy, but Zdeno Chara admirably anchored a defense filled with no names and a bystander (Tomas Kaberle) to help Thomas shine and avoid rebounds. I'd imagine fans in Ottawa are cringing at the fact they let him walk away and chose to resign Wade Redden several years ago.
Finally, how sad was it to see the city of Vancouver make an ass of itself again? The fans in the arena showed a ton of class and probably had the most right to be angry having paid ridiculous amounts of money to attend such a terrible game(upwards of $7800 per ticket). However, it was the small pockets of young punks in the streets around the arena that showed no restraint and thought it would be a great idea to torch cars and vandalize local stores. What's worse is they were basically allowed to do so unimpeded. The Vancouver police and riot squad were the only team softer than the Canucks in Vancouver last night. Canada's greatest and most beautiful city (self proclaimed by Van residents) managed to undo the great impression they left on the world a year ago at the winter olympics and once again show why they're a city undeserving of a stanley cup champion.
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