The Chicago Blackhawks Are Bad

After two consecutive playoff oustings, you'd think it would be difficult to find a Vancouver Canucks fan who has anything but ill will for the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, as some people think the Blackhawks are all right. Yes, some people have a hard time hating a team with plenty of ties to the West Coast. Some people watched Jonathan Toews lead Canada to an Olympic gold medal, and they think he's A-okay. And some people simply have the Blackhawks confused with other things. Good things. Things for which they feel fondness.

It's time to clear this up once and for all. People, hear me: the Chicago Blackhawks are bad. BAD. If you think they are good, you obviously have them confused with something else. That thing cannot possibly be the Blackhawks, because the Blackhawks are bad.

You may be thinking of Black Hawk, the Lakota artist whose 76 colour drawings are a part of Native American ledger art history. Black Hawk is admirable and sympathetic, especially since he was killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. If you feel admiration and sympathy, you're likely thinking of Black Hawk. You couldn't possibly be thinking of the Chicago Blackhawks, who are neither admirable nor sympathetic. They are the worst kind of bad. They're named after atrocities.

2011 Round One Preview: Chicago Blackhawks

Let's make sure, whatever we do, this never happens again.

For the third year in a row, the Vancouver Canucks will be facing the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup playoffs. After two ignominious defeats in the second round, this year the Canucks will get the chance to exorcise their playoff demons in round one. The match-up is one the media, fans, and players have been eagerly anticipating, but it's not exactly a pure re-match.

The Blackhawks of 2010-11 are not the Blackhawks of 2009-10. Last season, the Blackhawks were just plain better than the Canucks. In the off-season, however, due to some mismanagement of the cap by Dale Tallon, the Hawks said farewell to much of their vaunted depth. Gone are Ben Eager, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg, Brent Sopel, Colin Fraser, Adam Burish, John Madden and Canuck nemesis Dustin Byfuglien. Gone, too, are both goaltenders from last season. Playoff hero Antti Niemi signed with the San Jose Sharks while Cristobal Huet was sent to Switzerland to eat chocolate, wear pocket watches, and design knives.

It's Okay to be Optimistic

I understand some Canucks fans are wary of the playoffs: with only two Stanley Cup Final appearances in the team's 40 year existence and no victories, most Canucks fans have a pessimistic outlook, just waiting for something to go wrong. And certainly things have gone wrong in the past. We've seen a dream playoff run ended by a goal post. We've seen an Art Ross trophy and a division championship choked away. We've seen Nicklas Lidstrom score from center. We've see Luongo lose focus. We've seen them lose in the second round to the Blackhawks. Twice. In a row. And that's just recent history.

So I get it, I really do. For many years the pessimism has been a realistic and fair reaction to the performance and history of the team. So I want to let you know, because it's completel atypical and likely goes against everything you've ever believed about the Canucks: it's okay to be optimistic.

Who Do the Canucks Want to Face in the First Round?

With the Canucks having sewn up their spot in the playoffs via a clever combination of playing in the terrible Northwest division and being the best team in the NHL, the time has come to consider who the Canucks will face in the playoffs. With a comfortable 10 point lead on the Red Wings for first place in the Conference, the Canucks could safely go .500 over their remaining 8 games and still be guaranteed top spot. So let's look at the teams that could end up in the 8th spot and face the Canucks in the first round.

Mathematically, there are still 12 teams that could potentially finish in 8th. Still, it's safe to say that the Red Wings and the Sharks won't be taking such a drastic fall. Similarly, the Blues, Blue Jackets, and Wild are unlikely to make improbable runs to the playoffs over their few remaining games. That still leaves 7 viable teams who could wind up facing the Canucks in the first round: the Coyotes, Blackhawks, Kings, Predators, Ducks, Stars, or Flames. Which of those teams would be an ideal match-up for the Canucks? Obviously, the Canucks don't need to be afraid to face any team this postseason, but which team would be preferable?

Please Do Not Flip the Pool

Sports fans go nuts when things don't make sense to them.

Have you looked at the Western Conference standings recently? If you're a Vancouver fan, you probably haven't, you smug bastard, so let me fill you in: there are 2 points separating the 5th-place team and the 10th-place team. This is where you gasp, or maybe here: of those six very good teams, only four will be making the playoffs.

If you didn't gasp, you obviously don't live in Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Anaheim, Dallas, or Calgary. For fans and players of those teams, it's a stressful time; every game in the Conference has meaning, even the ones in which your team doesn't play.

However, for the time being, Canucks fans are taking it easy. It's a pleasant feeling, this--a rare feeling. When it comes to these late-season clusters, the Canucks are regularly in the thick of things. This year, however, where Vancouver is nine points clear of second-place Detroit, and seventeen points clear of the aforementioned thick.

Enjoy it while it lasts, Canuck nation. In ten games, everyone starts back at zero.

Some of my 10 Unlikely Playoff Predictions (Almost) Came True!

Two whole months ago, way back in the middle of April, as Harrison and I were getting PiTB! rolling, we made some playoff predictions. As a spoof, I made mine a series of thoroughly unlikely predictions, none of which I expected to come true.

But some of them (almost) did.

So, now that the playoffs are over and the (hated, loathed, and generally disliked) Chicago Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup Champions, here's a review of my 10 Increasingly Unlikely Playoff Predictions. I will be rating each prediction on a scale of 1 to atrocious.

Prediction #1: Steve Bernier will lead the Canucks in goal-scoring, specifically with 13 goals (7 gamewinners). What's more, the Canucks would reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1994.

Result: Ha! Told you these were unlikely. Not a single part of this prediction came true, though, to Bernier's credit, he did score 4 goals in 12 games to finish 3rd on the Canucks. All of the goals came against the LA Kings, so it almost looked like this prediction could have come true. Then along came the 'Hawks and Bernier couldn't pull a Byfuglien. None of his goals were gamewinners.

Verdict: Hopeful, but awful prediction.

Prediction #2: Pierre McGuire will use the word "monster" only once per game.

Result: I'm pretty sure I heard him say "monster" three times in one sentence, with a "monstrous" thrown in for good measure.

Verdict: In retrospect, this was the least likely of my predictions. Appalling.

Prediction #3: Chris Pronger will carry the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals with a brilliant postseason, only to lose the Conn Smythe to Brian "The Mighty Boosh" Boucher.

Result: So close to being true. Instead, Pronger lost the Conn Smythe by being not very good in the final two games of the Stanley Cup Finals. He lost it to Jonathan Toews, who didn't even score a goal in the finals and finished behind Danny Briere for the scoring lead. The Mighty Boosh didn't start a single game against the Blackhawks.

Verdict: While still horrible, this was easily my best prediction. Did anyone else on the entire internet predict the Flyers reaching the Finals?

Prediction #4: Pavel Datsyuk won't score a goal against the Coyotes; Adrian Aucoin will score the series-winner on the powerplay in the second overtime of game 7.

Result: The series did reach game 7, but Datsyuk scored 5 goals against the Coyotes, including the game and series-winning goal in a game 7 that didn't even get close to overtime. So, essentially the exact opposite of what I predicted.

Verdict: While Datsyuk wasn't his usual wizardly self in these playoffs, he scored plenty of goals on Bryzgalov. Terrible prediction.

Prediction #5: Jose "Alvin Simon" Theodore will be outstanding in net for the Capitals, recording three shutouts enroute to the Eastern Conference Finals. He will make 44 saves in a game 6 loss that knocks Washington out of the playoffs.

Result: Theodore was fantastic in game 1 against the Canadiens, making 35 saves on 38 shots in a tough overtime loss. He then gave up 2 goals on the first 2 shots of game 2. He didn't play again. After game 7, neither did the Capitals.

Verdict: Brutal prediction.

Prediction #6: The Nashville Predators will sweep the Chicago Blackhawks. None of the games will be decided by one goal.

Result: The Predators pushed the series to 6 games but couldn't knock out the eventual cup-winners. Game 5 was the only game decided by one goal.

Verdict: 5 of the 6 games being decided by more than one goal makes this prediction look better than it is. The 'Hawks won the Cup, so this was a catastrophic prediction.

Prediction #7: Barack Obama will appear at the first game of the playoffs for the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday to drop the ceremonial first puck. Because of this, Washington Capitals fans will refuse to vote for him in the next election, leading to a narrow victory for Republican Mitt Romney.

Results: Nope. Ol' Mitt might still have a shot, though.

Verdict: Putrid prediction.

Prediction #8: The Ottawa Senators will light up Marc-André Fleury, causing him to be pulled in two of the first three games of the series. Despite this, the Penguins will rally back, with Fleury posting a shutout in game 7. They will subsequently be knocked out in the second round.

Results: Specificity did this one in. The Senators did indeed light up Fleury in game 1, scoring 5 goals on 26 shots, but he bounced back with a solid outing in game 2. The Penguins won in 6 without Fleury posting a single shutout. The Penguins did get knocked out in the second round.

Verdict: This prediction gets a participation ribbon. Thanks for coming out, execrable prediction.

Prediction #9: Joe Thornton will dominate, leading the postseason in points. Evgeni Nabakov will be fantastic, with the best save percentage of the postseason. Despite this, the Sharks will lose in the Western Conference Final. The media will blame Thornton and Nabakov for choking.

Results: While not dominant, Thornton did somewhat excise his playoff demons with a half-decent, inconsistent performance. He was, quite frankly, lukewarm, which may cause some deities to spit him out. And, since he had only one point in the 4-game sweep by the Blackhawks, the choking accusations still don't seem unwarranted. Nabokov had the third worst save percentage of the postseason, ahead of only (sigh) Luongo and Fleury.

Verdict: Loathsome prediction.

Prediction #10: The Stanley Cup winning goal will be scored by Rick Rypien.

Result: Did anyone see that puck go in the net other than Patrick Kane? Maybe it was scored by Rypien...who knows?

Verdict: Unknown.

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Blackhawks, May 11, 2010

So here we are, the last game of the season complete, our beloved Vancouver Canucks left exactly where they were this last year to the day. So why do I feel so much more content this time around?

I'll tell you why. Make no mistake: Chicago was the better team in these playoffs, but our potential for even an upset went out the window when Dustin Byfuglien took Alex Edler out of the game. With Edler gone, and Salo playing like a ghost of himself (just as he appears), Kevin Bieksa became our number one defenseman, playing the wrong side. Shane O'Brien became our number three.

We all saw what happened with that. Bieksa is a mistake-prone, high-risk kind of guy on any given night, but on Tuesday night, he was exhausted, overworked, taxed, and the mental errors finally began to pile up. Credit to Chicago for tightening up and pouncing on an exhausted Vancouver defense. There was nothing we could do. Imagine, momentarily, that the Blackhawks had lost Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith. I submit that they would lose. Well, while Mitchell, Salo, and Edler are not those guys, they are the best defensemen on our team, and without them, we are drastically worse.

Put aside that shoddy argument about Vigneault dressing seven defensemen. It wouldn't have made a difference. What was Lawrence Nycholat going to give us? Was he going to replace Edler, Mitchell, or Salo? No. You live and die with your best players, and tonight it was fatal. It's not Luongo's fault. He wasn't the best goalie in this series, but, again, Andrew Alberts finished this series at #4 on the depth chart. Bad defense will turn even the best goalies into mediocre ones after awhile. Luongo made more amazing saves in the first period than I can remember. Consider how many great scoring chances Chicago got in the game. That Bobby Lu only let in five is--regrettably--impressive. When he said about as much, the media crucified him. Give it a break, guys. What do you want? More tears? The team had nothing left, and for once, they feel like they did all they could.

That's what I got from the aftermath of this game: a disappointed team consoling themselves with the knowledge it wouldn't have turned out any other way. As a resigned fatalist, I recognize you can't fight the present. It just is. And the Canucks seemed of a similar mind. How are you supposed to stifle the best offense in the league when your best defensive defenseman is injured and your best defensive forward is playing injured? Ryan Kesler was not even close to regular-season form for most of the playoffs. (Consolation: he still put up nearly a point a game--the kid's a player.) The shoulder injury we found out about after the loss explains the step back his play took.

I'm content because we lost, and not because we suddenly fell apart. It's because we deserved to lose. Chicago is a fantastic team (full of gutless pukes, yes, but fantastic), and we had nothing left to give them. They deserve to be the team looking ahead. We deserve to be the team looking inward. So we look to the offseason, which should be interesting. Gillis has some huge choices to make, especially regarding who comes back. He's got some young prospects who could make a difference, he got a little bit of wiggle room with the cap, and he's got a core in place that should let him focus on the potholes rather than the direction of the street.

No bullet points from me today. We all saw the same series, the same season, the same hockey team, and nothing much changed in that final game. Kyle Wellwood was frustratingly brilliant. For better or worse, Shane O'Brien has become our emotional barometer. The Sedins were neutralized.

Whatever, though. Enjoy your offseason, Canucks fans. If, like me, you find yourself a little lost, sports-wise, I highly recommend giving the Suns-Lakers series a chance. Should be good. We'll be reporting on it a little. The World Cup starts in about a month if you can sit on your hands until then. Stay away from baseball. It's worse than ever.

And what of Pass it to Bulis? Well, we've really enjoyed our first year here, and we'll be with you all season long next time around. As for the offseason, we've got a lot planned. We'll still be reporting Canucks news, large (the draft, free agency) and small (you know, piddly blog crap), and we'll be giving our measured take on GM MG's big decisions. Look for a biweekly video blog where Skeeter and I debate the issues.

So please, bookmark us, add us to readers, tell your friends about us, do whatever. Just make sure you don't forget about us, because we'll still be here and we'd hate to lose you.

Until next year.

I Didn't Watch This Game: Canucks vs. Blackhawks, May 11, 2010

It's true. I play guitar in a band and we have a show coming up, so I was busy practicing while the game was on. Harrison PVRed the game (he also had a practice with his band) and we intended to watch the game together, but the combination of exhaustion and depression kept us from doing so.

It feels like a kick in the chest right now, to have my hometeam that I care so much about out of the playoffs. I'll have more to say as a postmortem later on, but right now I'm just upset. Harrison and I will likely watch the game tonight and collect our thoughts on the season as a whole.

PiTB will continue. We're enjoying blogging and we hope you're enjoying reading. We'll hopefully be doing some video blogging to go with the writing and you might see some musical tributes to our beloved Canucks in the future. For now, let's just have a moment of silence for the '09-'10 Vancouver Canucks.

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Blackhawks, May 9, 2010

I Watched This Game is a recurring feature on Pass it to Bulis!, chronicling the observations and insights of two people who watched a hockey game.


My sincerest apologies for the delinquency of the previous I Watched This Game feature, which should have followed the Blackhawks 7-4 drubbing of our Vancouver Canucks. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to do it after such a sour loss; it wasn't so much that it was my anniversary this weekend and I didn't have the time; it wasn't even that the game was so similar to the one before it that the insights would have been identical; it was, well, all of those things.

But let's not dwell on the distant past, where we lost a couple of games by a wider margin than even the score would suggest. Let's dwell on the recent past, where the team gutted out an impressive road win and sent the series back to a game six:

• First things first: Sami's testicle. I'm sure, by now, you've seen the video, tweeted about it, and cringed along with the rest of the province. Everybody has. In fact, since last night when I made the quick post about it, PiTB has received over 6000 hits, which is more than the entire blog had received up to that point. People care about Sami's gonads. I don't have an update for you, but let me point out that when men in the media talk about putting it all on the line, they usually whisper in their hearts, "except for balls." Balls are generally exempt from the line; no one expects you to put them on it.

• My wife: Salo's got so much heart. As a ghost, he could have let the puck go right through him, but he didn't, for the good of the team. Yes, what a guy. Okay, anyway, the rest of the team.

• How about the play of Kyle Wellwood these past few games? Wellwood's been the best player on the ice since game 2, and he earned himself a third star nomination last night for his 2 assist game. Wellwood has been bearing down (what?), winning puck battles along the boards (what?) and throwing hits (WHAT?) all series and it's paying off. Wellwood's play earned him a compliment from Hughson, who talked about the Canucks' depth at center. (An Art Ross winner, a Selke candidate, and dependable ol' Kyle Wellwood.) A month or two ago and that would have been a punchline. Good on ya, Welly.

• I should point out that Wellwood always tends to play great when the team plays terribly, and vice versa, as though he's playing a different game entirely. As we often assert here on PiTB, Wellwood is weird. That's all the explanation I've got.

• The difference between the last two games and this one? Roberto Luongo's rebound control. When he swallows up pucks, it slows the game down, takes away momentum, and gives the team confidence. When he spits out rebounds, well, we lose. It's that simple. He needs two more games like that one. Can he do that?

• Shane O'Brien has sure taken his lumps over these playoffs. He's been called a clown on numerous occasions now. In the last two months, every member of the media has taken a shot at him, and every opposing player has had something to say about him. This is a bottom-pairing defenseman, you guys. Let us remember this. SOB has been a great story, and he's going to need to be even better with Salo out. He's shown flashes. We need even more.

• Game six is at home, where the Canucks are 2-3 in this postseason. Were they not the best home team during the regular season? Let's hope that's the Canucks' team we see on Tuesday night. If it is, I've got a good feeling about the outcome of this series. If it isn't, I've got a good feeling about the Phoenix Suns.
  

• The secret to the Canucks' power play? Shots from the point. Heck, the secret to everything is shots from the point. What's inside the Ark of the Covenant? Shots from the point. I especially liked Kevin Bieksa's PP goal, as it came on a one-timer. How many one-timers have the Canucks flubbed this postseason with passes that weren't crisp? One crisp d-to-d pass and it finds its way past Niema. More, please.

• Am I the only one finding Kelly Hrudey completely intolerable? He says some of the stupidest things and then stubbornly refuses to hear the other side. I fully expect "I don't care--whales are fish" to come out of his mouth soon. Between him, Milbury and the ever-slipping Ron Maclean, it's like a black hole of good content between periods.

• Good to see the Blackhawks taking the dumb penalties they've been deserving of. Byfuglien, Toews, Hossa, Bolland, Ladd, Eager... these guys have been slashing, running the goalie, clutching, grabbing, and hitting after the whistle without any calls coming their way. Finally, however, in game five, we got a few. Why? Composure. The Canucks kept their heads and it became apparent who was starting everything

• Speaking of composure, there is no better example than when Andrew Ladd punched SOB right in his temporary stitches, and The Gun Show didn't go ballistic. I would have gone ballistic. I would have been suspended for the rest of the series for how I woud have reacted. That was classless and cowardly. The word in Maple Ridge is even Ladd's mother wasn't too proud of that one. Happy mother's day, Mrs. Ladd--your son's a little puke.

• Instead of only railing on Blackhawks all day, however, I'd like to point out that Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith are incredible. The Canucks have been dumping the puck into Keith's corner and trying to get a hit in, and it hasn't happened once, because the little bugger is so shifty. That's incredible. And Toews leads the playoffs in scoring, which surprised me. I thought Crosby had about eighty-one points by now. Nope, it's Toews. These are excellent players.

• Michael Grabner has been impressive, has he not? The guy's a player for sure, and his speed caught the Blackhawks off guard two or three times for good scoring chances. Let's hope he pots one tomorrow night. In my mind, he's due.

• Can you believe Mats Sundin spent a season playing with Luongo and still doesn't know the proper pronunciation of his last name? Lalongo? Come on, man. Well, you know what they say: you can take the hockey player out of Toronto, but you can't take the Toronto out of the hockey player. Nah, they never say that.
  

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Skeeter watched this game as well:

• The Canucks put a lot of pressure on the points when Chicago was in the offensive zone, limiting the shots from the point, which is one of the reasons Luongo didn't give up as many ugly rebounds: fewer shots through traffic = fewer junky rebounds in front of the net. It's not coincidence that the 'Hawks one goal was scored from the point when Henrik and Burrows got their wires crossed and neither one pressured the shooter.

• Yes, Kyle Wellwood played an excellent game, as Harrison pointed out, but what was especially fascinating to me is that he was on the ice for the most crucial time of the game: when the Canucks were up 3-1 at the end of the third and the 'Hawks pulled Niemi for the extra attacker. He was on the ice from 18:07 until 19:15, when Burrows scored the empty netter (from a Wellwood assist, natch). Ostensibly it was for faceoff insurance, but I think it speaks more to how much AV trusts Wellwood defensively. Look for a post later today on the burgeoning defensive abilities of Kyle Wellwood.

• Ryan Johnson only lost one faceoff last night. He was 89% in the faceoff circle. Henrik won 63% of his faceoffs, one of which led directly to a goal. On the other hand, Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland were brutal at 36% and 15% respectively. When it's not called "hockey," possession is the name of the game.

• Surprisingly, with Salo out after the first period due to ball-distress (now will it burn when he pees?), it wasn't Ehrhoff who was the big minute-muncher. That honor goes to Edler and Bieksa, who played 27:23 and 27:04 respectively.

• According to the Team 1040, the story of the game was Luongo shaving his beard and refusing to talk to the media on game day. That's a pretty lame story.

• Big credit to Shane O'Brien for not even missing a shift after he was turned into a blood unicorn by an errant high stick. He played a solid 19:29 in the absence of Salo and was a +2. If Salo is out next game, SOB will be called upon to play bigger minutes, especially with Alberts only playing 10:38 with no extra shifts after Salo left the game.

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Blackhawks, May 5, 2010

Please Burr, may I have some more?

I Watched This Game is a recurring feature on Pass it To Bulis, chronicling the observations and insights of two people who watched a hockey game.

Another day, another Canucks loss, and what an anxiety-inducing sixty minutes this one was. The Canucks made it close a few times, but they could never tie the game back up. And let's be clear, right off the top: the Canucks lost this game. I'm going to moan about reffing later on, but this game was lost where the Canucks have earned every playoff loss: on special teams. Theirs wasn't working, the Blackhawks was. So let's get into it:

• As I said, this game was lost on special teams. The Blachawks went 2-for-7 and we went 0-for-4. How the Blackhawks were given seven power plays to our four, I'll never know, especially considering I know that the refs and I were watching the same game.

• Speaking of which, can you believe that goaltender interference hasn't been called even once in the losses? Not once. Two of tonight's goals were the direct result of goaltender interference. It's a great strategy, interfering with the goalie so he can't make the save... but it's against the rules, isn't it? I guess not.

• I'm reading all over about how great Dustin Byfuglien played last night, and yes, he was very, very good, but it's also pretty good to be an excellent basketball player if you're not expected to dribble it. Byfuglien's great game was unencumbered by any rule enforcement whatsoever. His hat-trick goal was a clear-cut case of goaltender interference, and his after the whistle runs directly into Luongo need to be called. So does the stick slash, specifically, and the fact that he was the instigator for nearly every scrum. But, if he's allowed to run around and play a game outside of the rules? Then yes, he's going to have a great game.

• How infuriating that, after all the garbage the Blackhawks were starting, Alex Burrows was the player who took a reputation call? I don't want to keep harping on refereeing, but, come on, man.

• The Canucks lost their composure tonight. I lost my composure. Any sane man is going to lose his composure when he realizes basic rules aren't being enforced. But you're going to hear a lot of about the Canucks losing their composure, and they did. I also lost my composure that time a boss mocked my mother's cancer. A lack of decorum will typically lead to a lack of composure.

• Enough sour grapes. The Canucks had more energy tonight, they were faster than the Blackhawks, but they seemed offensively out of sync and it cost them.

• I thought Kevin Bieksa played another sloppy game. He needs to stop being the direct cause of goals against. That's bad defending. Let's hope he gets things sorted out for game four.

• Roberto Luongo's rebound control has been a problem all playoffs. Before last night, he had five good games in a row, but almost every goal has been a result of him not being able to hold onto a rebound. Yes, sometimes you can't help it, but we need you to do that, big guy.

• I thought Kyle Wellwood was fantastic tonight, but all of his stickhandling and puck control needs to result in more than a drawn penalty. I've been hot and a cold with Welly all year, because he needs to produce in order to be effective. He tends to wow us without doing much of anything.

• Her'es hoping Alex Burrows' goal gets him going. He needs to start running Niemi the way the Blackhawks are running Luongo, but he hasn't been nearly as effective this playoffs as he was during the regular season. But how can you not be motivated after last night's trainwreck? I am confident that Burrows will show up on Friday.

• Don't panic, Canucks fans: we were down 2-1 last series and we won in six. In fact, that series and this one have unfolded almost identically. The special teams problems, the net-crashing, the offensive defenseman playing lights out. But we all know the Canucks adjusted and sorted it out in game four. Plus! Losing last night's game means that it's not unfolding the same way as last season's Chicago-Vancouver series, so at least we won't have to hear about the "startling similarities" to last year. This one's a whole different bird. Don't panic, Canuck nation, we've been here before.
  

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Blackhawks, May 03, 2010

At least Mason Raymond showed up last night...

I Watched This Game is a recurring feature on Pass it To Bulis, chronicling the observations and insights of two people who watched a hockey game.

Harrison rarely has anything to say after a Canucks loss - he gets all despondent and mopey - so it falls to me to make the I Watched This Game post this morning.

What an incredibly frustrating game to watch. My initial reaction was that the Canucks fell into the same trap as last season, getting an early one-goal lead and then falling back into defensive mode, trying to protect that lead for 40+ minutes, but on closer inspection, that's not what happened. The Canucks didn't let up offensively; in fact, they continued to press on the forecheck, continued to direct shots towards the goal (though few made it through), and didn't sit back to defend the lead. The problem was that they tried to play Chicago's game, letting the Blackhawks dictate the pace of the game instead of setting the tempo themselves and controlling the play instead of reacting to it. They let the game become a series of end-to-end rushes and were unable to sustain any pressure in the Blackhawks' zone.

Still, there are some positives to take out of this game and plenty of reason to believe the Canucks will respond with a better effort at home in Game 3. Some quick points:

• The Sedins and Samuelsson, other than a beautiful 5-on-3 goal, were invisible. The issue was that they were never able to set up and create good goalscoring opportunities and tried to force the puck through on low-percentage shots. Then, when they were on the powerplay they did the opposite, trying to set up the perfect play with too many passes when just getting a shot and a rebound might have been more effective. Frustrating game for the top line.

• The second line, on the other hand, was great. Alex Burrows finally started to look effective and it was while he was doing the simple things: working hard along the boards, protecting the puck, and getting it to the front of the net. Ryan Kesler continued his strong defensive play, backchecking effectively and creating turnovers. Still, it would have been nice if he had done more with that 3-on-1...more on that later.

• Mason Raymond was a beast. I reffed a soccer team a few days ago that had two sisters that looked almost like identical twins. I didn't realize there was two of them at first and thought it was just one girl dominating the game, appearing everywhere on the field. That's what it was like watching Mason Raymond in this game: he was everywhere, offensively and defensively. The goal he scored was an atypical Raymond goal, created by getting body position in front of the net rather than with his speed. He was easily the best Canucks player on the ice.

• Brent Sopel looked like Brent Sopel last night. There was a lot of talk after the Nashville season about how amazing he was on the penalty kill. Didn't see it last night. That 5-on-3 goal doesn't happen if he keeps his stick on the ice. As soon as he lifted it, Henrik slid the pass through to Samuelsson.

• There will be a lot of talk about the Canucks physical play (or lack thereof) after this game, but in one area I appreciated it: the Canucks did not respond at all to the cheap shots and smack talking after the whistle (other than one ill-advised run at Dustin "Feather-Ryfuglien'" Byfuglien by Rick "I'm Much Better at Punching" Rypien). The highlight was SOB gazing skyward as Burish tried to get in his face, as if SOB was contemplating the miracles of the universe.

• Besides, the hits were only 38 to 31 in favor of the 'Hawks. It wasn't the physical play that did the Canucks in, it was their inability to play their game and get set up in the offensive zone.

• According to Kelly Hrudey during the first intermission, Luongo showed a "different energy" while entering the arena for games 1 and 2 of this season. Apparently, to Hrudey, teal = energy. Also, what was with his half-assed paisley tie? If you're going to wear paisley, wear paisley. Don't wear a tie that's only a partial paisley.

• Bieksa had an awful game. Just awful. Beyond the Henrikian pass he made to Seabrook for the Blackhawk's first goal, he was out of position all night, letting Chicago players just waltz in on Luongo like they were in Vienna. The third goal happened because Bieksa left his feet on a 3-on-2, dropping down to block a non-existent shot instead of staying up and taking the man.

• SOB, also awful. Poor choices in defensive coverage, weak clearing attempts, and just all-around sloppy play. His worst moment was when he thought he was a winger and made a blind drop pass while entering the offensive zone, directly leading to a Ben Eager breakaway. Luongo had to make a ridiculous save to preserve the one-goal lead.

• On that note, Luongo played a great game. But did the officials think he was embellishing all game? Is that why no goaltender interference penalties were called?

• Does it amuse anyone else that Jim Hughson refers to Patrick Kane as "Pat Kane?" It's as if trying to make him sound more like an adult, rather than a punk kid. But we all know he's still just a punk kid.

• Special teams? The penalty kill was good, the power play was not. That about sums it up. You can't be giving up odd-man rushes shorthanded. The Canucks were far too casual on the power play and didn't display any hunger for the net.

• Speaking of shorthanded odd-man rushes, Kesler wasted a good 3-on-1 opportunity with an ill-advised shot. Harrison seems to think he made the right decision, but the fact is that the goalie and the defenceman were playing the shot and he had two wide open teammates to pass to. Niemi made a decent save, but he would have had no chance if Kesler had fed the puck across.

• As an aside, who was the doorknob 'Hawks fan that threw a hat on the ice after Patrick "Pat" Kane's empty net goal? Newsflash: hats are for hattricks.

• After all that negativity, I'm still optimistic about the Canucks through the rest of the series. It's now a best-of-5, with the Canucks having the home-ice advantage. The Canucks were dominant to start the game and could have easily been up 3-0 early if not for some unfortunate bounces. I'm enough of a believer in Kevin Bieksa and SOB that I believe they will bounce back from this game and lead the charge physically in game 3.

Vancouver vs. Chicago: Playoff Fan Art, Volume 2

Let's catch you up, in case you've never been here before. A few days back, I tried to start a Henrik Sedin photoshop contest over at Canucks.com. It didn't work, but it did manage to combine with another series of photoshop requests forum members had, and eventually turned into a big photoshop party, primarily led by excellent photoshopper and forum member egatti. His work is above, and it's the best HenKik we've seen yet. He's also the creator of a ton of images below. As with last time, click on the images for larger versions. I think this one's big enough to be a wallpaper. Let's have a look at some other stuff the CDC forum has provided us.

This one's egatti again, and is the best of a series of twin-related images. My only quibble: I refuse to give a thumbs-up to any image which could depict a paler Canuck than Sami "The Friendly Ghost" Salo. It's just not believable.

Also egatti. He's good at what he does. I especially like the "H/D Sedin touch, as well as the fact that they're wearing number 32. But let's not kid ourselves. Daniel is, for some odd reason, always the other brother. If they were indeed one person, they'd probably be known primarily as Henrik.

This is an unnecessary photoshop by MAKAVELI96. This photo will be real in about three months anyway.

This one simply settles up an issue I had originally with the photoshop job on HenKik: the greenness of Dustin Byfuglien's head. It's a simple enough fix, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that egatti got around to it.

Here's another egatti original, and I think it might be the best use of the SpearBuff image. If I'm not mistaken, the rat body is originally that of Emile from Ratatouille. Love the look on Salo's face.

Returning to the infantile "Blackhawks are gay" motif, which is all over the forum (should we be surprised? what do you think is the average age of the posters?), here's the Village People image, brought to its logical conclusion. *sigh* Let's move on. Its by posttraumatic, by the way.

This is a much better Blackhawks joke. Granted, Patrick "20 Cent" Kane jokes are getting a wee bit tiresome, but as of yet, they're not so old that I can't handle a decent photoshop like this one. I especially like the title. This one's by canuckletux.

Another egatti original, and I love it. It's fabulous. First of all, it takes about two looks to realize what's going on. Second, "Blue Steel" is about as good a nickname for Ryan Kesler as you're going to find. But let's hope that looking good with feathered hair is all these two guys have in common, because Kes is going to have to turn left a lot tonight.

Big Numbers: Playoff Stats Of Which You Might Not Be Aware

There's more game day Canucks coverage to come today on Pass it to Bulis!, but I thought I might start off your morning with some statistics that might fill you with joy, bookended with stats about our boy Ryan Kesler, who is quietly having an incredible playoffs.

1. Ryan Kesler has eight points in seven games. That's a point-a-game pace for the second line center, who leads Canucks forwards in ice time with 21.49 a game. Give Alain Vigneault credit for sticking with the same ice time model he used during the regular season: Ryan Kesler gets more ice time per game than the Sedins. It's beyond intelligent. First, Kesler is no slouch on offense, as his point a game pace suggests, so the Canucks don't lapse into a solely defensive shell when he's on the ice. Furthermore, AV's best players don't need to monopolize ice time to monopolize the box score, so he doesn't make them. It means the Sedins are far better rested than the top line defenseman defending them going into the third period. Speaking of which:

2. Daniel Sedin had six points in six third periods during the Los Angeles series. That's right. In the LAK series, he was a point a game player in third periods alone. This might explain why the Canucks have won every game in which they've been trailing after the first period. It's only happened twice, but, come on, what a confidence boost. We already discussed this stat a little during the first point, so as for an explanation, I think it's probably in the expert allocation of minutes from the coaching staff. We can also see this in defensive ice time. Take a look.

3. The Canucks are the only team without a single defenseman averaging over 25 minutes a game, and this speaks to defensive depth. (According to the stat sheet, MTL's Markov is only averaging twenty-three minutes, but his stats are heavily skewed by leaving early in the first period of the series opener with Pittsburgh. That game aside, he's averaging nearly 28.) Now, The Canucks d-core has been much-maligned since the loss of Mitchell and the acquisition of Alberts, but AV has trusted all six players to carry the weight, and the Canucks have done well. In case you're wondering, Alex Edler is leading the team, at 24.09 per game, with Christian Ehrhoff only five seconds behind. All of the Canucks' top four--Edler, Ehrhoff, Salo, Bieksa--are averaging over twenty minutes a game, but, again, none more than twenty-five. I submit that, while the Canucks lack a top-pairing defenseman of the high order some other teams have, they have among the most balanced top four in the league, which each player capable of making a strong breakout pass, playing the point on the power play and jumping into the rush. Keep in mind that, while they're not overly tough, the Canucks' coaching staff doesn't really want them to be. Hits tend to take a player out of position for a quick transition, and that seems to be the Canucks' bread and butter this year. The genius of the bottom-two (O'Brien, Alberts) is that they may not be as capable of the offensive side, but they both cover the missing aspects of the Canucks' d-core, with the potential to bruise and move bodies away from the net on the power play.

4. Each of the Canucks top three centers (Sedin, Kesler, Wellwood) is over 50% in faceoffs. Among players on teams not yet eliminated, Henrik Sedin and Kyle Wellwood are third and fourth in percentage with 58.9 and 57.1 ratings, respectively, and Sedin is second only to Sidney Crosby in faceoffs won with 96. He's taken nine less. In the absence of Ryan Johnson, Sedin and Kesler are also taking the majority of short-handed faceoffs, and they're both over 50% there as well. The stat is also a big deal for Wellwood, who has proven a lot of people wrong for doubting him as a third-line center. Gord MacIntyre agrees. He's dependable at both ends of the ice, works hard, and makes sure his line has the puck for most of their shift.

5. The Canucks are averaging 4.29 goals per game, best in the league. Pittsburgh sits second at 3.88, and the Chicago Blackhawks are the worst of the eight remaining at 2.57. This is a testament to the Canucks' offensive prowess, which is far and away the best in the league, judging by playoff stats alone. The Canucks have goals by 14 different players, the most of any team (although three other teams have 13). It gets even better if you just look at even-strength scoring.

6. The Canucks 5-on-5 goals for to goals against ratio is a 3.00, which is mind-blowing. The next closest team is Detroit at 1.33. In essence, the Canucks are the best team in the NHL playoffs five-on-five. This shouldn't come as a total surprise, mind you: they were second only to Washington in this stat during the regular season. Washington was at 1.57. The Canucks' current 3.00 is absolutely incredible, and it's probably the explanation for the next stat.

7. Of players still in the playoffs, the Canucks have four players in the top five for plus/minus. Edler, Samuelsson, Henrik and Daniel are first, second, third, and fifth, respectively, with Conn Smyth front-runner Joe Pavelski sitting in fourth. Edler and Samuelsson are tied for first at +9. If we expand the count to the top ten, Christian Ehrhoff and Ryan Kesler jump in at ninth and tenth, respectively.

8. The Canucks don't have a single player in the top thirty in hits. I'm serious. Alex Burrows leads the team in hits with 20, good for 35th. Steve Bernier, Alex Edler (seriously), and Shane O'Brien all come in around 5oth, with 17 apiece. Don't panic, however. This doesn't mean the Canucks are weak or small. They just haven't had to play tough in order to win. Yet. This trend can't possibly continue. Expect the Blackhawks to challenge them here as early as today.

9. Ryan Kesler is second in the league in takeaways, behind only Pavel Datsyuk. Kesler has one less giveaway, however. Keep in mind as well that Datsyuk has played two more games at this point, and that's a pretty big deal considering we're talking about nine games instead of seven. Its worth noting that all three Selke nominees are still playing in the playoffs (surprised? defense wins championships). It's hard to say he's been the best second-line center, considering what Joe Pavelski's done in San Jose, but, considering that Pavelski's scoring has made up for the lack of scoring from the big line, Kesler's just seems like some sort of super bonus.


Not too shabby, eh? Now let's be clear. As awesome as these stats are, it's over a six game sample. If the Canucks can keep it up, then we're really getting somewhere, but two or three bad games and it won't do us any good at all to cherry-pick stats, will it? Fingers crossed on a great game tonight.

Vancouver vs. Chicago, Playoff Fan Art! Volume 1

My oh my, have we had a lot of fun with photoshop today. Can you tell it's the day before a big game? It's only been about four hours since I launched PiTB's first ever photoshop contest, but I'm going to be honest with myself: it's not going to happen. PiTB is no Puck Daddy, and the best photoshoppers/hockey fans don't have us on their blogroll. Yet. Our time will come.

In the meantime, however, I've stumbled across something almost as good: playoff fan art from Canucks.com. You see, there is a second battle on the horizon, and it's between Vancouver's fans and Chicago's fans. With a year of context and hatred under our hats, the fan art is out in full force. Let me show you what I mean. Click on all images for larger sizes.

First, there's the photo above. It's just a normal photo, but it was introduced to us by forum member BeExcited, hoping somebody could use it for some excellent photoshopping.


So far, I've seen one entry and it's this one. It turns out Canucks.com is not the place for intense and competitive photoshop contests. Anyhow, BeExcited's photoshop contest conflated with my photoshop contest, and neither really went in any new directions.


It really only led to this. And, as much as I'm happy to see people disseminating my art, I'm not sure this is an improvement. Oh well, I guess it's a little more topical (not the most topical, but definitely moreso). That said, somebody needs to tell this photoshopper about color balance. He could have matched the green in Blanka's skin to Byfuglien's head quite easily. But who has the time for that? Speaking of time...


The best photoshop utilized neither HenKik(TM) nor SpearBuff. But it did inspire the joint effort above, from Pinkyandthebrain and Egatti. See, because the Blackhawks are gay, or something? I think only a few of them were gay, but I get what was intended. Originally, only Patrick Kane was photoshopped in here, but eventually, at the behest of the rest of the forum, a place was found for everybody. From left to right: Hossa, Kane, Dustin "Feather-Ryfuglien" Byfuglien" (no?), Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Andrew Ladd. All present and accounted for. Remarkably, the guy Andrew Ladd replaced used to be black. That is seamless.


This one makes me uncomfortable because, um, well, they still look good to me... maybe? No, wait, no, I didn't say that. I see what patsajac is going for, but, well, the less said about this one the better.


And then there's this, by Trevor19Naslund This looks hand-drawn to me and I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm going to assume that the irony of an orca shooting an aboriginal person in the face is lost on the artist. Note, as well, the misuse of the blowhole: see, it's how they breathe, not a valve that releases when they're aroused by murder. It's a killer whale, not a serial killer whale.

This completes the first of what I hope to be many rounds of Vancouver vs. Chicago fan art. Oh, uh, wait, there's also this one, but click at your peril. And, if you think it's maybe a bit optimistic, redstar504 changed it to this, which is just as perilous. *sigh* You should probably just click them.

Anyhow. If you have any more to add, please, drop me a line at passittobulis@gmail.com.

Give Us Barabbas! Why Andrew Alberts is the Key

If Alberts can't get it done, Sedin should give him the Tekken 6 flying jump kick, just as this picture depicts.

Brace yourselves, Vancouver: Andrew Alberts is the key to this series.

Don't panic. He can do it. I know that this is the guy that we have ruefully called A Minor for his 23 penalty minutes in the first two games of the LA series. I recognize that this is the guy who was undressed by Jason Spezza in one of the highlights of the year. I am aware that the fans want the unspectacular Aaron Rome, or the equally unspectacular Nolan Baumgartner instead of him. But I stand by my thesis. Andrew Alberts is the key to this series.

Let's get a couple of things straight. First, Alberts is not all bad. He's not even close to as bad as you think he is. In fact, the Canucks are 9-1 when his plus-minus is even or better. If he can limit mistakes, the Canucks tend to win. The guy has a natural size advantage over anybody else on the ice at 6'5", 218. Dustin "Feather-Rufflin'" Byfuglien (it really doesn't work, Skeeter, but I'll keep at it for you) may outweight him by thirty pounds, but considering a good chunk of that is fat, let's call it even. Much bigger than previous and current crease-clearers such as Mitchell, Ohlund, and O'Brien, Alberts has the potential to muscle people out of the crease no Canuck has had since Bryan Allen, maybe. And it'll be expected of him on the penalty kill.

Yes, Andrew Alberts is the key to the penalty kill. Notice that, in the LA series, it improved drastically in games where he wasn't the one in the box. The Kings got one power-play goal in the last two games, and Alberts didn't take a penalty in either one. Towards the end of the series, Alberts did a good job of keeping all-star crease presences like Ryan Smyth at bay without taking a penalty. Since Chicago has about twenty-seven guys who can stand in front of the net, Alberts is more vital than necessary. And consider this: his limitations in the mobility department are effectively nullified on the penalty kill, when he won't be asked to go anywhere at all. Stay by the net, and cross-check Dustin Byfuglien for two minutes. That's all we ask.

If Alberts can do this, his acquisition is a complete win for Mike Gillis. As a sixth defenseman, he likely won't get a ton of minutes 5-on-5. And that's good; Patrick Kane might literally skate between his legs. Let's stop and imagine Hughson calling the play:

Hughson: Kane dangles between Alberts' legs!
Simpson: *snicker*

Hmm. It sounds horrible, any way you think about it. And let's be honest. This entire post was an excuse to make that joke.

Now, even I'd prefer if Kane and Alberts never met but on the PK, like an arranged marriage. While not being nearly as slow as most think he is (Canucks fans think speed is inversely proportional to size), Alberts will still likely get undressed by the much more fleet-of-foot Kane . But, if every time the Canucks take a penalty, AV can throw out a well-rested wrecking ball, and Alberts can do this one job with some success (clear the frakkin' crease), then our chances to win the series improve drastically.