Is it just me are do the off-days seem stupidly boring. Some of the “so call experts” were claiming the Western Conference Final was the actual Stanley Cup Final, making those believers think that the Eastern Conference weaker. One would hope and assume the Vancouver Canucks are thinking the opposite, knowing they are only four wins away from winning Lord Stanley.
Are the Canucks the favourites going into the finals? Yes, mainly because they are the President’s Trophy winners, plus they have home ice. But would I put money down in Vegas on this series, no chance in Hell. This series is going minimum to six games, at this points it’s a coin toss.
Who wil come up big
Some of these “experts” are calling into question Tim Thomas and if he going to be on his game, after somewhat struggling versus Tampa. I think he made a statement come game seven, in his shutout performance. Same could have been said for Roberto Luongo who struggled during the Chicago series, to the point where he was pulled once, and his backup started a game instead of Luongo. These two wash each other out, they’ll let in a weak goal or two, but they have not gotten to the finals this year by accident.
If I were Claude Julien, I’d be showing Milan Lucic the video’s of Dustin Byfuglien. We all know at times Byfuglien had Luongo’s numbers, mainly because he got in his kitchen. It’s not farfetched to say Lucic couldn’t do the same type of job, the Bruins philosophy should be, do whatever they have to do to get Luongo off his game. The Canucks likely would do the same, with Burrows and Kesler. So without question look allot net-drive in this series.
With the Sedin’s going head to head with Chara and Seidenberg, Kesler versus the Bruins top line, it could come down to the bottom two lines and who’s better at the right time. The Canucks third line of Larpierre, Torres and Hansen , can change the momentum of a game with their speed and physicality. The Bruins third line against Tampa at times was dominant offensively, as an example Tyler Seguin had 6 points in the first two games of that series. That too could be a coin-toss, but could change from game to game.
Absolutely no disrespect to Canucks Manny Maholtra, but am I the only one getting tired of him coming back for the finals. If you think he can come back, play on the third line and pick up where he left off, you’re kidding yourself. If anything he can help a bad fourth line, a fourth line that changes each and every game.
Numbers that matter the most
Key things people have to remember, the Canucks of course play out of the Northwest Division, by far hands down the worst division, some would make the argument the weakest ever. That benefited the Canucks, because it helped them clinch home ice.
The numbers do not lie. If this becomes a specialty team series, it will be all Vancouver. The Canucks have 17 power play goals compared to Boston’s 5. If the majority of this series is played at even strength, it will be all Boston who’ve outscored the Canucks 48-31. Those numbers are pretty damming either way, and folks these numbers are after three rounds of action not one. One other number in Boston’s favour is they are scoring 3.22 goals per games, compared to Vancouver’s 2.78.
When its all said and done, it’s up the league and the officials with how the series will end up. Near the end of each of the last series, anything and everything was let go, that favours the Bruins. If they clamp down and
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