Off The Post: Olympic-sized chaos in Vancouver

What a difference 16 months makes.

On the last day of February 2010, the city of Vancouver hosted what was the most anticipated hockey event on the planet – the Olympic gold medal game. Sidney Crosby’s goal sparked a gleeful mass hysteria that perpetuated all across the country. Yours truly was fortunate enough to have participated in the flag-waving celebrations at the intersection of Robson and Granville Streets – the heart of the shopping district which also served as the focal point of celebration during the XXI Olympic Winter Games.

Almost a year and a half later, the memories of festive, yet controlled, revelry are overshadowed by the appalling hooliganism of last night’s riots.

The sidewalks where complete strangers high-fived each other are now littered with chards of shattered windows.

The Bay on Seymour street, which had served as the Olympic merchandising hub for everything from clothing to souvenirs, is boarded with plywood.

All because of a Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup final.

We should be talking about the polarized results of Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo’s performance in the two biggest games of his life. In 2010, “Luu” was focused and steady on a partial breakaway against Team USA’s Joe Pavelski in overtime allowed a Team Canada breakout which eventually culminated in Crosby’s golden goal. A year later the same netminder, in the same end of the rink where he once triumphed, played a breakaway so lethargically that Patrice Bergeron – Olympic teammate turned Stanley Cup final rival – clumsily scored the back-breaking goal from which Vancouver would never recover.

Yet somehow the on-ice performance seems rather inconsequential in the wake of the devastation to the city, as is continued to be depicted on news footage around the globe.

It took decades of planning to bring the Olympics to Vancouver and vault the city’s image as a first-class international destination.

It took mere hours for miscreants to blemish that reputation.

When the debris is finally swept up, the real losers in this chaotic mess are Vancouver’s honourable citizens – those in the vast majority – who had no influence on their fellow residents’ barbaric actions, but are forever linked to them merely by association.

They are not responsible for the lawlessness. In fact, quite a few of them have inscribed words of apology on the plywood that has boarded up The Bay.

While my memories of Vancouver 2010 certainly aren’t forever tarnished by the images that have been broadcast on my TV for the past 24 hours, it may be a while before the rest of the world feels the same way.

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If you are a Bruins fan, there is no shortage of storylines to take away from the Stanley Cup win. From the gargantuan efforts of Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas, to long-time Northeast foes turned allies Tomas Kaberle and Zdeno Chara winning their first championships, to 43-year-old Mark Recchi skating off with his third and final Cup, Beantown has reason to party.

Here’s hoping that one more name is inscribed on the holy grail of hockey – that of Marc Savard. The playmaking centre, whose career is all but finished after his latest concussion, played three full seasons in a Bruins uniform plus parts of two others, compiling 305 points in 304 games. Savard played only twenty-five games in 2010-11, well short of the 41 required to have his name on the Stanley Cup. Yet the NHL has the option of granting exceptions to this rule, such as was the case in 1994 when Ed Olczyk of the NY Rangers was the recipient of a successful lobby.

Savard is not likely to ever play in the NHL again. But given his contributions to the Boston organization since 2006, his place among the championship-winning team is well-deserved.

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Off The Post, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

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Off The Post: Bruins blueline not getting the job done.

One mistake and you’re done.

That seems to be the theme of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins, as witnessed over the first two tightly-contested games at Rogers Arena. The underdog Bruins probably deserved a better fate than falling behind 2-0 in series, a deficit from which historically only four NHL teams playing in the final series have overcome.

Both games have been decided by one goal, and have featured stellar goaltending from a pair of Vezina Trophy finalists in Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas. In each case, the victor has been the most opportunistic team to capitalize on a mistake, and to the delight of 18,860 delirious fans in the rink, the result has twice gone in favour of the hometown Canucks.

On both plays, lapses by Bruins defencemen have been instrumental in their defeat.

In Game 1, Johnny Boychuk had a chance to bring the puck out of the Boston zone, but had his pocket picked by the aggressive forecheck of Ryan Kesler. The turnover led to the pass to Canucks forward Jannik Hansen, who was able to find Raffi Torres on a 2-on-1 after Zdeno Chara failed to block the pass across. Torres easily buried the puck for what held up as the only goal of the game with less than 19 seconds remaining in regulation.

Game 2 finally featured some offense for Claude Julien’s squad. Unfortunately the Beantowners didn’t score enough goals to make up for the blueline errors. No player on the ice had a worse game than Andrew Ference. His inability to clear the puck on the Canucks first power-play led to Alex Burrows’ opening marker of the game. Then, with the score tied 2-2 late in the third period, Ference made a pair of ill-advised pinches, resulting two Vancouver odd-man rushes in the same shift.

While he was able to atone for one of his sins with a strong backcheck, Ference can’t be absolved for his neutral zone giveaway to begin overtime. With Daniel Sedin pouncing on the puck, the NHL scoring champion found finding a streaking Burrows down an open left wing. Burrows promptly made Chara look like anything but a Norris Trophy finalist, outracing and outmaneuvering the lumbering Slovak defenceman for the game-winning wraparound goal, despite an 8-inch height disadvantage.

Ironically, it was the Bruins that were the opportunistic team in Game 7 of the previous round. Boston punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final in a 1-0 game after a mental lapse by Tampa Bay center Steven Stamkos allowed Nathan Horton to score his second series-winning goal in this year’s playoffs. The final game of the Eastern Conference Final featured textbook Bruins defence, creating an impenetrable fortress in front of Thomas that allowed a single goal to hold up as the game-winner.

However players like Chara, Boychuk and Ference haven’t been quick enough to react to the counter-attack of Vancouver. When matched against the Presidents Trophy winners, Boston can no longer afford the type of back-end miscues that have cost them the first two games of the series.

If the trend isn’t reversed when the series shifts to TD Garden, Boston’s first trip to the Final in 21 years will be short-lived.

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By now most fans are aware of the connection between Canadian Olympic cities and their hockey teams winning the Stanley Cup after the year in which the Games were hosted. Montreal hosted the Summer Games in 1976, winning the Cup in 1977; Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988 hoisting Lord Stanley a year later. Vancouver is two wins away from repeating the feat.

In what is an ongoing inferiority complex, it’s worth noting that Toronto lost Olympic bids to host the Games in both 1996 and 2008, with the Leafs failing to qualify for the playoffs the following year, both times.

* * *

The Triple Gold Club is guaranteed to gain one more member this year. The exclusive fraternity consists of players who have won a Stanley Cup, a World Championship and an Olympic gold medal. Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo would become the 25th player in history to achieve the feat if the Canucks prevail, while Patrice Bergeron is the Bruins’ counterpart should Boston come back to win the series.

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Off The Post, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

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Will the team with “Sea Bass” kick some ass?.

Cam Neely wasn’t a bad actor.

His appearance in the 1994 comedy movie “Dumb And Dumber” in which he portrayed a trucker named “Sea Bass” was good for a few chuckles. In the film, Sea Bass is enraged after getting duped into buying meals for characters portrayed by Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.

As a hockey fan watching that movie, when you saw the anger in Neely’s eyes, you couldn’t help but think of the competitive spirit that he embodied in his prolific Hockey Hall of Fame career.

Tonight when Neely – now president of the Boston Bruins – watches his team the opening game of the Stanley Cup Final against the franchise that originally drafted him, the Vancouver Canucks, he’ll carry that passion and emotion into the management suite.

The Comox B.C. native was never in consideration for an Academy Award for “Dumb And Dumber”.

But Sea Bass is one step closer to obtaining the Stanley Cup that eluded him as player.

TMLfans.ca Stanley Cup prediction

In many ways you have to like how the Bruins are playing.

Their 1-0 Game 7 victory over Tampa was a textbook showcase of team defence, with Chara, Seidenberg, and the unheralded Johnny Boychuk stepping up in key roles. Up front, you can’t tell that this is Nathan Horton’s first ever playoff series, with the veteran having scored two Game Seven winners in this post-season.

But, you have to like how the Canucks are playing, more.

After coming within a Luongo heroic save off Chicago’s Patrick Sharp from being eliminated, the President’s Trophy winners have become more efficient at winning their series, disposing of their opponents in seven, then six, then five games respectively over the three rounds played.

The hockey world challenged the Sedins show up after the second round Nashville series. They did.

Roberto Luongo was challenged after his dreadful performance in Game 4 of the Chicago series. He’s stepped up.

Ryan Kesler has emerged as a Conn Smythe favourite, with no sign of slowing down as evidenced by his Game 7 performance against the Sharks.

Boston is full measure for their Eastern Conference title. Significantly, the return of Patrice Bergeron was invaluable, as his faceoff presence is key to the Bruins’ puck possession.

But if momentum is any factor, Boston has demonstrated that they’ll be the first team to blink; case in point, Game 6 in their series against the Lightning which became a duel between which goalie – Tim Thomas or Dwayne Roloson – will give the game away first.

Conversely, the Canucks appear to be unstoppable, eking out a Game 5 win against San Jose in the dying seconds of regulation, then overtime, after it seemed that the series would shift back to HP Pavilion.

The prediction is:Vancouver in 6. (The bad news for Canucks fans is that my record after the first round has been horrific. Take it for what it is worth, I assume no liability for gambling losses).

Report card:
First round, 5-3
Second round, 1-3
Third round 0-2
Overall, 6-8

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TMLfans.ca sends its best wishes to veteran reporter Howard Berger, whose 23-year tenure at FAN590 in Toronto came to an end today. This author has been privileged to have had Howard as a colleague and friend, having covered scores of Leafs practices and games with him since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season. Best of luck in all your future endeavours, Howard.

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob

Off The Post – Strange Canucks OT goal looked familiar.

No one knew where the puck was, except for the guy who scored the overtime series winner.

That was the scenario that was played out on Tuesday night as Vancouver defenceman Kevin Bieksa was the beneficiary of a lucky puck bounce off a stanchion. With everyone else on the ice including San Jose goalie Antti Niemi searching in vain for the elusive rubber disk, Bieksa ended the series in double overtime with shot from the point, sending Rogers Arena into bedlam as the Canucks to their first Stanley Cup Final in 17 years.

It was a truly bizarre way to end a hotly contested series.

It was also reminiscent of last year’s Stanley Cup Final between Chicago and Philadelphia.

Few who watched the game will remember the collection of confused players on the ice, trying to find the puck in the Flyers zone. Only Patrick Kane, celebrating in ecstasy knew that he was successful in placing it passed Philadelphia netminder Michael Leighton, ending the Blackhawks’ championship drought.

Overtime goals aren’t always pretty, and in these two scenarios, the circumstances have made the outcome rather anti-climactic.

Of course, the mechanics don’t matter to the players, just the result.

Clearing the zone

Bieksa’s heroics were made possible large in part to Ryan Kesler’s opportunistic deflection with 13.1 seconds remaining in regulation time as Vancouver erased a one-goal deficit to tie the game. The preceding faceoff occurred in the Sharks zone after San Jose defenceman Dan Boyle blindly threw a clearing pass up the left boards from behind his own goal, resulting in an icing.

Yes, the icing was called incorrectly as replays showed that the puck glanced off Daniel Sedin before traveling the length of the ice. No, that does not excuse Boyle’s miscue.

Boyle should have at least surveyed all his options before panicking.

Perhaps the play was in the mind of Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman on Wednesday, when he was in the same scenario – his team protecting a one-goal lead with the opposing goalie pulled – and behind his own goal. Rather than rushing the play, Hedman stopped as he gained control of the shoot-in, and took however a brief instant he needed to make a decision. Only then did he shoot the puck up the left boards, but unlike Boyle’s attempt, his effort to clear the zone was successful. That’s why the Eastern Conference Final is heading back to Boston.

Often, the key plays that don’t factor on the scoresheet are the difference between staying alive in the playoffs and booking your tee times on the golf course.

Special teams are the difference

Despite Boyle’s ill-advised icing and Kesler’s and Bieksa’s timely goals, the Western Conference Final wasn’t decided on those plays. Special teams was the difference maker, particularly in Games 4 and 5.

Recall the Sharks inability to capitalize on their power-play opportunities in Game 4. Conversely, when the Canucks were awarded three 5-on-3’s, they wasted little effort, scoring three power-play goals in a playoff game for the first time in franchise history.

Going back to Vancouver, the Sharks were awarded a lengthy 5-on-3 in Game 5. Had they been able to take advantage, perhaps they would have had a more comfortable lead to try and protect.

I Was Born In a Smalltown

It has been a productive nine days for the town of Grimsby, Ontario – birthplace of Bieksa, whose series winner has sent Vancouver into a frenzy. A week ago Sunday another Grimsby native, Jarrod Maidens, scored in overtime in Game 7 of the OHL Final to lift the Owen Sound Attack past the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors for the league title.

At the Memorial Cup, Owen Sound plays Kootenay in a tiebreaker on Thursday, with the winner playing Mississauga in Friday’s semi-final. The semi-final winner faces Saint John in Sunday’s final.

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It? Canadian hockey fans Feel Fine

This past Saturday had been forecast as the day of the Rapture by a few theologians.

Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson must have thought that the world had ended over a week earlier after Russia eliminated Canada in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Championship.

With the maple leaf crested squad having finished off the podium for a second consecutive year, Nicholson labeled the defeat as “totally unacceptable”, while calling out a few young players who turned down the invitation to play in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Understandably, Nicholson’s reaction stems from having to establish, and maintain, the highest standards of excellence as expected by his employers, and his country.

However to discredit the performance of a team that won 6 of its 7 tournament games, only to have the misfortune of drawing a strong Russian team in the quarter-finals, is to react with the same hyperbolic exaggeration as the doomsday pessimists who recently predicted Armageddon.

The World Championship has never been a priority for teams that play on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean.

For as long as the annual tournament’s has conflicted with the NHL’s playoffs, the showcase has not been about “best vs. best”, but rather “best of who’s available vs. best of who’s available.”

While the European nations embrace the series as if it were a competition for the Stanley Cup, the populations of both Canada and the United States react to the tournament with relative indifference.

As far as Canadians are concerned, the World Championship ranks on a far lower tier than the Olympics, Canada/World Cup and World Junior Hockey Championship, in terms of international hockey interest. The immense pride taken in victory, such as the most recent one earned in 2007, is felt for a few fleeting seconds before the TV remote controls are clicked in all ten provinces to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The muted reaction is in stark contrast to the celebration of mobs of flag-waving people in the streets as when Sidney Crosby scored the Olympic gold medal-winning goal in Vancouver.

If a North American team isn’t in the World Championship gold medal game, broadcasters on this side of the pond shuffle their schedules faster than Alex Ovechkin’s slap shot. In Canada, TSN was contracted to show the gold medal game between Sweden and Finland, but deferred the telecast by a few hours in place of live coverage of the National Lacrosse League championship game.

In the U.S., it was Versus who chose to delay the broadcast, not airing Finland’s 6-1 victory until over 24 hours after the game was over.

On this side of the pond, arguably the most memorable moment from the 2011 world tournament was of Finnish player Mikael Granlund’s lacrosse-style scoop goal from behind the net against Russia. Everything else was overshadowed by what was happening in Vancouver, San Jose, Tampa Bay, and Boston.

Nicholson is expected to say that Canada’s result was unacceptable. Likewise, any player who takes pride in suiting up for his or her country won’t accept losing.

However, for the average Canadian hockey fan whose attention is engrossed elsewhere at this time of year, acceptance of the result appears to be the norm.

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob

Off The Post: “Expansion” Stanley Cup Final looming?.

Fans of a certain age will remember the two-decade period when the NHL’s membership was locked in at 21 teams. At the beginning of the 1979-80 season, the league took in four clubs from the defunct World Hockey Association, and would not expand again until 1991 when the San Jose Sharks were born.

This year the Sharks may advance to their first Stanley Cup Final in team history.

Their opponents could very well be their one of their expansion kid brothers, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were welcomed into the league along with Ottawa the year after San Jose’s inaugural season.

Here’s why TMLfans.ca predicts the first final in league history between two teams from the post-WHA merger era:

Western Conference Final, prediction: San Jose over Vancouver in 7.

This could be billed the “James Bond villain” series. Have you ever noticed how practically all of Bond’s antagonists have a chance to finish off the savvy spy by just shooting him, instead of placing him in an elaborate escape route? Both the Canucks and Sharks allowed their series versus the Blackhawks (first round) and Red Wings (second round, respectively, to go the distance after building up 3-0 leads.

Yes San Jose has more depleted energy, having squeaked out a win in their conference semi-final against Detroit less than 48 hours ago, while Vancouver had more time to rest, disposing of Nashville in one fewer game.

However, the Sharks’ best players have stepped up in the clutch, more so than their counterparts on the Canucks. Two weeks ago this column stated that Joe Thornton is not capable of consistent production for more than one playoff round, only to be proven wrong. Not to be outdone, Patrick Marleau silenced his critics – including Jeremy Roenick – with a huge seventh game in which he not only scored the game-winning goal, but preserved the series win with a defensive play to prevent a Detroit comeback in the dying seconds.

Conversely, the Canucks are a couple of players short from firing on all cylinders. Can you guess which two? Here’s a hint. They are brothers, who have been a step behind their teammate Ryan Kesler who all but carried the series against Nashville.

If Daniel and Henrik Sedin don’t return to their Art Ross Trophy winning form, the Vancouver club will be no match for a team as deep as the Sharks. Brian Burke, when he was Vancouver general manager, once expressed his frustrations at playoff officiating by stating “Sedin is not Swedish for punch me, or headlock me in a scrum.”

Is it Swedish for “find another gear, fast?”

Eastern Conference Final, prediction: Tampa Bay over Boston in 7.

The good news for the Bruins is that their power-play improved by 12.5%.

The bad news is, in their series against the Flyers, their efficiency with the extra man was….12.5%.

After an anemic 0-for-21 drought against Montreal, Boston clicked on just two of 16 power-plays in their four-game sweep over Philadelphia, with one of those markers coming on a 5-on-3 advantage.

That’s a fallacy that appears doomed against Tampa’s phenomenal penalty-kill, currently operating at a mind-boggling 94.4% rating (three goals against in 54 chances).

Look for the role players to be the difference in this series. None of the Lightning’s Sean Bergenheim, Dominic Moore and Steve Downie will ever be as prolific scorers as superstars Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, and Steven Stamkos, but the unheralded trio has been invaluable over two series. They should outduel Chris Kelly, Brad Marchand and Rich Peverley.

Injuries will be a key factor, especially if Boston’s Patrice Bergeron is out for any length of time. Conversely, Simon Gagne’s return to the Tampa Bay Lightning will provide another weapon in the Lightning arsenal.

Report card:
First round, 5-3
Second round, 1-3
Overall, 6-6

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TMLfans.ca wishes a happy birthday to a pair of hockey personalities.

Former Leafs captain Rick Vaive turns 59 today. Vaive is the only player in Leafs history to score three 50-goal seasons and currently since 10th on franchise’s all-time scoring list with 299 goals and 537 points in 534 games with Toronto. **EDIT** Vaive, who was born in 1959, turns 52 today. Sorry, Squid!

Team Canada Olympian Jayna Hefford is 34. Hefford is one of only four players to play in four Olympics for the Canadian women’s national team, earning gold medals in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Her “Links 4 Life” Golf Classic in support of the Kingston Hospital Foundation is scheduled for July 13.

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob

Off The Post: Will Canucks collapse on bad goal – again?.

When Nashville forward David Legwand lofted the puck from behind the Vancouver goal on a seemingly harmless play on Saturday, not even he could have envisioned the shift in the direction of not only Game Five, but perhaps even the series.

Canucks fans have already grown queasy of the replays of the puck lifting off Legwand’s stick towards the front the net where defenceman Alexander Edler accidentally batted the disc behind a helpless Roberto Luongo for the Predators’ tying goal.

With Nashville having been thoroughly outplayed at Rogers Arena up to that point early in the second period, the equalizer not only stalled Vancouver’s momentum, but served as the catalyst for the Predator’s offensive barrage; that is, a two-goal third period, which qualifies as a barrage by coach Barry Trotz’s stifling standards.

The pair of goals by newfound hero Joel Ward was enough to lead the visitors to a 4-3 win and send the series back to Music City.

Should the Predators perform the inconceivable task of winning the sixth and seventh games, the colossal upset will have hinged on the unconventional goal by Legwand.

While it’s still premature to predict the demise of the President’s Trophy winners, who still hold a three-to-two series lead, the circumstances are eerily similar to a huge momentum swing that occurred in the same building nine years ago.

In the 2002 Western Conference Quarter Final, the Canucks had upset the Detroit Red Wings twice on home ice before returning home. The third game was tied late in the second period when Nicklas Lidstrom fired a shot from his own side of centre ice.

And scored on a hapless Dan Cloutier in the Vancouver goal.

It was an embarrassment, from 100 feet out.

To say that the Canucks would not recover from the miscue is an understatement. They never held so much as the lead for the rest of the series as they proceed to lose the next four games in succession to the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

Of course, there are significant differences in the circumstances surrounding Lidstrom’s and Legwand’s goals.

Nine years ago the Red Wings were still considered the favourites, despite losing the first two contests at Joe Louis Arena. This time around, the Canucks have been pegged as the team expected to win.

Legwand’s goal was a piece of misfortune, at least from Vancouver’s perspective. There was nothing unlucky about Lidstrom’s 2002 tide-changer; it was a clear whiff by Cloutier.

Only the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, remain from the Canucks team that endured the heartbreak against Detroit.

Yet the superstitious observers cringe when noting that both goals were scored in the second period, at the same end of Rogers Arena – which was called General Motors Place at the time of Cloutier’s folly.

The Vancouver faithful have already seen a script in which an ugly goal reverses the fortunes of a series. From Granville Island to the Green Men, they are hoping that this series doesn’t produce a sequel.

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob