[Hawkeye's-911T]

Hey Finn
Looks like our Canucks are on the verge of being 'crap-bombed' out of the playoffs. They may yet have the dubious distinction of being the first ever President's Cup winner getting swept, although I seem to recall the 'Caps being ousted in the first round (no sweep) a few years back after taking the "Cup". Vancouver is just not a tough team. They were built on a speed & finesse game with an eye & in the spirit of the so-called "new-look" NHL rules. As we are all aware, it was the rules, regs, & competition committees intent to speed up the game & cut down on obstruction & other 'extracurricular actitvities' (intimidation tactics eg.) which, needless to say, exact the opposite effect on the flow of the game. We (the Canucks) have our fair share of 'chirpers' willing to get into the 'after-the-whistle' shenanigans, but alas, no Milan Lucic to actually do something positive to set things straight. None of us advocates any changes which could end up (to quote some) 'wussifying' the game, but the net of all of this is; teams ready to turn the game into a 'street-fight' (especially during the play-offs against opponents deemed to be 'soft') coupled with the referees penchant for putting their whistles in their pockets, tends to favour said teams.

Having said all of that: I think "Schneids" will in all probability, be our netminder of the future & Luongo will be traded to Florida(?) This is not to dump on Bobby-Lou's performance in this series. If not for him, the first two games would have been 'laffers' for the Kings. After this season management will start to address the need for a couple of bigger & meaner guys who possess scoring talent plus the added dimension of the physicality we seem to lack. We have been 'run out of the building' before & it is happening again. Our scoring has dried up & our power play has been neutralized by good defensive systems, not to to mention a 'lights-out' goaltender.
One other thing Finn, on a positive note, this series is coming back to Vancouver - providing the 'hockey gods' have any sense of fairness with respect to the so-called 'lucky bounce'. Should be something to see.

Cheers
JB