We suspect there can be no other outcome to the NBA playoffs than a Kobe-LeBron final, right? It's written in hard-to-erase ink and chances are, the games will be managed accordingly.
The question any self-respecting, paranoid Vancouver Canucks fan has to be asking her- or himself today is whether the NHL is going in the same direction. Chicago was definitely the feel-good story, rather than some group from the village of Vancouver.
They have all this young talent, led by American superstar Patrick Kane, and the revival in Chicago is just such a good story that it had to be kept going at least one more round until they run into Detroit, in what would be a matchup of the teams that met in the Winter Classic.
No question, people will say this is bizarre thinking and could never happen. But on the evidence, are those people correct, as most would argue, or naive?
How is it, for instance, that Dustin Byfuglien was consistently allowed to hammer Roberto Luongo with absolutely no problem?
In one instance in Game 2 he went straight to the net, either lost an edge or left his feet and ran over Vancouver's best player — and Kevin Bieksa, who happened to be standing nearby, was given a penalty for allegedly hooking him.
When Canucks management spoke to the supervisor of the series they were told first that Byfuglien lost an edge.
When it was pointed out that it didn't matter whether he lost an edge or not, he had still run the goalie, they simply said, in effect:
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Evidently, they made a lot of mistakes. Byfuglien hit Luongo in some form in every game. All through the series the Vancouver goalie argued it wasn't bothering him, but who was he kidding?
And his troubles really began in Game 6 when Byfuglien was allowed to rake his face three times (all inadvertent, of course) with his stick, with no call. You would have to have an IQ lower than a sunflower's to think he did that inadvertently.
Kris Versteeg was allowed to kick Luongo three times in the crease with no call.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
And this is not to defend Luongo. He wasn't good enough. And to be sure, there's no protection for goalies, anyway, given Chris Kunitz' cross-check to Simeon Varlamov's head, which certainly gives the league a better chance of getting more offensive teams through the playoffs.
How about the NHL's latest new game, bowling for goalies?
That's when you go to the net so hard that you drive a defenceman right into the goalie you're trying to get at, thereby making him the guy who falls on him.
Chicago successfully pulled off this new tactic twice in Game 6. It's absurdly obvious, but never called.
The miracle was that Luongo even made it through six games in one piece.
But it wasn't just the goalies in this series was it?
We all saw the Ben Eager hit on Rick Rypien in Game 1 after the Vancouver menace had been running around making life miserable for Chicago players, and everyone knows that blindside hit should have been at least a major penalty.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Andrew Ladd could have killed Ryan Kesler with that hit in Game 6 that left his face an absolute mess and him down on the ice for an extended period. No call, because they were too busy calling Shane O'Brien for tapping somebody's stick.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Enter Eager again, this time to almost wipe out the career of Alex Edler, who didn't have the puck. No call, even though it caused a three-on-one break.
Then again, maybe there was no call precisely because it caused the three-on-one.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Perhaps we're going a little overboard here. Perhaps it's been so long without a Cup here over these 39-years-and-counting that we've gone delusional.
Maybe so.
But if we have gone off the deep end with respect to the persecution complex, wouldn't any casual observer have to admit that at the very least the officiating in this league — granted a very difficult job — needs desperately to be upgraded?
After a while, Sorry, we made a mistake begins to ring a little hollow.
Tony Gallagher
© Copyright (c) The Province
The question any self-respecting, paranoid Vancouver Canucks fan has to be asking her- or himself today is whether the NHL is going in the same direction. Chicago was definitely the feel-good story, rather than some group from the village of Vancouver.
They have all this young talent, led by American superstar Patrick Kane, and the revival in Chicago is just such a good story that it had to be kept going at least one more round until they run into Detroit, in what would be a matchup of the teams that met in the Winter Classic.
No question, people will say this is bizarre thinking and could never happen. But on the evidence, are those people correct, as most would argue, or naive?
How is it, for instance, that Dustin Byfuglien was consistently allowed to hammer Roberto Luongo with absolutely no problem?
In one instance in Game 2 he went straight to the net, either lost an edge or left his feet and ran over Vancouver's best player — and Kevin Bieksa, who happened to be standing nearby, was given a penalty for allegedly hooking him.
When Canucks management spoke to the supervisor of the series they were told first that Byfuglien lost an edge.
When it was pointed out that it didn't matter whether he lost an edge or not, he had still run the goalie, they simply said, in effect:
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Evidently, they made a lot of mistakes. Byfuglien hit Luongo in some form in every game. All through the series the Vancouver goalie argued it wasn't bothering him, but who was he kidding?
And his troubles really began in Game 6 when Byfuglien was allowed to rake his face three times (all inadvertent, of course) with his stick, with no call. You would have to have an IQ lower than a sunflower's to think he did that inadvertently.
Kris Versteeg was allowed to kick Luongo three times in the crease with no call.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
And this is not to defend Luongo. He wasn't good enough. And to be sure, there's no protection for goalies, anyway, given Chris Kunitz' cross-check to Simeon Varlamov's head, which certainly gives the league a better chance of getting more offensive teams through the playoffs.
How about the NHL's latest new game, bowling for goalies?
That's when you go to the net so hard that you drive a defenceman right into the goalie you're trying to get at, thereby making him the guy who falls on him.
Chicago successfully pulled off this new tactic twice in Game 6. It's absurdly obvious, but never called.
The miracle was that Luongo even made it through six games in one piece.
But it wasn't just the goalies in this series was it?
We all saw the Ben Eager hit on Rick Rypien in Game 1 after the Vancouver menace had been running around making life miserable for Chicago players, and everyone knows that blindside hit should have been at least a major penalty.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Andrew Ladd could have killed Ryan Kesler with that hit in Game 6 that left his face an absolute mess and him down on the ice for an extended period. No call, because they were too busy calling Shane O'Brien for tapping somebody's stick.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Enter Eager again, this time to almost wipe out the career of Alex Edler, who didn't have the puck. No call, even though it caused a three-on-one break.
Then again, maybe there was no call precisely because it caused the three-on-one.
Sorry, we made a mistake.
Perhaps we're going a little overboard here. Perhaps it's been so long without a Cup here over these 39-years-and-counting that we've gone delusional.
Maybe so.
But if we have gone off the deep end with respect to the persecution complex, wouldn't any casual observer have to admit that at the very least the officiating in this league — granted a very difficult job — needs desperately to be upgraded?
After a while, Sorry, we made a mistake begins to ring a little hollow.
Tony Gallagher
© Copyright (c) The Province
what does that mean?
