Can This Team Do It?

With the amazing home winning streak of 11 straight, Canuck fans are giddy with thoughts of a deep playoff run. It may be warranted but are the media focusing on that? But nooooooooo!

First, we had the mini-panic in the press over not obtaining anyone at the trade deadline, and especially losing out on snagging Anaheim's checking center Samuel Pahlsson and his going to the Nux possible first round matchup team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

Well, since then the Canucks have caught up and passed the Hawks. Add to that there seems to be no one out there who has not figured out that the Canucks do have a supreme checking line center by the name of Ryan Kesler. Obviously, now he makes his name as a high-flying offensive force on the Sundin line but if during the playoffs a series turns where the Nux need a "shutdown" center, Kesler is the man.

Also, is Ryan Johnson not a perfectly good second choice as a checking center?

Then I suppose people will get in a tizzy about taking Kesler off the top line. Well, the playoffs are a whole different nut to crack involving so many ebbs and flows so let's just see how it all plays out there, Dave Lowry, before we determine that the less than "great" checker Kyle Wellwood is locked into that 3rd line center spot.

I may have a oversized melon but I can pick up my check...I'm not that cheap

Next was Roberto Luongo's puckhandling. Sure, he's no Martin Brodeur or Marty Turco but last I looked Patrick Roy seemed to be less than a Jacques Plante in his puckhandling skills and he seemed to do fairly well come playoff time.

Then there is this criticism over some "weak" goals Luongo has given up. He's not sieve a la the new flash in the pan Steve Penney clone there in Montreal so let's all calm down (speaking of which do Canuck fans really need to go "Luuuuuu" every single time the guy makes a save? How about we save that cheer for the great saves? Just a thought). His save pct. since the All-Star break is .915. So I'll take one weak goal a game as long as he's saving over 91% of the shots that comes his way.

The main stat fans should focus on is how the team does on the road (5W 3L since the All-Star break) and how the PK unit is doing (a poor 20th overall) as far as gauging the Canucks' ability to go deep in the playoffs. So the upcoming six-game road trip should be a fairly good look into how playoff ready this team is.

Penguins Don't Take Flight

So, time to haul out the record books with the Wings and Chris Osgood's second shutout in two games in this so-called "dream" matchup in the Stanley Cup Final.

In 2003, a Final (noted mainly by the Scott Stevens hit on Paul Kariya) one saw the deadly dull Devils and Martin Brodeur shut out Anaheim two games in a row but it still went seven thanks to the Michelin Man Giguere in the Ducks' net. Satan's minions still won the Cup though, of course, with a shutout in Game 7.

Have faith Pens fans, the 1945 Final had the Leafs and Frank McCool shutting out Detroit in the first three games before the Almost Dead Things stormed back to tie the series with two of their three wins being shutouts also...then losing Game 7 to the Leafs.

We have to go back to the 1926 Final to find that the Montreal (in the words of Bugs Bunny: "What a Bunch of") Maroons shut out the Victoria Cougars of the old pro Western Hockey League in Games 1 and 2 of a sweep to win the Cup. The Maroons even threw a shutout in game 4 making it a hat trick of whitewashing for Hannibal Lechter lookalike Clint Benedict in the Final.

So, there is hope of making this a series, if the Pens can get the puck off the Wings for enough time to actually pressure Ozzie.

Free At Last! Brian Burke is Free At Last!

With the Anaheim (Not Mighty Anymore) Ducks one and done, the "Brian Burke is headed here (Vancouver), there (Toronto) and everywhere (take your pick) as the new GM" rumors will go nuclear. Maybe, just maybe, some teams will step back and realize he is maybe not the best hockey GM on the planet.

I would argue the Cup-winning Ducks of '07 were made more by Bryan Murray's draft picks (Perry, Getzlaf, Lupul--the player that netted the Dux, Pronger in the deal with Edmonton) with a helping hand from Burkey (the Pronger and Beauchemin pickups being primary). As Canuck fans know, Burke's '07/08 was more atypical of the moves Brian tends to make. Like Mike Keenan, he loves "assembling the troops" hence the signing of Todd "all of 0 G 2 A in the playoffs" Bertuzzi and the re-signings of Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer halfway through the season. Problem was he had already signed Mathieu Schneider to replace Niedermayer. This created the salary cap problem that basically created no backup plan in the playoffs when J.S. Giguere faltered and Doug Weight turned out to be...well, not Andy McDonald.

The Burke-ster tried to trade backup netminder Ilya Bryzgalov during the fall, but ending up having to put him on waivers. Phoenix said thank you very much and turned their season around thanks to Ilya's 26-22-5 a record with a phenomenal .921 save pct. Maybe the Desert Dogs did not make the playoffs but they did make things a whole lot more interesting in Glendale, AZ.

The loss of Bryz-y also meant when Anaheim drew Dallas in rd. 1 so Giguere was their only option (apologies to rookie backup Jonas Hiller). Given Giggy had his troubles vs. Dallas during the season (.877 save pct, 3W 5L), it was sort of in the cards that the Stars knew how to get to the Ninja Turtle Man. Bryzgalov was certainly a key guy (.937 career playoff save pct) in spelling Giggy when things got rough, especially in '06 when the Dux went three rds (that was the season Giggy was distracted during the playoffs by his young kid's medical problems).

Then when Corey Perry went down and had to miss the first three games vs. Dallas, it was time for Doug Weight to step up since Andy McDonald was long gone to St. Louis. The 35 y/o Weight, with all that playoff experience, managed all of 1 assist vs. Dallas in rd. 1.

Sure, Pronger reverted to his old St. Louis days by taking stupid penalties and Stephane Robidas did a great Zubov impersonation helping the Dallas powerplay (10 PP goals in the series) to keep on clicking, but the seeds of the Ducks' "lameout" were sown by a certain GM who mismanaged his roster the season following the Cup run.

Now was it worth re-signing Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer? Maybe in Selanne's case it's a wash, but the "Playoff Beard To End All Playoff Beards" Norris Trophy D-man had no jump at all maybe bar Game 5. Niedermayer ended up with just two assists and was a minus player in the series. Scott is headed to the Hall, but he might want to rethink that retirement idea.

So Brian Burke has "won" a Cup, and I'm sure whatever team gets him will be happy when he drafts those Nathan Smiths and Kirill Koltsovs for them. Until then, thanks, Brian, for giving us the Sedins! I enjoy cycling now so much I'm actually thinking of entering the Tour de France.