Does It Get Any More Surreal Than This?

Words cannot do justice to the Spokane Chiefs vs. Vancouver Giants Game 5 playoff game held Fri., Apr. 10 7:30 p.m. which finished on Sat., Apr. 11 at 12:45 a.m.--119 shots on goal, numerous posts and crossbars, stupid penalties (especially by Evander Kane and Lance Bouma) and all of 5 goals over the 126:05 of play.

The OTs were beyond bizarre.

First there's all that dead time with the 15-minute intermissions between each OT period where you try to kill time by walking around the arena, stretching and yawning and looking at the clock hoping it goes faster. Someone was definitely better prepared as a woman in front of us had a book she brought along.

Mostly, we spent the time thinking should we eat something? I mean, what does one eat at midnight? Popcorn? Peanuts? Ice cream? The scoreboard asked us at one point "Should we order pizza?" which drew a huge round of applause.
The PNE at least kept concessions open throughout which is something that did not happen at GM Place back in '06 during the Canucks' 5-OT game vs. Dallas.
And I did catch a White Spot burger in one of the OT giveaways that I passed along to my hungry nephew sitting next to me.

The in-arena DJ also had all the appropriate songs (albeit nothing really from any decade after the '70s so what does that say about the state of arena rock music?) cued up when the clock struck 12--Eric Clapton's "After Midnight," the Rolling Stones' "Midnight Rambler," etc. (Sadly missing was Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," but I digress.)

The OTs do zoom right along without all the TV ads and timeouts.
The second OT was tremendous and probably the best period of the game.
The third OT it was sluggo hockey with the players having zero energy by then.
It didn't help that the Giants version of Krazy George came by our section to bang his drum. At 7:30 p.m. this is very enjoyable. After midnight not so much especially with one's ear drums literally three feet from the drum itself. Meanwhile other people were sleeping across chairs as building began emptying out quite a lot after the third OT.

Then mercifully in the fourth OT, after a Casey Pierro-Zabotel giveaway trying to work for the perfect shot resulted in a turnover semi-breakaway by Blake Gal that ended up with the G-men's Mike Berube somehow trying to lift Gal's stick but ending up putting it in his own net for an own goal, it was over.

Also, on a side note, we sat right next to Evander Kane's schoolage sisters and their (I assume) granddad right down there in row 8. They made it to the end of the game, too.

What can I say but I sort of feel like those falling businessmen in a Magritte painting. Why was I there? What just happened? Did I really sit through two entire hockey games plus in one sitting?

Overtime meets Belgian surrealism

After Spokane's winning goal what was left of the 8,948 fans sat in stunned silence for about a good 30 seconds . . . and then rose and gave the teams a standing ovation.

A night . . . and morning to remember.

Then last night the Giants somehow solved Spokane goalie Dustin Tokarski in double OT to win Game 6 to tie up this epic series at three games each.

Game 7 goes Tuesday and I'll get back to you, if I survive that.

Bingo Bango Bye Bye

Maybe it's because Roberto Luongo actually said out loud that he may not re-sign here, but why the surprise on the fans' and media's part about this revelation? The captain has always struck me as a fairly intelligent guy who gives pretty well thought out answers to questions thrown his way.

Canuck fans should be happy that he's come out and said that. It puts the onus on Mike Gillis to go out this summer and get the two "made" Marians--Gaborik and Hossa. Let the Sedins walk off to T.O., where they can cycle their way into the hearts of Buds' fans.

After all, for Luongo to be truly judged a great goalie in this era he has to win a Cup. It's not like he's like Blackhawks' Hall of Famer Tony Esposito stuck in an era where the Habs, Bruins, Flyers and Islanders dominated and would not let any other teams snag silverware.

Given that fact, put yourself in Roberto's skates, and would you sign an extension with a team that has made all of two deep runs in close to four decades of NHL play vs. signing on with Detroit after next season? It worked for Dominik Hasek after years in Buffalo.

Gumby takes it all in '02

So now the ball's in the Canuck court. Obviously, Luongo has to lift the team at least past rd. 1 this year. In rd. 2 if they are matched up vs. the Sharks or the Wings, Luongo is going to have to play lights out and the series has to go at least 6 for any Canuck fan to have any hope in '09/10. Should, by some Dwayne Roloson flukey stop everything in sight scenario, either of the top two teams bow out in rd. 1, the Nux have to get to the Western Conference Final period or Mats Sundin is also toast come next season.

So, thank you Roberto Luongo as now you put the pressure on where it should be. Gillis has to go for it this summer and throughout 08/09 by loading up on as many scorers as he can (also, a Jay Bouwmeester would be nice to add that Dan Boyle/Nicklas Lidstrom type to the backline). Until then Ryan Kesler and Alexandre Burrows are great stories (and pretty decent players now) but they are not playoff studs yet and probably won't be in a year's time.

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.