Should be a good match up, the Canucks can beat the 8th seed Blackhawks and getting that out of the way should give them extra confidence as they pursue the cup.
Good point about Byfuglien. The Hawks are going to miss his ability to do whatever he wants to Luongo and not get called for it.
I can definitely see the Canucks beating them this time. It probably won't be a one-sided shellacking (like Dallas could very well have been) but the Canucks are simply better than they were last year and the Hawks are worse.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
i think it's almost good they got blown out: keeps them from getting complacent. when you're ahead in a series like that, you still need to show up. it wasn't just luongo either, like all those open ice shots, it was just lazy play for that caliber of team. still, you have to hand it to chicago, they played an awesome game. that said, i predict a win next game to close it out at 4-1, and relax for a week before facing nashville or anaheim.
Exactly how I feel, i am glad they lost this game, a complete sweep would have made them far to complacent and then the looong break between now and the next series would not have been good for them either.
So did anyone see how many people were in the box for game misconducts, and for felonies often not even worth such misconducts....
I'm blaming the refs, they were horrible and made waaay too many bad calls. I'm almost ready to believe they rigged the game this time around.
Bieksa beating the crap out of Stalberg was the highlight of the night. That and Kane crumpling to the ice after getting tapped on the chin by Hamhuis.
I wouldn't blame the loss on the refs, the game was effectively over before the third-period penalty bonanza began...but yes, the refs were atrocious. The last two games have been called unbelievably strictly, summed up perfectly in the moment when Torres and Scott both got 10-minute misconducts for looking at each other funny. The refs aren't necessarily being biased, it's only natural that the more physical team would suffer more when absolutely everything is being called a penalty. Hopefully they'll put away the whistles on Thursday and just let the teams play a freaking hockey game.
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Exactly how I feel, i am glad they lost this game, a complete sweep would have made them far to complacent and then the looong break between now and the next series would not have been good for them either.
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