We are going to have to call the
Vancouver Canucks a whambulance. I mean seriously, the call against
Alex Burrows for knocking over
Tim Thomas was the correct call, you can't do that in any league. Also, I have never seen so much whining about the officials, every time there is a call against the Canucks the CBC cameras pan to the Vancouver Canucks GM in sky box for his reaction to the call on the ice. I was also wondering why CBC doesn’t pan the camera to the
Boston Bruins GM’s box to see his reaction as well.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Canucks were not surprised by Boston goalie Tim Thomas' outstanding play Wednesday night in the opener of the Stanley Cup final.
They simply took issue with where Thomas played.
Coach Alain Vigneault joined several Canucks in questioning Thomas' aggressive positioning well outside his crease, complaining specifically about a tripping penalty to Alex Burrows for bumping Thomas outside the blue paint.
But, as Thomas and Bruins coach Claude Julien pointed out ahead of Game 2 tonight, the goalie's right to stop the puck unimpeded is not limited to the crease.
"I have the right to go anywhere there's open ice," said Thomas, who made 33 saves -- many spectacular -- before Raffi Torres scored Game 1's only goal with 18.5 seconds to play.
"If I'm set, I have a right to that ice. If I'm out of the paint and I'm set, I also have the right of way to get back to the crease. That's the way I understand it."
There's no doubting Thomas, who joined Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie, is more aggressive than most. He relies on his ability to read and react to plays from his skates, rather than playing the more passive, on-the-knees butterfly style common today.
