Chicago's Bolland rips the Sedins

Chicago's BlackhawksDave Bolland rips into the Sedin twins during a radio show and really has nothing nice to say about the Vancouver Canucks, no offense but I can't stand the Canucks either and I have said in the past, "that the Vancouver Canucks are one of the most unlikable teams in the NHL next to the Montreal Canadians."

SportsDirect ---- Chicago Blackhawks center Dave Bolland didn't have too many complimentary things to say about Henrik and Daniel Sedin - or the city of Vancouver, for that matter.

In fact, he referred to the Sedin Twins as "sisters" on two occasions on a recent appearance on Chicago-based WGN Radio.

When asked if he'd welcome them on the Blackhawks - should a deal arise - Bolland was fairly blunt with his response.
Related Info

"Well, they'll never become 'Hawks," he said. "I don't think we'd let them on our team. We'd be sure not to let them on our team. And, yeah, they probably still would be sisters.

Brad Malone called up to the Av's

Former Fighting Sioux forward Brad Malone has been called up to the Colorado Avalance and is set to make his NHL debute because of an injury to former DU Pioneer Paul Stasnty and a suspension to former Michigan Wolverine Kevin Porter.

CALGARY — Avalanche forward Kevin Porter has been suspended four games for his knee-on-knee collision with Vancouver’s David Booth in Tuesday’s 6-0 loss against the Canucks at Rogers Arena. As a result of that and Paul Stasnty’s lingering torso injury, Colorado has called up forward Brad Malone, a first-year pro from the University of North Dakota.

Canucks' Raymond 'will never be the same'

Here is a follow up on former on former UMD Bulldog Mason Raymond, sounds like he had a very long painful struggle to get back to the NHL. This story was in today's Vancouver Sun, the video of the hit in question is included above.

Vancouver Sun --- Run into the boards by Boston Bruins defenceman Johnny Boychuk, who held down Raymond’s head as he rammed the Canuck backwards, Raymond suffered not only a fractured spine but damaged nerves and tissue.

“It’s a serious injury that’s going to take some time,” he said. “Things have changed back there. It will never be the same. I’m not going to get into specifics, but I had some serious damage back there. I’ve got issues back there. I’ve got to deal with them all the time. That’s part of life. Is it going to be perfect? Probably not. But I’m at a stage where it’s very good and I continue to work and do things that are going to make me feel I’m in a good spot.”

Raymond spent most of last summer in a back brace and when training camp began in September the 26-year-old from Cochrane, Alta., was still unsure if he’d play again in the National Hockey League. Sometime in the fall, he crossed the threshold between “if” and “when” and three weeks ago he began practicing with teammates.

Related articles

• Canucks' Mason Raymond 'ready to roll' (vancouversun.com)
• Canucks' Mason Raymond nearing return from Cup final-ending back injury (vancouversun.com)
• Canucks' Mason Raymond not sure he'll play again, still out indefinitely with broken back (vancouversun.com)
• Canucks' Mason Raymond 'excited' about impending return from Cup final-ending back injury (vancouversun.com)
• Canucks welcome Raymond back to practice (tsn.ca)

Dr Recchi rips Vancouver, Bieksa rips Recchi

Image by slidingsideways via Flickr

Apparently Dr. Mark Recchi has stirred up the Vancouver Canucks with a few of his comments he made on a radio show in Boston last week.

You can hear Recchi's comments on the media file below. If my memory serves me right I also recall saying some of the same things about the Vancouver Canucks, " I have said in the past that the Vancouver Canucks are one of the most unlikable teams in the NHL (next to the Montreal Canadians and their fans)."

Below is the transcript of Recchi's comments.

“(In) 22 years they are the most arrogant team I played against and the most hated team I’ve ever played against,” Recchi said on 98.5 the Sports Hub. “I couldn’t believe their antics, their falling and diving. It was very frustrating, but at the same time as the series wore on we knew we were getting to them and we knew our physical play and our skating, I think it caught them off guard a little bit.”

 Apparently the Vancouver Canucks didn't appreciate Mark Recchi's comments. In particular Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa was less than impressed with Recchi's comments as well. 

NESN.COM --- "Isn't he retired? What's he doing? Tell him to go play a round of golf or take a nap," Bieksa said, according to The Province.
Bieksa then insisted that you can call the Canucks a lot of things, but he doesn't think "arrogant" is one of them.

"The twins are so humble and you may not like playing against guys like Maxim Lapierre and Alex Burrows, but they're not arrogant," he said. "I just don't get it. Mark Recchi can go take a nap."

Really? In my opinion, I think Alex Burrows and Maxim Lapierre are two of the biggest frauds in the NHL, when these two clowns aren't posing as punks on the ice they they are diving up and down the ice when ever the opposition breaths on them.

Related articles

• Stanley Cup Champion Mark Recchi Calls Into K&M (wzlx.radio.com)
• Classless in Victory: A Response to Mark Recchi's Comments About the Canucks (bleacherreport.com)
• Vancouver's Defence Continues to Struggle (insidehockey.com)

Use of Visors mandatory?

Image via WikipediaThis is the latest argument that has come up, some want to make the use of visor mandatory in the NHL, the AHL visors are already mandatory. Me personally, I think it should be up to the individual player, if they don't want to wear the visor them it should be up to them.

Hockey News --- For most players, like sidelined Flyers forward Ian Laperriere, they simply haven't abandoned their outdated attitudes that wearing a shield means a player isn't tough. Facemasks aren't hip—and only the real macho players are willing to take the ice without them.

Some players once felt the same way about helmets and other protective gear. Now, keeping heads safe is mandatory. Eyes could be next.

The time could be near when visors are as much a part of the game as sticks and gloves.

"Sometimes you have to save the players from themselves," said Pierre McGuire, an NHL analyst for NBC and Versus.

Added Vancouver Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault: "Visors should be mandatory."

Shea Weber boards Jannik Hansen

Shea Weber could be the next one to be suspended by the NHL for his vicious hit on Vancouver Canuck's Jannik Hansen. I wouldn't even like to speculate what kind of suspension that Weber could end up serving, because this past week we saw the Penguins Kris Letang suspended for two games for a less violent hit.

NHL.com --- Nashville's Shea Weber will have a disciplinary hearing Friday afternoon following a boarding penalty assessed to the Predators defenseman for a hit on Vancouver's Jannik Hansen during Thursday's game. At 5:12 of the third period, Weber was penalized for boarding Hansen, and also given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Bieksa, "Rypien loved his role in hockey"

Image via WikipediaThis past summer the NHL had a horrible summer as the sport lost three former tough guys (Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak) to various issues (two to suicide and one to an accidental mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone).

In the after math of the deaths of these three players, many were quick to point to their roles as fighters as a reason that these three people were no longer with us. Two of them (Rick Rypien, Wade Belak) tragically took their own lives and were both dealing with depression issues at the time of their death. According Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa a former teammate and close friend of Rick Rypien; Rypien loved his role as a fighter.

Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun --- Bieksa is emphatic that Rypien loved his role in hockey and fighting had nothing to do with his mental challenges. He said Rypien's illness was too complicated to be explained away by one event or circumstance, such as the car-accident death nearly a decade ago of Rypien's girlfriend or the constant stream of injuries that slowed his NHL career.

"There were a lot of things going on," Bieksa said. "I felt he was as much my responsibility as anybody's. Looking back now, I wished I'd talked to him a little more in the summer. I thought he was getting better. I knew the severity of it [but] I don't think anyone really thought this would happen."

What I am trying to say here is that maybe before we just the gun here maybe we need to step back and take a look “at all the facts” before we jump to conclusions. We don’t even know if any of the deaths are related, on its face each player’s death could have a different set of circumstances surrounding it. We just don’t know.

Lucic involved in incident with girl friend in North End of Boston.

Image via WikipediaRight away when I read the newspaper article about this incident, it does send up a few warning flags, especially after what has happened this summer.

Boston Herald --- Stanley Cup hero Milan Lucic was questioned by police early yesterday after he and his girlfriend got into an altercation in the North End.

According to a police report of the incident, the Bruins [team stats] left winger was “highly intoxicated and hostile” after he and his galpal argued outside a Starbucks on Commercial Street shortly before 1:30 a.m.

Witnesses told police the 6-foot-4, 220-pound hockey player was yelling at his girlfriend, who was on the ground, and at one point threw her shoes and purse at her. However, the woman told police she was not physically assaulted and “was adamant about not being harmed,” the report states. Police “did not observe any visible injuries,” the report says, and Lucic was not charged.

Related articles

• Bruins' Lucic made Cup available to Vancouver hockey fans (canada.com)
• Bruins' Lucic made Cup available to Vancouver fans (canada.com)
• Boston Bruins: Milan Lucic Brings Cup Home to Vancouver, Locals Get Angry (bleacherreport.com)
• Boston Bruin Milan Lucic Comes Through for Hockey Collectors One More Time (paniniamerica.wordpress.com)
• Boston's Milan Lucic to host Stanley Cup at private Vancouver event (thehockeynews.com)

Milan Lucic with the Stanley Cup...

Here is video of Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic picking up the Stanley Cup at the Vancouver Airport. Milan Lucic had to have a more subdued celebration in his home town of Vancouver with the Stanley Cup because "some" Vancouver Canucks fans acted like a bunch of entitlement brats at the annual Greek summer festival earlier this summer and there were concerns that some Vancouver fans might act up again.

Related articles

• Vancouver angst could sully Milan Lucic's day with the Stanley Cup (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Boston Bruins: Milan Lucic Brings Cup Home to Vancouver, Locals Get Angry (bleacherreport.com)
• Boston's Milan Lucic to host Stanley Cup at private Vancouver event (thehockeynews.com)
• Lucic bringing Stanley Cup to Vancouver (cbc.ca)
• "Milan Lucic Getting Special Opportunity to Play His First Stanley Cup Final in Hometown of Vancouver" and related posts (nesn.com)

Lucic's day with the cup will be low key.

My buddy Ken Frank's favorite Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic will have a very low key day with the Stanley Cup when he brings the Cup back to his home town of Vancouver, B.C., apparently the Vancouver Canucks fans are still acting like a bunch of spoiled entitlement brats.

Megan Stewart, Vancouver Courier ---- "There is a certain amount of tension right now," acknowledged Lucic's mom, Snezana. "It's not all of Vancouver, just certain individuals."

When he celebrates with the Stanley Cup this weekend, Lucic will keep the festivities relatively private and low-key. He won't be gloating, at least where the public eye can see. Potential to bring hockey's holy grail to Kitsilano Beach Park for the weekend's popular sports festival, Kits Fest, were scuttled, according to an event organizer.

All because of a few sore losers. Seeing Lucic with the Stanley Cup would be bittersweet for Canucks Nation, just as it must be acutely bittersweet for him to keep in check the pride he rightfully feels. Such a woe-begotten attitude is beatable by recognizing Lucic for the accomplishments he realized right here at home. However, too many are still hurting over the hometown champion who helped conquer the hometown. Said Snezana, "That's why Milan does not want to be out there, parading the Cup around his hometown."

It's the shenanigans like this that caused many hockey fans to not like the Vancouver Canucks during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is a game why wouldn't human being act more civil, the kid is from Vancouver and he is bringing the Stanley Cup back to his home town but has to keep it low key so some fans won’t act like horses asses and ruin Lucic's celebration with the Stanley Cup. For those with short memories, these are the same hooligans and excrement that went out and trashed their city after the Vancouver Canucks lost game seven to the Boston Bruins.

Related articles

• Boston's Milan Lucic to host Stanley Cup at private Vancouver event (thehockeynews.com)
• Lucic bringing Stanley Cup to Vancouver (cbc.ca)
• Milan Lucic: hero and villain (theglobeandmail.com)

Whatcha gonna do Daniel Carcillo?

So the Chicago Blackhawks have added known NHL pest Daniel “Car Bomb” Carcillo during the off-season to help keep the opposition players in check.  So my next question is; does that include getting beat up by players like current Winnipeg Jet and former Colorado College Tiger defenseman Mark Stewart?

I mean what is Daniel Carcillo going to bring to the table for the Chicago Blackhawks? Is Daniel Carcillo going to be a pain in the ass on ice and take stupid penalties for the Chicago Blackhawks? Doesn’t take a lot of talent to do that… I suppose Carcillo he can punch out star players like the Sedin twins (Ala Marian Gaborik) and play the same role that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Beiksa does. I mean it doesn't really take that much talent to beat up on skilled players that aren't known for dropping the gloves and fighting.

Tim Sassone; Daily Herald --- Like him or not (I like him), the Blackhawks aren't going to be dull with Daniel Carcillo on the ice and in the dressing room.

Carcillo met the media for the first time on Monday since signing with the Hawks as a free agent and said all the right things, particularly how he already has a dislike for the Vancouver Canucks.

“I watched that (playoff) series and I'm actually pretty excited to play them because there's a few guys there that played a little bit outside their shoes and I think I can keep most of those guys in check when we play them this year,” Carcillo said. “Lapierre, Glass and Torres. Lapierre's at the top of the list.”

Who cares if Torres and Glass are no longer with the Canucks, Carcillo's point was those three players he felt took liberties with the Hawks in the playoffs, no doubt remembering Torres' head shot on Brent Seabrook. And from the sound of it, those are the things Carcillo won't let happen this season.

“I think after the team won the Stanley Cup they lost some of their grit, and I think everybody realized that,” Carcillo said. “Stan has brought me in and brought Jamal (Mayers) in and brought Steve (Montador) in to get that back and to get that attitude and swagger back they had when they won the Cup that year.

“This team has always had that attitude and swagger to it. It's going to be exciting to bring that back. The biggest thing that me and Stan have talked about is just to get that attitude back and that push back and that (bleep) you attitude, you know what I mean?”

Carcillo will start the season with a two-game suspension from an incident in the playoffs but said it comes with the territory.

Related articles

• Chicago Blackhawks Countdown to Camp: Competition at the Remaining Forward Spots (bleacherreport.com)
• NHL suspends Flyers' Dan Carcillo for 2 games (sports.espn.go.com)
• NHL Chicago Blackhawks 2011: Adding Muscle to Their Core During Offseason (bleacherreport.com)

Chicago Blackhawks thugster Daniel Carcillo introduced to the Chicago fans.

This article was just too good to pass up, I was very disappointed to say the least when a storied and respectable organization like the Chicago Blackhawks decided to sign this clown to a free agent deal. Let's not kid ourselves; Daniel Carcillo is one of most despised players around the NHL. I hold him in the same light as a Max Lapierre, Alex Burrows, insert your hated player here________.

Tracey Myers; CSNChicago.com --- Daniel Carcillo is ready to take on Vancouver Canucks, past and present.

“A few guys there play a little outside of their shoes," said Carcillo, who threw out Max Lapierre as well as former Canucks Raffi Torres (now in Phoenix) and Tanner Glass (Winnipeg). “And I think I can keep most of these guys in check when we play them this year.”

The Chicago Blackhawks forward said Monday’s press conference was the first of his career, but he certainly knew how to win over the new crowd. In two months his focus is going to be back to what he knows best: irritating everyone not wearing the same sweater he is.

Carcillo, Car Bomb, it doesn’t matter the name: he knows he isn’t the most liked guy out there. Plenty of Blackhawks fans voiced and tweeted their displeasure when the team signed him on July 1. Carcillo isn’t here to be Mr. Popular, but he figures walking that fine line and keeping teammates protected should win over some.

“I wasn’t very liked when I got to Philadelphia; they traded away a well-liked player for me (Scottie Upshall). And wherever I play I try to play with emotion. Sometimes emotions get the best of me,” he said. “But with time I’ve learned to hone it and I’ll have to do the same thing here. Everything I do I try to do as hard as I can and with a lot of passion. Hopefully fans embrace it.”

Related articles

• Chicago Blackhawks Countdown to Camp: Competition at the Remaining Forward Spots (bleacherreport.com)
• Blackhawks convention brings laughs, some insight regarding Daniel Carcillo's addition (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• NHL Chicago Blackhawks 2011: Adding Muscle to Their Core During Offseason (bleacherreport.com)

"Bite This Burrows."

According to Puck Daddy, the Boston based rock band the Dropkick Murphys is selling "Bite Me Burrows" t-shirts. I am going to have to get one of these snazzy new t-shirts... You can get one of these new t-shirts at Sully's.com

Zachary Cox; NESN ----- Songs from the Dropkick Murphys have been a staple at Boston sporting events for years, as the band makes it clear where its allegiance lies.

"Tessie" and "Time To Go" were written as tributes to the Red Sox and Bruins, respectively, and the Dropkicks' hit "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" is nearly unavoidable at any game played in New England -- Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon even uses it as his entrance song.

Ironically, the band went on tour through Canada soon after the Bruins' Stanley Cup victory over the Vancouver Canucks in June. While there, they made sure that Canadians didn't forget who the NHL champion is.

According to Yahoo Sports' Puck Daddy blog, the Dropkicks entered the stage to Queen's "We Are the Champions" at several shows across Canada, including one in Vancouver.

The band also sold Bruins-themed merchandise at the shows, including one T-shirt that featured a tweaked Red Sox logo -- with skates instead of socks on the front -- and the words "Bite This Burrows" in black and gold on the back -- an obvious reference to Alexandre Burrows' infamous bite of Patrice Bergeron's finger in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Related articles

• Alex Burrows Video: Watch Burrows Take Bite out of Patrice Bergeron in Game 1 (bleacherreport.com)
• NHL Stanley Cup Finals: Alex Burrows Will Not Be Suspended for Bite (bleacherreport.com)
• Alex Burrows Escapes Suspension After Biting Patrice Bergeron In Game 1 (sbnation.com)
• Source: No suspension for Canucks' Burrows (sports.espn.go.com)
• NHL won't fine or suspend Alex Burrows for his bite on Patrice Bergeron (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)

Boston Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup Champions Montage

This is one of the best Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions montage that I have seen out there on the internet... If you're a Boston Bruins fans this video definitely will bring back great memories from a truly a magical season as the Boston Bruins marched through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here is a pretty good game seven montage as well. History was made this season during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Bruins set up to repeat?

Locker Smash

In looking at the Boston Bruins roster for next season, one could make the argument that the Boston Bruins are set up to make another run at the Stanley Cup... The Boston Bruins are going to have most of their team back from this past season. Also, unlike the Chicago Blackhawks the Boston Bruins don’t “salary cap” issues. There will not be a fire sale to start the season off.

Scott Cullen; TSN --- After winning their first Stanley Cup since 1972, the Boston Bruins don't need a whole lot more good news, but they have some nevertheless.

Off-Season Game Plan looks at the Bruins' roster and what GM Peter Chiarelli might do to give the Bruins a shot at back-to-back titles.

The good news for the Bruins, unlike the 2010-champion Chicago Blackhawks, is that the Bruins are in a favourable financial position with respect to the salary cap.

Through Chiarelli's savvy, the Bruins should not only have the room to bring back any or all of the players from their championship team, they should still have the wherewithal to address some needs.

Of course, coming off a Stanley Cup win, it's not like the Bruins have massive holes to fill.

They could use more skilled offensive players, whether on the wing or on defence, in the hopes that might help fix a power play that was an albatross down the stretch and throughout the playoffs. It's almost unbelievable that the Bruins could win the Stanley Cup tournament while struggling for so long with the man advantage, yet that actually happened.

A factor that is already in the Bruins' favour is that they have room for internal improvement, with young players like Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin the most likely to play more significant roles going forward

Former Sioux Toews on Vancouver riots: 'I kind of expected that'

Web Pro News

This was just too good to not pass on. Former Fighting Sioux star and current Blackhawk forward Jonathan Toews wasn't surprised by the Rioting in Vancouver. Seriously, I can't say that I am all that shocked either; especially after there was a riot in the city of Vancouver after the Vancouver Canucks lost in 1994 Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Rangers. What a bunch of morons, they tore up their city after the lost in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Chris Kuc; Tribune reporter --- After getting up close and personal with Canucks fans the past three seasons, Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews wasn't surprised at the rioting in Vancouver after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Shortly after the Canucks fell to the Bruins last week to give Boston its first Stanley Cup since 1972, the British Columbia city erupted in violence, causing multiple injuries and extensive damage.

"I kind of expected that," said Toews, who was scheduled to leave Chicago on Tuesday to head to Las Vegas for the NHL Awards. "Those fans are crazy. When we beat them the last couple of years they were throwing stuff on the ice. They're crazy fans and obviously passionate about their team. I kind of expected a reaction one way or another."

Is there a double standard?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBruce Dowbiggen from the Globe and Mail has a head scratcher of an article in Sunday's Globe and Mail sports page.

First off  I don't understand why "we need expunge the media images from one of the nastiest Stanley Cup finals in recent memory." I found the Stanley Cup finals to be very entertaining in my opinion an instant classic and the Stanley Cup Finals got pretty decent T.V. rating as well in the USA. What did the media  expect when two teams play each other for 7 games, there are going to be some hurt feelings. It's a shame the two teams don't play more. The Stanley Cup Finals were awesome; the riot in the streets of Vancouver after game 7 not so much.

Second we still have people in Canada more specifically from Montreal, that are still whining about Canadians' punk P.K. Subban being picked on. The problem I see with Subban; while a great NHL talent he is a show boat but he is also a diver as well. In my opinion, Subban would be an awesome Vancouver Canuck the way he embellishes and flails on the ice when he is tapped. It has nothing to do with his ethnic back ground I believe that many people just don't like his antics. Again there are some in hockey that are turning a great sport into European soccer with their embellishment and antics.

NEGATIVE IMAGES

As the NHL hands out its awards in Las Vegas Tuesday, it’ll be looking to expunge the media images from one of the nastiest Stanley Cup finals in recent memory. Most depressing was the image of thousands of young men in Vancouver who seem to have mistaken a riot for a South Park episode. The other was the sight of Boston Bruins rookie Brad Marchand using the head of Hart Trophy finalist Daniel Sedin as a speed bag – to the approval of hockey’s blood culture.

The league can’t do much for the street rioting but it could do something about the latter. Imagine an NBA rookie speed-bagging Dirk Nowitzki’s head going into a timeout or a first-year NFL player hitting Tom Brady in the head repeatedly after the play. What do you think the response would be from those leagues? They’d hammer the kid.

But the NHL stands by as useless as a Vancouver city cop watching his cruiser burn. Better yet, media types – some of whom piously decry fighting – blame Sedin for bruising Marchand’s knuckles and tell Vancouver to wise up and get some tough guys. Hope all the parents with kids in hockey are following this.

DOUBLE STANDARD

One final thought on rookie Marchand: How come when he abuses a superstar he’s applauded by Hockey Night in Canada and the media as a savvy kid who gets under the skin to win. But when Montreal Canadiens rookie P.K. Subban did the same, we were told by the same voices that he was a punk with no respect who needed to be taken down a notch? Is it because Marchand is a Bruin, a sacred squad on Hockey Night, because Sedin is a European or because Marchand is white while Subban is black, or all of the above. Take all the time you need to answer.

Is there a double standard when it comes to P.K. Subban? I don't believe so. What do you think?

Related articles

• VIDEO: Brad Marchand Punches Daniel Sedin, Avoids Retaliation In Canucks-Bruins Game 6 (sbnation.com)
• Thomas, Bruins better than Canucks in every area in Stanley Cup final (thehockeynews.com)

An illustration of what is wrong with Canucks fans... Tin Foil Hats...

Image via WikipediaI found this comment by a Canucks' fan on Puck Daddy and it's too good to not share... I have seen comments like this all over "the Internet" on all kinds of sites both on hockey blogs and on line newspapers; there are actually people out there that really think that the NHL refs were against the Vancouver Canucks and wanted the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup... I mean seriously this is tin foil hat stuff.

Everyone thinks of the Burrows biting incident but there were much more after the whistle incident committed by Boston.....eg sucker punching Burrows, Marchand hitting face punching Sedin several times in front of the ref..no call? it is usually called.

It was clear that the refs and NHL was routing for Boston to win the cup...no doubt in my mind. Why? I don't know but may have been due to Burrows-Auje incident a long time ago. But also, Rome hits a guy down who can't play for the rest of the playoffs and he is suspended while Mason Raymond can't play until next November and Boychuk getting a pat on the shoulder? Not to mention.....everyone condemns Rome because he put someone out of the playoffs but what about Chara's hit on Pacrioetty that ends regular season, playoffs and some of next season and he gets nothing.. Give me a break!!!

The NHL clearly favors American teams. No doubt in my mind....for a simple reason. The Canadian economy can only sustain 4-5 teams whereas the American can sustain a league of 30-40 teams. So in order to generate interest, you need that American excitement.....helps Bettman to keep his job too. If No NHL, No job for Bettman. Do you know his salary is 6-7 million per year? Yeah, if I were in his shoes, I would find ways to promote the NHL to make money....that's my job..

Related articles

• Stanley Cup Finals 2011: Eulogy for the Vancouver Canucks from a Bruins Fan (bleacherreport.com)
• Slap Shot: Canucks General Manager Opens a Can of Worms Over Raymond Injury (slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Heartbreak for Canucks fans (theglobeandmail.com)
• NHL Stanley Cup Finals: Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks, Game 2 Live Blog (bleacherreport.com)

Break down of the Canucks injuries

Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis went through the litany of injuries that the Vancouver Canucks suffered through during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Dan Hamhuis abdominal injury, Mason Raymond broken back, Alex Edler two broken fingers, Kevin Bieksa bruised MCL, Ryan Kesler hip injury, Chris Higgins foot injury, Christian Ehrhoff shoulder injury, Henrik Sedin back injury, Mikael Samuelsson operation on an abdominal tear and Manny Malhotra eye injury and hadn't skated in a 6-7 weeks after his surgery because of treatment.

Related articles

• Canucks GM Mike Gillis explains Vancouver's postseason injuries (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Canucks looking to answer questions after failing to win Stanley Cup (thehockeynews.com)
• Canucks’ window closes a bit (theglobeandmail.com)
• Canucks lose forward Raymond for 3-4 months (sports.espn.go.com)

The Sedin twins; No cup for Vancouver

Man Certified

This one doesn't require a lot of discussion; in my opinion the Vancouver Canucks were the most unlikable team in Stanley Cup history, next to the Montreal Canadians. People thought I was crazy when I told told people that the Vancouver Canucks were not going to run away with the Stanley Cup, we had people saying that the Canucks were going to win in four or five games. Yeah how did that work out for you?

Also, I thought it was funny that while the hockey pundits,  self congratulatory bloggers and self described experts were all but handing the Canucks the Stanley Cup to them before they had even played a game in the series... The chatter became even louder after the Bruins went down two games to zero in the series these same people said the series is was all but over. Moving forward, I wonder how these experts feel today after once anointing the Vancouver Canucks the Champions and scheduling their victory parade... Instead the city of Vancouver is cleaning up after the riots and Roberto Luongo is consulting with a sports psychologist.