Sedin sister, 'We're going to win Game 7'

If I was one of the Boston Bruins captains, I would put this quote on the black board in the locker room, who does Daniel think he is; Mark Messier? While I have enjoyed the Stanley Cup playoffs I have become board with the Canucks antics and frankly I am tired of watching them after 7 games. I just hope the Bruins win their first cup since 1972.

The Vancouver Sun --- His team has managed to score just eight goals in six games, but Daniel Sedin has no doubts about the biggest game of his life on Wednesday night.

"We're going to win Game 7," Daniel said emphatically after the Canucks dropped a 5-2 decision to the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final on Monday night.

To do that, he and the rest of the Canucks are going to have to solve Boston goalie Tim Thomas.

Daniel said there is a simple explanation why the Canucks, who scored more goals than any other team this past season, haven't been able to put the puck in the net in the final.

"It's pretty easy because Tim Thomas has been outstanding," Daniel said. "Still, we're 3-3 and we won all three games at home and we have the fourth game at home. So we have the seventh game at home and we'll take that. We are confident."

Related articles

• Daniel Sedin: 'We're going to win Game 7' (canada.com)
• Luongo key to Canucks’ success, or failure, in Game 7 (theglobeandmail.com)
• Daniel Sedin guarantees victory as anxious Vancouver awaits Game 7 (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Bruins Chase Luongo In 1st, Force Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• You: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals Video: Henrik Sedin's Amazing Backhand Goal (bleacherreport.com)

No suspension for Johnny Boychuk for his hit on Mason Raymond

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeFirst off; Vancouver Canucks forward Mason Raymond it out for 3-4 months after suffering a compression fracture on his vertebrae as the result of a Johnny Boychuk hit during the first period of last night's game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Second; I would like to wish Mason Raymond a speedy recovery and that he will be able to make a return to play hockey next fall.

James Mirtle; Globe and Mail --- The Vancouver Canucks are down another body, but their opponents in the Stanley Cup final won't be for Wednesday's Game 7.

The NHL's acting disciplinarian, Mike Murphy, confirmed Tuesday that Boston Bruins defenceman Johnny Boychuk will not be suspended for his hit on Canucks winger Mason Raymond in the opening seconds of Monday's Game 6.

According to Canucks GM Mike Gillis, Raymond “sustained a vertebrae compression fracture” on the play and is expected to miss three to four months.

Murphy said via email that the league's hockey operations department reviewed the play but deemed it an "awkward collision" and not worthy of a suspension.

"[It was an] awkward collusion between two players battling for space/room," Murphy wrote. "[You] rarely see a player bumped when in the position Raymond was in (bent over forward)."

Asked about the review process, Murphy said the league reviews "all plays, especially when there is an injury."

There has been some discussion in another post on whether Boychuk should have been suspended for his hit on Mason Raymond. I just don't know? I am glad that I don't have to make that decision on whether a suspension is warranted or not.  I don't think it was a malicious hit with an intent to injure and it appeared to me that Boychuk was just riding Raymond off of the puck.

Related articles

• Mason Raymond will miss Game 7, could be out several months with fractured vertebra (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Canucks forward Mason Raymond out at least 3 months (ctv.ca)
• Bruins Vs. Canucks, Game 6: Mason Raymond Injury Follows Johnny Boychuk Hit Early In First Period (sbnation.com)
• Mason Raymond Injury Could Reportedly Sideline Canucks Forward Several Months (sbnation.com)

Johnny Boychuk Hit On Mason Raymond - Bruins force game 7

First off, I hope that former UMD Bulldog Mason Raymond is okay. Raymond was transported to the hospital after being on the recieving end of a rough, hard, Johnny Boychuk check.

The Boston Bruins have evened their series with the Vancouver Canucks, winning by a score of 5-2 victory tonight in Boston. The Boston Bruins outscored the Vancouver Canucks 17-3 in three games in the TD North Garden. On the flip side, the Canucks won all three games in Vancouver 1-0, 3-2 and 1-0... That being said, the Vancouver Canucks have only lead for 32.32 through 6 games during the Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins also scored two more power play goals tonight.

The Boston Bruins won tonight for just third time in 20 games when facing playoff elimination in a Game 6 while improving to 4-10 in finals elimination games. Ironically the Bruins have won two game sevens in this years Stanley Cup Playoffs. No team has ever won three game sevens in the same Stanley Cup playoffs... 

Related articles

• Bruins Vs. Canucks, Game 6: Mason Raymond Injury Follows Johnny Boychuk Hit Early In First Period (sbnation.com)
• VIDEO: Mason Raymond Injury Suffered On Awkward Hit In Canucks-Bruins Game 6 (sbnation.com)
• 2011 Stanley Cup Finals: Canucks Forward Mason Raymond Injured on Opening Shift (bleacherreport.com)

Chara taps Canucks Lappierre...

Here is the video of the Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara giving Maxim Lapierre a little tap with his stick and then Vancouver Canucks fraud forward Maxim Lapierre flailing around like he has been shot with a .45 caliber pistol. I mean come on… Seriously, if the Canucks are wondering why they aren’t/haven’t getting the calls from the on ice officials it’s actions like this, the refs don’t know when they are actually penalties and or have chose to over look these infractions because of the Canuck’s on ice antics. I think the Canucks have no one to blame but their selves.

Here is what the Bruins Blog from the Boston Globe has to say on the matter.

Chara gives Maxim Lapierre a tap with his stick. Lapierre doubles over like he needs immediate surgery and possible amputation. The men in stripes aren't fooled.

The Canuck who cried wolf --- a good illustration on the Canucks diving…

Here is a really good article about the Vancouver Canucks frauds Alex Burrows and Maxim Lapierre. I also think after watching Alex Burrows on a regular basis during the Stanley Cup playoffs; I would have to say to some extent that NHL referee Stephane Auger might have been vindicated. The sad thing is that frauds hockey players like Alex Burrows and Maxim Lapierre are turning the great game of hockey games into European soccer matches.

Eric Duhatschek Globe and Mail ---- Maybe the explanation for Alex Burrows’ histrionics and for Maxim Lapierre’s theatrics is as a simple as this: A fable that so many of us listened to and absorbed lessons from - The Boy Who Cried Wolf - wasn’t part of their school curriculum.

Or it slipped through the cracks of their learning in favour of other children’s stories. Because if they did know the story, they would have identified themselves as its co-protagonists during Friday night’s fifth game of the Stanley Cup final, a 1-0 victory for their Vancouver Canucks’ team.

Lapierre, who scored the game-winning goal, appeared mortally wounded earlier in the game, when Boston Bruins’ defenceman Zdeno Chara gently nudged the blade of his stick into Lapierre’s abdominal region. As Lapierre doubled over, Chara looked on in disgust and the refereeing pair of Stephen Walkom and Dan O’Rourke solemnly stared at both the offenders and resolutely called nothing.

Burrows had a much tougher time of it because he was legitimately being fouled all night - and couldn’t draw a call if his life depended on it. It was as if all the embellishments - in this series, past series, all year long, since he arrived in the NHL - had come home to roost.

Yes, this was open season on Alex and even if a referee would never acknowledge that such a thing can happen, a message was clearly being delivered. Cease and desist, or risk further erosion of the refereeing standard in what’s left of these 2011 playoffs.

Burrows may have even absorbed the lesson - or more probably, was under strict instructions to say nothing inflammatory about the refereeing post-game Friday, even if he had a strong case to argue. Burrows answered questions for wave after wave of reporters, and it was all a riff on the same basic theme: Referees have a difficult job. They can’t see everything. They can’t call everything. Burrows offered up an anecdote from his own past, noting that when he’d refereed youth soccer, with virtually no one watching, he felt pressure.

On Saturday, it was more of the same. Prior to their departure for Game 6 in Boston, amid a loud sendoff at Vancouver International Airport, Burrows was specifically asked if his tendency to embellish made it hard to get a call.

“It doesn't matter,” he answered. “My focus is on the game. That's all.”

While one might say that I have focused on the bad things that the Vancouver Canucks have done during the Stanley Cup Playoffs and maybe I glossed over the good things. Let me be clear, the Vancouver Canucks are a great hockey team but their on ice antics make them one of the most unlikable teams I have ever watched.

Bruins just need to win and forget about the Canucks' Arrogance…

Here is an interesting story about tonight’s pivotal game 6. I have been amazed at all of the whining the Vancouver Canucks have done, from their coach complaining about the officiating in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the plethora of crap that we have seen in the finals.

Ricky Doyle; NESN ----
The Stanley Cup Final generally features two teams that have seen very little of each other due to playing in separate conferences. Therefore, it inherently possesses little potential for a rivalry to commence. But the Bruins and Canucks have thrown conventional wisdom out the window this Cup Final, generating a rivalry from scratch in a matter of only five games.

Who's responsible? Well, both teams are guilty of trading blows, but there isn't any question the Canucks have been the antagonists this series -- and Roberto Luongo's comments regarding Tim Thomas are just the latest example.

After shutting out the Bruins in Game 5, Luongo insisted that the lone goal that Thomas gave up in that game would have been an easy save for him. That's fine. To make such a claim is a bit bold, but it probably holds a degree of truth. The two goaltenders use completely different styles, and therefore one goaltender is going to make certain saves that the other might not necessarily make.

But it was the comments that Luongo came back with on Saturday that are troubling and downright silly.

Despite no response from Thomas between Luongo's initial comments on Friday and him speaking to the media on Saturday, the Canucks goaltender again went out of his way to take a jab, insisting that he's "been pumping [Thomas'] tires" all series and that he hasn't heard his counterpart say one nice thing about him.

This begs the question: so what? Since when did the Stanley Cup Playoffs require sucking up to your opponent over the course of a seven-game series?

Not only is it not Thomas' job -- which he eventually said when addressing the media on Sunday -- but it's even less necessary when numerous players on the Canucks have conducted themselves with such classlessness that there existed a great deal of hatred between the two teams after just one game.

In fact, the Canucks' level of arrogance has quickly catapulted them to near-Montreal Canadiens level when it comes to pure disdain in the minds of Bruins fans

Time to put all of that crap behind them, there is no need to worry about the Canucks antics on or off the ice, the Boston Bruins just need to focus on playing Boston Bruins hockey. If anything, Roberto Luongo’s comments could be used as black board material to get the Bruins fired up for tonight’s game, if they needed to be fired up. Seriously, I think the Canucks are lucky to be leading this series after being out scored 16-6 in five games.

Big Sky: ‘UND, we have a problem’

Image via WikipediaI have been out of pocket for the weekend while I was getting gas in Cando, ND yesterday I found this predictable article on the front of the Grand Forks Herald. Personally, I would've guessed that this article and the letter from the Big Sky would have come earlier.... This is why I think the Fighting Sioux nickname will never make it past next year.

Grand Forks Herald --- Leaders of the Big Sky Conference told UND President Robert Kelley this week that continued use of the Fighting Sioux name and logo as mandated by a new state law has become a “concern” for them and could jeopardize UND’s joining the conference next year.

Furthermore, the ongoing controversy “has the possibility of destroying Division I athletics at the University of North Dakota.”

Writing earlier this week on behalf of the presidents of Big Sky member schools, league Commissioner Douglas Fullerton told Kelley that the presidents “are forced to consider the ramifications of continued use of the ‘Fighting Sioux’ name” and imagery.

“When the University of North Dakota was considered and accepted for membership (on Nov. 1, 2010), this issue was (considered) ‘settled,’ ” Fullerton wrote. “The institution had reached an agreement with the NCAA and the conference accepted that agreement.

“Obviously, today there is a new reality, and the question has to be asked: Could this lead to a time when league play and possibly league membership itself could be affected?”

In a telephone interview Friday, Fullerton said the presidents “were very intense” in discussing UND’s nickname issue with Kelley June 1 and 2 at the Big Sky Conference spring meetings in Park City, Utah.

If the NCAA maintains scheduled sanctions against the school and UND loses its “ability to be a viable NCAA institution, they don’t do us much good as a conference member,” he said.

In his letter, sent Tuesday and received at UND Wednesday, Fullerton also noted that all the other Big Sky schools have relationships with Native American tribes in their regions, “and the presidents feel strongly that if forced to choose, they would support the wishes of the Sioux tribes in this dispute.”

He underscored the point in the telephone interview.

“Our schools have great relationships with tribes in their respective regions,” he said. “There is no way we cannot support the positions of the Native American tribes.”

He was asked whether the continuing controversy could cause the presidents ultimately to reject UND as a Big Sky member.

“Very easily,” Fullerton said.

While I am one of the biggest fans of the Fighting Sioux nickname and I do not want to see the University change the Fighting Sioux nickname; however, I see no way how the University of North Dakota can keep the Fighting Sioux nickname past 2012, the university's of North Dakota's other athletic programs need to have a stable athletic conference they can call a home, if not it would be the same as being a death sentence.

Unless the State of North Dakota can go back and sue the NCAA in court, which is doubtful, I don't see how the NCAA is not going to change their minds on the Fighting Sioux nickname, the organization is run by like minded goody two shoes that have long since decided that if we want to play on their play ground we have to play by these hand wringing liberals' rules. 

Related articles

• APNewsBreak: NCAA says no go on Fighting Sioux law (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• N.C.A.A. Says No Go on Fighting Sioux Law (nytimes.com)
• NCAA to Punish North Dakota Over 'Fighting Sioux' Name (newser.com)
• NCAA: Despite state law, Fighting Sioux nickname will cost school (cbssports.com)
• NCAA to penalize North Dakota if it follows Fighting Sioux law (sports.espn.go.com)

Damien Cox: Loving these Canucks sure isn’t easy

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeI am “not always” a fan of Damien Cox he is a pretty good writer but I don’t agree with his opinions on many things, this article really nails it out of the park. I think Cox is spot on when describing the Vancouver Canucks and their on ice behavior.

Damien Cox; Toronto Star ---- understand why so many screw their faces at these Canucks like they just heard Sarah Palin make another historical funny, there are many points of reference to consider.

Bringing in Max Lapierre from Montreal (via Anaheim, of course) at the trade deadline just added a trash-talking player notorious for faking injuries and fouls. As one joke goes, when Lapierre left the Canadiens, it meant Alexandre Despatie was left as the No. 1 diver in Quebec.

This is a team of Bill Barbers, and the last thing it needed for its image was another one.

Kevin Bieksa has beat up two non-fighters in the post-season, Viktor Stalberg and Patrick Marleau, and both bouts lacked any sense of honour. The head shots by Raffi Torres and Aaron Rome that left opposing players concussed at the same time the sports world in general frets about brain injuries were reckless and unnecessary.

Alex Burrows lowered the bar with his chomp on the peaceful Patrice Bergeron in Game 1, made worse by the league’s decision not to do anything about it and Lapierre’s mocking of that decision in Game 2. Burrows got into a stick-fight with Boston goalie Tim Thomas in Game 4, a fight he started.

Every game, it seems, there’s another line crossed. In Game 4, Ryan Kesler got back to his old whine-at-the-refs mode, something he’d removed from his repertoire.

Pressure and push-back does funny things, huh?

Again, the Canucks probably don’t really care how they’re remembered. They just want to win, and history will take care of itself in the Land of the Hockey Conspiracy Theory.

But if they don’t, we’ll be left to wonder if what seemed to be an inability to draw within the lines was really a tip-off that the Canucks couldn’t walk a straight one when they needed to.

I have said many of the same things during the Stanley Cup playoffs about the Vancouver Canucks; the Canucks in my opinion are one of the most unlikable teams in the NHL history, they are a bunch of whiny punks. Seriously! I don’t understand how the Bruins can keep from pounding guys like Alex Burrows and Maxim Lapierre? This two buffoons lack any sense of class and sportsmanship and I believe that their coach is in a way culpable because he has condoned their on ice behavior.

The Boston Bruins against the World...

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThis article is also worth a look. I would imagine it’s not as accurate as the author claims, I know a lot of fans from the Western Conference hate the Vancouver Canucks, if you don’t believe me just ask Wild and Blackhawks fans, add to the fact that a lot of hockey fans hate the on ice antics of the Vancouver Canucks.

Jonah Keri; GQ ---- "WE WANT THE CUP!"

Of course you want the Cup. Everyone wants the Cup.

They want it in Buffalo, where snake-bitten fans have seen their dreams crushed for decades. They want it in Minneapolis and St. Paul, where two different franchises have struggled in vain to get close. They want it in Winnipeg, 15 years after the Jets left town, months before a new, nameless team takes the ice.

If any of those teams win Lord Stanley's grail, that would be fine with the hockey world. Those cities have seen enormous sports heartbreak, their spirits deflated as they trudge through January blizzards waiting for their shot at the big one. If a parade runs through Chippewa Street next summer, mazel tov. They'll deserve it.

But you, Bruins fans? No one wants you to have it.

Oh sure, there are plenty of perfectly good reasons to jump on the Bruins bandwagon. This is an anonymous, lunch pail-carrying team. Only one Bruin cracked 30 goals this season, and he's a gritty two-way player from Vancouver who goes by Looch. One of their best players is a 21-year NHL veteran, also from B.C., still going strong at 43. Boston's goalie was a 217th overall draft pick, toiled for years in the minors and in Europe, didn't become a starter until age 31, and six years later might be the best netminder on the planet.

This series should have reinforced pro-Bruins sentiment. Vancouver's Alex Burrows biting Patrice Bergeron's fingers was a punk move, one that would have been handled with a flurry of right hooks to the head if this were 30 years ago and the game hadn't turned away from fighting. Maxim Lapierre's Game 2 taunt, where he stuck his fingers in Bergeron's face and dared him to bite back, wasn't much better.

And there's The Hit. Five minutes into Game 3, Aaron Rome lined up Nathan Horton, watched him get rid of the puck, took three strides, dipped his shoulder, leapt for the head, and blew him up. However you felt about the hit, you had to feel for Horton, laid out on the ice, his teammates and 17,565 spectators looking on in horror, medics fumbling with a stretcher, trying to stabilize the big Ontarian before the frantic ride to Mass General.

The Bruins responded with eight goals in the final two periods. After the game, they placed The Jacket—an old Bruins warmup awarded to a player who made a special contribution to that night's victory—in Horton's locker. The last player to receive The Jacket was also Horton, after his game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. This was Win One for the Gipper stuff, the 1970 Willis Reed-inspired Knicks crossed with the '93 Islanders rallying after Dale Hunter cheapshotted Pierre Turgeon's shoulder into oblivion.

And you know what? We're still not rooting for you.

No one in Canada wants you to win, of course. Not when a Canadian team might bring the Cup back home for the first time in 18 years.

But U.S. hockey fans aren't behind you either. There's none of that (slightly weird) national pride here. Flyers fans hate Boston. Rangers fans hate Boston. Casual hockey fans in Boise or Mobile are, at best, indifferent about Boston.

You know what everyone really hates? When Boston fans complain about The Drought. The Bruins haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1972. Old-timers get weepy for Orr and Esposito and Bucyk, wish for one more Cup before they die.

Sure, Boston was once a suffering sports town. Injuries derailed Larry Bird's career, and Lenny Bias' tragic death sent the Celtics into mediocrity for nearly two decades. The mismanaged Red Sox ran out a series of bloated, overpaid veterans, only to see the rest of the division—Toronto, Baltimore, and the hated Yankees—stomp all over them. Curse or not, 86 years without a title would wound any sports fan. The Patriots? They just sucked. So yeah, those were tough times for Boston sports fans.

Now? You sound like the douchebag who bitches that, after the three-bedroom in Tribeca, the place in the Hamptons, the kids' boarding school, the annual trips to Paris and Aruba, the four cars, and two alimonies, you've barely got enough left for that third bottle of Dom at Per Se.

The vast, vast, vast majority of Bruins fans are also Sox fans, C's fans, and Pats fans. The Celtics won the city's most recent title, in 2008. If the Bruins win the Cup this year, the Boston pro sports team with the longest championship drought will be the Patriots, who won the Super Bowl in...2004.

Meanwhile, the Canucks have existed for 41 years and haven't won jack. Vancouver had an NBA team once. They were run into the ground by an incompetent stooge, then shipped off to Memphis.

We hope Nathan Horton makes a full recovery. We feel for the 12 Bruins fans who've shunned the city's other franchises and waited nearly 40 years for their shot.

Related articles

• The Vancouver Canucks Are In Trouble! (sports.gunaxin.com)
• Bruins Vs. Canucks, Game 5: Boston Has Momentum, But Vancouver Returns Home (sbnation.com)
• Bruins know they haven't won anything yet (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Stanley Cup Finals Game 5: Vancouver Canucks need Sedin twins to shine against Boston Bruins (fanatix.com)

Hockey losing its luster? Hardly!!!

Image via WikipediaThis is an interesting article that I totally disagree with. Hockey is and always will be a niche sport; some people are never going to like the sport of hockey, I get it. I don’t have a problem with the product on the ice what-so-ever. I think the problem is some higher ups in the NHL are trying to sell hockey to the regular public and I think that is doing the NHL a disservice. You're either a fan of the game of hockey or you're not.

Personally, I enjoy the scrums, the hockey code, the fights and other stuff (some people call it B.S.) that goes on in the game of hockey. The only things I would like to see changed is rule 48 and the NHL’s instigator rule. To also suggest that it’s just Canada’s game is also preposterous; there are many of us that like the game of hockey in the USA as well. Americans that like the game of hockey are just as worthy and deserving as our friends to the north.

That being said, I don’t have a problem with relocation of current failing NHL franchises to areas like Hamilton and Quebec City. The relocation of some NHL franchises to more NHL friendly areas seems like a no brainer to me as well. I don't think hockey is losing it's luster, NHL hockey is just correcting a few of the mistakes it's made in the past but is other wise an already a really great product.

Todd Babiak, Edmonton Journal ---- On Wednesday night, like Monday night, there was no sign in our neighbourhood the Stanley Cup finals were on.

Kids in bright jerseys tromped every free blade of grass and every dandelion to play soccer, laughing and whooping, in front of their parents and volunteer coaches.

A man sat inside the Strathcona Community League, listening to the game on the radio, but few of us bothered to ask the score.

Both nights, my wife and I hustled our daughters home to catch the second and third periods.

We arrived in time Monday to watch the nauseating replays of Aaron Rome's hit on Nathan Horton and the ensuing blowout and goonery.

On Wednesday night, we were treated to ankle slashes, fights and mini-fights, dirty play at the benches and maybe two minutes of what we actually wanted to watch: talented athletes amazing us with their skill and elegance and cleverness, accomplishing something extraordinary.

A lot of us are talking about Rome's late hit on Horton, as it's difficult to wipe away the image of a young man unknowingly clawing at the air in the midst of a severe concussion.

A lot of other people, lifelong hockey fans, are talking about how they made an unexpected and inexplicable decision not to bother watching the Stanley Cup playoffs, even with all this rare Canadian content.

They just didn't feel like it.

The sport is in trouble in the southern half of the U.S. So Winnipeg is a real hockey town again.

There are high hopes for Hamilton and Quebec City. The NHL's great experiment with brand extension that has its roots in Aug. 9, 1988, the day Wayne Gretzky announced he would now be playing for the Los Angeles Kings, is coming to an end.

The Vancouver Canucks are in the finals. Let's get used to it. It's our game again.

Brad Marchand racks up the penalty minutes.

I will give you the first call, it was a penalty as Brad Marchand pulled down Canucks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, it also appears like he helped a bit too. On the next moved that ended up being a penalty the whistle has already blown when Daniel Sedin came flying in on Marchand...So what was Marchand supposed to do just let Sedin blow him up. I say good for Marchand.

Breaking down the numbers from the Stanley Cup Finals.

Image by slidingsideways via FlickrHere are some of the numbers from the Stanley Cup Final so far after four games.

The Vancouver Canucks power play has gone an unimpressive 1-22 on the power play. The Boston Bruins have scored more short handed goals (2) than the Canucks have scored on the power play.

The Boston Bruins power play which was abysmal during the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs (5-66 scored on 7.5% of their pp opportunities); have gone 3/18 (16.6%) during the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Boston Bruins have out scored the Vancouver Canucks 14-5 in this series to date.

Power outage for the Canucks...

The Canucks top line of two Swedes and an American (Sedin X2) and Ryan Kessler have a grand total of four points between the three of them.

Vancouver Canucks center Henrick Sedin has no points (0g-0a-0pts) during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Vancouver Canucks left wing Daniel Sedin has only three points (1g-2a-3pts) during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Vancouver Cancusk right wing Ryan Kessler has only one point (0g-1a-1pts) during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Unsung Bruin Hero...

Former Saint Lawrence University forward Richard Peverley has been a welcome surprise after coming over to the Boston Bruins from the Atlanta Thrasher in the Blake Wheeler trade; (4g-7a-11pts) the last two games was (2g-1a-3pts).

Time to change Rule 48 now!!!

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWhen I heard about this change yesterday I was very excited, because I am afraid that someone is going to get killed on the ice if these hits are allowed to continue going forward. I think going forward; hits to the players head need to be taken out of NHL hockey. I believe that it’s time the Raffie Torres and Matt Cookes of the world change the way they play the game of hockey.

Before I get told that I am about taking hitting out of the game, I am not, I am all for playing hard nosed physical hockey. I also believe that you can play hard nosed hockey without head hunting. Also, I am all for two willing combatants dropping the gloves and settle things like men, they know the consequences for their actions. It’s also time for the NHL leadership to take these types of hits like the one on Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook out of the game of hockey. If the game of hockey doesn’t change you’re going to have a bunch of drooling ex-hockey players walking around.

BOSTON — National Hockey League general managers will never be accused of moving hastily on the topic of blows to the head, and the Aaron Rome-Nathan Horton incident in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final hasn’t set a stampede in motion, either.

But little by little, the GMs — who met Wednesday at a downtown Boston hotel — appear to be sidling toward an acknowledgment that most head hits need to be punishable, in some fashion.

The GMs have put forth a recommendation to expand Rule 48, which deals with illegal hits to the head, by removing the words “blindside” and perhaps “north-south” as well, and appear to want the rule to cover hits to the head of any vulnerable player, anywhere on the ice.

There can be no new rule until the competition committee, NHL Players Association and Board of Governors all sign off on it.

But as for clarity, not much of it emerged Wednesday

Kevin Bieksa is whining now…

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeVancouver Canucks Defenseman Kevin Bieksa was whining to the media yesterday about the big bad Bruins. After watching last night’s game it would appear that the Boston Bruins have gotten into the Vancouver Canucks head’s.

That’s not the only whining coming out of the Vancouver Canucks locker room… I suppose you can mark it down as a “oh no he didn’t” moment or foot in mouth disease. Apparently the Vancouver Canucks hockey team aren’t very happy with Versus hockey analyst and former Boston Bruins player/head coach Mike Milbury; during the second intermission of last night’s game; Mike Milbury referred to the Sedins twins as "Thelma and Louise." I say if the ballet shoe fits, wear it!!! In all seriousness during the Stanley Cup Finals the Sedin twins have been invisible on the score sheet; however, the Sedin twins have been notorious for their constant and blatant diving, whenever they are tapped by the Boston Bruins player.

Douglas Flynn; NESN --- NHL vice president Mike Murphy announced on Tuesday that "the garbage that is going on" had been addressed and further displays, such as players shoving their fingers in an opponent's face, will draw penalties.

While the Bruins appear to have taken Murphy's warning to heart about the excessive extracurricular activity in the series, the Canucks refuse to take any responsibility for the ugliness seen so far. According to Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa, they're just innocent victims being bullied by the big, bad Bruins.

"This group in here, we're fine with that," Bieksa said of the league's crackdown after Wednesday's morning skate before Game 4. "We know to stay away from it. Last game, yeah we were holding our ground, but I don't think you saw any scrums in front of our net. They were always in front of their net, their guys pushing and shoving after the whistle and flexing their muscles and proving how big and bad they are, but during the whistles we're the top-hitting team in the league so we're going to punish them during the whistles and we'll let them do that stuff after. The finger pointing and all that stuff, it's getting a little old really quick. When you're the sixth guy to do it, I don't think it's that funny anymore. We'll see if there's any more of that [in Game 4]."

So by Bieksa's logic, teammate Maxim Lapierre's initial taunt of Patrice Bergeron in Game 2 after Alex Burrows was not suspended for biting Bergeron in Game 1 was just fine. But Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic doing the same to Lapierre and Burrows, respectively, in Game 3 wasn't "funny anymore."

On that, at least, Bruins coach Claude Julien would agree. He was upset to see his players stoop to the Canucks' level and happy to hear that the league was cracking down on such antics going into Game 4.

"It's unfortunate," Julien said. "I was one of those guys that voiced my opinion that I wouldn't accept it. I certainly didn't share that with my team. Consequently, we were responsible for a couple of those. Obviously it was clear after the game what I expected from our guys. I'm certainly not a guy that encourages that kind of stuff

Tim Thomas goes Hextall on Alex Burrows...

Former NHL goalie Ron Hextall would be proud of  Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas... Before Canucks fans start howling how Tim Thomas is a goon and should be suspended for the next game, go back and watch the film, Vancouver Canucks hack forward Alex Burrows chopped the goal stick out of Tim Thomas' hand so he responded appropriately.

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• Video: Brad Marchand goes wild on Vancouver; Alex Burrows and Tim Thomas tussle (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Tim Thomas the aggressor? Vancouver hopes officials will let them stand their ground (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Much like Tim Thomas before him, Roberto Luongo will stay the course despite defeat (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)

Boston Bruins even the series

I thought it was funny when I saw Canucks fans saying that the Vancouver Canucks were going to beat the Bruins four games to nothing before the series had even moved to Boston. This Boston Bruins team has faced a lot of adversity this season and has proved they are not just going to roll over and let the Canucks beat them. For the people that think that the Bruins can't win this series they are delirious. Now the series is a best two out of three games.

The Boston Bruins proved to be a tough, miserable team to play against, the Bruins were mean and nasty as they out muscled the Canucks and beat them to ever puck, up and down the ice. The Bruins finished the last two game at the TD North Garden by putting a beat down on the Vancouver Canucks out scoring the Diving Vancouver Canucks 12-1 in two games. Roberto Luongo has been absolutely brutal during the last two games in Boston.

Five things to think about...

1.) What will the Canucks fans whine about tomorrow?
2.) Where was this Bruins team the first two games?
3.) Thomas > Luongo...
4.) The Canucks are a bunch of diving frauds.
5.) Who starts in net for the Canucks?

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Henrik Sedin; suspension was too harsh; Sedin the latest to get it wrong...

Listening to Sedin sister Henrik you would think that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome is the victim in this situation. Maybe Henrik should grab some perspective and look at this situation from a different perspective/angle. Imagine if one of the big, bad, mean, Boston Bruins; say a defenseman with the name Johnny Boychuk had smoked your brother Daniel Sedin at the blue line and he was lying on the ice knocked out, his season ended prematurely from an unnecessary and illegal hit and then carried off the ice on a stretcher; then would you still think that the suspension was too harsh? I highly doubt it, you would probably applaud it.

Question for the Canucks fans

I ask the many Vancouver Canucks fans that have visited my blog in the last week, would the suspension be too harsh if it was a skilled Vancouver Canucks player that had been knocked out for the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals by a 6th defenseman? Do we really think that hit should go unpunished and why isn’t a four game suspension warranted? If your still not seeing the point, think of the trade off, your team’s 6^th ranked defenseman that has one point in 14 games (1g-0a-1pts) has taken out a player Nathan Horton (8g-9a-17pts) ... I think a four game suspension is about right.

Canucks fume at ruling

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeAgain more whining from the Vancouver Canucks about the Aaron Rome suspension. I say again; imagine if the shoe was on the other foot and Boston Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton had smoked Ryan Kessler, Alex Burrows or one of the Sedin sisters twins at the blue line with a questionable check? Would they not expect the same kind of a ruling from the NHL?

Matthew Sekere; Globe and Mail ---- The Vancouver Canucks were furious with the four-game suspension handed down by the NHL to defenceman Aaron Rome Tuesday.

One day after head coach Alain Vigneault and captain Henrik Sedin admitted Rome's hit on Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton was late, the Canucks were singing a different tune, more defiant in their characterization of the hit, and outraged at the league.

And there’s good reason for that. Several of them, in fact.

For starters was Mike Murphy’s admission that he consulted with Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, a former NHL disciplinarian, before arriving at his decision. The mere mention of Burke’s name elicits anger from the Canucks, because his relationship with team owner Francesco Aquilini is toxic.

There were other reasons: Rome’s despondency at missing the rest of the Stanley Cup final; the stiffest suspension ever administered in the final; and the lack of disciplinary consistency and perceived injustices from earlier this postseason.

If it had stopped at that, there would have been plenty of bad tidings to go around. That Burke was dragged into it only fanned the flames.

General manager Mike Gillis would not comment when asked directly about Burke’s involvement, saying only that “we’re disappointed but we’re moving on.” Reached via text message, Aquilini said he would be making no comment until after the playoffs.

“I'm talking about Brian Burke. I don't like to mention people who I deal with,” Murphy said in a press conference. “He was one gentleman who I did speak with. There's a lot of other people I spoke with, too, not just Brian.”

Canucks: 'We thought it was a clean hit'

Image via WikipediaBut of course they see nothing wrong with the hit that sent Nathan Horton to the hospital and ended his season. What a buffoon... I wounder if the tables had been turned; say that one of the Sedin sisters twins had been injured with a illegal hit like Horton was; I can't imagine the whining we would hear from the Vancouver Cancucks fan base, but also from the Canucks front office and their coaching staff.

While there is no winners in this incident, the Canucks got the better end of this deal, the Canucks lose a mediocre defenseman from their third defense paring while the Bruins lose one of their best forwards from the top line it's hardly a fair trade off in my opinion, I believe the four game suspension is about right. 

BOSTON -- The Vancouver Canucks disagree with the NHL's decision to suspend Aaron Rome for the rest of the Stanley Cup Final for his tardy hit on Nathan Horton that left the Boston winger with a concussion.

"It was a little bit late, but anybody that's played this game knows that you have to make a decision in a fraction of a second," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's engaged in the hit. I don't know how the League could come up with that decision really."

NHL Senior V.P. of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy made the call to suspend Rome for four games after talking to the Canucks defenseman Tuesday morning. Rome, who was issued a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct 5:07 into the first period of Game 3, is done for the Stanley Cup Final, and if the series ends early his suspension will carry over into the 2011-12 season.

Related articles

• Aaron Rome Suspended Four Games, Will Miss Remainder Of Stanley Cup Finals (sbnation.com)
• Stanley Cup Finals: What to Expect from the Vancouver Canucks in Game 4 (bleacherreport.com)
• Nathan Horton Injury Will Keep Him Out For Rest Of Stanley Cup Finals (sbnation.com)
• Bruins' Horton out of Stanley Cup final with severe concussion (thestar.com)

Vancouver’s Aaron Rome has been suspended for four games

This is the right decision by the NHL, what troubles me is that I have seen Canucks fans defending the hit.

BOSTON— Bruins forward Nathan Horton will miss the rest of the Stanley Cup finals with a severe concussion after he absorbed a blindside hit from Canucks defenceman Aaron Rome during Game 3 on Monday night.

Horton had just passed the puck when Rome came at him, lowered his shoulder and flattened him – the kind of hit the NHL has tried to eliminate after several players sustained severe concussions. The 26-year-old Horton left Boston’s 8-1 victory on a stretcher and was taken to a hospital.

The NHL is scheduled to hold a disciplinary hearing with Rome at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Horton has eight goals and nine assists this postseason for Boston, which trails 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night. The Bruins updated Horton’s condition in a release Tuesday morning.

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