Delusion-Elle

Tonight is the last night that the Chicago Blackhawks can be touted as the current Stanley Cup champs. Tomorrow night all eyes in the hockey world will be on the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. And it's going to be bloody exciting.

I don't usually blog so extensively about hockey, but I'm high on cold meds (again), and this is probably my last chance for the season. I am, in no way, an expert on hockey. My guy friends are. I am not, so everything said here should be taken with a grain of salt. Oh, and I'm only semi-lucid right now so who knows what exactly I'm going to be saying.

The Canucks-Bruins match-up is an interesting one. One, a relatively young franchise, though still Cup-less, and the other a part of the Original Six, having produced many great hockey players, though pushing 39 years of being without the Stanley Cup.

As someone living in Vancouver, I've gotten a very interesting perspective throughout these playoffs. Firstly, my #1 team, Detroit, was eliminated in the second round, so I was able to take a step back and observe things from a slightly less heady point of view. Don't get me wrong, I most certainly do follow the Canucks. It's just that my first love is for the Red Wings. Canucks and Habs are probably next. Firstly, the Canucks bandwagon has exploded, and this is an issue that I am torn about. On the one hand, I love to see people (seemingly) passionate about the sport. I've grown up watching hockey, it's always been a constant in my life (minus the lockout year), and I am excited to see people embracing hockey. I mean, as fans, everyone's got to start somewhere, and the Canucks' fated playoffs run has brought this city together. On the other hand, I cringe at people new to the sport commentating as though they know the sport inside and out. I've also witnessed newly proclaimed Canucks fans call other new fans "bandwagoners". To me, this is ridiculous. Unless you've been with this team through the ups and down, through the West Coast Express years, through Linden's retirement, and the Bertuzzi-Moore incident, are you really truly a fan?

I certainly understand "jumping onto the bandwagon". It's just that I want to know whether you are going to jump right back off, or if you are delusional and therefore uneducated about the sport, or if you really do want to get into hockey. The fact that there are so many uneducated -- and I am using this term loosely -- "fans" irks me to no end. Again, I understand wanting to be a part of this great excitement and trying to get into this sport, but you have to do your homework. I'm going to liken it to becoming a fan of a certain band or artist: if you're a fan, you know the band inside and out -- you know the names of the members and you've gone through the trouble of looking them up because you are hungry for information about them, because you want to be able to converse with other intelligent fans, such as yourself. It's exactly the same with any sports organization.

Bandwagoning aside, it's been highlighted how "unclassy" the Boston fans are. My response to that is: look in the mirror. First of all, hockey is not a classy sport. Sure, you do have classy players -- Lidstrom comes to mind -- and you can have classy coaches and classy fans, but at the end of the day, hockey is a contact sport. It is physical and people who are fans, especially in areas where hockey is not the biggest market, are insanely passionate about their teams. On both sides the antics have been downright horrid at times. Of course, diehard fans will defend their teams' fans, but again, as someone who is not a "diehard" Canucks or Bruins fan, I see the classlessness and "dirtiness" of both sides. If you look and don't turn a blind eye, I assure you that it is indeed there.

What with all of the injuries sidelining players, I figure that I'd may as well comment on those as well. Yes, this does tie in directly with the fans' behaviour, but I want to look at all of the finger-pointing Canucks nation has been doing. The Bruins are an Original Six team. I feel like this is something we should remember sometimes. It means that their fans, their diehard fans, are absolutely nuts about their team, and for good reason with that rich history, and of course Bobby Orr. We mustn't forget about that man. That all aside, it seems to be a general consensus that both sides wish the best for all of the injured players. The Rome hit was an open ice, to-the-head hit. Rome left the ice. Horton was down and out. I hate to blame the victim, but yes, he probably should've had his head up. That being said, Horton was one of their star players in these playoffs. Boston definitely came out of this incident the losers. Hamhuis is out, for something undisclosed, and now we come to the Boychuk hit on Mason Raymond. From what I saw, the hit, albeit late, really did not look very bad. Yes, the positioning was definitely awkward, but as far as I know, it wasn't a hit to the head, and really, it was all just very bad luck and unfortunate. It's horrible that MayRay will be out for 3-4 months because of this, but it was bad timing and bad positioning. It was hard to tell what exactly had gone wrong.

When the fans were chanting and jeering just after the hit on Raymond, I know that Canucks fans were truly incensed. "Flopper", the Boston crowd called. From what I've read off of various hockey blogs by writers in love with teams all around the league, I have to say that the Canucks are seen as a team of divers and floppers. It's not me saying it, it's what everyone else is saying. I personally believe that the Canucks team this year is extremely talented; they're the right combination at the right time, and I honestly think that this group has what it takes to end the 40-year long drought. Back to the Boston fans jeering, a part of me felt that this was in bad taste (though I have to go back to what I said about hockey not being classy), but after reading a piece by a Boston fan, I can understand what went through their minds. The hit, like I said, really did not look all that dangerous. Awkward, yes. But there was no way to know just how serious the injury was. Heck, no one knew just how bad until the word came back from the medical staff at the hospital. And given all of this, I do see where the NHL is coming from with the calls they made. I don't necessarily agree with them -- I mean, Horton is up and walking around and I really don't want to bring up the Chara-Pacioretty hit -- but I see the logic behind it, as flawed and inconsistent as it may be. But then, Canucks fans, do you really want to dig into the Burrows biting incident?

At the ends of the ice, we of course have two stellar goalies. I'm not going to deny the success that Luongo's had this season and his acquisition of a gold medal at the Olympics. Those are all facts -- the numbers and the medal. But his performance in the Finals have left much to be desired. What bothers me about Luongo is the fact that he often pins the blame on someone else -- what was it, Game 4 or so when he blamed Salo for a goal he himself let in because according to Luongo, "when the puck hit Salo, it dropped 3 feet" -- and he tends to run at the mouth when it comes to the media. Okay, so he commented on Tim Thomas letting in a goal that he, Luongo, would've have been able to save because he, Luongo, doesn't play with Thomas' aggressive style. I don't want to look into that and yell "arrogant!", but it's hard to take his statement seriously when he's let in so many goals at TD Garden and has been pulled twice now in this series. If playing in the paint would've made that save for Thomas, how's that tactic holding up for you, Luongo? Beyond that one statement on Thomas' playing style, Luongo has also stated that he is unhappy about the lack of complimenting Thomas has done on his, Luongo's, playing. The fact that Luongo has praised Thomas is not something that I am going to say is either good or bad. Luongo chose to say that, and whether he was just baiting Thomas or he truly felt inclined to compliment his opponent is not something I know. But to expect Tim "Sassy" Thomas to "pump his tires" in turn is just... it's funny. Whenever Luongo has a bad game and Thomas is asked to comment, he merely declines to answer. Tim Thomas remains neutral. He won't say bad things about Luongo, but he won't go out of his way to say good things. And really, he shouldn't be expected to praise his opponent. Thomas has already said that as a goaltender himself, he respects all of the goalies he's come up against because he knows what it's like, he understands the pressure.

I myself am a Tim Thomas fan. I find it hard to dislike the guy. He's 37 years old, and he's worked his butt off to make it where he is. As quoted by a writer for ESPN:

Tim Thomas is 37, a 217th overall draft pick who toiled for years in the minors and in Europe, who had to fight and scratch and claw for a chance at a starting job, which he did not earn until he was 31. His livelihood was in question as early as this past season, when he underwent hip surgery that threatened to derail his future.

A part of me definitely feels like this man deserves a Cup. But at the same time, this Canucks team has done incredibly. Despite having Luongo in net. One comment I heard on Team 1040 radio last night (as my dad turned it on just before sleeping) was this:

For getting $10 million a year, this shows us that Luongo can't play in every arena. Back when Patrick Roy was having that spectacular year, did he have arenas that he couldn't play in?

Indeed this is something to think about. $10 million a year. And what did he spend 50 minutes doing last game? He sat on the bench.

Beyond Luongo, I actually do love Schneider. He's played very solidly when he's been called upon, and I hate to see him go, as will most probably happen. He's too good to just be Luongo's backup. He's also been blogging during the Playoffs and he seems like a funny and intelligent man.

And yes, maybe it does seem like I'm defending the Bruins more in this post, but believe me, I most definitely feel like they are the underdogs in this series. The Canucks have a great chemistry this season, and when they play well, they play really well, despite the refereeing and injuries. However, Boston is a team that just lost one of their star players, and from seeing them play against the Habs, they are a team that perseveres. Sure, they choked last year, but with Tim Thomas at the helm, they've managed to get to Game 7 of the Finals.

One game. One goal. One Cup. All it takes is one. But will we end up being the ones left in the Cup drought again?

One thing is for sure: whoever gets the Cup tomorrow night will have deserved it.