This series against Chicago was like a horror movie. They were Jason. (The hockey-masked killer of Friday the 13th infamy if you have never had the displeasure of watching one of those movies.)

Unbelievable.

I am soooooooooo glad to have made it past our arch-nemesis to move on to the second round. It would have been soooooooooo wrong to have lost to Chicago again for the third year in a row.

Thank you Burrows. You are now etched in the cultural memory of this city for a long time. Burrows was a fitting OT scorer. He would have had nightmares all summer if we had lost after he hit the post in game 6 and didn’t do his patented backhand move on the penalty shot in game 7. There is also his back-story that makes him a fitting hero for the city.

And as for the talk about which was bigger, the Olympic gold last year or this win; it isn’t even close. The Canucks beating Chicago in game 7 stomps on the head of the Olympics. The Olympic gold was nice seeing as it was here, but the 2002 win was way bigger and more important because it was the first in eons and because Canada didn’t win with the pros playing in 1998. 40 years of Canucks emotion was released after this win. Who knows how many suicides there would have been last night if the Canucks had lost. I know I wouldn’t have gone that far, but could you imagine how much life would suck today if the Canucks had lost.

Canucks, we forgive you if you lose game 1 against Nashville, but after that lets kick some Predator butt. Oh yeah!

The first thing we need is for Edler and/or Bieksa to land a big hit on Kane and/or Toews and then we need Demitra and/or Samuelsson to blow a shot by Niemi and we will be on our way to winning the series in 6 games. Let’s just hope the refs don’t screw us. Or that our usual Canuckness takes over and we find a way to lose. Luongo is no Cloutier, that’s just not going to happen, it just smells different this year.

Anyway, Henrik Sedin winning the Art Ross trophy is awesome. The first Canuck in our 40 year history to have the most points in a season. His 112 points also broke Bure’s franchise record of 110 points in a season. Henrik probably won’t get the Hart trophy which goes to the league MVP, but that’s okay, that is very subjective and he is at the mercy of the eastern media who don’t see many Canuck games. He has the trophy for the scoring title and nobody can debate that even if Ovechkin did play 10 fewer games. It will be interesting to see if Henrik wins the Pearson award which is given to the best player according to the players.

I was at the game against the Flames on Saturday. Thank you Flames for playing pond hockey, but that was possibly the best Canucks game I have ever seen live. It was capped off by this beauty of a goal by Daniel Sedin.

Roger Neilson and the Canucks waving the white towel in Chicago in mock surrender.

All is going according to plan. Anaheim has ousted Thornton and the Sharks in 6 games whilst Chicago did likewise to Bertuzzi and the Flames. I hope Anaheim and Detroit play a dog-fight of a 7 game series, but whomever wins will be a very strong adversary for the Canucks given that they beat Chicago. May Lidstrom and Niedermayer collide and give each other concussions. The Canucks should beat Chicago in 5 games if the last couple times they played in the regular season is anything to go on, but of course it isn’t and Chicago has found their game again thanks to a somewhat lacklustre Flames team. Canucks in 6, Luongo isn’t going to lose to Khabibulin.

The last time the Canucks played the Blackhawks in the playoffs was 1982. Actually, I seem to recall Chelios dismantling the Canucks whilst still a Blackhawk in 1995. Anyway, 1982 is infamous not just because it propelled us to the Stanley Cup Finals but it started the Towel Power tradition when Roger Neilson, disgusted with the officiating at a game in Chicago, put a towel on the end of a hockey stick and started waving it around in mock surrender. The rest, as they say, is history.

With any luck, Canuck history will continue on Thursday when we will finally be able to watch another playoff game we truly care about.

The Stanley Cup Champion Vancouver Millionaires - 1915

It has been a long, long time since a team in Vancouver has hoisted the Stanley Cup. Of course my bias is to always predict that the Canucks will win the Cup, but this time, the first in how many years, since 2003, or maybe 1995 or maybe never, the Canucks are a legitimate contender and predicting them to win is not just an unrealistic pipe dream.

There is an awful lot of hockey to be played between now and June when the Cup is hoisted, but with Luongo in goal, a healthy, committed defense and two, possibly even three lines that can score, the potential is there in a big way for us long-suffering Canucks fans.

Here is how I see it breaking down:

Western Conference Round 1
1.San Jose loses to 8.Anaheim
2.Detroit beats 7.Columbus
3.Vancouver beats 6.St Louis
4.Chicago beats 5.Calgary

Eastern Conference Round 1
1.Boston beats 8.Montreal
2.Washington beats 7.New York
3.New Jersey loses to 6.Carolina
4.Pittsburgh beats 5.Philadelphia

Western Conference Round 2
2.Detroit loses to 8.Anaheim
3.Vancouver beats 4.Chicago

Eastern Conference Round 2
1.Boston beats 6.Carolina
2.Washington beats 4.Pittsburgh

Western Conference Final
3.Vancouver beats 8.Anaheim

Eastern Conference Final
1.Boston loses to 2.Washington

Stanley Cup
Washington loses to Vancouver in 6 games.

NHL Western Conference Standings for 2008-2009

Congrats to our NuckleHeads for winning the NW Division. I was very leary about starting Luongo in this game, but thankfully he and everybody else seemed to come away unscathed. And it seems that it required a shutout performance from Luongo to win this game. Luongo and the boys have now gone 7+ periods without allowing a goal, I think they are playoff ready. Bring it on!

However, before we start celebrating too much, it must be pointed out that we may end up playing Anaheim in the first round if they get the 6th seed and if there is any team in the league that we don’t want to play right now it is definitely the Ducks of Anaheim.

UPDATE: Phoenix beat Anaheim in a shootout 5-4 so we will be playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. Phew. Not that we are guaranteed to win against them, but the Ducks have been very hot lately and they play a very tough and dirty game with a lot of offensive skill.

UPDATE REDUX: I don’t know about you but I did not see the Blues getting the 6th seed and playing us in the first round. But when Columbus lost their last game and the Ducks lost their final game in overtime it left the door open for St Louis to jump up two spots with a victory over the Avs in their final game. I am glad we don’t have to play the nasty Ducks in the first round (them and SJ should put on a good show) but we haven’t faired all that well over the past few years against the Blues, including a 2-2 record this past year. However, I would be very suprised if we lost this series if Luongo is on form and the D plays solidly, we should win in 5 games, 6 if they get really lucky. Bring on the playoffs!

Two NHL gripes though. Why the Avs felt the need to play boring, tight, defensive hockey when they have nothing but the fun of the game to play for I don’t know. Loosen up man, entertain your fans. And Gary, enough of the matinée games, hockey is meant to be played on Saturday night not Saturday afternoon, stop pandering to people who don’t care about hockey and appease those who do care.