Game Seven Liveblog

8:37 - Less then 30 minutes from the game. Will we get a matchup with the Ducks later in the week or just be furious and be relegated to viewing the Red Wings obliterate the Stars? Jes is on to something with his letter perhaps.

If you're a Vancouver fan and not drinking, permit me to suggest now is quite possibly the ideal time to even try a wine spritzer.

Lastly, a win tonight gets those good people at the North Texas Food Bank more money. Do the Stars hate starving people? I sure hope not.

8:58 - I am a bit concerned Versus is showing IFC and has it slated to go until 9:30. I tell you this: if Versus fucks up a game seven, they don't deserve their NHL contract. Seriously. If this was the NFL playoffs, someone would be murdered. Guaranteed.

9:00 - All good now. Sorry about jumping the gun there.

9:03 - Zubov is out I understand. That's one thing going in Vancouver's favor. He's been great this series, especially on the power play.

9:05 - Well, a final kick in the ass to yours truly. Strader and Beezer will talk to me tonight. The anger level jumped up just seeing little Beezer.

9:11 - Wow, 26 seconds and they take a penalty? WOW. Kick ass guys. And I drink...

9:13 - I am happy they went with the vintage jerseys tonight.

9:15 - Good kill, Luongo chops Lindros and Bulis bursts down the ice for a shot. It's amazing, without goals, what makes me happy.

9:18 - The power play aside, each team looks nervous or cautious. The Canucks D needs to stop messing up the clearing passes too. How's everyone's beverages tonight? Good I trust.

9:20 - Strader is wondering out loud if the Canucks wore the vintage jersey because they were 10-5 with them in the post season. Why...WHY is this considered decent coverage?

9:23 - And Beezer gives his first official love soliloquy to Turco. Only took 6 minutes or so. Not bad. Only Beezer could follow up some sustained Canuck pressure with a compliment to the Stars offense! Update: Mike Modano is the most amazing thing to Beezer since Turco. Young budding love is so adorable isn't it?

9:30 - Admidst the Turco love in, Strader had to interrupt Beezer to inform him Lindros just plastered Josh Green. Don't let the game interrupt your bullshit ideas Beezer.

9:33 - The Sedins force a penalty. Nicely done.

9:35 - Cowan getting PP time? No wonder we are now 1 for 29. Christ...

9:40 - Joel Lundquist just schooled both Beeska and Luongo. 1-0 Dallas. I think I just tore a vocal chord cursing.

9:43 - Burrows trips up Lindros and the Stars could absolutely kill us now.

9:45 - I have come full circle. I am having a tough time watching the game and simply trying to filter out Beezer. I guess a 1-0 Dallas lead is all the evidence he needs to say the Stars "can do anything they want right now" and "Dallas owned that period". To speak nothing of his frequent "Luongo can't score goals" pithy insight. You're a fucking embarrassment man.

OK, I will leave the rest of this blog Beezer free. If you don't know he sucks yet, simply ask me to elaborate later on. As for the game, Dallas controlled a bit more then Vancouver but it was hardly lights out for them either. Vancouver got some big hits in and had some decent pressure at times. Far better then game six already. Turco is working on 8+ scoreless periods now.

10:05 - There just seems to be a lack of energy on Vancouver's side starting the second. Good pressure but still nothing. Sedin almost beat Turco, but I guess almost doesn't count, huh?

10:08 - Henrik takes a hooking call...more of the same shit. Mindless penalties.

10:11 - Just when I was ready to be even more furious at the Canucks lack of pressure, they get some and force Morrow to take a interference call. Nice to see a call come our way. Morrow went to the dressing rooom, so Ott sits in the box. Fuck all of them I say.

10:14 - Barnes has a mental hookup and gets a questionable call. Whatever. A 5-on-3 for the worst PP in the postseason (too busy to back that up right now). I think they have 90 seconds on it too. I won't insult your intelligence to say how big this is...

10:16 - Sorry, its only 30 seconds on the five on three. Jumped the gun again. Wishful thinking...

10:22 - Nothing going on the powerplay still, but they are outshooting Dallas 10-1 this period. That's a start...

10:26 - The officiating is clearly starting to suck. I've counted at least two missed Dallas penalties in the past 4 minutes, so in that last scramble it's only fair they get called for something. The Vancouver pressure has to cash in.

10:29 - ...and cash in they did. Henrik Sedin was left alone in front of Turco...not sure who passed it, let's guess Daniel, but I don't give a shit. Fuck you Turco. Fuck you Dallas. 1-1 tie 'ballgame' (Beezer just called it that, so why can't i?)

10:33 - It may have taken all season, but Alex Burrows finally did something worthwhile: he pissed off Morrow enough to have the latter take a call and negate the man advantage. Huge Burrows, I don't hate you temporarily.

10:36 - Did I just watch two Canucks slam into each other on a 4-on-4 rush? It MUST be a game seven.

10:39 - Linden just missed the lower corner stick side. Damn. Mr Canuck getting the lead would be beautiful. Shit, a lead would be a beautiful.

10:42 - That second period was precisely what Vigneault and every fan wanted. The Canucks tie it, are forcing the game on a depleted Dallas D (yes, Zubov is that important, sorry Klemm) and they'l l start the third on the power play. 20 minutes...this is shaping up to be a classic.

10:59 - Third period pending...here we go.

11:01 - Power play is over and Modano had a great chance but missed it. Expect to see Modano, Lindros and Morrow leading the charge this period. That's an impressive line no doubt.

11:05 - Canucks head to their 7th man advantage. It would be poetic to get the go ahead goal on their shit power play skillz of this series.

11:08 - I've seriously lost count with our power play futility. We're one for a zillion.

11:12: The Sedins again draw a power play. Let's go for one for a zillion and one! No just kidding...let's just blow the roof off GM Place with a goal.

11:14 - Do you want a beautiful sight? A power play goal for Mr. Canuck. Wow. I can't even scream, it's just a view to behold. 2-1 Canucks with 13:00 left.

11:16 - Fuck you Nagy, it's called boarding. Call this shit.

11:21 - If anyone was curious what watching a game seven is like WITHOUT Dan Cloutier in net, Luongo just showed you. Absolutely robbing Stu Barnes. Sick. Less then ten minutes to go.

11:21 - Cowan takes another run at Lindros and gets a call. Can you blame him? Well, if the Canucks win, then no I can't. If they score though? I won't even entertain the thought...

11:26 - Wow, Luongo just grabbed someone. Shit, I've never seen him react. That's amazing, hopefully there's no call on that. I think it was Morrow.

11:27 - Another call against Dallas and Salo, who got drilled looks ok and is skating to the bench. We could absolutely ruin them now with a goal.

11:29 - Just kidding, you can't bury a team when your captain takes a hooking penalty. Time to calm down Lui, you'll be needed.

11:30 - The coaches are going to have their heads explode. Dallas takes another call now, so it's a 4 on 3 for a bit and then Vancouver will have a power play for about 15 seconds. The Sedins have answered the call tonight, good or bad outcome.

11:33 - Fuck this is getting hard to comment on. Good tries on both ends of the power play then Linden with a great chance on a lucky bounce and now one to two players will go off for something or other. The refs have been busy in the past 35 minutes.

11:36 - Linden goes for diving (??) and Lindros goes for being a general pain in the ass. 4 on 4 with 4 left. That's poetic.

11:37 - An open net for Modano becomes a cling of the post. Wow, this is going to be a crazy end...

11:41 - Turco to the bench. Here we go, can they hang on? 90 seconds left to the second round...

11:44 - What's up Brian Burke? We'll be seeing you shortly. 3-1 Canucks on a Pyatt empty netter. It's amazing this team did it.

11:44 - Er, they're not done. 4-1 Canucks on Smoke's empty netter.

11:47 - That's it everyone. Everyone counted them out and they still, despite a bad first, made something out of nothing. It made me proud to see crowd salute both goalies as they meet at center ice. Take nothing away from Dallas. Three shutouts? That's amazing. They played a hell of a series. With Zubov in there, I'm not sure we could have won tonight. But that's a game seven for ya.

Postgame - I will save the bulk of my comments for tomorrow. But just a reminder that Linden now leads all active player in game 7 points with 12. What more could you want from a guy who bleeds Canuck blue (or green or white or whatever)? And Luongo did his thing again. Every negative comment about the Sedins was answered. Naslund had a solid game too. They responded to Vigneault's comments. They came to play and, just like every game in this series (except six) the team that won used an aggressive forecheck to get the bounces to turn the tide.

The Ducks are next. For now, congrats Canuck fans! We live to see another day and it feels incredible.

Game Five Liveblog

9:22 - Just gearing up for a huge G5...I truly hope this team can keep its play strong for one more night and close Dallas down in front of the home crowd. It would be nice to see a slaughter of a match too, but who are we kidding. A 2-1 or 3-2 score is quite likely.

9:56 - How about two teams north of the border clinching tonight? Only seems fair just to keep everything squared away and all.

10:01 - Sweet, Center Ice is giving me the Dallas feed. It opens with a cheesy video giving you the impression Dallas has owned this series. But why confuse reality with what could make a silly intro package? So, I'll be a bit more pissed this evening. But the bar has been set really low; could Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaguh (yes, this guy) be worse then Strader and Beezer? The race is on.

10:04 - And Reaguh (known here henceforth as porn star; take a look at his picture for god sakes) starts the ball rolling by saying a game seven is within grasp and tonight the Stars get a boost with Eric Lindros returning. Yes, old cracked skull is playing his first playoff game since being a Flyer. Ponder that for a second, I need a drink...

10:11 - The Turco chants are priceless as the puck drops.

10:12 - Argh...Smoke damn near made the roof come off GM Place. Once great attempt and almost a rebound effort too.

10:14 - And the "Stars" take an offensive zone penalty. Nice one. And Hagman takes a cheap shot; the porn star sees no problem with this. Tisk tisk...

10:15 - STOP EVERYTHING...Modano had a shot. He's already having a better game 5 than game 5.

10:18 - The PP looks ok tonight, still ineffective...but decent pressure during the span of the advantage. Small steps, small victories.

10:19 - So old wonky skull crashes into Luongo. Hmmm...paybacks are typically a bitch buddy, you should know that better then anyone.

10:25 - Ho hum, another amazing Luongo save...

10:27 - Cowan, who the porn star just called useless, takes a stupid penalty.

10:28 - Burrows with a shorthanded breakaway; man talk about the worst guy for that. BOOOLIS would have been the guy there.

10:32 - Man, Turco just saved his own defensemen's mistakes behind the net. The porn star is busy kissing his ass right now, but for good reason...that was pretty clutch. The audience needs to start that chant again to get under Marty's skin, he looks good so far.

10:34 - Thanks Hagman, you douche. Trying to fuck with Luongo and you take your team's second offensive zone penalty. If we HAD a PP, you'd be wetting yourself right now.

10:37 - Ooof, Vancouver's PP is really fucking bad. I guess, when you have the best PK in the game already, you just can't have it all.

10:40 - I do think the Dallas broadcast guys may be contractually obligated to mention that the series isn't over every 3 minutes or so. I guess they assume Dallas fans are stupid or something; as if they can't understand that for themselves? Or just poor broadcasting skillz? You decide!

10:43 - Another goalmouth mess in front of Turco thanks to Nagy's incompetence. Vancouver has been the better offensive team this period, but no goals yet. Not sure if that's good or bad...naaa, it's good.

10:45 - And yet ANOTHER scoreless period. Not the end of the world; Vancouver looked good. A few more lucky bounces and Dallas can go home for the rest of the season. And no one will miss them at all. OK, the porn star may...then again, he's a porn star. I'm sure he can keep himself busy this summer.

11:05 - The "Stars" start with a little more urgency this period...like they know they have one full period left in their season or something! Opps, the porn star won't like that comment...

11:08 - The dreaded E-train hasn't played a post season game in 7 years. That's almost last decade. That means he last played when I was in college. That's obscene...he's broken AND old. Or maybe I am the old one? No, it's him. Fuck 'em.

11:09 - Hansen just turned his jets on in a rush into the Dallas zone before stopping and braking...c'mon buddy, keep going! Dallas returns and Luongo makes some great saves; the porn star, so you know, just said Modano gave Naslund the "paralyzer", whatever the fuck that is, and mentioned nothing about Luongo's good saves there. I'm shocked and awed!

11:12 - You just know this game can end with Turco doing just what he did: trying to play the puck and getting caught doing it. The Canucks are going to need to capitalize here since their forecheck is making the Dallas D cough it up often.

11:15 - It's a rare moment when you see Brendan Morrison line up someone for a massive check. Damn.

11:16 - Burrows, Burrows, Burrows...keep the blind drop passes for non-elimination games, ok? Or how about, let's never see that again. Just go piss people off, let others do the scoring.

11:23 - The last Luongo glove save? Strangis: "HOLY BUCKETS". Yup, holy indeed.

11:25 - Call me rash, but Vigneault may need to break up the Sedins and Naslund. Their effectiveness seems pretty limited tonight.

11:26 - Dallas goes back on the powerplay. The porn star's take? "This could be it". Simmer down there cowboy (damn it, I should have been calling him that all this time!), the game ain't over.

11:30 - Pretty great end to end rushes going on here. At one moment I'm standing and the other I'm cringing...honestly, I know some people have been bashing this series for being boring. I question whether they are watching every game in full. This period has been great from both ends as you can tell each team is pressing and trying to force mistakes.

11:32 - You know what's sad? The "stars" are outshooting the Canucks 12-3 this period so far...and yet I can't even tell. That means all Dallas shots are subpar for the most part while the Vancouver pressure and resulting shots have been great. Suck that porn star; work that in your commentary.

11:36 - And yet one more period ends scoreless. Dallas won on in the shots department, but nothing more. Both goalies look to be on their game yet again, so let's hope for another strong Canuck third period. I hate to even tease it but this definitely has the makings of a multiple OT game. (**slapping self in face**)

11:58 - OK, the Dallas powerplays can stop now...UNLESS own goals are really their thing. It's the third period. Let's end this before daybreak.

12:00 - Where did the Turco chants go? C'mon! Don't give up in a tight game, everyone needs to chip in here.

12:03 - Someone tell Daniel to stop passing. He lead this team in goals, his brother in assists. Let's keep that going.

12:06 - Strangis just said Modano is 'methodical'. Check the stats chief, he's methodical at not showing up and being a disappointment. Correct me if I'm wrong, but his captaincy was removed right? So...is he methodically bad? Methodically disappointing? Oh, I know! Methodically American. Yes. I like that for some odd reason. It's both good and bad. But not a compliment...I'm going to call someone that tomorrow (which, at the current, means in a few hours) and get punched in the face. All for the Canucks...the things I do for the art of hockey blogging.

12:11 - Memo to the Dallas mouths: equating this hockey series to a chess game won't help sell it to an action-starved American audience. That should be 101 of your job. Why not just come out and say this series is a battle of two sets of paint drying?

12:14 - That would be a third offensive zone Dallas penalty. I'd get excited if we had any sort of chance to set up the powerplay, much less get a shot...so whatever, it's just two minutes.

12:17 - Daniel has the series winner on his stick and opted for the forehand instead of the backhand. Turco stops it...and we'll keep going...

12:24 - Well, son of a bitch. Let's go to OT again shall we? Both teams have been pretty equal this entire game although I am impressed with both Turco's composure and the Vancouver pressure...both have been weak earlier in the series respectively but are much better tonight. Canucks own OT, both in the regular season and this series. Vegas would say bet Vancouver.

12:39 - The porn star just said the law of averages says the "Stars" should win. Oh really? Really Razor boy? I'll be listening for your words when the Canucks win this.

12:43 - Somehow boarding calls don't count in an OT. Sorry Cowan.

12:47 - Hahahaha....Canucks take a bench minor, but that was after the porn star thought Ribiero had a clean breakaway and, I shit you not, squealed like a girl. My dog moved for christ sakes.

12:49 - Fuck me. Morrow I guess wristed it from the blue line and Luongo stopped part of it but it flipped over him into the net. 1-0 Dallas. We need a game 6.

Post Game - You know, you can and you cannot complain with tonight. On the one hand, the Canucks played well throughout the course of the game which sure isn't their strong point. Their pressure was consistent and I thought they could have made this game 4-0 or 5-0 a few times, but Turco was there. Turco, more then game 2, was lights out tonight. Like we've seen all year with Luongo: when your netminder is on his game, it's going to be tough to beat that team. Morrow's goal wasn't special, it was exactly like Linden's in game 4. Enough to count. It is what it is.

So we move to a game 6 now in Dallas on Saturday night. Imagine much more of the same, but keep this in mind: the media, the Dallas rags and I'm sure the porn star will tell you that Dallas has all the momentum now. Just be silent, take a deep breath and remember we have the better goalie and we just won two in their house this past week. The onus is still on the "Stars" to beat this team twice more whereas the Canucks need to take advantage of mistakes like they have all series. In my mind, Viggy needs to break up the Sedins and Naslund, work significantly on the power play and, for the rest, just keep doing what they're doing.

Nothing is over yet.

Game Four Liveblog

7:40 - The hockey gods have been kind enough to remove Versus from my plate this evening so my anger should be a tad less. Just a tad though, let's not get nuts here.

7:55 - Good lord Atlanta...

8:05 - Hmmm, well I have no idea what music the "Stars" come out to, but it's rather loud. I like it actually; there, that's all the positives I have for them. And believe me, saying "good music" and "Texas" is not easy.

8:09 - Wait, I forget Pantera hails from Texas. See, another positive! If only Pantera could skate and score goals...Vinnie Paul would be a hell of a goalie.

8:12 - Oh my, did Beeska just skate into the Dallas zone untouched? Let's see that about 50 more times tonight.

8:14 - Ahhh, I love the CBC. "Dallas is dancing with defeat"...you'd have to drug Beezer to get that phrase out of his mouth.

8:15 - Josh Green is playing? Who's sitting? Santala?

8:17 - I know I missed the last game, but I'm enjoying this early pressure from Vancouver. Sure beats getting scored on in the first minute.

8:18 - Naslund just fucked up a clearing attempt and took a guy down behind the net. He sort of needed to take the penalty there because someone was sitting right in the slot.

8:20 - You know a hidden benefit of Luongo is that it's a tough name to chant. Three syllables? You get 18,000+ people to get that correct all at once. Suck it TUR-CO.

8:25 - Dallas goes back to the powerplay; after some good early pressure, the camera seems to be pointing left too much. Let's fix that in two minutes shall we?

8:27 - Man, Modano is going to slit his wrists with his own teeth if he can't get a point in these final games. He's certainly had his chances so far.

8:29 - Everything Sopel does scares the living shit out of me. Honestly, I see a line of "Sopel Scared Me Shitless" t-shirts coming to a local store near you. I'll work on a logo though or else the shirt just doesn't work.

8:32 - BOOOLIS draws a penalty. This guy just makes me keeping liking him more and more. What bad regular season? I have no idea what you speak of...

8:34 - Fuck you Hagman; buy Luongo flowers if you love him so much, don't date rape him. In his own crease too! What happened to a little thing called manners? Prick.

8:37 - Nagy just kissed the end boards something fierce. My face hurts watching that.

8:40 - Cowman just took an ill-advised hooking call. Damn it all. Green follows it up by putting the puck over the glass. Dallas has another brilliant chance to give Modano a point before he takes his own life with his teeth. (see earlier post if that makes no sense)

8:42 - Burrows is out of control. Nice PK job for a guy who nearly lost his head a week ago.

8:43 - Simply massive PK job. Luongo, Burrows and Mitchell were incredible. And still Modano has nothing. Not that I'm keeping track of his futility. No, not at all.

8:45 - Less then a mile away from me Lehtonen is being utterly destroyed by the Rangers. In case you were curious of any games that aren't 0-0.

8:50 - Canucks will end the period on a man advantage. A goal here in the final seconds would be the essence of magical. Or just a great fuck you. Whichever.

8:51 - Holy shit, Turco just made a beautiful save on Linden. He must be paying attention to that other guy down the ice. So, as surprising as it must sound, we have a 0-0 tie going into the second. Pretty even so far, too many calls against the Canucks though. They need to settle down and regain that pressure they had in the very beginning of the first.

9:11 - Good start to the second as well; Vancouver had a few good chances in the opening two minutes. Let's see if it can be extended for...deep breath...a whole period.

9:14 - Pyatt damn near went through the glass thanks to Ott. As much as I don't want to see that, on the other hand, it would live forever on youtube.

9:18 - Dallas is doing that annoying "sustained pressure" play. Quit the shit.

9:19 - Jesus, what the fuck? How Morrow making both Mitchell and Sopel look like AHL-ers? Are you kidding me? Sopel...(*shaking fist, cursing, spitting*)

9:24 - Canucks are outshooting Dallas somehow. And the good guys go to the powerplay...c'mon guys, for kicks, how about setting up? Let's start with the basics...

9:26 - SOPEL!!!! DAMN YOU!!!! Our PP is bad enough without you falling down. Cut your hair.

9:30 - Canucks back on the man advantage thanks to Boucher. Trying to work on that 1/20 PP streak they've been on. Christ...it's telling that a Dallas two man rush looks more effective then our entire time on the man advantage.

9:35 - BOOOLIS and Green damn near find paydirt on a shorthanded two on one. Nuts. It's going to be that kind of goal that's going to decide this.

9:36 - Wow, critics of this series who think it's too boring must be slamming concrete over their skulls that even the powerplays are completely pointless. And the Canucks will try again to score on the man advantage.

9:39 - Canucks are loving these odd man rushes. But they're not scoring either, so it's win/win I guess for both teams. Five minutes left in the period, still scoreless...ugh, this is getting sort of painful.

9:44 - Canucks blow another two on one...damn damn damn damn. Dallas' PP, at least, is just as painful as ours.

9:47 - Holy shit...just as Turco made a killer save at the end of the first, Luongo just made three in a row, including a complete stretch across the goal line to stop a rebound effort. 0-0 heading into the third now. I have a feeling it's going to take a dirty goal to decide this one...which is fine with me. As long as the Canucks get it.

10:06 - 19 and a half minutes of combined powerplay time. Awesome. Vancouver needs another killer third like they did in game #3 to put this away.

10:09 - Considering the "Stars" are looking at a 3-1 series deficit if they blow this, I really hope this entire period isn't played in our end. FYI - Modano has zero shots on goal. ZERO.

10:12 - And, just like that, the Canucks can't get out of their end. You can see Dallas pressing and getting their D jumping up in every rush.

10:13 - Fuck you Nagy. Good to see that he's just a filthy cheat for it helps make up for his woeful lack of talent. Cowman, go get him.

10:17 - Hey, um, did I miss something or is Brendan Morrison out? Or just having a shit game?

10:19 - But, hey, I know that Ohlund is playing! 1-0 Canucks, BAM. Mattias had the whole net with Turco down and now expect a hell of a finish. 10 minutes to go.

10:21 - I see Morrison now, although no clue what line he's on. Whatever, just keep doing what you're doing.

10:23 - Naslund to Daniel but Turco was there to stop it. Nuts, that would be ended this contest right there. The "Stars" have eight fun-filled minutes to get past Luongo. I'm sure, if they can't, Nagy will just run him again.

10:29 - Sydor scores to knot this up. Looked like Naslund failed to clear that one too that was eventually moved to Sydor for the goal. That's upsetting, but nothing's over yet.

10:30 - From the words of canucksandbeyond.com's Alanah: motherfucker (you can quote me)

10:30 - Look at that! In the same minute Alanah curses, Linden answers with his own version of the motherfucker. 2-1 Canucks.

10:32 - This could be the best three minutes in this series upcoming. Dallas is going to chuck everything at Lui. Part of that everything may not be Modano though who still has ZERO shots on goal.

10:34 - OH....MY....GOD....THAT....WAS....
CLOSE....SOMEONE....BUY....MITCHELL....A....BEER....

10:37 - This is going to be the longest 138 seconds I've seen in a long time.

10:41 - Luongo just saved me from disliking you for a bit Burrows...

10:42 - 13 seconds left, TWO missed shots on Turco's home...

10:43 - Mitchell clears up the shit in front of Luongo as the game ends. Dallas is now on a six game losing streak at home. Yet another 2-1 win for this Vancouver squad.

Post Game - You really have to hand it to these Canucks: they've got these 2-1 victories down like a fine art now. This Thursday they'll get a chance to close this out and get some well earned R&R at home in front of a "Turco Sucks" happy GM Place. While the big guns like the Sedins, Morrison and Naslund didn't get on the scoresheet, they certainly continued their strong play (which includes Mo who I mentioned I didn't even see out there, but led the Canucks in winning face off's anyway. So shut my mouth). Nothing could be more beautiful then a former Canuck captain on the third line getting the winning goal. Well, that or former-Star Willie Mitchell saving a goal in the final minute. You decide.

And what of Linden's fellow draft mate Modano? He was one of four "Stars" with no shots on goal tonight. Turco was incredible in the first when he needed to be, so you can't blame him. You can also see what they gave the "C" to Morrow, the guy is impressive and plays with a ton of energy. That said, this team just has no answers for how the Canucks play other then, if I understand the Dallas newspapers accurately, to take shots at Luongo when the play is dead. 3-1 isn't insurmountable, but I don't see how the "Stars" will yank three victories out of Luongo and the rest of this team now.

You know the best part of closing out Dallas Thursday night now? It gives me a few more days to laugh that the "Stars" lost a first round pick for Nagy. Hahahaha...fuck you Nagy. Keep your stick down.

Another 25 yankee dollars has been notched for the North Texas Food Bank. It just gives you that warm sickly feeling down deep doesn't it?

See everyone back on Thursday, we'll liveblog it again.

Game One Recap: OT Thrilla!

Holy crap I'm tired. Granted I didn't stop 72 shots or play 54:27 like Kevin Bieksa but I did watch/listen (that will require a separate Versus post all together) until damn near 4:00 AM EST. My alarm goes off 90 minutes later. Suffice it to say, I need a coffee IV. Or maybe a New Jersey special coffee is in order.

But what more can you say? 6^th longest game in NHL history (at least “modern” NHL history; I am required to say that or Don Cherry will show up on my doorstep and give me a curbie), longest in Canuck history and most saves by a Vancouver netminder in the playoffs…shit Luongo will you just stop breaking records? We allllllll get it, you’re really good at what you do. Someone hug this guy or something, he needs some reassurance.

Can’t this team just play 60 minutes and score enough to just end the game? No, no we can’t? OK, fair enough.

I didn’t get to drunkblog this one (I got my eye on game 2) but here were my favorite and least favorite moments:

Bad: Sopel can’t pick up a cracker.
Good: Sopel isn’t playing.

Bad: Jan Bulis taking a hooking penalty in the offensive zone penalty at the end of the first.
Good: Matt Cooke, while trying to check Modano I think, ends up slamming Bulis instead as the hooking penalty is being called. Coincidence?

Bad: Vancouver ending the night 1-8 with the man advantage.
Good: Canucks killed off 6 of 7 Dallas power plays.

Bad: Matt Cooke and Alex Burrows going down with injuries.
Good: Say it with me: “we want Rypien!”

Bad: Being outshoot by Dallas 76-56.
Good: Having Marty Turco to shoot at (5 GA, 2.18 GAA).

Bad: Coughing up two late third period goals.
Good: Luongo’s perfect 36 saves in 4 OT’s.

Bad: Markus Naslund’s regular season (not bad, but you understand).
Good: Naslund’s playoff opener (1 G, 1 A); he was everywhere and as dominant as I’ve seen him all year.

Bad: All the media monkeys who said the Canucks can’t score.
Good: 5 different goal scorers, 9 guys with points. Suck it.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. Luongo was unreal, Naslund was on fire, the twins were the twins and the team hung in there with a shortened bench for the equivalent of a hockey doubleheader. The heart of this team is un-fucking-real.