Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Champions fall in Vancouver


It would have been nice to have seen this game instead of getting a text in the form of an ESPN alert. But unless I was watching the game illegally on the net somewhere or paying extra dollars to have Versus, there was no way for me to watch this game.

From NHL.com:

"This is what legends are made of," Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo said, referencing what was spoken inside the relatively quiet room. "Game 7, OT. It doesn't get any better than that. Somebody is going to become a hero."

Take a bow Alex Burrows. It was you.

Burrows capped off one of the craziest emotional roller-coaster nights in the Canucks’ 40 NHL seasons in Vancouver by ripping a knuckling slap shot over Chicago goalie Corey Crawford's right shoulder 5:22 into overtime. Vancouver's 2-1 victory set off a wild celebration on the ice, in the stands and in the streets while relieving an insane amount of tension from the entire city.

The win sends the Canucks into the Western Conference Semifinals, where they will face the Nashville Predators. All Vancouver had to do was withstand a near-miraculous comeback from the Blackhawks, both in the series and in Game 7.

Chicago became the seventh team in NHL history to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games of a series, but the fourth to lose the final game after winning Games 4-6. The Hawks also trailed 1-0 heading into the final two minutes of regulation Tuesday, but Jonathan Toews scored a game-tying shorthanded goal to send this one into overtime.


The champs are all finished. Toews got them close but could not get them past the Canucks. The picture above says 1,000 words. It's a shame that more of this country can't see games like this to make them fall for hockey. The drama, irony, and all that is rich this time of year. 

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