Canucks exit playoffs

Ow.  What a heart breaker for all Canucks fans around the globe.  Canucks fall to the Chicago BlackHawks 4-2 in the second round of the 08-09 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It never seemed that the Canucks were completely in sync in this series as compared to their previous comanding victory with the St. Louis Blues.  Things got off to rocky start and never really settled down until we were booted out of the run for the Cup.

The Canucks lead fans to believe they were unstoppable in the first game of the series.  That was until the third period where they blew a 3-0 lead, but still found a way to get away with the win.

Second game had the Canucks leading 2-0, supposedly having learnt their lesson from the past game.  D men Sami Salo and Alex Edler put up 2 on the scoreboard within 6 minutes into the first period.  It appeared all was going well until they let up a bit and allowed the Hawks to go on a scoring spree, including a shorthanded goal.  Did they learn their lesson?  Not so much.  They allow the young Hawks to tie it up and evenutally lose the game.

Game 3 was all Canucks.  They were in the driver seat and had complete control of the game.  Although not very exciting, it got the job done and the Canucks won that game 3-1.  Canucks though they solved the Hawks by choking them up in the neutral zone and back checking like mad men.  They were in control, leading the series 2-1.

The Canucks thought why mess with a good thing and continue playing the style they played last game.  Everything was going just as planned.  The Canucks were on their way to grab a 3-1 strangle hold lead, but every fan spoke to early.  With merely 3 minutes to go in the third period and a 1-0 lead, Mitchell throws the puck in to a bunch of bodies instead of directing it to open ice.  Puck scramble and Havlat ends up with the puck and swiftly deposits it on goal to tie up the game.  Overtime we go where Burrows is inches away from taking the game back.  Other way we go and Hawks win the game on a deflected shot where the D men get caught staring at the puck.

Let’s fast forward to the final Canucks game, game 6 in Chicago.  The game where Luongo had to put his very best game forward.  It was do or die, Lui had to have a spectacular game.  I bet you not a single person on Earth would have predicted this.  Predicted that Lui would have his worst game on a night where it really counted (7 goals against!).  The rest of the team did their part, scoring 5 goals, took the lead a few times, and tooks 38 shots.  I hate to say it, and I think he’s an amazing goalie, but this game had him to blame.

Canucks had the chance to put away the Hawks if they were more disicplined.  They only gave up one power play goal in the Blues series, but it was a different story in this one.  They held a lead in most of the games, but just couldn’t hold on.  Although the Canucks were predicted to place as low as 12th in the West, they changed people’s perceptions.  Think back to January and some would have given up, but they battled, and they battled hard.  They had an amazing end of the season run and a spectacular first round sweep in the playoffs.  It’s just so disappointing that a team who had a good chance to go further would have to exit the playoffs so early.

All said and done though, it was one exciting season for Canucks fans.  It was a rollercoaster ride and we enjoyed every bit of it.  Let’s hope we keep most the team intact and have another great season this coming October.  As of writing, the Hawks are down 0-2 against the Wings.  Can the defending champs do it once again?  Personally, I would want to see a Hawks vs Penguins match up in the finals.  Battle of the young guns.