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Vancouver Canucks: Game 7 Legacies, Utica Comets Series Tied |
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Things are pretty quiet surrounding the Vancouver Canucks as we head into the weekend.
Let's start today with Vancouver Sun reporter Elliott Pap, who retired on Friday after a 40-year career, 37 of which were spent at the Sun.
Here are Elliott's Top 10 Canuck moments from his long career.
I appreciated Pap's "just the facts" approach to covering hockey. He was always a reliable set of eyes at practices and game-day skates, helping us get a handle on what to expect when the Canucks hit the ice.
Watching last night's Game 7 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers also brought back a wave of memories for me. CBC announced at puck drop that Alain Vigneault was 5-1 in Game 7 situations in his coaching career. I think we can all remember that one loss—a disappointing no-show for the Canucks against the Boston Bruins in 2011.
Last night, the Rangers/Lightning game remained scoreless until early in the third period, but once Alex Killorn got the Lightning on the board, the pall of frustrated disappointment that fell over Madison Square Garden reminded me a lot of what Vancouver fans went through four years ago.
Like the Canucks, the Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers were shut out. They didn't exactly go down swinging.
Injuries had become an issue—captain Ryan McDonagh played the last couple of games of the series with a broken foot, which led Vigneault to dress seven defensemen for Game 7. In the end, the Rangers simply ran out of gas.
The Rangers won't take a big roster hit next season. They're (presumably) losing 39-year-old Martin St. Louis as an unrestricted free agent, as well as trade-deadline acquisition James Sheppard, who was scratched in Game 7 after recording the game-winning goal in Game 6.
The Rangers will need to re-sign RFAs Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast. They might be able to take one more run next year but like the 2011 Canucks, the window may be closing quickly for a team that has exceeded expectations over the past two seasons.
The Lightning's win means another Stanley Cup Final appearance for former Canuck assistant coach Rick Bowness, who now runs the blue line for Tampa Bay, and a turn in the spotlight for head coach Jon Cooper, a native of Prince George, B.C.
A former lawyer, Cooper's a very bright guy—and a quote machine. He'll be fun to hear from in the Final.
Ultimately, I'd say that Cooper outcoached Vigneault in the Eastern Conference Final, so I'll use the same criteria to predict the outcome of tonight's Game 7 in the West.
Joel Quenneville's too smart to lose to Bruce Boudreau. Plus, the Blackhawks have the stinging memory of their Game 7 overtime loss to Los Angeles in last year's Western Conference Final fresh in their minds. Corey Crawford is the wild card, but I don't think Chicago's going to lose again.
Comets Fall in OT
A tough loss for the Utica Comets on Friday night, as they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to Grand Rapids to tie up their Western Conference Final series at 2-2.
Cory Conacher scored for the second straight game, and Alex Friesen added Utica's other goal, while Andreas Athanasiou won the game for the Griffins on a breakaway at 5:05 of overtime.
It looks like Nicklas Jensen got a little overaggressive on Griffins goaltender Tom McCollum, which caused the breakdown that led to the winning goal.
Today's a day off, then Game 5 goes Sunday at 2 p.m. from Grand Rapids.
That'll be a nice warmup before Cole Cassels and the Oshawa Generals will play the Kelowna Rockets for the Memorial Cup on Sunday at 4 p.m. PT.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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