Raycroft led the lead in GAA, but not anymore

This was before the St. Louis game tonight:


















And this was after the St. Louis game.



















Well it was nice while is lasted, at least it looks like Luongo is back for Thursday night. Too bad when Raycroft gave the quote "Don't get hurt" to The Province today, he should have told himself and the team, "please don't suck tonight", maybe that would have helped.

On a sidenote, fans in Scottrade Center got free big macs from the Blues scoring over 5 goals on the Canucks tonight...Insert Kyle Wellwood joke here.

Canucks-Blues Series Wrap Up

*As posted on Cycle Like the Sedins: St. Louis-Vancouver*

At the end of the series comes the handshake, so from a Canuck fan to St. Louis fans, here is mine.

Until Easter Sunday I had no idea who the Canucks were going to play. For the longest time, the newspapers were debating if it was better to play Columbus or Chicago. St. Louis was a surprise. The surge in the second half of the season was impressive. The threat of playing a team with quick young skaters and a killer PP was not something I looked forward to.

Even though we won, I am still impressed by the young Blues team. Your team, much like LA, will soon be teams in the West that I think, will be a force to reckon with. Your team played game 4 so aggressively that it had me digging my nails into my palms throughout the 3rd period and overtime. The number of times I cursed McDonald throughout this series shows how good of a player he was.

It was awesome to see the crowd back at games cheering on the Blues, the fans really brought a great atmosphere to game 3 and 4. I have enjoyed writing with Laura from Wazzupwitchu and admit that she really had better graphics than I did.

Canucks silence the Scottrade Center....Canucks WIN!

*As posted on Cycle Like the Sedins: St. Louis-Vancouver*













St. Louis Blues fans haven't had a playoff game in their stadium in 5 years. They were pumped, great crowd, I expected nothing less out of the fans. Whoever was singing 'O Canada' tried to be fancy, but instead his attempt at being fancy was a FAIL.

Mats Sundin was injured with a lower body injury, and Kariya may have drawn in to the lineup. That would have meant two things:
1. The RPM line/powerplay of the Canucks was going to suffer missing the big body and faceoff wins from Sundin.
2. With Kariya in, the Blues might actually score on a powerplay
None of this happened. Vancouver still won faceoffs and were able to score. Kariya didn't play, and the Blues didn't capitalize on their numerous powerplays.

In the opening few minutes it was a little nerve wracking watching the game. The Blues looked good. Three minutes in, Backes gets a goal and it's the first time the Blues have led a game so far in the series. Ohlund takes an unnecessary penalty that the Canucks kill off. A few minutes later Daniel takes a penalty, then Mitchell gets a double minor. The Blues are on a 5 on 3 but the Canucks look good and also kill that off. It was penalty city for the Canucks with a few more handed out to them in the 1st period. The team escapes down only 1-0.

In the second, Vancouver starts fresh and look like they've adjusted to the St. Louis crowd. The refs during their little pow wow between periods must have decided to call nothing but Blues penalties in the 2nd period. McClement takes a slashing call and just like that Ohlund puts one in. McClement takes another, and Daniel puts it in, 2-1! McDonald finally figures out Luongo and gets a goal to tie up the game 2-2. Crombeen is a bit of a loose cannon tonight and takes three stupid penalties, the last one at the end of the period will start off the Canucks on the powerplay in the 3rd.

The unsung hero of the Canucks, gets his first goal of the series on the powerplay right at the beginning of the period. That's 3 freaking goals on the powerplay! But the refs decide to start calling the Canucks, and the Blues get their second 5 on 3. The Canucks and Luongo would have none of it and just SHUT THEM DOWN. Scottrade Center is relatively quiet for the rest of the period. Backes takes a cross checking call late in the 3rd and to make it worth his while to go to the box, Backes decides to also get a roughing call. Game Over.

The Blues, who were very good on the powerplay in the regular season (ranked 8th), were not able to capitalize once in the game tonight. They had two 5 on 3's and still no dice. They are now 1 for 17 in the series, which is a little worrisome if you are a Blues fan. Kariya may have helped on the PP, so as a Vancouver fan, I was quite glad he didn't play tonight. Maybe he would ruin the chemistry on the team but if he's healthy for game 4 they may as well give him a shot, because whatever they have right now, isn't working.

Last thought: Ryan Johnson was a beast in the faceoff circle tonight. 11 out of 14.

3 wins down. 13 to go.

Great Save Luongo! Canucks WIN!

The Canucks that Canuck fans have been seeing glimpses of all year showed up again tonight. A team who has been criticized to "playing down" to the level of teams and being streaky, well last night there was none of that.

The first period started much like the game 1. The boys came out throwing their bodies around. It's nice to see both teams make an effort to finish every check. Both teams had a combined 22 hits in the first 10 minutes. The Canucks have adjusted their playing style to the Blues, playing with a bit of a more defensive style to keep speedy young Blues off the scoresheet.

Last game I said that Sundin needs to do more, all season, I've said he needs to do more. Yes he bring leadership to the team, but frankly, I wanted more than just leadership. Tonight he delivered with the huge goal from a centering pass from Demitra in the second period putting the Canucks up by 1. He looked like terminator with that bloody eye.

Burrows' goal showed the hard work that him the Sedins made for that goal. They just never gave up on it, battling for the puck around the crease. Burrows gets a quick pass behind the net, and gets it in off of Mason, and paid a penalty for the goal with a hit from the Blues. Henrik Sedin gets the last goal into an empty net to seal the game.

The Blues' biggest chances came from Andy McDonald, hitting iron three times. By the end of the game I was cursing McDonald, just cursing him, he could have made the game a tie if those went in. But sometimes when you are winning the bounces just go your way.

The story of the night really was Luongo. Man has this guy been on fire. He made 30 saves last night for his first NHL shutout making huge saves. The way he tracked the puck, he looked possessed. AV calls it "Probably one of his best games of the year, " - via Canucks.com. Luongo has only let in 5 goals in the last 2 games.

The trip from Bieksa at the end of the game was cheap, but I guess he was trying to set up Game 3 in St. Louis. Crombeen dropped his gloves and came at Bieksa, clearly a scrum would ensue.

-Who would have though that both Wellwood and Mason Raymond would have back to back nights with hits?

-The Blues played better last night than in Game 1, but still no dice

-Andy Murray was, could you say, pissed at the end of the game? What was he going to do? Jump over the glass and fight AV? You could see Tkachuk rolling his eyes and telling him to calm down.

-For all those getting the CBC broadcast, man it's nice to hear Jim Hughson say "Great Save Luongo!"

2 wins down. 14 to go. Bring it on Blues!

Meet the St. Louis Blues

Both teams will bleed blue, but let's meet the young (average age 28.1) Blues team.

The St. Louis Blues were dismantled after the NHL lockout year. Chris Pronger, Mike Sillinger and Doug Weight were all moved. They then only won 21 games that year, finished last in the NHL and missed the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.

The fans reacted. Season ticket holders didn't renew.

The Blues hired HC Andy Murray in 2006 replacing Mike Kitchen. During the span of the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 season, the Blue only had 3 sold out games.

Now the faces of the franchise are young. TJ Oshie, David Perron, Patrick Berglund and #1 draft pick Erik Johnson (injured). They are taking the same road as the Coyotes and Kings, getting younger and faster.

Meet the D:
Eric Brewer (injured, recovering from reconstructive surgery) and Erik Johnson (injured - due to his right foot getting caught between the accelerator and brake pedal of a golf cart on a team golfing trip in September...) are both out due to injuries. That leaves the following D pairings:
Roman Polak-Barret Jackman
Carlo Colaiacovo-Mike Weaver
Jay McKee-Jeff Woywitka

-If you Canuck fans remember, Mike Weaver used to be a Canuck last year. Not a great one, but he ate up some minutes. Due to all the injuries on their blue line, Weaver has been playing more minutes than expected.
-Carlo Colaiacovo would like for you to buy vowel from his last name. He really does. He got good/non injured once he was traded to the Blues from the Leafs.
-Jeff Woywitka has an awesome name. Just say it. And you spell it just like the way you hear it.
-Roman Polak. Think about it. Have you ever seen an Italian polak? I think not. Someone should tell him he's actually Czech.

Next up, the offence and goaltending.