He Said, She Said: Torres Hits and Ballard’s Hips
[About the game from two viewpoints. Chris and Caylie watch the game and exchange their thoughts via email.]
From: Christopher Golden
To: Caylie King
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 12:08
Hey Caylie,
So here we have ourselves a noon start. Any word on the status of Luongo’s groin?
C.
From: Caylie King
To: Christopher Golden
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 12:15
Hi Chris,
I’m just hoping the Canucks are more awake and lively than probably the majority of us fans. If we stick to the game plan by not taking penalties and being aggressive, I predict the Canucks win, including an empty-netter.
Go Canucks Go!
Caylie
From: Christopher Golden
To: Caylie King
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 12:36
Hey Caylie,
Yes, more 5-on-5 hockey will be good for the Canucks. Mind you, if we see penalty kill efforts like that first one…
Again, it’s still early but I’m feeling good about this game. The boys are generating chances and are aggressively forechecking – it’s just a matter of time that the Sharks blueline hiccups.
C.
From: Caylie King
To: Christopher Golden
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 12:41
Hi Chris,
Drumroll please…… And the Oscar goes to…… Joe Thornton. He wins this award because he has consistently showed his acting abilities throughout these playoffs. Well deserved. *slow clap*
Caylie
From: Caylie King
To: Christopher Golden
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 13:01
Hi Chris,
There are not enough explicit words in the human language that would express how I feel about that Raffi hit. That was an excellent hit and hockey play. Murray had the puck with his head down – what do the refs expect us to do?! The Canucks might as well stop hitting, stop trying to get the puck because they will spend the rest of the game on the penalty kill. Unbelievable.
Caylie
From: Christopher Golden
To: Caylie King
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 13:15
Hey Caylie,
So you’re not happy with the call on Torres, eh? I don’t know. After seeing the replay I’m wondering if he’s not lucky to get the heave-ho for a hit to the head. The rule is so poorly written that if point of contact is the head, you get tossed.
C.
From: Caylie King
To: Christopher Golden
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 14:57
Hi Chris,
This was the best showing of maturity the Canucks have shown all season long. After getting called for 5 penalties in a row, the Canucks didn’t give up and scored when it count. We won the special teams battle by a mile. Balls of Steel with his best game of the 2011 playoffs and big goals from Kes and Burrows. I was very impressed by the composure we showed!
Raffi Torres with a CLEAN hit on Murray and then he put Big Joe out for the rest of the game, his best game so far. Great to see him bring the intensity and use his body to destroy what came into his path.
We are 5 wins away!
Caylie
From: Christopher Golden
To: Caylie King
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 16:21
Hey Caylie,
Last season I would’ve agreed that the Torres hit was legal, but as my post earlier in the season says, many legal hits have been made illegal when contact to head is involved.
And yes oh yes – huge step up in the maturity department from the entire Canucks team! Not only did we see ’em kill those earlier penalties off, we saw the squad adjust to the Sharks PK and get those goals when it was our turn on the powerplay in the second!
Then there was the play of the Sedins in the 3rd. They had a couple dominant shifts to burn crucial minutes from the clock and helped setup Burr on the fourth goal. Think it’s about time people give these guys his due.
C.
PS: As I asked on Twitter, does Ballard have to declare his hips as weapons when he comes back into Canada?
