Jun 102011
Some quick thoughts going into game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals tonight:
- According to various reports, 21-year old Chris Tanev will slot in tonight in place of Keith Ballard.
- Every team has jerks in its fanbase, but it’s disappointing to hear about the lengths some Bruins fans went to make life miserable for visiting Canucks fans. Never mind the bars that refused to serve Canucks fans, I’ve heard first-hand accounts from friends who made the trip to Boston that Bruins fans dumped beer all over them in the stands and called them all sorts of racist names on the streets. I’ve only seen a couple of news clips about other, similar incidents, but in each one, the Bruins fans interviewed all brushed them off. One fan went further and said, “What do they expect when they come here?” I know this isn’t a reflection of all Boston fans – and I would never dare paint all of Beantown with the same bad brush – but it’s disappointing to hear these stories nonetheless.
- Mike Milbury’s track record as the Islanders’ GM is everything you need to know about his credentials as a hockey analyst. Among his moves include: trading Zdeno Chara and the second overall pick that turned into Jason Spezza for Alexei Yashin, and trading Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen for Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish. Of course, there are others. When you hear him call the Sedins, Thelma and Louise, take it with a grain of salt.
- Speaking of Milbury, I find it hilarious to hear a guy who once beat up a fan with a shoe talk about how Maxim Lapierre denigrates the game.
- Last point on the mudslinging in the media. Besides Milbury, Stan Fischer also called the Sedins ” a pair of Raggedy Anns” and Barry Rozner wrote a Jim Jamieson calling game 5 the biggest game in the history of the Canucks and Tom Benjamin calling this season the potential to be both the greatest season and greatest disappointment in Canucks history.