Things That Make You Go Hmmm: A Finger-Licking Butt-Kicking

[Inspired by Arsenio Hall’s “Things That Make You Go Hmmm…”, Clayton Imoo talks about Canucks-related things that make him go hmmm… You can follow Clay on Twitter at (@canuckclay) or on his website, Clay’s Canucks Commentary.]

Wow.  That was ugly. 

So now we have a series after the Bruins thumped the Canucks 8-1 in game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  And as you would expect from a 7-goal defeat, there are more than a few Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

1. Does the Bruins pre-game meal consist of Kentucky Fried Chicken? Boston players seemed intent on having their fingers licked by the Canucks players, as both Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic shoved their digits at Canuck mouths in an obvious follow-up to Burrows’ alleged bite in game 1 and Lapierre’s taunting in game 2.  These actions were in spite of Boston coach Claude Julien’s claims that the Bruins wouldn’t stoop to the Canucks’ level.  To his credit, he told his players after the game to cut it out.  Hopefully, this will be the end of the funny fingers as it’s starting to get finger-licking bad.  And over-done.  And a bit creepy.

 

2. Why play Luongo in the third period?  The Canucks started the third period behind 4-0.  And yet there was Roberto Luongo in the Vancouver net to start the final frame.  Alain Vigneault thought that the Canucks still had a chance to win the game (especially given that they started the 3rd on a power-play), but it just didn’t seem like Vancouver’s night.  I would have preferred that Luongo get a bit of a mental and physical break, and the drop-off to Cory Schneider isn’t that steep.  Apparently, AV asked Luongo if he wanted to call it a night with the score 5-0 and Luongo told him that he wanted to finish the game off.  But Luongo ended up letting in another 3 goals after that and I’m not sure what benefits there were to leaving him in.  Unfortunately, it may have affected (even just a bit) his chances of winning the Conn Smythe, but we will see.

 

3. Which defenceman will draw into the line-up for game 4?  Presuming that Aaron Rome gets suspended for his first-period hit on Nathan Horton, either Keith Ballard or Chris Tanev will be inserted into the line-up to take Rome’s place.  It’s ironic that it will take a suspension to AV’s apparent favourite to have AV’s apparent least-favourite to draw in.  I believe that Ballard will play ahead of Tanev.  Ballard is certainly more of a high-risk, high-reward player (in contrast to the conservative, straight-forward play of Tanev) but I think his upside right now is greater.  He has the ability to be physical and to rush the puck up out of the zone.  Both of these elements are crucial to the Canucks’ success.

 

I’ll be heading to the game 4 Viewing Party at Rogers Arena with my family on Wednesday night, and I’m interested to experience the atmosphere in the arena.  I’ll be watching with 18,000 other people downtown as opposed to going home and watching the game for free (along with eating my own food and drinking my own drinks with no line-ups for the washroom).

Why pay $10 ($50 if you count the whole family) when I could watch for free?  Will the atmosphere and experience be worth it?  We’ll soon see – it’s yet another thing that makes me go hmmm.