One Foot In The Grave.

Would you expect anything less from the Canucks/Hawks rivalry? The drama is almost too much to handle. Check that, it's way too much to handle. It's an off day in the playoff series, and I'm a nervous wreck. Does that put this whole thing into perspective for you?

I think I'll address Jon directly first. You say all this stuff about how the Hawks are playing hard and clean and the Canucks are taking cheap shots. You say all my examples are weak. You honestly think Keith cracking Hansen in the legs with his stick is what any other defensive player would do? You can't be serious, man. Well, I guess I finally have my clear cut example. Your boy Brian Bickell sure tried to play the part of Raffi Torres last night, didn't he? Dickell, as we call him around these parts, leaves his feet and cracks Kevin Bieksa right in the head, an almost identical hit to the Torres/Seabrook hit from game three, and nobody in the media says anything? Total BS. You guys were caling for a mutli-game suspension with Raffi. What about this? It was a head shot right behind the net, he obviously could have avoided the collision, and he didn't even get a penalty. Is anyone talking about how Bickell should be suspended? Could we have at least have gotten a two minute advantage? A PP in the extra session for the 'Nucks, and this series would have been over. Again, total BS. Don't even get me started on John Scott punching Alex Burrows in the face after a play and not getting called, either. Cheap ass shit, Jon, and you know it.

Continuing with the OT hit, though, at least Bieksa got up and kept playing, unlike Seabrook. So maybe you think Kevin is a joke, but at least he's tough, tougher than Seabrook. Seabrook had to go to the quiet room after an identical hit. What a joke. I can't even explain how angry I am over that hit. Your Hawks are total garbage, but at least the refs kept you in this thing.

The other thing that helped keep this thing even was the horrible stick work by Cory Schneider. Before we get into that, let's explore the whole decision to "shock the hockey world," as Canucks.com put it, by starting our rookie in game six. It was a complete no brainer for Coach V. Roberto had been pulled in the previous two games, and we were now at game six. If you start Luongo, and he sucks, he's out, and then you HAVE to start Schneider for game seven. That's insane, having a rookie start a playoff game seven over your 12-year man. Therefore, you push Schneider out there for game six. If he wins, you're done. If he loses, you cart Roberto back out there for game seven, rested, ready, and a little bit less bruised on his ego. But what if you start Schneider and then Luongo loses it? Yeah, now we have a big decision.

Cory had absolutely no clue how to handle the puck in this one. Two of the goals for the Hawks were directly caused by Cory sending a puck from behind the net to a Chicago player, and they made both count. He did it another time too, but a 'Nuck defender laid down in front of the net to save that one. What was Cory doing? What was he thinking? Why didn't he just fling the puck around the glass? Instead, Chicago got gifted two goals they didn't earn, and that was the difference.

Of course, you also have the Frolik penalty shot goal. Yes, he deserved a penalty shot, and I'll be honest. I was actually kind of stoked that he got a penalty shot rather than a power play, because I thought that it was better to get a shot out of the way (and saved) and move on, rather than face the two man disadvantage for two whole minutes. I was wrong, and it was doubly painful because Cory cramped up on the play. Pretty meaningful goal for Frolik, eh? It was an awful scenario, as Luongo was thrust into the crease, cold, and right in the middle of an intense battle. 

The Hawks put nothing on Bobby Lu in the third, as he was untested, and decided to pepper him in the extra session. Sadly, Daniel Sedin sat and watched as Smith gobbled up the rebound and buried the game winner. That's right, it wasn't all Luongo's fault, it was a lack of defending. Daniel had to tie him up on the play, lift a stick, something. He just sat and watched as Chicago came back and tied the series at three. Are Daniel and his brother just completely baffled by the return of Dave Bolland? Since his return, the Sedins have gone quiet, for the most part. How good is Dave Bolland? Better than I thought, I guess.

Why, oh why did Chris Higgins' shot late in the third find the post, rather than the net? Even that would have been forgetable if the refs would have rightfully given us our power play in OT after that Bickell hit. Yeah, I'm still stuck on that weak ass garbage.

So basically, the refs handed the games to Chicago, the goals they scored were all unearned gifts, and they can all kiss the posts for saving them. Did you guys catch all that?

However, I'm not a dick, so I'll give them a little credit. They were down 0-3, they completely dominated games four and five, and they found a way to win game six. When you can find a way to win a game where you weren't the best of the two teams on the ice, that is the make of a Champion, and I guess that's why they drank from the Cup last season. They have completely changed my feelings from one week ago. A week ago, I was buying into the sweep mentality, and just 7 days later, I'm writing a post titled "One Foot In The Grave." Chicago has to be given a pat on the back for that.

So now we're heading to a game seven at the Roger. We are 60 minutes of hockey away from finding out what's going to happen. Are we going to walk out with a game seven win, and put this whole anxiety provoking situation into the back of our minds, to barely be remembered in the future? Or, are we going to see the biggest collapse in the history of the NHL, a series loss that we're telling our grandkids about? Sure, it's happened 3 times before, but this would easily be the worst situation ever, being that it's a 1-8 matchup, and that it's one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the game. 

Can I just quickly complain about the "One Win Away" song being pushed on us by Blackhawks fans right now? The whole "In the Madhouse, the mighty Madhouse, Luongo weeps tonight." Now I can prove that Hawk players aren't the only sore winners, their supporters share in that distinction. Sure, the song is funny, and I'd be digging it if things were the other way around, but things aren't the other way around, so I'll call it our for being absolute garbage. 

Whatever songs are being created by the fans, whoever steps in between the pipes for the Orca tomorrow, and no matter how long I extend the recording on my DVR, game seven will be upon us very soon. We can all sit around and be anxious, but only until 7 pm tomorrw our time. At 7 pm tomorrow, it all gets underway. You can cut the drama with a knife.

I can't even stand it.

It's a coin flip now, Jon. Let's throw our two teams into the ring, and see who comes out on top.

One game. One win. One team.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē