Vancouver Blogger Sriseth

It's tough being a Canucks fan.

For 39 seasons since becoming an NHL franchise, they could not win the coveted trophy of professional hockey - the Stanley Cup. Canucks remain the only Canadian team not to have won the holy grail. As their rivals often tease; "Until you win the Stanley Cup, you haven't won anything". Vancouver's closest rivals Edmonton & Calgary had their good times with cup parades. Edmonton Oilers joined NHL a decade after Canucks did, but soon became a hockey dynasty during 80's when they were led by Wayne Gretzky & Mark Messier to 5 Stanley Cups. Calgary Flames, a team moved from Atlanta in 1980 won the cup in 1989. Although Canucks had an unexpectedly successful run to the finals in 1982 under Roger Nielson, they were crushed by the Islanders in the finals.

From White towels to Green Men - Ever innovative fans

Stanley Cup

By 1994, there was already an inferiority complex developing among fans about the failures of their beloved team. The turn of events in 1994 cup run left bitter sweet memories not many fans have been able to forget. For 17 long years since, Canucks had their ups and downs. They were a cup contender in many of those years, but couldn't go past the second round. Despite being the better team compared to their Canadian rivals during the past decade, they were the subject of criticism, pestering, persecution and torment by critics. All because of one reason - they haven't won anything. With none of the Canadian having able to win the cup for 18 long years, Canucks often had to answer the critics as the only team not to have won it and as the team that's most capable of doing it. Canucks have everything necessary to become a great hockey team; a fully supportive local ownership, a relentless fan base and a great city to call home. They should be winning cups in bunches. But the destiny has been cruel. It hurts their fans deeply.

Rogers Arena - the sellout record continues..

Over the time, the fans and critics supporting other teams have developed a hatred towards both Canucks team and their fans. There is criticism for everything they do - in mass media, social networks, chat rooms, fan forums....you name it. But the fans have always been faithful, despite all the failures & heart breaks during past 4 decades. Vancouver is blessed with passionate sports fans. They showed it to the whole World during the Olympics. Yes, there were riots after the game 7 loss in 1994. But, that's history. A team and it's fans that's so deserving shouldn't be kept away from a cup parade for so long. One chance to enjoy being the champions will cool things off immensely. All these hassling about not having won anything is too much to bear for this great city and its citizens.

Canucks winning the cup - will it be a reality?

The good news is that they are one game away from the cup glory. This 40 year long curse could come to and an within hours from now. We haven't forgotten how anxious the Canadian fans were until they enjoyed the moment a Canadian Olympian winning the first gold on home soil. Once the first gold medal was won, a dozen others came pouring in. Canucks fans wait anxiously for their first cup, and they know many cups will follow once they break this jinx. There will be endless celebrations on the streets of this great city. They will show the World for the second time in as many years that they are the most passionate fans ever.

Coming off from a heavy defeat two nights earlier, Vancouver Canucks tried to get back into their natural game and be composed. They just couldn't. Although the Bruins didn't have the same energy level they had on Monday, they were still too good for the Canucks. The result was another heavy loss and a tied series at 2-2. 

This series has many similarities to Canucks - Hawks first round series. Chicago turned around the series from 0-3 down after Torres hit on Brent Seabrook pumped them up. Here, when Bruins were out of sorts, Canucks managed to give them a reason to get energized when Aaron Rome hit Nathan Horton. Although Boston lost one of their best forwards, they were smart enough to make use of the incident for their benefit. It is heartbreaking for the fans to see Canucks play as poorly as they've seen them play for a long time. Boston goalie Tim Thomas continues at his best. But he didn't have to make many big saves tonight, as Canucks kept on loosing puck battles and couldn't get their power play going. 

Now the question is, coming back home to Vancouver and playing in front of home fans can bring back their natural game. Those optimistic will see the pattern of teams making full use of their home ice advantage, and if the trend continues, the Canucks will win the Stanley Cup in game 7. At the beginning  of the week, no one even bothered about a game 7. It's quite a possibility now. I wanted to see Canucks win the cup in front of Vancouver fans. Only possibility of that happening is at game 7. On the other hand, it's only fair that a Stanley Cup final series go all the way to game 7. It's a battle between two best teams who fought for months to get here and fans deserve to see a close battle that go to distance. All the memorable playoff series in the past have gone to game 7. Five of the last 10 cup finals have gone to 7 games and those are the ones we remember as classics. Penguins beating Red Wings, Hurricanes beating Oilers, Tampa beating Calgary, Devils beating Ducks; those are the classics. No body thinks Ducks beating Senators 4-1 as a classic. I always wanted Boston to be in the finals against Vancouver, because they are two great teams with passionate fan bases. It's only deserving that this is going to be no shorter than a seven game series. For that to happen, Canucks have to make sure they win game 5 on Friday. I don't see them coming from behind to force a game 7. On the other hand, these playoffs have been full of surprises. And that's what we love about it.

One of the original NHL teams (original six), Boston Bruin's legendary history as a great hockey team is displayed on the rafters of the TD Garden. They have won 5 Stanley Cups and retired 10 Jerseys. One of those retired numbers, Cam Neely now head the organization while the most famous Bruin great Bobby Orr still provides inspiration to the team. But it was the first time after 21 long years the city hosted a Stanley Cup finals game. Bruins, who had already been ruled out by many, showed they are worthy finalists for the cup. Inspired by houseful of passionate fans and the presence of Bobby Orr, they came hard on Canucks from the instance puck dropped on ice. They were physical, speedy and flawless. The game effectively ended at the end of second period at 4-0. Third period was just mocking the Canucks around. Canucks lost their composure towards the end of the game ending it with a thumping 8-1 loss. 

 

The game was similar in many ways to Canucks' first round game 4 against Chicago. Canucks were riding a 3-0 advantage in the series when Blackhawks came hard on them and made Vancouver pay for their mistakes. Canucks couldn't gain their composure back until the game 7, where they managed to pull off a win in overtime. Now the question is how long will it take to put this loss behind them and pull them off for another win against this confident Boston team. Longer they take to get their composure back, deeper trouble they will put themselves in. There won't be any doubt that Bruins will try to continue with this momentum in game 4 making use of the home ice advantage. Vancouver will have to consider this as a single loss, no matter how heavy it was, and mentally prepare for the next game. Hopefully Dan Hamhuis will be back to strengthen the defence. Canucks have to match Bruins in physicality and speed and try to think of innovative ways to solve the goaltender Tim Thomas. In my opinion, Thomas is the only player who can effectively ruin Canucks cup hopes. Roberto Luongo has to forget this game completely and start fresh for the next. 

Game 4 will be interesting. It will be critical for both teams. Hope Canucks play a tight game and crash Boston party at the Garden on Wednesday.

Both Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins were a single mistake away from crashing out of these playoffs against their first round opponents. Canucks' first round was more dramatic as they lost their composure after gaining a 3-0 lead in the series against Chicago Blackhawks. They were fortunate that Alex Borrows scored an unassisted goal in game 7 overtime. Bruins' fortunes tuned out differently as they came back 0-2 down against Montreal Canadians and won in game 7 overtime. Those hard fought wins strengthened them and pushed them through relatively easy second and third rounds. Now with Canucks 2-0 up in the series, both teams find themselves in familiar situations. Canucks haven't forgotten that things could go wrong from this position and Bruins know they still have a chance to come out of this hole and win the cup.

Game 3 is more critical for Bruins. They know that coming back from 3-0 down is near impossible. Although 2-0 down, the fact that they are yet to be beaten on home ice should relieve them. Bruins know that their fans will be as raucous as the Canucks fans. Despite Canucks been touted the heavy favourites at the beginning of the series, both games has been close contests. Both teams were virtually a single goal away from snatching the win. Canucks found a way to score at the right moment, allowing Bruins no time retaliate. This should encourage Boston to be optimistic about game 3. 

I hope Canucks achieve their cup triumph at home in Vancouver in front of their beloved fans. They need to lose at least one game at Boston to do that. Let's see whether Bruins will find a way to stop Canucks tonight.

It's been long time coming. Since becoming a NHL franchise in 1970 and in their 40th season, Vancouver Canucks are everybody's favourite to raise the Stanley Cup. Even the Canuck's haters and disbelievers now have to agree that undisputed best of the league are the Canucks. Now it's only a matter of beating Boston Bruins in four games within next couple of weeks. When Henrik Sedin raise the Stanley Cup, nobody can take it away and the whole province of British Columbia will go wild. There has never been more faithful and diehard fan base for a sports team. They deserve the very best - that is the Stanley Cup. Now let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. They still have to beat very formidable Bruins in best of seven series. 

During their first 39 seasons, Canucks put themselves in the exact same position twice. But both in 1982 and 1994, they were not the favourites. They were up against undisputed best teams at the time and couldn't pull of upsets. In 1982, Canucks were surprise finalists against Al Arbour's New York Islanders. Islanders were going for their third straight cup and swept Canucks in the finals. In 1994, it was against New York Rangers inspired by Mark Messier. Ranger's were President Trophy winners and clear favorites. But Canucks gave a good fight before loosing the game 7. Afterwards, although Canucks continually grew better and stronger as a team, they couldn't go past the second round. Past two years, it was the Chicago Blackhawks that put an end to their dreams. In 2009, Canucks were couple of minutes away from taking a 3-1 advantage in the series, and would have sealed the series had their defencemen not lost the composure for a moment to allow Martin Havlet to tie the game. In 2010, despite having a better team overall - as shown in game 1 - they failed to keep the composure against intimidating Hawks. It was a bitter experience for the fans.

This season, Canucks were the best team of the league in every aspect and they showed it in results. Easily winning the President's Trophy as the best team in regular season was a testament to the strength of the team. But fans were not in a mood to celebrate the President Cup. All they want is the Stanley Cup and they won't wait any longer. Dramatics on the final day of the season put their nemesis Blackhawks against the Canucks in round one. Fans were anxious despite the fact that Canucks were clearly the stronger team. Their worries proved true when Hawks came back from 3-0 down to tie the series at 3-3. 40 years long faith were at its tipping point. But Canucks found their composure for the game 7 and won it in overtime thanks to Alex Burrow's unassisted effort. After that it was a walk in the park for them all the way to the finals. 

Canucks vs Bruins is a classic mach up I have been dreaming of. It is a match up that could have easily predicted at the beginning of the season. Even the EA Sports gaming simulators predicted this match up before the season started. Bruins are one of the original NHL teams with a very strong fan base. They are in a 39 year old trophy drought, having won their last cup during Bobby Orr's days in 1972. Both teams are hungrier than ever to bring the cup home and cheer up their long faithful fans.

For Canucks, it's not only the expectations of British Columbia that they carry. Despite being the origin of the Stanley Cup, no Canadian team has been able to win the cup after 1993. Having only 6 of the 30 NHL teams in Canada doesn't help the chances of bringing the cup home to the hockey loving Canadians. Although several teams went all the way to the finals - namely 94' Canucks, 04' Flames, 06' Oilers and 07' Senators - they weren't the favourites at the finals and they couldn't pull of upsets. 18 years of wait is way too long after a series of cup wins mostly by Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadians prior to this long drought. Canucks are having the best change to turn the tables and bring the cup home and that will cheer up whole Canada. This is the time and Canadians are anxiously waiting.