So i havent been active on NS in about a year now, but i know NS is good for some hockey talk. Lots of canadians, lots of hockey fans. I can dig that. I have only read the past couple pages, and here is my take on the finals
1. Aaron Rome's hit was definitely suspendable
No question in my mind. That puck had been away from horton's stick long before Rome even started churning his legs. Just a brutal, late, open ice hit. Was it a blind hit? No. Was it dirty? Arguable. Given the nature of the sport of hockey, it's hard to brand a late, yet otherwise clean (its not like he took his stick and crosschecked horton's face; the elbows were down, stick was low, skates were on the ice), hit as dirty. This finals has been a matter of physicality and goaltending, so such a hit, when compared to biting and taunting and Burrows, is relatively clean.
2. Roberto Luongo = Lebron James = Everything a star should not be
The 10 million dollar, highest NHL salary man can't handle the playoff atmosphere in Boston. Simple as that. 17 goals in 3 games, just pure atrocious. Choking in the playoffs. And when he avoids a back of the net onslaught in vancouver, he criticizes thomas. Its one thing to be comparing styles of goalie play, butterfly/paint vs aggressive, but that's not what Lu was doing. starting an answer with "it's not hard if youre playing in the paint so, it's an easy save for me" is not in any way innocently comparing styles. A more appropriate answer would be to entirely avoid the question as Thomas did during last night's postgame press conference, or saying something along the lines of, "We have different playing styles, I think my method allows me to more easily make that save."
3. There is no doubt mocking Raymond was wrong.
As a diehard boston fan, last night's "diving" and "faking" labels kind of disgusted me. I'm all for Marchand barraging the sedin sisters' faces with a flurry on unanswered fists. I'm all for Milan Lucic slashing the fuck out of burrows' legs and then blasting burrows' face with a closed hand. I'm all for shoving fingers in his face. But mocking a man that was down on the ice? Cmon boston, were better than that. Injuries are serious business and I hate seeing them. Id hate if the Canucks were reduced to a 0% chance of winning the cup if it was because of injuries. Id like to see our fans applaud a man who is by default of being an NHL player, undeniably tougher than 99% of the crowd, combined, as he skates off the ice in pain. Good sportsmanship is the best sportsmanship.
4. The law of averages states that Boston is bound to win a game in vancouver
This series could easily be 6-0. The bruins have matched every step the canucks have taken, yet are 0-3 in vancouver. if two teams are playing an even level of hockey, one team is not going to win all the games. Lets just hope (Boston fans only) that the bruins win in vancouver in game 7.