I love how bandwagon fans come crawling out of the woodwork saying "Blow up the team", "trade Luongo", "trade everybody", "Move the team to the U.S."...
Guys, they came one win away from the Stanley Cup. The core group for a genuine Stanley Cup run is here. We need to lock up the missing pieces crucial for a win. Why would anyone in their right mind want to blow up this team and send the parts hither and thither a la Mike Keenan. Do we really want to go back to the bad old days of "Iron" Mike Keenan running rampant through the roster of the 94 Canucks firesaling them to teams who were lining up to pick at the bones? Are you guys freakin' insane????
When you look at the starting 2 lines for the Vancouver Canucks, you see a striking similarity to an injury list:
Kesler (starting 2nd line forward) - hip labrum tear, groin tear;
Hamhuis (starting 1st pairing - defenseman) - lower abdominal injuries (unspecified);
Henrik Sedin (starting 1st line center) - back injury (unspecified);
Edler - (starting 2nd pairing - defenceman) - two broken fingers;
Ehrhoff - (starting 2nd pairing - defenceman) - shoulder injury;
Bieksa - (starting 1st pairing - defenceman) - bruised MCL (knee);
Higgins - (starting 2nd line - left wing) - undisclosed foot injury;
Yet they were out there giving it their all trying to win the Cup.
The thing I'm surprised about is that Salo escaped the severe injury bug this year even with this physical last round of the Stanley Cup finals. Usually somebody in audience sneezes and Salo goes down with a herniated disc.
There will more than likely be a few tweaks in the off-season to try to make the team a bit bigger and a bit more intimidating. Adding a big winger or two who aren't afraid to drop the gloves would probably fit the bill. It would keep a situation like Brad Marchand using Daniel Sedin's head like a speedbag from ever happening again, especially when guys like Marchand know that they try that, they're going to get dropped like a 50 lb sack of wet cement. Believe me, I hate the fact that the little weasel did that and didn't even get tackled by one of our guys. I also hate the fact that the little smug weasel has a Stanley Cup ring now.
I wish that we could afford Byfuglien. That guy would keep other people honest. He's big, he's mean and he has a name that friggin' drives me crazy trying to pronounce. BTW it's not pronounced "Bif Fug Leen". It's pronounced "bifflin" Of course during 2009 and 2010 series I was calling him "F*NG BIF THUG LEEN!" Of course, if he was on my team, I'd call him "Jesus Christ...that was a great f*ng hit!!!"
Call the Canucks what you will, but they came one game away from the Stanley Cup and whether or not they should have been there or not, due to their play in the final round, isn't going to matter a hill of beans. They were the second best team in the post-season and if that doesn't give haters enough ammo to hate, because their team didn't make the playoffs or fell by the wayside on the way to the finals, what will?
Next year though I'd like to wipe the friggin' smug MASSholes' smiles off their faces when Henrik Sedin passes Lord Stanley's Holy Grail to the likes of a winger like Scott Hartnell who smashed guys like Lucic and Chara off Daniel and scared Marchand into shaking like a wet leaf during the 2012 Finals. Sweet Jeez...I can just picture that in my mind already. Just wait till next year.
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