talloola

puck wasn't' totally' loose, and official must whistle down goalie stabbing as it happens, and not just stand there and watch illegal play continue. if another l.a. player was stabbing a san jose player at that time,or any illegal hit, a penalty would be called, irrespective of where the puck is, and whistle would be blown, and if puck had of gone in the goal while he was blowing the whistle, he would have called 'no goal'. he wasn't stabbing at the puck, it was the goalie, that is the difference, in my opinion.

i think as soon as he started stabbing at the goalie, the official should have blown it dead. he wasn't stabbing at the puck, just the goalie. he obviously couldn't see the puck, as he was stabbing the middle of the goalie, not where the puck was. these situations are far too crucial to let a garbage play like that stand, there is no reason to stab at the goalie when you don't know where the puck is, if he had blown it dead, there would not have been the backlash from l.a. as it would have looked like a reasonable call by the official, but the other way around it does not.

mat cooke got '7 games'

i'm watching dallas/anaheim as we speak, hoping for dallas, but doesn't look good, allready 2-0 for anaheim, jamie benn is from this area, vancouver island, i like him a lot, great young player.

i'm not surprised at all, i've followed this team for about 5 years, and watched them play well, look like A dangerous team to play in the playoffs, BUT they always managed to bow out along the way, this year they definitely looked stronger than i have seen them in years, with some good changes to their lineup to make their team faster, while still keeping their strong core, and they have been strong all season. when canucks didn't make the playoffs, i turned to san jose and adopted them As my team for the playoffs, And they haven't let me down yet, even though l.a. have been a very tough team since they won the cup, they still can't score much, and they play very defensive and rely on quick to be excellent. san jose have some very good goal scorers, and are tough in all other areas as well. hope they do it on thursday, and send l.a. packing, 'won't be easy'.

i see barrie beginning to make a move to get out of the way, pretty natural and i don't see that move injuring himself at all, until cooke's knee made contact.

first of all i hope the new g.m. doesn't have to agree to keep torterella, that would not be a good beginning for any g.m., as he should make that decision for himself, and with trevor linden's approval as well. here on the coast jim benning's name is the one being tossed around as the front runner, and of course he can't be interviewed till boston is done for t he year. hextall is also being mentioned. i want someone with the new look hockey brain, and not the old school eg. pat quinn type, they were all fine in their day, but for example when pat quinn coached about 3-4 years ago in edmonton, he was a total failure, putting down the players on tv interview/ radio, and making those old fashioned comments about players that just don't fit todays young athlete, or even the game itself. does anyone have an opinion as to 'why' pierre mcguire is never hired when he shows up for interviews. he has so much information in that brain of his, but there is something stopping teams from hiring him for a g.m. is it his personaltiy, a bit overbearing maybe? i wonder what very good coaches will be out there for the new g.m. to hire.

cooke played for the canucks for a number of years, and he was a trouble making coward. he would start trouble, then as soon as the linesman arrived he would eagerly snuggle up to him, then yap back at the other player, but always keeping the linesman between he and other player. he 'never' ever fought with anyone, would always turtle or just look for linesman. after he left canucks he got worse and began to get dirtier, then the savard incident, which is the reason for rule change. then the pittsburg incident. and i'm forgetting others. this series is very very fast, the young talented guys, on both teams are amazing, and i could see cooke getting more and more riled up, as he couldn't quite keep up with that speed. throw the book at him, he has taken a wonderful young player out of the game, intentionally, this cannot be tolerated. cooke has done a service for his own team, has given them a little bit of a better opportunity to win, but i'm sure his own team will never thank him for that, they will just turn the other way, i'm sure they are very disappointed in him.

yes, it is the size of todays players, and the speed and intensity with which they are playing. there will be this type of incident happen, can't be helped, and it doesn't solve anything to side with either player. but seabrook could have accomplished what he wanted to accomplish with half the hit, all he has to do is prevent the player from doing what he wants to do, and that doesn't take a hit with that power. my husband, who played hockey and coached for years, and i worked closely with him, talk about these things all the time, the hit just didn't have to be that hard, even if it was clean. the rules are now there to protect the head area, that is very important, so if the person being hit made a mistake, and the player doing the hit, was travelling into him at a more controlled speed, he then can adjust his hit. it does nothing to help protect serious head injuries by just saying it was the fault of the person who was hit. we see it all the time, eg. the hit on toews a few weeks ago caused injury, apparantly a clean hit, but had orpik controlled the power behind that hit he would have accomplished his task, and toews would not have been injured, that hit was far too hard for the situation, no need for it. just take the player out, don't try to injure him, and orpik is good for those 'i'm going to hurt you' type of hits.

seabrook isn't a dirty player, but he made a big time mistake, and he knows it, and he is remorsefull. he knows what that feels like, as i watched torres hit him in a similar manner a few years ago, he was also very groggy from the impact to his head. this isn't history, this isn't the past, this is a time where we have learned that the head isn't in play. this has nothing to do with what team we are with or who we like or dislike, it is what is right and wrong. there will be a suspension, can't find excuses for that not happening. i feel bad for seabrook, but worse for backes, as he will be out of the game too, for how long, no one knows at this point. these are the risks of the game, the speed is the reason, and it will happen again from time to time, but we don't want players concussed or permanately injured, so the rules have to be applied to keep these incidents down to a minimum. old time hockey has to be left in the old times, this is now, we are smarter.

i would love to see wings take boston, but after this first game, i can see boston coming out with their heavier game, and it could look a bit like the 2011 series against canucks, where boston whaled on them physically, and at times very dirty, with refs looking the other way. i'm not sticking up for canucks, they sucked, luongo choked and they let it get away, but boston mugged them big time. canucks had a similar team to wings in 2011, very fast, very talented, not that physical, burrows could retaliate pretty good, but he isn't much of a fighter, and not big. why don't the refs give lucic a penalty when he does that dirty stick stuff, thats the second time in a few weeks that he did that, what a chicken **** player, a very big strong guy, who has to use his stick like that, shame on him. he is from this area of the world, but i don't care, don't like that crap. if wings manage to get past boston, they could be on their way, but no, if they have to meet one of the california teams in the finals, look out, but if boston have to meet one of them, could be a blood bath. boston aren't very fast, that could be their downfall this year, there are lots of good goalies in the playoffs, so any team will have to make good plays to score, or get deflections.

i will explain what i meant when i said 'earn the cup'. as a canuck fan we have played several years now noticing san jose building the team they have today, they have knocked on the door several times, seeming to be a team that 'could' go all the way, and then falling short. they steadily got better and better, gradually made changes, got faster. in 2011 canucks beat them out in the conference final against the play of that series, as it was clear that san jose was playing a better series than canucks, then the fluky goal that hit the stantion and flew out to the blue line right to bieksa who shot it, not even a hard shot, but no one knew where it went off off the stantion, and the shot bounced along and into the goal, thus canucks won the series. my meaning is this, it is 'time' for them, they have 'earned the right', in my opinion to go for it in the cup finals, and i hope they do. i like their team, i like their coach, and i like most of the players, a good honest team, a talented hard working team.. sure i know all of those old players, i watched all of those years, i was a montreal fan when there were only 6 teams, then switched when canucks came into the league. for these playoffs i am a san jose fan. i would have agreed about chicago being the toughest team to get by, but this season they seem to be a bit more vulnerable, i don't think toews is 100%, maybe i'm wrong, don't know. quick has to rebound from that trashing he took from san jose, and if doesn't, l.a. are toast. anaheim can also win the west, but have to give a 60 minutes effort, not 40, but they have the horses for sure. minnesota have a real good team, they have the individuals to win everything, maybe not the team effort. i like st. louis too. i'm not a hard core one team person, i love hockey, and i appreciate many teams.

sharks in 6 wow what a game, that third period was tense for sharks fans, complete turnaround for awhile. was glad to see quick get the hook i'm a canuck fan, but going for the sharks all the way, they have earned the cup, they have paid their dues, they are ready, so do it. when we had torres on the canucks he was so good and so bAd, but he was an embarrassment because of his behavior, so i was glad when he left, but i do see his talent, too bAd he has interrupted his own success because of his Antics, but with the long suspension, maybe now he will be a good boy, just like cook had to turn over a new page.

evander kane plays for winnipeg, he is a high end player, great skater, and obviously wants to win, very competetive,but there has been a bit of unrest around his attitude and behavior in the winnipeg area, so perhaps the jets would consider letting him move. he is from b.c., and i would love having him on the canucks, so with trevor linden being the new pres. of hockey ops. and hopefully a new coach coming soon, (i detest torterella, i think he mismanaged the team this year, overplaying the top players way too many minutes, glueing his 4th line to the bench), hence injuries and fatigue, anyway off topic). evander will settle down, especially if he is brought back home, i love watching him play, even though he is still growing up, he could be a great player on the canucks, for many years. canucks have the 6th overall draft pick, maybe they can package that along with another player, and make it happen.

i like minnesota too, enjoyed them for years, back when gaborik was a rookie, and lamaire was coaching. they have struggled over the years with mediocre players, and one super star, and their brand of hockey was good defense, as that is how they could win some, and gaborik was amazing on that team, and i am enjoying him in l.a. too, as it is probably the best team he has ever played on. st. louis was so strong for so long this season, but nasty injuries of late, so not sure if they can survive first round. i like dallas, but don't think their defense is strong enough right now. i like colorado with all of their young guns, and roy as the coach has really done well, maybe he will win coach of the year. l.a. is always tough, so good on the defensive side of the puck, and with quick they are very hArd to score on, but they also don't score much themselves. anaheim is a funny team, sometimes they just look lazy, and don't seem to wake up till late in the game, but the talent is there, they can do it. and of course chicago, who can ever think they won't do it, wonder if kane and toews are 'reallyi' 100%, we'll see, that was quite a hit he took, and injury looked serious.

my choice is 'san jose'. they remind me a bit of the canucks, as they have knocked on the door in the playoffs for some time, with no success, and they have some older' high end' players who will be past their peak soon. i like the team, i like their coach, and i will follow them till they either go all the way, or are 'out'. they are a very good team, along with the rest of the west, but they have paid their dues, so 'go sharks'.