Canucks Go Wild
Jacques Lemaire took a shot at the Vancouver media following the 2-0 Canuck win. Vancouver reporters have asked him about his “boring” style more than once over the years.
“You notice there in the third, they’ve got five guys at their blue line and [their media’s] talking about our trap?” Lemaire said. “That’s a new trap.”
Lemaire has a point, but only if he thinks the hockey guys in Vancouver should be whining at Vigneault for playing Minnesota hockey. Since he really doesn’t want that, he should let the hypocrisy go. All he is doing is showing a lack of respect for his own brand of hockey.
Besides, the media will go along with the fanbase – including me – on this one: winning hockey is never boring. The Canucks will not be criticised for their style in Vancouver unless the losses pile up. Then we will hate it.
(Even granting that, Tony Gallagher is surely damaging his credibility when he describes the forgettable win against the Wild as a Goalie duel for the ages)
winning hockey is never boring.
You know, it’s funny, since I gave up cheering for a specific team out of geography, I’ve essentially ascribed to the inverse of this motto, namely, that exciting hockey is worth cheering for. It began with the Herb Brooks-led Plzen Penguins and has taken me on wild rides through Ottawa, New York, and most recently Washington D.C. All motivated by a commitment to watching the game played a certain way (often involving go-go-go (Brooks), 5 forwards on the PP (Hlinka), tons of skill (Pitt and Ott), and players that prefer keep-away to hockey (Jagr, Nylander, Straka)).
Interestingly though, once my affection really takes root and I’ve followed the team around the league emotionally for a year or two, I begin to cheer for an offense-be-damned approach and can be heard screaming at the TV, “just get the puck deep and get off!” I fear that Washington will test the limit’s of my sanity once and for all. Joe Micheletti is the color guy for the Rangers on MSG and I think he’s basically an idiot, but he said probably the smartest and most astute thing I’ve ever heard him say the other night regarding the Capitals and the way they play, and he said it in a rather glumly incredulous tone that only enhanced the gravity of the comment: “Boy, they make a lot of risky passes.” I love the Caps because of their players and the way their coach lets them play, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a little more Vancouver from the sometimes.