TSN Vancouver - The Cup Finally Comes to Vancouver
Jan 24, 2017 0:57:41 GMT -5
bjernagris (PHI) and hoju89 (EDM) like this
Post by brob89 (NSH) on Jan 24, 2017 0:57:41 GMT -5
TSN Vancouver –
Before this season’s exploits in Vancouver, the Canucks had been to the Stanley Cup three times and come up empty each time. The last two of which resulted in city-wide rioting and millions of dollars in property damage. So when the Canucks made it back to the Cup Finals this June, as happy as the city was, one couldn’t help but sense an under-riding feeling of fear. Will this be the year that they finally break that goose egg, or will the city burn once more?
General Manager, Kurt S., himself a life long Canucks fan, was asked about this potential for unrest before game 1 of the cup finals with Buffalo. His response: “Honestly, that thought didn’t even cross my mind until we arrived here in Buffalo, and I saw some Sabres fans holding signs with pictures of Vancouver burning, with the words, ‘Burn Vancouver burn!’ But I would hope that our people learned from the last time. It didn’t do any good for the city. In fact, it gave Vancouver a bad rep across the league, a rep which we hope one day will be forgotten.”
Truth be told, few expected much from the Canucks in this particular series. They had been great against the West, including the defending champs from Nashville, but the Eastern Conference is a whole different deal, and the Sabres had made mincemeat of every team they’d faced. But the Canucks were bullishly confident. GM Kurt: “I felt good going into the finals against buffalo. Our team has been together since day one. We made some big moves and stuck with the build, and losing in the first round in back to back years made our team stronger. We wanted to face buffalo, even to get a little revenge for Drouin and Gillies. No one likes to get traded, and Gillies did great for us coming in and being the back up and then even eventually taking the lead to get us to the finals. And needless to say, Drouin getting the game-winning goal in game 7 of the Stanley Cup was priceless. Something people in Vancouver will never forget.”
From an iNHL commissioner’s perspective, Buffalo and Vancouver are not exactly the two most attractive markets that you want involved in the season climactic moment, but from a hockey purist’s perspective; it was gold. The series was back and forth with high-octane physicality, speed, and lots of shots culminating in game 7, 3rd period, with Buffalo on the precipice of victory with a 4-3 lead. After the game, GM Kurt was quoted as having said, “Honestly, there were a few moments there where I thought we may have made a big mistake starting Samsonov in net considering he’d had no playoff experience and Gillies was healthy coming back from injury. But Samsonov buckled down in the 3rd making some great saves and he gave us a chance to win. And in the end, we prevailed.”
Game 7 was in Buffalo, but that didn’t stop Canucks fans from swamping the city. Thankfully, this time, the result was very different. There were a few less burning police cars. In this salary cap era, it’s hard to predict how long teams can continue to succeed, but management in Vancouver seems confident that there are a few years yet where this team will be competing for to be champs again. “This coming season we are giving some of our young defensemen a chance to prove they can play in the iNHL. In the future there will be a lot of changes going on here with the salary cap not working in our favour. But most of the team will still be together, and I hope to be in the mix to repeat next year and to continue making this Canucks franchise into a dynasty like the Oilers and Red Wings in their days.”
It’s been almost 45 years, but the cup has finally come to Vancouver. It’s about time.
Farhan Lalji, TSN Vancouver
Before this season’s exploits in Vancouver, the Canucks had been to the Stanley Cup three times and come up empty each time. The last two of which resulted in city-wide rioting and millions of dollars in property damage. So when the Canucks made it back to the Cup Finals this June, as happy as the city was, one couldn’t help but sense an under-riding feeling of fear. Will this be the year that they finally break that goose egg, or will the city burn once more?
General Manager, Kurt S., himself a life long Canucks fan, was asked about this potential for unrest before game 1 of the cup finals with Buffalo. His response: “Honestly, that thought didn’t even cross my mind until we arrived here in Buffalo, and I saw some Sabres fans holding signs with pictures of Vancouver burning, with the words, ‘Burn Vancouver burn!’ But I would hope that our people learned from the last time. It didn’t do any good for the city. In fact, it gave Vancouver a bad rep across the league, a rep which we hope one day will be forgotten.”
Truth be told, few expected much from the Canucks in this particular series. They had been great against the West, including the defending champs from Nashville, but the Eastern Conference is a whole different deal, and the Sabres had made mincemeat of every team they’d faced. But the Canucks were bullishly confident. GM Kurt: “I felt good going into the finals against buffalo. Our team has been together since day one. We made some big moves and stuck with the build, and losing in the first round in back to back years made our team stronger. We wanted to face buffalo, even to get a little revenge for Drouin and Gillies. No one likes to get traded, and Gillies did great for us coming in and being the back up and then even eventually taking the lead to get us to the finals. And needless to say, Drouin getting the game-winning goal in game 7 of the Stanley Cup was priceless. Something people in Vancouver will never forget.”
From an iNHL commissioner’s perspective, Buffalo and Vancouver are not exactly the two most attractive markets that you want involved in the season climactic moment, but from a hockey purist’s perspective; it was gold. The series was back and forth with high-octane physicality, speed, and lots of shots culminating in game 7, 3rd period, with Buffalo on the precipice of victory with a 4-3 lead. After the game, GM Kurt was quoted as having said, “Honestly, there were a few moments there where I thought we may have made a big mistake starting Samsonov in net considering he’d had no playoff experience and Gillies was healthy coming back from injury. But Samsonov buckled down in the 3rd making some great saves and he gave us a chance to win. And in the end, we prevailed.”
Game 7 was in Buffalo, but that didn’t stop Canucks fans from swamping the city. Thankfully, this time, the result was very different. There were a few less burning police cars. In this salary cap era, it’s hard to predict how long teams can continue to succeed, but management in Vancouver seems confident that there are a few years yet where this team will be competing for to be champs again. “This coming season we are giving some of our young defensemen a chance to prove they can play in the iNHL. In the future there will be a lot of changes going on here with the salary cap not working in our favour. But most of the team will still be together, and I hope to be in the mix to repeat next year and to continue making this Canucks franchise into a dynasty like the Oilers and Red Wings in their days.”
It’s been almost 45 years, but the cup has finally come to Vancouver. It’s about time.
Farhan Lalji, TSN Vancouver