2011 NHL Playoffs

[The_Admiral]

Even if they don't call for a suspension, they didn't even bother to follow the same procedure, which is not very surprising given the two markets that are involved in the series.

God, you guys are such a bunch of wrist-cutters sometimes.

[Cujo]

Going with Vancouver in Game 7. Just feel like they've really been able to use home-ice to their advantage, and it'll continue tonight.

Final score: Canucks 3-1.

[NEW.ERA]

Bruins 2-1

Lucic gets the GWG late in the 3rd.

Tim Thomas wins the Conn Smythe.

[Lee.]

Thomas wins the Smythe regardless.

[bigbean24]

Luongo is going to get his together and shut down the Bruins.

[Cujo]

Thomas wins the Smythe regardless.

Seconded. Vancouver could score a dozen tonight, and Tim Thomas still gets Playoff MVP. His postseason has been nothing short of spectacular.

[Sport]

As a rule of thumb, Hockey makes no sense, so I'm going with a Luongo shutout and a 3-0 Canucks win.

Thomas still wins the Conn Smythe.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

your 2010-2011 Stanley Cup champions:

[The_Admiral]

Well if this isn't obvious yet, Deadspin posted an article that says if Vancouver wins tonight it will be the least deserving team to win in the history of the Stanley Cup finals, the World Series, or the NBA finals. Even if there's a 4-0 style blowout, it'll be second to the Yankees-Pirates World Series. And Deadspin puts it best,

It would be one of the flukiest Finals ever, and Canucks fans wouldn't care one damn bit.

You know, that was a fairly good article, as far as Deadspin articles go. The author did some number-crunching, some heavy lifting, and came up with some similar cases. (What the author didn't mention in making his case was that the Canucks also took a 3-0 lead to game 7 overtime in the first round, with Luongo getting pulled from two games and benched in a third, before ultimately winning. Also, aggregate score: 22-16 Chicago, Canucks actually won the series 4-3, Canucks "actually" won the series 5-2 according to Cap'n Floppy and assorted dumbasses.)

But then the first comment on this interesting and well-supported opinion?

So, a list of the top 10 least-deserving champions ever is ok, but when I was covering the WNBA for my local paper and I made my list of the top 10 yeast-deserving champions I lose my job?

Followed by one of the more execrable can-you-top-this runs I've ever seen, and I've been posting on message boards for ten years. This is why Deadspin sucks.

[Lee.]

The worst thing about soccer gaining popularity in North America is now everyone is going to start going on about how aggregate scores should determine the winners instead of those silly "games won" things.

[The_Admiral]

"Aggregate score" might be a new term, but the concept is the same as pythagorean expectation, which is so mainstream that mlb.com posts it in the standings.

For whatever it's worth, either flavor of wide-range scored/allowed is a useful predictor over the course of a season, but less so over a seven-game series.

[IceCap]

At first I wanted the Canucks to win it because they were the last Canadian team left in the post-season. Now I want them to win just to see NEW.ERA and CS85's heads explode.

[charger77]

your 2010-2011 Stanley Cup champions:

Damn! I missed the game.

[The_Admiral]

At first I wanted the Canucks to win it because they were the last Canadian team left in the post-season.

This was an insipid stance to take, so any replacement is an improvement, even though I think I like CS85 and don't wish to see his head explode.

[cornettored]

I'm not going to but will someone else PLEASE pick Boston just to offset the potential karmic retaliation:P

[TFoA]

your 2010-2011 Stanley Cup champions:

Damn! I missed the game.

Yep, no reason to tune in tonight.

[IceCap]

At first I wanted the Canucks to win it because they were the last Canadian team left in the post-season.

This was an insipid stance to take, so any replacement is an improvement,

I said it before, I'm not the only one playing the nationalist card here, and it's not a Canada-only sentiment.

It's the principal of the thing anyway. The Cup was donated by a Canadian Governor General. It's not unreasonable to want to see it won by a Canadian team once a decade. Had the Flames won it in 2004 I probably wouldn't be on the "lets go last Canadian team!" kick now. Though I'd probably still be rooting for Vancouver now just because screw Tim Thomas and his tendency to always play out of his mind against the Leafs.

even though I think I like CS85 and don't wish to see his head explode.

Obnoxious fan behaviour is obnoxious. I get that the 'Hawks and Canucks have a rivalry, and I get that the Canucks eliminated the 'Hawks this post-season. There's that and then there's wishing the Ten Plagues of Egypt upon the Rogers Arena though.

[NEW.ERA]

Could never buy into the bring the cup back home theory. Makes not a lot of sense, the game has grown substantially in the 18 years following the last Canadian team winning the cup. Canada may embrace it the most, but it's not just our game anymore.

June 24th is when I'll start caring again, the start of the offseason. Be it the Canucks or Bruins tonight it's been a great playoffs from a neutral fan's perspective.

[IceCap]

Could never buy into the bring the cup back home theory. Makes not a lot of sense, the game has grown substantially in the 18 years following the last Canadian team winning the cup. Canada may embrace it the most, but it's not just our game anymore.

Never said it was. For a trophy donated by a Canadian Governor General, in a sport embraced by Canadians like no other country, however, I think it would be nice to see a Canadian team win it at least once a decade. Not to much to ask. As for the game growing a lot since 1993, well Atlanta's moving to Winnipeg, Florida's tarpping off the upper bowl, and the Coyotes are being kept alive on government subsidies. So yeah.

Plus I have a feeling you would be totally on-board with the "bring the Cup home" sentiment (which is what it is, it's not a theory) if the Flames were in the Finals

June 24th is when I'll start caring again, the start of the offseason. Be it the Canucks or Bruins tonight it's been a great playoffs from a neutral fan's perspective.

Haven't you picked against the Canucks in every round this post-season?

[The_Admiral]

I rooted hard, to no avail, for the Senators and Flames to win in 2003 and 2004, respectively. I felt it was about time a Canadian city got to have the championship again for the reasons you outlined, and I'm an American. But nowhere in this did I fall under the misconception that the Senators or Flames would be winning the Stanley Cup on behalf of Canada. They'd be winning on behalf of Ottawa or Calgary, which are in Canada, but I sort of expected (and would to this day had I not seen this play out every year since) that the rest of the country wouldn't be very pleased about the whole thing, especially in Nearest Rival City. To root for a team you otherwise dislike (and boy, are these guys a bunch to dislike) because they are based in a city on the same side of a line as your city is an idiotic construct, which is saying something considering sports is but a series of idiotic constructs. It's like when I was told that I had to drop everything and root for Team USA in the Olympics. If I've spent the rest of my hockey fandom wishing for Ryan Kesler to be wholly consumed by flesh-eating ants, I am not going to reverse course because of where he happened to exit the womb.