Low Scoring Excitement

Canucks Take Game 1 On Late Torres Goal

It seemed like this was exactly what the Bruins envisioned. As last night's game went on I felt like it was inevitable the Bruins were going to score a late goal and win 1-0. This was going to be a replay of their Game 7 against the Lightning. However, to my surprise, it was the Canucks with the late goal to stun the Bruins and give the Canucks the 1-0 series lead in a very exciting Game 1.

I'm not going out on a limb in making the assertion the Canucks have much more offensive firepower than the Bruins. However, we have two Norris trophy finalists in the nets here, and they did not disappoint. I think many people who didn't watch last night's game and saw the score this morning would jump to the conclusion that it wasn't a very exciting game simply based on the fact that there wasn't a goal scored until 19 seconds were left in the game. I know I have been guilty of doing that occasionally, but there's a reason they say never to assume. This was an exciting first game to start the series. The Canucks had a great chance a mere 20 seconds in, but Thomas made the first of many great saves to prevent the Canucks from getting on an early roll. I think that those early saves by Thomas coupled with the double minor the Canucks were forced to kill off really tamed the Canucks. They came out flying, and it reminded me of Game 1 in their series against the Hawks. Had one of those early chances gone in, it might have been a very different game. The more saves Thomas made, the more cute the Canucks tried to be with their shots. The five-hole just simply wasn't there. I think the Canucks will stop trying to go five-hole as frequently. Thomas had that locked down in Game 1.

In his assessment today, Barry Melrose stated that the Bruins and their fans should be happy with the game. They did "everything but win." I respectfully disagree. This was exactly the game the Bruins needed to win. The Bruins won the series against Tampa because they were able to steal Game 2 thanks to atrocious defense and goaltending by the Lightning. It was inevitable that Thomas would steal a couple of 2-1 or 1-0 type games, and he did. However, the Lightning needed to take advantage of the high scoring games to get wins. When they scored 5 in Game 2 and still lost, I knew that would cost them, and it did. In this series, I think this was exactly the type of game the Bruins needed to win. The fact they played their type of hockey game and not only lost, but couldn't score a single goal, is not something to be excited about. That's 1 goal in the last 120 minutes of hockey for the Bruins. Their power play looked decent, but still couldn't put the puck in the net. I still think this has the potential to be a long series, but if the Canucks get an early goal in game 2, look out. For the Bruins to win Game 2, they'll need to at least equal their performance from last night. I don't think that was the Canucks best effort, and I have a hunch that Game 2 will be much more high scoring than Game 1, despite the Vezina trophy finalists in the nets.

Bitegate

Pierre McGuire loves to pick a topic during the game and pounce on it like a rabid dog. He speaks about it with such seriousness and conviciton that he sounds like he's leading troops into battle. It drives me nuts. He did it again last night when Burrows and Bergeron had their little altercation. Pierre instantly was calling for a suspension to Burrows. I can understand calling for a suspension when you see a blatant headshot or a stomp to the leg, but on a bite that wasn't even visible on camera? Come on, Pierre. Even on NHL Home Ice they were saying that biting "has no place in hockey" and that Burrows should get suspended. You know what else has no part in hockey? Shovign your disgusting fingers in someone else's mouth! That is exactly what Bergeron did. You got bit? Tough luck. If my arms were being held and someone shoved their fingers into my mouth, I would do whatever is necessary to get them removed as quickly as possible, and that includes biting. I've never been in that situation, but it might even be a natural response to bite when someone is forcing something into your mouth. I was glad to hear that Burrows would not be suspended. I watched the replay several times, and it's unclear that he bit Bergeron's finger. The only thing that is certain is that Bergeron shoved his fingers into Burrows' mouth. While we're discussing suspensions, why not at least discuss suspending Krejci for a blatant cross-check on a defenseless Hamhuis, who did not return afterwards.

Ratings

Last night's game received the highest rating for a Finals game since 1999. The real hockey fans are watching these games no matter what. However, this is an indication that maybe the sport is starting to see some fan growth as a result of the quality of the product. No Crosby, No Ovechkin, no massive market, and still a high rating.

With the Thrashers leaving Atlanta, it's easy to chalk that up to a failure of the strategy to grow hockey in non-traditional markets. It's more complicated than that. The Thrashers had decent attendence, but we'll never know how they would have done had they been more successful on the ice. Certianly the ownership group was very disliked by the Atlanta fans. I guess my worry will be that the NHL sees this rating and continues to just promote Crosby and Ovechkin to the detriment of the many other great players in the league and the quality of the game itself. Since the lockout ended, I think everyone would agree that the game is more exciting than ever. Let the game sell itself. People will realize how exciting it is when they are exposed to it. Just please don't continue to think that the only way to "grow" the game is by showing Crosby or Ovechkin (or both) every time that NBC has a game to air.