Hated Canucks can’t get it done
Eliminating the Blackhawks in the first round turned out to be the high point of the playoffs for the Vancouver Canucks.
The team Hawks players and their fans love to hate couldn’t get it done Wednesday night in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on home ice, losing 4-0 to the Boston Bruins.
For the Hawks, as much as it stung to lose that memorable Game 7 in the opening round, they can enjoy the rest of the summer knowing they still have something the Canucks don’t: a Stanley Cup banner hanging in the rafters at the United Center.
Maybe the Canucks found themselves more and more banged up physically as the playoffs wore on, but the fact remains their best players didn’t produce when it counted the most, starting with goalie Roberto Luongo and all-star forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
It was a rookie leading the way for the Bruins in Game 7 with center Brad Marchand setting up the first of 2 goals by Patrice Bergeron in the first period, then scoring a huge second goal in the second period.
Marchand added an empty- net goal late.
He outworked Canucks defenseman Sami Salo on Bergeron’s first goal and stole the puck from defenseman Kevin Bieksa to beat Luongo on a wraparound to make it 2-0.
Marchand finished with 11 goals and 19 points in the playoffs — the first rookie to score as many as 10 goals in the postseason since the Hawks’ Jeremy Roenick in 1990.
“Everybody is disappointed,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. “Our players gave it their best shot, but in this one game (the Bruins) were the better team.”
So what does the future hold for the Canucks?
They might never have another opportunity as good as the one that just got away to win a Stanley Cup.
“This is my fifth year in Vancouver,” Vigneault said. “I know what was at stake this year. I know I was in my window of opportunity.”
Sounds like a guy who thinks his time behind the bench might be over.
The Canucks have some salary-cap problems, although not as severe as what Hawks general manager Stan Bowman faced last summer when half the roster was turned over because of financial concerns.
The Canucks have approximately $13.7 million in cap space but only 13 players under contract for 2011-12.
There are eight unrestricted free agents, including defensemen Bieksa, Salo, Christian Ehrhoff and Andrew Alberts and forwards Chris Higgins, Raffi Torres, Tanner Glass and Jeff Tambellini.
And what becomes of Luongo, who might now be the second-best goalie on the team behind Cory Schneider? The Canucks certainly won’t find a team to take his contract.
The 33-year-old Luongo has a cap hit of $5.3 million, but more important he is signed through 2022.
We’re interested in the Canucks because they are the Hawks’ most hated rival, but how good were the Bruins after losing the first two games of the Finals?
Goalie Tim Thomas capped one of the greatest seasons ever turned in by a goaltender by winning a Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
His save percentage in the Finals was an astounding .965, and that was no fluke. Not when Thomas’ save percentage during the regular season was .938 with 35 wins and 9 shutouts.
“It’s scary the kind of incredible year he had,” said teammate Mark Recchi, who plans to retire after winning his third Cup.
Hopefully Hawks management took note of the size, grit and muscle the Bruins used on the Canucks in the Finals. It’s exactly what the Hawks need going forward.
“The physical work we did through the whole series paid off,” Thomas said.
The value of a guy like Bruins winger Shawn Thornton can be underestimated.
Thornton, a former Hawk, didn’t dress in the first two games but helped turn the series around, starting in Game 3 with his physical presence and ability to play a solid 10 minutes with an impact.
tsassone@dailyherald.com