Lord Stanley's glorious mug has circulated throughout the hockey world for over a century since the Lord Stanley of Preston donated the cup in 1892. The significance of having one's name inscribed on this magnificent trophy of trophies is far beyond words for the players who compete year in and year out at the highest level of hockey in the world. For the country who considers hockey to be 'our game', Canada has been starved for almost 2 decades as the Stanley Cup has not been presented to a Canadian team since Patrick Roy led the Montreal Canadiens to hockey glory in the '92 - '93 season. This insatiable lust for hockey glory that resides within many Canadians looked as though it had its best chance at being quenched this playoff season as our West coast brothers from Vancouver asserted their dominance over a remarkable regular season and continued that supremacy through the first 3 games of these playoffs. Now for the bad news. We may be witnessing the greatest collective collapse in the history of the National Hockey League.
I have heard for a few days now about the Chicago Blackhawks and their grit, determination and heart. I've listened as people have talked about their will to win and their ability to raise their game to another level and how their perseverance and courage will vault them into another class in hockey history. Well, frankly I am sick and tired of hearing about it. I don't want to talk about the Chicago Blackhawks of today, the Philadelphia Flyers of last year, the 1975 New York Islanders or the even the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. I want to focus my efforts on describing how tonight's game 7 will determine whether or not the Vancouver Canucks will live on in hockey lore as the biggest goats of all time. I want to talk about last years Boston Bruins, the 1975 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 1942 Detroit Red Wings who all suffered the same fate as the Canucks face tonight, and illustrate how a Canuck loss would put them front and centre as the most epic collapse in NHL history.
Going chronologically, the first team in NHL history to blow a 3 - 0 series lead was the 1941 - '42 Detroit Red Wings. Good on them for even being up 3 - 0 in the series is the way I look at it. The powerhouse Leafs came in 2nd in the NHL that year while the Wings finished 5th and were 8 wins and 15 points back of the Leafs. The Leafs were led that year by future Hall of Famers Turk Broda and Syl Apps and were clearly the more superior team to the Wings on paper. The meltdown by Detroit was not expected by any means, but can be forgiven in some respects when looking at the facts.
The 1975 Pittsburgh Penguins received the same rude awakening as the '42 Wings when Denis Potvin and company from Long Island stormed back down 3 - 0 to win their quarterfinal matchup. The Pens and Islanders were separated by only 1 point that year during the regular season and it was a tale of 2 very different teams. The offensively gifted Penguins went up against the defensive minded squad from Long Island in a battle of 2 separate hockey identities. The series was hard fought and the islanders prevailed after giving up 14 goals in their first 3 losses, the Isles clamped down defensively and gave up a mere 4 goals in their 4 wins. Even though the Pens arguably wear the crown as the biggest goat in hockey history to this point, the two teams were fairly evenly matched and lightning seemed to strike at the right time for the Islanders.
Finally, last years magical run by the Philadelphia Flyers encompassed a 2nd round 'upset' much to the chagrin of the Boston Bruins. The Flyers, led by Chris Pronger and playoff phenom Michael Leighton, stormed back down 3 - 0 to Boston and capped their epic series comeback by overcoming a 3 - 0 deficit in game 7 as well. The Flyers would continue on to the Stanley Cup and would only be stopped by, guess who, the Chicago Blackhawks. Once again, however, when breaking down the Flyers-Bruins series one can easily see how these two teams matched up well and the expectation was a hard fought and long series. The Bruins finished 6th in the Eastern Conference with the Flyers finishing only 3 points behind them in 7th. The Flyers actually had 2 more regular season wins than the Bruins and had a better goal differential. It's fairly obvious that much like the Pens-Isles series in '75 that these two teams were fairly evenly matched. This is not to devalue the accomplishments of the Leafs, Isles or Flyers teams that were able to come back from down 3 games because it has only happened 3 times in hockey history. But my point here is that the Vancouver Canucks meltdown will far exceed the previous 3 meltdowns.
Let's first discuss the hard facts in this years Hawks-Canucks matchup. The Canucks finished the regular season as President's Trophy winners and finished 10 full points ahead of the Washington Capitals for regular season supremacy. The Canucks led the NHL in goals for and goals against while boasting the NHL's number 1 ranked power play and number 2 ranked penalty kill. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, sat back and watched as an oddly inspired Minnesota Wild team beat the Dallas Stars in the last game of the NHL's regular season allowing the Hawks to backdoor into the playoffs with 20 points fewer than the Canucks. Furthermore, the Canucks possess the last 2 Art Ross trophy winners, most likely the last 2 Hart trophy winners and an Olympic gold medal winning goaltender. The Blackhawks counter with a rookie netminder and a team decimated by an offseason fire sale that saw many of its key playoff contributors move on to other teams. The series was really over before it started; or so we thought.
Getting past the numbers game this series becomes even more intriguing as most of us should already know the immediate history between these two teams. The Chicago Blackhawks are essentially the reason why the hockey world has ever questioned Roberto Luongo in his quest to become the premier goaltender in the NHL. The past 2 seasons, in animosity filled series I might add, the Hawks have sent the Canucks to the links. The undertone to the series this year, even if the Canucks didn't acknowledge it publicly, was to make the Hawks pay and taste the same sour taste of defeat that has been left in Vancouver in back-to-back years now. Unfortunately, Apollo Creed had Rocky on the ropes and just hasn't been able to throw the knockout punch.
If the Canucks are able to complete this disastrous meltdown tonight and are sent home for a third time in three years it would be the most catastrophic happenstance in Vancouver hockey as well as the greatest collapse of any hockey franchise in NHL history. Tonight's game 7 means so much more than just who advances to the second round. Tonight is a career defining game for Roberto Luongo. After the shame of being pulled in back-to-back games, followed by not starting game 6 and still giving up the game winner, Luongo and his decade long contract will be a tough sell in Vancouver. This loss will follow the Canadian tender for the rest of his career and will be an enormous burden to carry. The Sedin twins can throw their hat in the mix with Luongo as reports have surfaced that they travelled to Sweden after game 3 and have yet to return this series. These 3 marquee players must step up for themselves, their teammates, the franchise, the city of Vancouver and Canadians alike who are starved for a Stanley Cup winner on home soil (yes I know the Habs are still in but I am being realistic). No pressure though. Good luck Vancouver. May your sticks be solid, your gloves be quick and God forbid you come out on the wrong end of the score sheet tonight, don't bother coming back.
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