Official: Vancouver Canucks W00T

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Aquaman

Lifer
Dec 17, 1999
25,054
13
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Wild send series to seventh game

Associated Press
5/7/2003

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Wild won't go away, or stop scoring.

Andrew Brunette's two goals led another unlikely outburst by the Wild, who sidestepped elimination for the fifth time this post-season with a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

``We're a resilient bunch,'' Brunette said.

The Western Conference semifinal series is tied at 3, with a deciding Game 7 set for Thursday in Vancouver.

The winner will face the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the West finals. Both the Canucks and Wild rallied from 3-1 deficits in the first round.

``I like the fact we've been through it once,'' Canucks coach Marc Crawford said of Game 7. ``We have to play a full 60 minutes. Our guys are ready to do that. Better we made a mistake tonight and not tomorrow night.''

Dwayne Roloson made 30 saves for Minnesota, who also got goals from Darby Hendrickson, Antti Laaksonen and seldom-used Lubomir Sekeras. Cliff Ronning had three assists, and Marian Gaborik added two as the Wild went 3-for-5 on the power play.

The Wild, who've scored 12 goals the last two games, are an NHL-leading 14-for-55 (25.5 per cent) on the man advantage during the post-season.

These rivals have played a very physical series, but the Canucks didn't get away with any rough stuff on Wednesday. They took eight penalties.

``They deserve it,'' Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. ``We look at tapes, too. I know a lot of times we do complain, but when we complain we have something to back it up.

``It's a team that plays aggressively. Maybe they don't respect the power play that much. I don't know what they think.''

Crawford was pleased with the effort but not the result.

``The penalties got us in trouble,'' he said. ``We just have to be more determined to kill them off.''

Minnesota was a surprise qualifier for the playoffs in its third season. The Wild became just the fourth team in NHL history to win five elimination games in one post-season.

No team has ever overcome two 3-1 series deficits in the same post-season. The Wild trailed Colorado by that number in the first round before winning three straight - two in Denver.

``If you asked us at the beginning of the series if we could play one game versus Vancouver, winner takes all,'' Brunette said, ``certainly we'd take it.''

Hendrickson, Laaksonen and Brunette scored in a third period that turned ugly toward the end. Eight of the game's 15 penalties were called in the final frame.

Ed Jovanovski scored his seventh goal of the playoffs for the Canucks, who have not lost three straight all season.

``You might as well throw the other six games out now,'' Jovanovski said.

Canucks goalie Dan Cloutier, pulled after giving up six goals in two periods on Monday, fell apart in the final period amid thundering chants of ``Sieve! Sieve! Sieve!'' from the overflow crowd of 19,350.

Neither team made their goalie available for comment.

``Danny's fine,'' teammate Todd Bertuzzi said. ``Danny's a strong individual. He's one of the reason's why we're in the situation that we're in. He's a very confident goalie.''

That said, there has to be some doubts creeping in for the Canucks.

``I'm not really worried about them,'' Brunette said. ``We feel good about ourselves, if we do what we need to do. If we run around like we did tonight in the first period, we're not going to do well.''

The Canucks, admittedly embarrassed by their effort and the outcome of Monday's 7-2 home loss in Game 5, completely controlled the first period and outshot the Wild 12-4.

Vancouver's defence, led by Brent Sopel, Mattias Ohlund and Jovanovski, blocked dozens of shots and kept Minnesota from getting any quality scoring chances or finding any offensive flow.

Roloson - 4-4 in the post-season - was sharp, though, and the Wild looked like a new team in the next period. They didn't quite match the franchise-record five goals they scored in the second period on Monday, but they came close.

With nine seconds left on a power play, Cloutier knocked Gaborik's shot away - right to Brunette, who didn't get a clean shot off as he fell forward. It still went in, giving Minnesota the lead.

Trevor Linden was whistled for high-sticking later in the period, and Sekeras sent a blistering slap shot high over a screened Cloutier's shoulder with five seconds remaining on the man advantage to make it 2-0.

The Canucks' high-scoring top line of Bertuzzi, Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison continued its quiet series. Yet they remained confident.

``I still believe that if we play the way we're supposed to, that we're going to beat them,'' Naslund said.

Notes: Gaborik leads the league with 17 playoff points. ... The other three teams who have won five or more elimination games in one post-season: the New York Islanders in 1975 and 1987 and Vancouver in 1994. ... Canucks D Sami Salo was scratched with flulike symptoms. ... Laaksonen returned after being a healthy scratch the previous two games. He played every game in franchise history before that. ... Sekeras, scratched 18 times during the regular season, had only eight shots on goal in the first 12 post-season games.

Cheers,
Aquaman
 

Aquaman

Lifer
Dec 17, 1999
25,054
13
0
McKenzie: Speed over size in Game 6

TSN.ca Staff
5/8/2003

One of the supposed advantages for the Vancouver Canucks in this series was expected to be their size and their strength. They are a bigger, stronger team than the Minnesota Wild, averaging a full inch taller and 12 pounds heavier, which is pretty significant.

And there were times in this series, and in Game 6, when that physical presence seemed to be paying off as an advantage. Matt Cooke and Jarkko Ruutu were knocking down Wild players in the early going.

But, it was the speed of the Wild that really told the tale in Game 6. Wes Walz used his speed to get some opportunities, Marian Gaborik turnstiled Mattias Ohlund for a good chance and Marek Malik was beaten to the puck by Antti Laaksonen which led to Darby Hendrickson's goal.

The one factor that came through clearly in Game 6 was the speed of the Wild players. For all the physicality the Canucks might have as an advantage, it seems it's the speed of the Wild that is turning out to be a bigger factor. They can fly.
And they can fly all the way to Vancouver without an airplane after two lopsided wins. You really do have to wonder about the psyche of the Canucks heading into Game 7.

Cheers,
Aquaman
 

pyonir

Lifer
Dec 18, 2001
40,855
316
126
Originally posted by: silverpig


BOO!!!

*puts curse on you*

I think a curse is already on Cloutier and the Nucks defense! :Q

I can't believe the outbreak in scoring by the usual low scoring Wild.

This has been a great series!
 

Aquaman

Lifer
Dec 17, 1999
25,054
13
0
Originally posted by: silverpig
Originally posted by: pyonir
*clears throat* let me state again:


GO WILD GO!

BOO!!!

*puts curse on you*

Yeah............. [evil eye] Pyonir ..............May Jerboy & Iamtim83 become your lovers :Q [/evil eye

:Q :Q :Q :Q :Q

Cheers,
Aquaman
 

Aquaman

Lifer
Dec 17, 1999
25,054
13
0
Originally posted by: pyonir
Originally posted by: silverpig


BOO!!!

*puts curse on you*

I think a curse is already on Cloutier and the Nucks defense! :Q

I can't believe the outbreak in scoring by the usual low scoring Wild.

This has been a great series!

Actually I think Cloutier is playing well .......... (except the later half of game 5) it's the Defense that is letting him down.

Cheers,
Aquaman
 

pyonir

Lifer
Dec 18, 2001
40,855
316
126
Originally posted by: Aquaman


Yeah............. [evil eye] Pyonir ..............May Jerboy & Iamtim83 become your lovers :Q [/evil eye

:Q :Q :Q :Q :Q

Cheers,
Aquaman

OMG! :( Come on man! It's just sports! that was WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! over the line!!!!

 

silverpig

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
27,703
11
81
Originally posted by: pyonir
OMG! :( Come on man! It's just sports! that was WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! over the line!!!!

Not here it's not... It's religion :)
 

Aquaman

Lifer
Dec 17, 1999
25,054
13
0
Canucks hope third time is the charm

Sports Ticker
5/8/2003

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The resilient Minnesota Wild can reach the Western Conference finals for the first time Thursday when they face the Vancouver Canucks in Game Seven of their semifinal series at General Motors Place.

The Wild lost three of the first four games of the series but have battled back to even the series. After rallying from a three games to one deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche in the quarterfinals, the Wild are just the fourth team in NHL history to win five elimination games in one playoff year.

"We dug ourselves a hole, we've been able to dig ourselves almost to ground level here," Minnesota left wing Andrew Brunette said. "The last two games reinforced that we thought we played the first four games fairly well and just didn't get results."

Minnesota can become just the second team in NHL history to win six elimination game in one postseason. The 1974 New York Islanders won eight elimination games and did not even reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Wild can also become the second team in NHL history to rally from a three games to one deficit twice in the same postseason.

"We can't think about what has happened in the past," Wild left wing Antti Laaksonen said. "It's zero-zero. We've got one game coming up. You can't think about the fact that it's never been done before."

Minnesota forced Game Seven with a 5-1 victory over Vancouver at the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday.

Brunette scored two goals and Dwayne Roloson made 30 saves for the Wild. Darby Hendrickson, Laaksonen and defenseman Lubomir Sekeras also scored, while former Canuck Cliff Ronning had three assists.

Marian Gaborik had a goal and an assist for the Wild and leads all playoff scorers with nine goals and 17 points.

Minnesota has scored 12 goals in the last two games and leads the NHL on the power play in the playoffs, going 14-for-55.

Defenseman Ed Jovanovski scored his seventh goal of the postseason for the Canucks, who did not lose more than two game in a row during the regular season.

Vancouver is trying to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1994, when they lost to the New York Rangers in seven games in the Stanley Cup Finals. The 37-year-old Ronning was a key contributor to that team, recording five goals and 10 assists in 24 postseason games.

The winner of this series will meet the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who became just the second team in NHL history to topple the top two seeds in one playoff year, ousting the Dallas Stars in six games in the other conference semifinal after sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in the quarterfinals.

Cheers,
Aquaman
 

IcemanJer

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2001
4,307
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0
So on SportsTalk last night Dan Russel (and a caller) suggested that maybe we should've let Skudra or Auld take game 6, and let Cloutie rest. There were a few debates about that, and about Cloutier psych for giving up that many goals in 2 games (some of which are pretty soft), and about him playing this many games in such a short period of time... I was too sleepy to pay any real attention. Thoughts?
 

Aquaman

Lifer
Dec 17, 1999
25,054
13
0
I think in the game 5 2/3 of the goals were hard to stop & game 6 I think you can only fault him on 1 (the off side one).

Just my opinion, being a gaolie :) He just needs more support from his players :)

Cheers,
Aquaman
 

Avatar26

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2001
1,044
0
0
I don't even need to be original when talking about Dan Cloutier...I can just quote the Wild faithful when I say,

"SIEVE, SIEVE, SIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!"

I'm really looking forward to another Game 7, I do seriously hope this is closer than the last 2 games, I hate blowouts.:D
 

IcemanJer

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2001
4,307
0
0
Originally posted by: Aquaman
I think in the game 5 2/3 of the goals were hard to stop & game 6 I think you can only fault him on 1 (the off side one).
Actually I'd add the first goal too (or whatever one it was when the puch went off his glove for that huge rebound. I think he really could've gloved it without a problem.

Ah... 5 hours till game time!
 

Sealy

Platinum Member
Aug 4, 2002
2,438
1
71
Go Canucks Go! And Hugs for every Canucks fan in here! :) And a smooch for Aquaman if they win the Stanley Cup!:lips:
 
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