Vancouver made the money, now they pay the piper.

The complete idiocy that sends players onto the ice inferring with all the hyped up nonsense that the honor of the province rested on only their shoulders Has come to this. In fact making a claim that our honor depended on one goalie is plain nuts. It is an effing game folks and the price of hooliganism is what you pay for the greed that fed it. Attracting thousands of idiots for a bash downtown was the worst idea yet. We pay people big bucks to use common sense and prevent this kind of thing. Didn't anybody clue in as to what would happen if they lost.

I'm glad it is over. Clearly Boston deserved to win but was my honor at stake because Boston playes better hockey. You gotta be nuts to believe that kind of nonsense.

Move on, there are important issue worth talking about.

Tangler said ...

"And the right thing was to let Marchand take a shot or two, and then send him off the ice on a stretcher."

Well, you've certainly got your definition of "sportsman-like behaviour" all wrapped up neat and tidy don't you. Perhaps you represent the kind of jingoistic "honour" guard that Skywalker is talking about.

Is Hockey Immmune From Corruption?

"the more I stared at it, the more I thought, however banged up the Canucks are right now...they didn't look like that tonight. And there's something wrong with that picture. Wayne Gretzky tells the story of walking past the Islanders dressing room after they beat the Oilers in the Cup final in '83 and seeing how battered, bloodied and bruised they were and realizing, that was what it really took to win a Stanley Cup."

The more one reads about the corruption of organized sports, the worse it gets. Is hockey immune? Like world soccer, there are millions and millions of dollars involved. Which breeds corruption.

As Joe Pelletier writes:

"There is a pretty interesting book out there called The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime. It looks at how organized crime, particularly Asian gangs, has corrupted the world of soccer at it's highest levels, including European Champions League, Olympic and World Cup matches and tournaments."

"Author Declan Hill explains the structure and mechanics of illegal gambling syndicates, what soccer players and referees do or not do to affect the outcome of their games, why relatively rich and high-status athletes would take money to fix games, and how they get referees on their side."

http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2009/01/is-hockey-fixed.html

Pelletier further states that:

"After reading this book your faith in the purity soccer at every level is completely shaken. You might as well extend that to all of sports...Could organized crime be trying to fix hockey matches too?

"Do not kid yourself. If organized crime is match-fixing rowing competitions, they are likely interested in a slice of hockey's big money pie...There has even been some suspicion about mobster involvement. If you are in Canada you may remember a investigative journalism piece about 9 years ago for CBC's The Fifth Estate that looked at how Russian players associating with known members of the Russian mafia, perhaps forced to do so because of mafia extortion attempts. That Fifth Estate documentary was done by, you guessed it, Declan Hill."

Declan Hill picks up the discussion:

http://www.cireport.ca/2010/06/hockey-and-russian-mafia.html

"[Hockey] is a religion in Canada. It is almost impossible to overstate the effect hockey has on the psyche of Canadian society. In most communities hockey players are regarded as "untouchables" and forgiven of almost any crime. In the last few years a slew of sexual abuse cases involving players or coaches has come to light. Most of these cases were known about but were deliberately not investigated because they involved hockey players."

"This factor of social prestige will become important in the story that I am going to tell you. For this is about how organised crime figures deliberately targeted some of the top hockey players in the league and were able to socialise with them, to extort them, and in some cases to actually go into business with them..."

Just wondering.

@ John Greg

Maybe you've heard about the riot last night? That's what happens when average people won't stand up to bullies, thugs and cowards.

You go right ahead and play Christ or Gandhi. Others will do the hard work for you. It was always thus.

Huh?

The riot was caused by people who don't stand up to bullies?!?

Where is the logic or sense in that claim?

Or are you claiming that the riot was in response to people who didn't stand up to bullies by being bullies themselves?

Or something else?

"Bullies, thugs, and cowards." All on the same plate? LOL.

/shakes head in confusion

Trade Luongo and fire the coach (I can't spell his name)

I think at this point we could trade Bobbie Lu for a bag of puck and a broken hockey stick. Maybe we could re-use the tape. He is not worth $10M/year. What an outrageous amount to pay someone who should only be a back up goal tender in this league. Send him to Winnipeg where he can freeze all winter. I thought Cory Schnieder played awesome when he was in net. We should keep him. Furthermore Alain V did a poor job motivating his player. All I heard was cliche after cliche. He said his players were all healthy. RIGHT! I don't beleive a word that comes from his mouth. If I were the owner I would get a Stanley Cup Coach such as Joel Quenville if I could. I love the Canucks Franchise and will always be a fan but I also will be critical of this team. Maybe Henrick should not have even touched the table when the conference trophy was presented. I felt a sense of doom when he did.

Back @ Greg

Last response from me, because I can't quite tell if you're being deliberately obtuse or not. I don't like to be suckered by a troll.

Here's the deal: Bullies thrive in an environment where they are not challenged. They prey on the weak, reap whatever rewards their sick minds desire, and grow bolder with every "victory".

The riot last night would have been over in a few minutes if groups of "normal" people had stepped forward, grabbed some of the ringleaders, and provided a lesson in behaviour. Unfortunately, most people were too frightened to intervene. The few who tried were outnumbered, and they paid a serious price.

So yes, the timid, frightened citizens of Vancouver contributed to the escalating violence. Cities all over North America have essentially been ceded to thugs and bullies, because average citizens won't fight back and won't pay for enough cops to do the dirty work. Maybe it's the price of growing urban metrosexuality. I blame the man bag.

This is connected to my first comment about Daniel Sedin. He and the rest of the Canucks failed to stand up to the bullying from Bruins like Marchand, Boychuk and others. As a direct result, the physical abuse escalated to the point that the Canucks were clearly intimidated and unable to play their skill game. Simply put, they were whipped. The series was finished after they rolled over to the alpha males on the Bruins side.

Now be a good boy and run along. You're not ready for the real world ... or for sports.

@shane.polak

I've never been a Luongo fan, but I can't pin the Game 7 loss on him. There isn't a goalie in the league - Thomas included - who can record a win when there are no goals scored by the offense. It's a bit like expecting a major league pitcher to win when nobody on the team can hit.

The Boston games might be a different story, but the fact is, the series came down to one game. That game was lost by the (non-existent) offense.

Tangler ...

Thanks for clarifying. No, I was not being deliberately obtuse; I honestly did not understand your point. Now I do, and while I disagree with your psychological theories, so to speak, and despite your childish insult, I am glad you clarified them. And I am most certanly not a troll.

Your argument strikes as circular, i.e., the bullies won because the meek did not themselves become stronger bullies which would then of course have encouraged the intitial bullies to "man up" and become even bullier bullies, and so on and so forth. An endless escalation.

You see, essentially what I'm saying is that your argument strikes me as being just the argument of the ever-escalating tough guy, and hence, to me, makes no logical sense.

It's Very Logical John

I'll take you at your word John ... I just hate trolls. That's where I thought this was going.

So, you said:

"Your argument strikes as circular, i.e., the bullies won because the meek did not themselves become stronger bullies which would then of course have encouraged the intitial bullies to "man up" and become even bullier bullies, and so on and so forth. An endless escalation."

Judging by your comment, I don't think you really understand what a bully is. By rising up, even to the point of using violence, "the meek" can't become a bully - because bullying is all about using actual or threatened violence to intimidate. The meek person (I prefer "normal person") who responds in kind is acting defensively, and has no intention of continuing a pattern of intimidation.

Bullying is a mental condition, not a physical one.

You should also realize that there is almost never an "escalation" of violence after a bully has been challenged. The vast majority of bullies are cowards and, once confronted (physically), they tend to slink away.

There IS a circular aspect to this, but it involves the victim-abuser cycle. The more the victim tolerates abuse, the worse the abuse becomes. That's why the Bruins employed increasing levels of physical intimidation during the series, and that's why skinny little punks think they can rampage through the streets with impunity.

I'm not a violent person at all, but I do know bullies (thugs, cowards) and I know how to make them go away. It starts with a warning, and it ends with them on the way to the hospital.

Boxing on ice - what a joke

I always called North American hockey boxing on ice.
A bunch of boys (I can hardly call these men) ruled by their testosterone as oppose to by their intelligence - punching each other, pushing, shoving, elbowing each other. Aha, and that is called hockey?

Where is hockey in taking your glove off and punch the other player? Or where is hockey in injuring a player to a point where he is out of the games for month or years? In which other sports do you see this?

I have a really hard time calling hockey a sport.

Sport requires sportsmanship. Hardly seen in hockey! Maybe in Olympic hockey.

A violent game - no wonder that it attracts the wrong crowd too.

tangler

"You should also realize that there is almost never an "escalation" of violence after a bully has been challenged. The vast majority of bullies are cowards and, once confronted (physically), they tend to slink away.

Oh? So that's why "the few brave citizens who stood up to bullies" got beaten themselves, I suppose?

There's so much wrong with your point of view, so much illogic in it, I'm surprised John Greg is still with you.

I've enjoyed your other comments on other threads, but on this one, I'm now simply going to ignore you because you're part of what's wrong with this city.

Olongo

Pulled four times this year and should have been more. He is not an NHL calibre goalie imo and proly in the opinion of many players on the team. The first goal was a great shot but the other three a good NHL goalie would have stopped and given his team a chance to pull even. Sorry folks but they will NEVER win it all with him in net. It shows what a great team in front of him that they had to have gotten this far. The hype about him since he was a junior is inexplicable. I hold my breath every time someone shoots on him from anywhere on the ice. Why is he being paid as the best player in the NHL? Admit the mistake Gillis and give the team a chance.