David, my Wings obviously were eliminated by the Sharks in round 2, fighting back from a 3-0 deficit only to lose in game 7 2-1. Heartbreaking for sure. They I was rooting for Tampa Bay because Steve Yzerman is their GM but they too lost in game 7, another tough one 1-zip.

I am picking Vancouver in 6 (before their win last night) and am sticking to it. Boston hasn't won since, what '72? so that would be cool but I would like to see Canada have a stanley cup champ again - they so love their hockey and it would be neat to have the cup back in Canada IMHO.

Duane

I am a fair weather hockey fan, if that's possible. I only get interested when the Flyers are doing well and once they are eliminated, I'm done.

However, I will root for Boston, but probably not be watching. That game just moves too fast for me. If the light over the goal didn't flash and the players all raise their sticks, I would never know a goal had been scored.

I'm not a hockey fan at all. But I am happy that the Canucks won.

Ann

Watching and rooting for the Canucks all the way! What a goal last night...talk about tense!

It's darn well time the cup came home and lord knows I can't count on the Leafs!

I'm not a huge fan but do try to watch the some of the play offs and then the finals. We have a semi pro team here in Tulsa and I've been to a few of their games over the years. I like the speed of the game it's great live if you have good seats.

That goal was something else Sharon. 18 seconds left in the game, I thought they were headed into OT. I was on the edge of my seat and wound up that's for sure. On to game two now....

David

We watch a fair amount of hockey, our son played from the age of six to fifteen and joined an adult league for two years in his thirties. We go to one or two Avalanche games a season. I dislike the fights in hockey because I think they are just dumb and almost never serve the team well, but I love the skills involved on the ice.

We watched last night and were cheering for Vancouver, It was exciting to have that goal seconds before the end.

I'd love to see Vancouver win the Stanley cup.

Lee

Up here - it's more like "anyone not watching?" Vancouver and all surrounding areas are in the grips of playoff fever. It's the topic of the day wherever you go. David, you will be able to hear the racket from your place if (I should say when) the Canucks win the cup!
Jane

I'm happy with the outcome tonight, but there sure were tense moments.

We had take out moo-shu pork and an assorted appy plate of springrolls, Chinese wings, shrimp and wonton cups while we watched.

Lee

I'm so proud! I'm also a little worried that Boston might have a contract out on Burrows...
J

Not only did I watch tonight, I'm here in Vancouver! It was so much fun. We watched the first period in a pub, then moved to Canada Center and watched on a jumbo screen outside. It was such a thrill to see the final goal just 11 seconds into overtime. This may just make a hockey fan of me -- despite Columbus's Blue Jackets (yawn).

We went to a terrific Japanese restaurant for dinner, and when we came out and started walking toward the Metro (or whatever they call it here) station, we found Robson street and Granville blocked off like a giant block party -- it was an hour and a half after the end of the game, and everyone was still going nuts. If they are this happy after winning Game 2, what's it going to be like when they win the cup?

Man, another on the edge of your seat game that was won in seconds! Love it but not sure my heart can take it. LOL Same with the NBA Finals.

LOL about the Burrows comment Jane!

Gellchom, sounds like y'all had a great evening watching the game and dining out. Nothing better being there live in the city when it's all going on.

If they win game three it's over for Boston, I think.

David

"Ouch" not a good night for the Canuks......

It was not a good night for the Bruins either. Horton has a "severe" concussion & out for the rest of the series.

I'd like to believe this was an accident but it didn't look like an accident & I guess the Commission didn't think so either. I think Rome should have been suspended for 2 games longer than Horton misses.

/tricia (from Bruins'country)

Game four should be a good one after last night.

Hockey has always been a tough and hard game on the players. It is what it is and has been critisized just like football for years. I'll go with the commissions call/take on the hit though.

David

Agree with you David & overall I think the suspension was appropriate.

The 2010 NFL ratcheted up discipline for helmet-to-helmet hits including one committed by Brandon Merriweather of the Pats. There was some gruffing about by a few players (not Merriweather) but most adapted quickly.

Some sports are rough but that's not a reason to excuse or justify late hits. The players will quickly learn to avoid late hits if penalties give them motivation to change. Or, if they refuse to change they can "retire".

/t

I am of the opinion that the rules should be that the minute the gloves come off - you're out of the game. In other words, gratuitous violence should be banned. I think most Canucks fans agree with the ruling because it was a late hit. I do not believe that there was "intent to injure." A player going full bore into a check, with tenths of a second to realize a pass has been made, has no more ability to stop on a dime than a loaded semi does. I am hoping for a full and speedy recovery for Horton. Can't wait for the game tomorrow.
J

Hi Swap Partner.....I'm watching... but it's not looking so good for us ( Vancouver) I'm a hockey fanatic !!! Diana55 P.S....Maybe the Canucks will do better back home her....we'll see :)

.....and were back in the game !!! diana55

Amazing what a little hometown positive energy can do.
J

Hey there Diana!! Great to see you here.

Here we go....should be an exciting game that's for sure!

Tricia, I'm about done with the NFL and all the drama going on now. I'm more of a college fan but know several in my group that are "over" the players and the owners. Agree with the helmet to helmet but it's going still happen from time to time. Like Jane mentioned it's hard to stop on a dime when your going full throttle and in the middle of a play.

Have to put in a congrats to the Mavericks for taking care of the Heat!

David

Wednesday is going to be crazy! An exciting series to be sure. Just waiting to hear if Raymond's okay.
J

Here we go y'all....and a Full Moon to boot!

David

A game well played. Boston absolutely deserved the win - Thomas is an amazing goalie. I couldn't help but shed a tear when I saw Kesler's eyes full of tears.
I am now watching in shock and horror at the devastation that a few drunken testosterone-fueled idiots started. It had nothing to do with hockey. Just a bunch of morons intent on rioting. How embarrassing for our city.

Awesome series! Congrats to the Bruins and their fans.... well played!

Alexa

I am saddened to see on TV this morning that while we were watching the celebrations all across New England last night a few out of control jerks did such damage to a beautiful city. I will never understand such behavior but want to offer my sympathies. Boston has experienced problems also after title wins that included loss of life.

Boston & New England celebrated with gusto filling the streets. Police were ready for problems but the crowd was playful rather than violent. Only 2 arrests by 1:30 a.m. according to the Boston Globe this morning.

The Bruins arrived safely home with the Stanley Cup belted safely into Seat 4-C. They had a good time when Customs asked, "Do you have anything to declare?" :)

Congratulations, Bruins. New England is full of happy fans this morning.

/tricia

I am sorry for the riots. I did want Vancouver to win since they ousted my Predators (still a loyal fan, even when we lose miserably. Which we didn't do this year). Afterall, we can say we lost to the best team? Close. Congratulations Bruins, you done good guys!

I didn't know what the Stanley Cup was until I saw the riots on TV this morning. I would not have expected this to happen in Vancouver, but I imagine that there were a lot of people from out of town there.

It was a group of Vancouver people who were rioting. Sorry Lars, not Americans! It's still sad.

article excerpt:
"I'm all choked up," he said, as he surveyed broken windows and debris. "I can't believe the scene. Just talking about it brings me to tears. I can't believe the people of Vancouver would do this. It's just a few idiots."

Here is a link that might be useful: NHL article

When the Phillies won the World Series a few years ago, we also experienced some riots and damage in center city. It was quite sad to see the damage to the downtown business area. Of course, video showed it was mostly drunks and people who are looking for any excuse to cause trouble who did the damage. People behaved very well at the victory parade and that was exciting to see.

Congrats to Boston. Since most of the players are Canadian, our northern neighbors should be proud.

As devastating as the whole thing was, Vanouverites are showing their true colours in the aftermath. This morning crowds of people showed up to volunteer their time to help clean up. The Vancouver Police Dept has been inundated with people identifying troublemakers in the news clips and good wishes have been written on the plywood covering all the broken windows. There are good people here.
J

I know there are tobyt, it's just incomprehensible, senseless, idiocy by those few. My condolences to your fair city!

After posting yesterday, I took a look at the Vancouver Sun online. Wow. Lots of pictures of lots of damage. So many people just standing around watching the rioters & egging them on, taking video from cell phones, laughing like it was a party. Hard to comprehend.

Since darn near the same thing happened in Vancouver before...you'd think local officials would have said, "Ah, no I don't think so.", to requests for those big screen TVs in the streets that draw such hugh crowds that, apparently, Vancouver police are unprepared to control.

There was a request for the same type of thing in Boston at TD Gardens but the police vetoed the idea right away saying it was just asking for trouble. Better to have the crowds spread out around town. TD Gardens is downtown. Boston is an old, very condensed city especially the downtown sector with many streets barely wide enough for two cars to pass. Tens of thousands of people packed into such a small area always has the potential for a few to cause havoc. Too bad the Vancouver police didn't consider consequences & have a better plan for crowd control.

The saddest part is that the entire mess made news around the world giving Vancouver another blackeye for future large scale public events. I would think people would think twice before getting tickets to travel to Vancouver for a playoff game.

/tricia

Lars, I just re-read your post. I really like you & this statement didn't register at first...

"...but I imagine that there were a lot of people from out of town there."

Were you implying that, as the other team, there were many Bostonians & New Englanders there & that if THEY would have rioted you wouldn't have been surprised?

I hope that's not what you meant...'cause while I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise, New England has lost their reputation as "long-suffering losers" & have some experience nowadays with winning championship games without doing tens of millions of dollars in damage to Boston or somebody's else's town.

New England Patriots: 2002, 2004, & 2005 (Super Bowl Champs)
Boston Red Sox: 2004 & 2007 (World Series Champs)
Boston Celtics: 2008 (NBA title champs)
Boston Bruins: 2011 (Stanley Cup)

We surely understand how Vancouver feels. The Red Sox, the Bruins and the Patriots delivered many calamities but zero championships for a LONG TIME.

But this city has ridden an unprecedented wave of success over the past decade. The Bruins' victory in the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday night made Boston the first city to win championships in all four major sports within a 10 year span. Like the other trophies, the Stanley Cup will go on "tour" throughout New England so all the loyal fans can touch it & snap a picture. Yesterday, it was pushed through the streets of Boston in a baby carriage so fans could admire. :) It's been a LONG time since Boston's won the Stanley Cup & they were the last of our four teams to get their championship...they knew New England was counting on them to deliver. Fans were too happy to destroy anything. They were too busy kissing people they'd never met before! :)

/tricia

Tricia, I did not in any way mean that Bostonians and New Englanders would have been to blame - I only meant that it was not possible to blame only people who live in Vancouver. By out-of-towners, I meant that the people could have been from other parts of Canada or anywhere. I would not have expected people from Boston to travel that far for a game, and so the idea to blame the winning team had not crossed my mind. I'm very out of touch when it comes to sports. We had an incident here at a Dodger's game recently and a fan from San Francisco was almost killed. My point was that the rioters could have come from anywhere, as the report that I saw did not identify any of them as to name and residence. I've only met very nice people in Vancouver, and I guess I was trying to protect their good name. I'm very sorry if you thought I was trying to identify anyone else - I didn't have anyone in particular in mind when I wrote that. I least of all expected the winners to be the cause of the riot! Now I guess I have insulted everyone in the suburbs of Vancouver, but that was not my intention either. I haven't seen any updates to that news item. Maybe it was done by people from Vancouver. The fact that it happens at all anywhere is shocking to me.

Lars

We already knew they were from Vancouver, hence the article attached. Which was my only point. I am sorry if you took what I said any differently. The finger pointing can be narrowed down even more to a few select idiots. They know and they'll get them. But not out of towners.

And now we have the kissing couple. In actuality, they were knocked down by riot police and the boyfriend was helping his girlfriend.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vancouver kissing couple