Random Storytime!

year: 1996
what: Stanley Cup playoffs
who: Colorado Avalanche vs Vancouver Canucks

(will try to make this as short as possible bc i assume that no one will care...)

to set it up, the Canucks were still sort of basking in the glow of their '94 run to the Stanley Cup, if i recall correctly. they chalked up the failures of strike-shortened '95 season because of variance, SC/lockout hangover, and whatnot. so the '95-'96 season comes around and they have a new divisional rival in the recently moved Colorado Avalanche. the Canucks also made a splash before the season started acquiring Alexander Mogilny from Buffalo to play with Pavel Bure, zomg how could it fail? well, it failed at first because Bure blew his knee out 15 games into the season, that's how.

anyway the playoffs roll around, and Avs are really good (2nd in the West, 3rd in the league) and draw a mediocre sort of Vancouver team in the 1st round. the Avs blow them out in games 1 & 3, but surprisingly the Canucks manage to eek out 1-goal wins in games 2 & 4. which brings us to Game 5 in Denver...



(just love the Adam Foote cheapshot at 2:40...)

the Canucks then lost Game 6 by a score of 3-2, and the Avs as many of you know overcame the 62-win Detroit team in the WCF before sweeping away Florida in the finals to win their 1st SC in franchise history, and their first after leaving Quebec City.

anyway the main point is about what GOCB beuties Sakic & Linden are. didn't realize until a week or so ago that the dueling playoff hattricks thing is something that hadn't been done again until Crosby & Ovechkin did it in Game 2 of the 2009 series.

also i find it funny / sad / whatever that so many of Linden's great memories can in defeat. off the top of my head there's Game 7 of the '94 SCF where he had both Canuck goals in a 3-2 loss. he scored the tying goal in the '98 Olympic semifinal with about a minute left, but all anyone remembers is the SO loss to Hasek. this hattrick loss here. there have to be more because i think he had the career Game 7 goal record until a couple years ago until Sakic (imagine that!) broke it. these are legendary goals and moments when you win, and largely forgotten when you lose. in that way he sort of embodies the Canucks franchise, as sad as it is to say.

if it weren't for those b2b Mem Cups (and the '88 WJ gold) and generally winning at life he'd have quite the rep for being a loser. good thing he's awesome anyway. it's this stupid franchise that dragged him down...

"The career he's had, a lot of us watched him when we were younger, and the runs he's had when he first broke in. He's played for so long, and also playing against him, he's a guy that plays hard all the time. He’s a leader. He's a guy that's a good, honest, hard player to play against. He’s not cheap. We have a lot of respect also for what he's done for us off the ice as a group of players. I'm not sure if it's his last for sure, but if it is, it definitely was an honor to play with him."
—Jarome Iginla talking about Linden after an April 5, 2008, game, Linden's final game

GOCB recognizes GOCB, respect

"A guy who tried to work hard and do what's right."
—Trevor Linden, on what he wants his legacy to be

Siiigghhhhhh.... two things that give me nightmares 1). How good AO used to be and 2). that bull**** '09 series. **** you 72

Alright, just making sure we hadn't lost you. I agree that matchups are something worth paying attention to with your eyes.

Boston had a 55% FenClose against Washington and their career .914 AHL goalie (to that point) beat them last season.

Good post 72 -

Also, lol Crosby sweet hattie to only lose by one with 30 seconds left. What a hero.

sorry brah, collateral damage there

also you forgot to mention who scored the lone non-Crovechkin goal

stay classy canada.

if those are the worst comments that anyone could find following the game, then gj Canada i'd say

lol that's pretty hilarious timing right after mc79 was endorsed ITT

hemad.jpg

yeah i was gonna ask if that's the same guy, or if i just don't understand how twitter works, or what

lol

Damn I wish I didn't fall asleep because I went back on his timeline and yeah he was.

who makes a 9/11 joke because you lost a hockey game, tho?

well first it wasn't even a joke, it was just an idiotic comment

but to answer your question, idk some idiot? wow we have at least 1 in the country. csb!

You must answer for his insolence, Canada.

I unfollowed him on my personal account because of all that but his hockey stuff is good enough to overcome this. He's worth following during hockey season and unfollowing during Canadian elections or w/e.

Also, cwice hashtags things and I don't.

72: - will watch the youtube later, as the 96 playoffs are a total mystery to me - when NJ missed I don't think I watched them at all

I don't even know where to begin boys...

I'm pretty sure I dropped a few 'Tim Thomas has declared a Jihad' jokes as Vancouver was burning.

Slightly different though.

Don't know if this was posted here before (it's a month old) but this expounds on my repeated point about this strike really being at the feet of the owners.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...hr-nhl-lockout

He's gone a little crazy with the soccer. He wrote a 5000 word essay on why relegation would be a good idea for hockey, completely ignoring geography.

Relegation would be awful in American sports and the shoe could soon fall for a lot of clubs in Italy/Spain and no one will make the argument then.

https://twitter.com/HarryHabs/status/286865093772333056

IT'S HAPPENING. MAYBE.

Guy seems like just a random fan, I'm sure he's on the inside of CBC/NHL discussions.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle6928533/

I for one, look forward to see which Maple Leafs vs Canadians classic game CBC chooses to replay at 7pm on the night of January 19.

I'm hoping for the last game of the 2007 season because that one the only important Leafs/Habs game between lockouts.

>Darren Dreger @DarrenDreger
>Mediation but no negotiation happening this am in NYC. If agreement in principle reached, will either side have trust until papers signed?

From a pure negotiating standpoint, I'd think they could agree to something in principle in about 30 minutes. The remaining differences compared to how much revenue they'd sacrifice this season is seriously a joke. lol if they blow a season over $5 million worth of cap in Year 2 and 6 or 7 year max contract differences.

Pretty sure they're both just waiting to see which side blinks first before ultimately getting this thing done sometime next week. They're prob playing Go Fish w/ the mediators right now.