I’d like to thank everyone for the good wishes, thoughts and prayers being sent out for our good friend Marshall. His surgery, well… it’s kind of hard to describe, but if things work the way I think they may have, there will be an incredible story to tell. Keep those prayers coming.
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In what has shaped up to be an incredible series, with a game seven looming tomorrow night, the home teams have held serve. Game 7 will be held at Rogers Arena, in front of a crazed crowd of Canuck fans waiting for their first taste of the cup.
Roberto Luongo, no matter what was meant in his post-game comments after game 5, did not rise to the occasion… and the Boston faithful let him have it. It was a merciful act when Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneaut pulled him after giving up three goals in less than nine minute in one of the most important games he has ever started. Luongo’s SCF stats at TD Garden speak for themselves, his save percentage was .773, GAA was 8.09… ugly stats by any measure. As ugly as his stats are in Boston... his stats at Rogers Arena are outstanding.
Once again fans are calling for the goaltender’s head, being egged on by a Vancouver media that has lost all sense of objectivity. Complete crazy talk... I suppose it happens, but the tin hat brigade is out in force claiming all sorts of deep dark conspiracies. The refs are out to get us, the league doesn’t want us to win, the country hates us…
Get over it… The spotlight is white hot at this point, handle it, or it handles you. The thing to remember about Luongo is that he has been in this situation before, in this playoff season in round one… and he put in a stellar performance. I expect another tight one at Rogers Arena.
The next 36 hours or so will be filled with all kinds of conspiracy theories, complaints about perceived grudges and both sides trying to work the officials to their advantage… you know… all the crap that simply doesn’t matter. What matters is what happens starting at 7:15pm central time on Wednesday night.
Damn I love this game…
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Random Notes
- Less than two weeks until the Predators Rookie Development Camp at centennial Sportsplex. Looking forward to cooling off watching the rooks try to impress. 93 days until training camp… but who’s counting?
- Bizarre stats in this Stanley Cup Final. The Vancouver Canucks have been outscored 19-7, they have allowed five power play goals (while only scoring two of their own,) they haven’t scored more than two goals in regulation in a game and have only lead in the series for a little more than 32 minutes.
- History is definitely on Vancouver’s side… given the home team has won every game in this series and Boston has dropped five straight games on the road… there is also the Olympic factor. The last two Canadian cities to host the Olympics have gone on to win the cup in the season immediately following, Montreal in ’77 and Calgary in ’89.
- This series is still delivering solid TV numbers, game five’s ratings were down only 20% from last year’s Philly/Chicago matchup and up 25% from the last final that included a Canadian team. Stick tap to Steve Lepore over at puckthemedia.wordpress.com for the rating info.
- The ageless wonder Mark Recci had three assists last night.
- The injuries continue to pile up for the Canucks, add Mason Raymond to the list after a shot from Boston’s Johnny Boychuk.
- NHL.com has db readings from the TD Garden last night, measuring the noise levels. That crowd hit a peak 119db on Krejci’s goal to make it 5-1.
- Reports are coming out of the Canadian capital that Paul MacLean is the new head coach of the Ottawa Senators.
- Tonight’s playoff schedule – None – Game Seven is tomorrow night.
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for @PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!
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COMING UP ON THE NEXT SLAPSHOT RADIO…
We will preview game seven tomorrow night at 6pm on Nashville’s Sports Radio WNSR 560.
You can get check out our podcasts at
the SlapShot Radio podcast page.
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • 
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