After a long and hardfought series, the Vancouver Canucks finally fell to the young and determined Chicago team that had been written off as an inexperienced group of kids since the start of the playoffs. Having beaten Calgary in the first round, Chicago began to turn heads, and continued to do so as they tied up the series with Vancouver on two occassions, in both the second and fourth games.
The Canucks went into this series as the favourites, despite showing signs of struggle against the Hawks in the opening game, then being shutdown 6-3 on home ice in the second game. But no matter how hard they tried, or which tactics they employed, the Canucks could not solve the Blackhawks and found themselves traling 3-2 in the series as they headed back to Chicago for Game 6.
It was a sea-saw battle for 53 minutes as both teams lost and regained the lead; a number of Vancouver’s fourth-liners stepped up to keep their team in the game, Shane O’Brien especially, having scored his first playoff goal in the second period to tie the game at three a piece.
Although the majority of the Canucks made their resence known in the United Center, one integral member of the team failed to live up to the standards of not only the fans, but himself as well. Roberto Luongo, for the first time as a Canuck, let in seven goals in one game, and had this to say after the game: “We had some chances early and I made some saves, but the rest of the way I didn’t help my teammates out,” continuing, “When you let in seven goals, I don’t think that’s a very good performance.”
While the loss can’t be placed entirely on Luongo’s shoulders, it was a dissappointing loss for the team and fans of Canadian hockey as the Canucks were the last of the Canadian teams to be eliminated from the tournament. Now fans must wait a grueling four months before they can see how this team will rebound.