By Jessy Dhillon
In a season that has been full of up and downs, The Vancouver Canucks finally put their best sixty minutes of hockey by dominating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 this past Monday in front of yet another sold out crowd at Rogers Arena. The Canucks proved that they could play with the best team in the National Hockey League. Chicago had lost only five games in regulation coming into the game against the Canucks. I think this win for the Canucks was huge for their confidence in knowing that they could beat the ‘Hawks. The Canucks know that the road to the Stanley Cup goes through Chicago.
What really impressed me about the game was that Vancouver was down two of their top defensemen; Kevin Bieska and Chris Tanev and shut down superstars; Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Beiska and Tanev are two top four defensemen missing from their line-up. Bieska logs over 21 minutes a game when he is in the lineup. Tanev averages 17+ minutes a game. Keith Ballard was forced to sit out due to an injury also. So with three defensemen out Vancouver decided to call up Frankie Corrado up; Their 5th round draft pick from the 2011 draft. Frankie has played a total of six games for the Chicago Wolves who are Vancouver’s American Hockey League affiliate. Not much was expected for the twenty year old from Toronto. By the end of the Monday’s game the fans were giving the kid applause for the game he played. Frankie looked cool and calm with the puck, did not make any rookie mistakes leading to Blackhawks scoring chances. I know it’s only one game but, for a kid playing his first National Hockey League game against the best team in the league and playing over sixteen minutes, has to impress you. Corrado must have been a pleasant surprise to Canucks management especially considering the horrible drafting the team has done over the past couple years.
Something that is alarming going into the Stanley Cup playoffs next week is the health of Kevin Bieska. The Canucks have listed Bieska as “day to day for over the past two weeks. Bieska is the heart and soul of the Canucks defense and having him out of the line up during the playoff will hurt the chances of the Canucks going deep into the playoffs. Bieska plays with a chip on his shoulder and has that grit factor that is just right for the playoffs. I am hoping the Canucks are just resting him and it is not anything serious that will keep him out.
NBA Playoff Predictions!
With the National Basketball Association playoffs having started last week I would like to give my predictions on the first round:
With Kobe Bryant out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, the Los Angeles Lakers look like they will be easily beaten by the San Antonio Spurs in five games. The Oklahoma City/Houston matchup is intriguing because James Harden plays his old Thunder team. OKC has way too much firepower led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for Houston to win this series. I got OKC in 6. In probably one of the best matchups in the first round between two high scoring teams; I have Golden State winning in seven games over Denver. Los Angeles Clippers led by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will defeat the Grizzlies in six games.
Okay let’s look at the Eastern Conference playoff matchups. The Miami Heat are clearly the class of the NBA and I do not see the Milwaukee Bucks putting up too much of a fight. LeBron and his Heat team look to sweep the Bucks in four games. The New York Knicks are probably the hottest team heading into the playoffs; they play an exciting brand of basketball. I do not see Boston putting up too much of a fight, especially with Rajon Rondo out. I got the Knicks in five games. The series between Chicago and Brooklyn looks like it has the potential to go the distance. If Derrick Rose was playing I would have picked the Bulls in five games. However, I see Deron Williams as the “X factor” in this series and he will leads the Nets to the second round. And in probably the least talked about series; The Indiana Pacers, led by Paul George and Roy Hibbert will take the Atlanta Hawks in six games.
Jessy Dhillon is an avid sports fanatic and community youth leader, who’s passion for hockey started at the age of 6 when he started watching Wayne Gretzky play for the Los Angeles Kings. He is a long-time resident of Richmond BC and has deep roots in the Richmond Sports scene through playing youth sports, coaching high school basketball at his former high school Matthew McNair Secondary and organizing sports tournaments for the community.
