Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.37

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If you need any proof that fortunes can change quickly in today’s NHL, you don’t need to look any further than this year’s edition of the Stanley Cup Finals. Just three seasons ago, the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks drafted first and second overall. That’s right; the last two teams standing this time around were mired at the bottom of the NHL standings in 2007. From the outhouse to the penthouse in three short years.

For the NHL, they are surely loving the reincarnation of two solid hockey markets in two major American cities. No disrespect intended to cities like Raleigh, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay but if the league is looking for major television numbers on a national level on NBC, they’ll have a much better chance attracting them with two of the biggest cities in the US reaching a fever pitch over their teams.

Moreover, Philadelphia and Chicago are two markets that have been out of the lime light in terms of Stanley Cup Finals appearances for quite some time. The league would never say anything against arguably its most marketable player in Sidney Crosby or the Detroit Red Wings, a model of success and consistency, but one has to think the last thing they wanted was a third consecutive Penguins vs Red Wings final. For even the most diehard fan, three years of the same starts to become awfully mundane. So if it’s time for a change, what better generate interest than two teams that could hardly be considered out of the group of usual suspects?

All that doesn’t matter though if the series itself does not live up to its billing on the ice. But through one game it certainly doesn’t seem like that’s going to be a problem either. The NHL has long craved a higher scoring, back and forth game and with eleven goals in game one, the league is getting exactly what it wants on the biggest stage that it has. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.36

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Could the Conference Finals have gone any worse to this point from the perspective of a Leafs fan? Quite simply, no. With the Chicago Blackhawks already having advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals and the Philadelphia Flyers holding a commanding three games to one series lead over the Montreal Canadiens, Leaf fans should start to prepare for the jeering over the lack of playoff or really any kind of success to get a whole lot worse.

Let’s start with the Blackhawks. By securing their spot in the finals, Chicago can now count four finals appearances since 1967 while the Leafs are still looking to break the goose egg in that department. One would think that by jettisoning the first place, albeit perennial playoff choking San Jose Sharks in four games and by virtue of their second place seeding, the Blackhawks have to be considered the favourite to win the big prize whether they end up facing the Flyers or the Canadiens. Should they win, it would be the Blackhawks first Cup since 1961 leaving the Leafs as the team with the longest Cup drought in the NHL.

That should mean any self respecting Leaf fan should be cheering against the Blackhawks in the sole hope of preserving the last saving grace that’s left. I still maintain that it would be easier to support the Canadiens from the perspective of a Leaf fan than it would be the Flyers as the Habs have given Leaf fans no reason to hate them in almost thirty years. That’s likely a long shot though with the Flyers poised to advance to the Cup finals themselves for the first time since 1997.

Remember, it was the Flyers that gave the Leafs such trouble in the playoffs in the earlier part of the decade including bumping them in 2004 in six games, the last time the Leafs made a playoff appearance. At this point though for Leaf fans, it has to be anybody but Chicago. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.35 Ft. Jesse Beamish

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It really was like “bizzaro” world in the Eastern Conference during the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Two series, each producing staggering results simultaneously was enough to make you scratch your head and wonder if what you were seeing really was, in fact, happening.

After top seeds Washington, New Jersey and Buffalo were all knocked out in round one leaving the Penguins with a second round matchup against the seemingly much weaker Montreal Canadiens, the road appeared paved for a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Finals for Sidney Crosby and company.

But somehow, even amidst a rotating cast of blueliners in and out of the line up throughout the series, the Canadiens managed to keep their heads above water against the power house Penguins and by the end of the series, they were actually the better all around team. Montreal deserved to win that series. The same could not be said for their round one victory over the Capitals where had the two teams switched netminders, the Habs would likely have gone down in four straight.

What seemed like a harder series to predict at the outset, the Boston Bruins appeared poised to make short work of the Philadelphia Flyers building a three games to none series lead. But then the Flyers, bolstered by the return of Simon Gagne in game four squeaked out an overtime victory and began to gain traction. Even a season ending injury to netminder Brian Boucher in game five didn’t slow them down.

Pushing the series to a seventh game while trying to become only the third team in NHL history to come back from such a deficit, the Flyers magic appeared to run out when they got down by a score of 3-0 early in that game but in the end, it was just the Bruins showing the closest a team can possibly come to winning a series without actually winning it.

Unbelievable results, yes. It almost seemed surreal. One thing is for sure though; both series will go down as stories for the ages. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.34

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Just six weeks ago when Ryan Kesler signed a six year deal, everything thing seemed rosy in the world of the Vancouver Canucks as they locked up the final piece of their core for the long term. In signing that contract extension – one that would pay him $30 million by its conclusion – Kesler joined the brothers Sedin and Roberto Luongo as cornerstone pieces of the Canuck organization. This was the group the Canucks decided they could win with.

No longer “young players” in the NHL, this was supposed to be the year where that group would step up to finally lead the Canucks to success not only in the regular season as they had done in the past but finally on a long playoff run where they would legitimately challenge for the Stanley Cup. Fast forward now six weeks and the Canucks find themselves in a world of trouble in more ways than one.

Yes, they trail the Chicago Blackhawks three games to one in their West semi final series but the bigger problem is the fact that said core group has been invisible.

The Sedins have shown very little interest in battling through now that the Hawks have made conditions a little bit more difficult to operate under in the offensive zone. There has been no sign of them being able to bring their game to another level. Kesler has one goal in ten playoff games. He’s added eight assists but for a $5 million player, one goal during the most important time of the year just isn’t good enough, period. For Luongo, the series against the Hawks was supposed to be a statement series, a way for him to exact revenge from an ugly defeat a year ago. Well he has made a statement alright, that he continues to come up empty handed when the Canucks need him most.

The Canucks now will have to decide whether or not they can win with this group. If they decide no, with four gigantic contracts, there may not be much that they can do about it. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.33

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By virtue of pulling off the unthinkable and overcoming a three games to one series deficit to defeat the President`s Trophy winning Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, everything accomplished from here on out should be considered a bonus for the Montreal Canadiens. Yes, any season that doesn`t end in a Stanley Cup in Montreal is viewed as a failure but let`s be honest, that`s nice to say; however, it rarely is accurate.

Obviously, no team goes into a season hoping not to win the Cup but when only one out of thirty teams goes away happy, expectations have to be set appropriately by the remaining teams to avoid being in constant states of depression. To look sensibly at the situation, there are just some years where expecting to win the Stanley Cup just isn`t a reasonable goal. This was one of those years in Montreal.

Did anybody actually expect the Canadiens to upset the Capitals? A team that barely made the playoffs going up against one of the most high octane teams in the NHL, that series did not bode well for the Canadiens. But they managed to squeak by with an impressive commitment to team defense and two all world netminding performances from Jaroslav Halak. In the Pittsburgh Penguins though, the Canadiens face a far more formidable opponent, one with more depth, more playoff experience, better goaltending and frankly, one with more ways to win.

Down a game already in the series and losing their top defenseman in Andrei Markov, the Canadiens have their work cut out for them. Although just as nobody should have predicted when they went up against the Capitals, nobody should be expecting the Habs to defeat the Penguins. If they do, well that’s what good stories are made of but if they don’t, it shouldn’t be considered a disappointment. They’ve already exceeded their realistic expectations. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.