Hartley Miller's Slap Shots: May 25th Edition

By Hartley Miller

  PG hockey fans experienced a rarity-the Vancouver Canucks and the Prince George Spruce Kings both played games in the month of May while the PG Cougars were still on the ice in late April. 

Just prior to Christmas, I wrote about how these aforementioned teams started the hockey season as underachievers, especially considering lofty expectations. At the time, all three squads had more losses (including overtime and shootouts) than wins and it was a tight race between them as to who was the biggest loser. Although none of these three managed to win a banner, they all improved and gave their fans something to cheer about.

Here’s a brief look at the teams.

The Canucks: The Roberto Luongo era began and no question he was as good as advertised.  Vancouver actually lost more playoff games than they won, but considering the lack of overall talent surrounding its “franchise” player, reaching the second round of the Stanley Cup derby is commendable. There is an old cliché that says teams should build from goal out.  It is safe to say that there isn’t another club with a better foundation. Luongo may have surpassed Martin Brodeur as the premiere NHL stopper; however, it’s going to take upgrades in the other areas for the Canucks to move into the elite category.

The Spruce Kings: It will likely be many years before the Kings play again in May because the BCHL playoffs are usually done by mid April. The club avoided what could have been a disastrous season by surprising everyone with their second place run at the Royal Bank Cup. Like the Cougars, the Spruce Kings made some short term moves in order to make a “splash” this year. The team desperately needed something positive and must be grateful that the new recruits (Jordan White, Tyler Helfrich, Alain Joanette and Jason Yuel) performed at peak efficiency during the RBC.  However, the Spruce Kings are going to lose more players than even the Cougars, so recruiting over the summer months will be vital to having anything resembling a contender.

The Cougars: The team many expected to see in the regular season finally showed up in the playoffs. Many long suffering fans raised their eyebrows when the Cats reached the WHL final four. The play of Devin Setoguchi, in particular, and others such as Nick Drazenovic, Jared Walker and Real Cyr will be remembered for quite some time, although in each case, their performance tailed off in the Western final against the Vancouver Giants.  The Cats created a badly needed “buzz” in the city. Many of their top players won’t return next season which means even more will be expected from returnees such as Ty Wishart and Dana Tyrell. The team learned one important lesson from winning a couple of rounds; many local hockey followers still remember the direction to the CN Centre.

In summary, I won’t say that PG hockey fans were spoiled, but I think it’s safe to say that things could very well return to normal come this time next year.

I'm hoping the Stanley Cup final makes up for a lack of excitement that has been noticeable throughout the NHL playoffs. I think Ottawa has a better first line but I give the edge to Anaheim based on a better blue line and a more experienced goalie. My pick is the Ducks in 7.

From the quote rack:

“But then again, so did the guy who owns a Texaco station near my house." NBC's Jay Leno, after Spiderman 3 took in $382 million worldwide during the 2^nd weekend in May.

“The best part about this record? BALCO is believed to have had nothing to do with it."  Chris Foster of the Los Angeles Times, on Atlanta Braves rookie catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia having the longest last name in major league baseball history.

“All 20 Kentucky Derby horses were subjected to surprise tests for performance-enhancing drugs. The racing commission ordered the tests after noticing two of the horses ranked among National League home-run leaders." Greg Cote of the Miami Herald.

“Joe Paterno is punishing the whole Penn St. football team for its off-field troubles by making them clean up the entire 107,000-seat stadium after every home game this fall. Those should be pretty big Sunday pick-up games for them.”  Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

“If Detroit is Hockeytown, then Anchorage is the Bikini Capital of the World."    Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post, on the many empty seats at the Red Wings home games in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

And in case you missed it:

As pointed out by Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times, since the NHL's inception in 1918, every Stanley Cup presented in a year ending in '7' has been won by the Detroit Red Wings or a Canadian-based team. The list includes the Ottawa Senators in 1927, the Red Wings in 1937, the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1947, the Montreal Canadiens in 1957, the Maple Leafs in 1967, the Canadiens in 1977, the Edmonton Oilers in 1987 and the Red Wings in 97.

And how was your week?

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com

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