Who has the edge? Blackhawks vs. Canucks

Dont be surprised with the floods of hate mail with this pick...

Bring on the HAIRPULLING

Chris Kuc is a coward and likes to have his hair pulled gently.
Come on, you couldnt pick the Blackhawks to win in 7?

The reason why Burrows was pulling Keith's hair is because Keith was fish-hooking him. As soon as Keith got his finger out of Burrows' mouth Burrows let go of Keith's pretty locks. Watch the Comcast replay again...

Pretty good breakdown by the author, but if anything I'd say the forwards are even. The Twins (or as you know them, the Sisters) are impossible to knock off the puck and control the puck down-low better than anyone in the league. The third Twin has been Mr. Clutch all year. Our second line has skill, size and tenacity with Demitra, Sundin and Kesler respectively. Our third is underrated defensively, but lacks toughness. You have the edge there. Our fourth features a legitimate NHL heavyweight, a son of a champion boxer, and a PK/faceoff/shotblock specialist. Edge VAN on that one.

If anything I'd give the special teams edge to the Hawks, particularly if we take undisciplined penalties as we tend to do.

And the twins aren't sissies, they're STOIC, ie: they eat cheap shots (ahem Burish) for breakfast like Jack Lalane eats carrots. It only fires them up. Bring it on Hawks, Nucks in 5.

Luongo is entrenched in the Hawks heads...last two meetings Canucks win 7-1 and 4-0. Like St. Louis before you, if you think the Hawks can win you are delusional.

PS...Canucks sweep in 4

the worst sportsmanship in the league is on the home stand of the canuks.

boy do i want to see the hawks win this.

That's what I like to hear. Bunch of overconfident Vancouver fans. Just delude yourselves in thinking this series is a cakewalk. Start celebrating you'll be in the conference finals already. Hawks are peaking at the right time and don't feel any particular pressure because they've never been in this situation before. This thing is going 7. Go Hawks!

Too bad the Blackhawks traded away the Sedin pick in that ill fated mc cabe trade. Then they got rid of McCabe too. Ouch. Good luck Boys.

james and alex. please refrain from posting your canadian filth on our great chicago newspaper. go back to your cabins and eat some waffles eh?!?

Not sure why the Blackhawk's defense is rated so highly.

I'd give the Blackhawks the advantage on forwards, but the Canucks have the better defense, and goaltending. Bad matchup for the Blackhawks here. Since Luongo has been back, they've not come close to beating Vancouver.

Canucks in 6. 2 wins in the United Centre, and the Canucks steal the third.

Here's a prediction: San Jose in 5. Keep all your predictions! We'll see what happens soon enough, starting tonight. It's gonna be a great series because both teams are pretty darn good.
Here's the bigger question for Chris Kuc: What's up with all the changes in the Hawk's lines? How do you publish that without some explanation? I certainly care more about that than your prediction of who wins. What gives?

Anyone who thinks this will be a Vancouver cakewalk hasn't been watching much hockey this year. Barring a rash of injuries to key guys for one team or another this series is a near lock to go six or seven games.

Can the Hawks win? Yes. There is no pressure on them to win the series and Vancouver has the weight of a country on their backs. They are the only team still alive that has more pressure on them to win than Boston and the pressure noose will tighten if the Hawks can get the lead in the series. Kuc's prediction makes a lot of sense when reviewing the matchups but a couple of bouncing pucks that go the Hawks way can easily turn the tide in the Hawks favor.

All in all this has the makings of a great series.

james - vancouver wrote:

PS...Canucks sweep in 4

Funny thing about your pick is that the Hawks have several players from Western Canada on their team....so....in theory....If they suck as much as you think....it's because you know that YOU s**k & your city s*c*s & therefore people from Western Canada are losers. Is that what your trying to say now AYE!

Section 319 wrote:

Here's a prediction: San Jose in 5. Keep all your predictions! We'll see what happens soon enough, starting tonight. It's gonna be a great series because both teams are pretty darn good.

I think the series will go 6-7 as well. But I already went on the record saying Canucks in 5 so....gonna stick with that. Hope Khabi throws a couple stinkers in there like he did in game 3 and 4 in the Flames series. Game 1 is for the Hawks' taking -- a long layoff, pent-up energy and wanting to impress the home crowd...we're gonna take our share of penalties, your PP could win this game for you. Especially with your talent on D. Enjoy the win, it'll be the only one you get.

tazer sauce wrote:

james and alex. please refrain from posting your canadian filth on our great chicago newspaper. go back to your cabins and eat some waffles eh?!?

Waffles are delicious. ESPECIALLY with moose meat eaten in an igloo before a dogsled race. EH!!

Man, I was dreading this matchup from the onset. Not because I'm afraid of the Nuks (hardly), but because we now have to put up with some of the most obnoxious fans in sports visiting our local paper sports blog to make ridiculous predictions and puffing their tiny little chests out before the first puck drop. I don't mind friendly repartie among true fans, but when all the 12 year-old fanboys that don't know hockey come and crap all over the blog, it gets a bit irritating. There were a few during the Calgary series, but they will really come out of the woodwork for this one. It was that way when these two teams met during the regular season. Makes me wonder if Nuks fans make a habit of visiting all the other teams home sports blogs because no one ever has anything interesting to say on their own.

james - vancouver wrote:

Luongo is entrenched in the Hawks heads...last two meetings Canucks win 7-1 and 4-0. Like St. Louis before you, if you think the Hawks can win you are delusional.

I'm a Hawks fan and have been for the last 25 years and Obviously want them to win, however I want them to win even more now to punish the Vancouver fans for their conceded confidence.

I thought Canadians fans and Maple Leaf fans were conceded and arrogant but you Canuck fans take the cake for this one.

Not a chance 4-0 sweep?

Thats what San Jose fans said about the Ducks.

Indian Head Crest wrote:

Man, I was dreading this matchup from the onset. Not because I'm afraid of the Nuks (hardly), but because we now have to put up with some of the most obnoxious fans in sports visiting our local paper sports blog to make ridiculous predictions and puffing their tiny little chests out before the first puck drop. I don't mind friendly repartie among true fans, but when all the 12 year-old fanboys that don't know hockey come and crap all over the blog, it gets a bit irritating. There were a few during the Calgary series, but they will really come out of the woodwork for this one. It was that way when these two teams met during the regular season. Makes me wonder if Nuks fans make a habit of visiting all the other teams home sports blogs because no one ever has anything interesting to say on their own.

No doubt at all. Flames fans were pretty humble for the most part but these Canuck fans are truly something else.

I hope the Hawks beat the Canucks just so their fans will go back to whatever hole they crawled out from.

This series I believe is one that'll rival the 1982 Hawks/Canucks series. No matter who wins I'm looking forward to a fast, hard hitting, excellent goal tending, passionate game! Great for hockey, great for the Chicago fans and it's great for us as Nuck Heads too.
Oh and Nick .... humble Flames fans? You have no idea what you're talking about. Try living in the same city and province with a bunch of displaced Albertans ... way worse than even Oiler's fans for arrogance and rudeness.

Didn't this goofball Kuc say in a previous article that he never played and is not a fan of the sport? So, why is he writing about the Hawks and this series for that matter?
All the Canuck fans are right guys. Luango is perfect, he will not give up a goal against. The Sedins will walk around everyone and score every goal. Why do we fight it?
How about a reality check? We dominated the Flames in the regular season, however we saw a totally different team in the playoffs. The Hawks have taken their game to another level. They have shown they are physical, they can score (which we already knew), and they can win big games. The regular season means squat. It is going to be a tough fought series, and there is going to be a lot of bodies banging...

I agree with the writer on all counts. I'm not bold enough, however, to make a prediction on the final outcome. A lucky bounce either way could make the difference. This is going to be a great series.