The Francis Report - EP5 - Solidarity and Strength

The newest edition of The Francis Report is out!

Round #1: Leafs VS Bruins

9 years, blah blah, who cares at this point.  The Leafs are facing the Bruins in the 1st round of the 2013 Stanley cup playoffs.  On April 20th, the Leafs beat the Sens 4-1 to clinch a playoff spot.  

This was my reaction..

Everyone knows the Leafs have had a hard time with the Bruins over the last 40 some games. Also how Kessel seems to turn into a ghost when playing the same Bruins, scoring something like 0 even strength goals in 22 games.  Although he does have 3 power play goals in that stretch, ya, I know, no big deal.

Here are the keys to the series that could be a big deal.

Patrice Bergeron:

The best two way forward on this Bruins team could be a huge factor.  He ould shut down the Leafs while scoring big time points, or he could be hit on the 1st shift in game 1 and have another concussion.  Flip of a coin really.

Tuukka Rask:

Every goalie who wins in the playoffs, does it with better numbers than the regular season.  Rask is a great goalie, and in the regular season, is as good as any in the East, maybe in the entire league.  One thing that stands out to me tho, is his record in the playoffs.  7-6 with a 2.61 GAA and a 0.910 SV% in the playoffs.  Not very good compared to his career regular season stats, 2.20 GAA and a 0.926 SV%.  

Don't forget the year (2010) that Rask and the big bad Bruins had a 3-0 series lead vs the Flyers and blew it, losing the series 4-3.  Rask let in 15 goals in the last 4 games, including blowing a 3-0 lead in game 7 of that series.

Chara, Redden, Jagr:

Playoff series combine where these 3 players eliminated the Leafs: 0

Some people may think I'm grasping at straws, and hey, maybe I am.  But Phil Kessel struggles against a specific team, and why can't other players struggle against specific teams?  Who cares if they played the Leafs 10-15 years ago in the playoffs, I'm trying to do whatever I can to give faith to a Nation that hasn't had much to cheer for nearly a decade.

James Reimer:

Please save everything.  I'd like nothing more than 4 straight shutouts from you Optimus Reim.  We have never seen Reimer in the NHL playoffs.  I'm not going to write him off, though he definitely needs to make sure he has the best 4-7 games of his career.   

Lupul:

Joffrey Lupul needs to not get hurt or suspended.  He has not gone more than 6 games this year without being hurt or suspended, and it's hurt the Leafs in certain ways.  Example. He has 11 goals and 18 point in just 16 games played this season.  Including a nice goal from beside the net against Boston, during his 1st game back after being suspended 2 games.

Kessel:

Kessel doesn't have to do a single thing this series other than keep trying his hardest.  Bruins want to spend all their energy shutting down Kessel, go right ahead.  Lupul and Kadri will continue to light the lamp while Julien keeps putting Chara on Kessel.  It would be nice to see Kessel get some mad points this series.  Maybe all this negative attention from the media will light a fire under his arse and he might score some goals.  Who knows.

Classless...

My finals words leading into game 6 of the Stanley cup finals. Whether Vancouver wins the cup on Monday night, or Boston pushes it to game 7, there is not much more I can say about this series. What this series symbolizes, is the worst of many things.

The first being Patriotism. Patriotism can be great, but it can also get you in trouble. In this case, the patriotism in this country for the Vancouver Canucks is not good. The entire country is supporting a team that plays with 0 integrity and 0 class. It's giving Canadians, and Canadian hockey a bad name.

The second thing is the refereeing. I never understood, why they enforce the rules one night, and not the next night. I can't begin to fathom why the Rules in game #27 of the regular season are so much different than the rules in game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. People are always saying "Oh good, the ref put the whistle away and are going to let these two teams play" This does nothing beneficial for the sport. All this does, is let the cheap players play their style and not get penalized for it.

Finally the 3rd thing that series symbolizes, is how Karma is not existent. It baffles me beyond belief, how the hockey gods can allow the same people that lie, cheat and steal their way into the finals, to be the players that score the Game winning goals. All three game winning goals, for Vancouver, have been scored by the rats that plague the ice with their 5th grade antics, whether it be biting or tattling, or whatever else these professional hockey players are doing on the ice. Burrows, Torres, and Ratpierre.

You all wonder why I am Canadian, and I am not cheering for Vancouver? I will not cheer for this team, because it has zero class, and not one ounce of integrity. This team is an outright disgrace to this country. They do not play Canadian hockey, they do not represent Canada, and they do not deserve to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.