Does the new Luongo give life to Vancouver?

On Sunday, Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo took the ice at the United Center in Chicago with his beard completely shaven off and thinking he can take the Canucks to a series win. His path started down that road with a monumental 4-1 win over Chicago that very Sunday night. That means that Vancouver and Chicago will play a Game 6 in Vancouver. Boy does Roberto Luongo feel good about it. But I'm not sure if the beard is really giving hope to this Canucks team, although it sounds like it is.
The way I see it, the Canucks won Game 5 basically out of luck. I didn't feel they really played well, but I could be wrong if they win Game 6. If they do win Game 6, then I would change my mind about how well they're playing. But other big players in the Canucks lineup also contributed to that Game 5 win. Kevin Bieksa had two goals, former Shark Christian Ehrhoff had a goal, and Alex Burrows had a goal that was an empty net goal.
The Vancouver Canucks should not feel good about this win. They obviously still have to win two games against a mighty Blackhawks team that has won all the games in Vancouver in this series. Dustin Byfuglien had a hat trick there as well. So maybe, the BLackhawks do have a little momentum heading their way because it is in Vancouver that they're playing Game 6.
Roberto Luongo will need to be sharp again in net if he plans to send this team to a Game 7 back in Chicago. He will need a lot of help from his defensemen, as well as a lot of offense scoring on Blackhawks rookie goaltender Antti Niemi. It's going to be a tough battle, but this is a game which both teams could possibly win. The Canucks need it to force Game 7, the Blackhawks need it for a date with the Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. Turn in Tuesday at 6:30 PT on Versus for the game. We'll see who gets the win for their team.

Blog about Nils Gilbertson

So as you all know, this is mainly a blog about hockey, which is why it is named Reid's Hockey Insight. Before that, it was Reid's Angels Blog, where I talked about all sports in general as well as posting a few things I did in my Web Design class. Well, you know the Web Design posting has stopped and I found it hard for me to talk about all sports so I switched the Reid's Hockey Insight.

But today, since there is very little news coming out of the NHL, plus two games playing today (Bruins-Flyers and Blackhawks-Canucks) I'm going to blog about a certain friend of mine at my high school.

His name is Nils Gilbertson and he is two of my classes: Creative Writing and Economics. You know, you think you never have anything to say much about a guy you either know or don't know. But I'm going to go off the record and says that there's so much to be said about Nils.

You know, when I first met the kid, I thought he was just ignorant and a guy who I didn't think I could get along with. I thought he was some kind of bully who gives pleasure by threatening younger kids.

I was totally wrong about Nils as the days and high school years progress. We got to know each other, maybe not seen as friends just yet. I felt as though our friendship was slowly building with each small step. Of course, we had other friends we had to care about, which is what probably delayed a solid friendship for some time.

I learned something surprising about Nils when I read one of his twelve-sentence autobiographies in Creative Writing class. When he was younger, he used to have very little friends. He would hang out by himself, walking around school and trying to get a sense of what was going on, something that I do almost all the time now.

I thought to myself and said, "Wow, I never knew this about Nils." It made me realize that Nils was not the man I thought he was. Of course, he has lots of friends and is playing on the baseball now, but long ago, he was not the same guy. I think he was probably more like me (though I'm not sure that much.)

When I think of someone right now, I figured he had started his popularity and athletic status at such a young age. Even though he did manage to jump immediately to athletic skills, the popularity was slowly growing. Now he is a mastermind of both areas, has had a relationship, and is confident in himself to go far.

Nils plans to attend UC Berkeley next year, and I know that is a big step for him. But I wish him the best. We only got a few more weeks together before it's summer and then finally college. Our friendship seems to be solidifying more and more. I hope that our friendship works out for us.

Will Detroit Climb Out of a 3-0 Deficit?

When things don't go well, there always is somebody or something to blame. When Red Wings player Jason Williams shoots a puck over the glass and there's a 2-on-1 the other way, you'd probably blame him. Apparently, that's what got the Detroit Red Wings into a 3-0 hole, heading into Game 4 tonight. It's always tough to get out of a 3-0 deficit and expect to win the series. Only two other historic teams have managed to do that, but can the Red Wings join them? Let's take a look and see what is going wrong with a team that had so much success in the past. We'll start with penalties. They've had too many penalties in the last couple of days, leading to a few power play goals for the Sharks. Second, the defense. It has not helped goaltender Jimmy Howard stop Sharks players from firing the puck at him. Third, the goaltender himself, Jimmy Howard. He let in an easy side goal in Game 3 to tie the game at 3-3 and that was the goal sent into overtime. So does this mean Detroit will come back and be another one of those teams that wins a series with a 3-0 deficit or will it fall short? The answer is no. Jimmy Howard is superb enough to have the Wings climb out of a 3-0 hole, especially when you have a hot San Jose Sharks team fishing for a sweep. Second, the penalties will probably keep adding up, leading to more power play chances and goals for the Sharks. Third, the defense might do better this game but it won't do better for the next four games. And last, the offense is not clicking well enough. Sure, they lead 3-1 in Game 3 but that was Game 3. The other times have been disastrous for the Red Wings. But here's what I don't expect. I don't expect the Sharks to win Game 4, but they will win Game 5. That means Detroit's season will fall after two great seasons as Western Conference champions and there will be a new Western Conference champ coming to the top.

Do the Flyers Have a Chance to Get Back in the Series?

Down in a 2-0 hole is not where every team wants to be. It would be nice for them to get a road win so that they can feel good about themselves. That's where the Philadelphia Flyers want to be. After a give-up goal late into the 3rd period by the Boston Bruins has put them in the 2-0 hole. Now they go back to Philadelphia where they can try to do some damage. It's not going to be tough for the Bruins to put down the Flyers early. The Devils tried to do that, and it ended up in them getting eliminated in five games by the Flyers. I believe that there is a legitimate chance that the Flyers can actually pull it together and win some games at home, but it's going to be tough. They had close games in Boston, so it should be a little easier for the Flyers to try to get those wins. The offense of Philadelphia will need to pull it together and that means more goal production out of players like Mike Richards and Claude Giroux and a healthy Brian Boucher in net. Brian Boucher does seem to lose his focus a little and that results in opposing goals, but I do know head coach Peter Laviolette will not let that happen in Games 3 & 4. Let's see what happens. I don't expect Philadelphia to try to win over Boston, but it'll be nice to see them at least take the series a little farther.

Will the Sharks take the series? Or will Detroit come back?

Some great teams are meant to have big success over the years. Other teams lose their luster over time. It seems like the San Jose Sharks are writing the history pages in trying to prove the predictors wrong about picking Detroit to beat them. But they can't quit yet. They did win their first two games of the series against the Red Wings, but don't forget. The next two games will be in Detroit, the ice surface which Detroit has had very good success on. They also have a very loyal fanbase, and it revs up the Red Wing players. So with all the pressure mounting on San Jose to get it done, will they actually do it or will Detroit prove a tougher test for them in the coming games? Well, first of all, the first two games they've played have all been decided by one goal, both results being a 4-3 Sharks victory. Second, Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard is a solid goaltender and he can lead this team back. So there is a legitimate chance that the Red Wings will force a Game 5 in San Jose and possibly a Game 6 back on their ice. They know they can't rest. The playoff force for the Sharks, that being Joe Pavelski, has already beaten Jimmy Howard three times, and my guess is that he won't stop there. Jimmy Howard will need to up his game, if he's going to stop Pavelski, or any other Shark for that matter. Also, more Red Wings players, like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, will need to fire the puck more at Nabokov. The offense has been lacking slightly as well as the defensive game, which has not helped Jimmy Howard at times. So that's that. We'll see what happens. Will Detroit actually come back into the series? Or will San Jose shut them out for good? Only time will tell.