I told you so!

Doesn’t it drive you crazy when someone says to you. “I told you so!” 

Well, I was talking with one of my brothers the other night about the upcoming Canes/Bruins series and he told me that the Canes didn’t have a chance against the Bruins because the only line that could score was the Staal line and Zdeno Chara was going to shut Staal down. I proceeded to inform him that the Canes had four lines that could score, (evidence the work of the 4^th line!)  and even if  Staal’s line was ineffective, the Canes had lots of firepower.  Ever hear of Cole, Ruutu, Cullen, Brind’Amour, and Samsonov? I thought, “anyway, what does he know, he’s a Leafs fan!” 

Going into Friday’s game, the Canes had momentum and were riding high after Tuesday’s stunning win in New Jersey. The Bruins, on the other hand, had been cooling their jets for the past nine days after disposing of Montreal in short order, and could be a little “rusty” heading into the series. If ever the Canes were to steal one in Beantown, this was it, but they would need  a complete effort with contributions from up-and-down the line-up. 

With the score tied 1-1 at the end of 20, on yet another big goal from Jussi Jokinen, the signs were encouraging.  Paul Maurice felt good, calling it a “good period” but he still felt the Canes could play better and, in particular, was concerned about the number of forced turnovers and bad decisions the Canes had made, ultimately leading to quality chances for the Bruins.  As it turned out, Mo was right on, because in the end it was bad decisions and forced turnovers that led directly to goals by Marc Savard, (Pitkanen blew a chance to clear the puck out of the Canes zone), Michael Ryder, (Ruutu put it right on his stick with a dumb pass) and Savard, again. (Cullen’s feeble attempt to fire the puck into the Bruins’ zone was blocked and three Canes were trapped.) 

Despite all of this, for the most part, the Canes competed well with the Bruins. They had numerous quality scoring chances, only to be thwarted by Bruins netminder extraordinaire, Tim Thomas. At different points, he made outstanding saves on Joe Corvo, Ryan Bayda, and Eric Staal, to preserve the lead.  But, I guess we should have expected that. After all, Thomas is challenging for the Vezina this year and has quietly positioned himself among the top 2 or 3 goaltenders in the league.

 I guess we should look at this game with the cup half-full. It’s too early to write off the Canes. They’ve shown remarkable resiliency all year long. If Cam Ward can keep his hot hand and the Canes can cut down on the number of forced turnovers and bad decisions in the coming games, maybe they can turn this thing around. But, that means no more of this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s93l_O7Sko8 

And, they’ve got to find a way to solve Tim Thomas. Which brings me back to where I started with all of this.  You can’t ask for anything more from Jussi Jokinen’s troika, with Scott Walker and Ryan Bayda, and Eric Staal and Ray Whitney are working their butts off, and will get their share of opportunities, for sure. Even the defence is starting to show signs of coming around offensively.  What’s really needed is for the other forwards to start contributing. 

Hey, Rod Brind’Amour, Erik Cole, Tuomo Ruutu, Matt Cullen, and Sergei Samsonov. I need ya’ boys, because one thing’s for sure, I do not want to have to listen to my bother say,

 “I told you so!”