This Saturday the Toronto Maple Leafs pay a visit to Vancouver for a hotly-contested game with the Canucks. This match-up always creates particular excitement, as there are many transplanted Torontonians in BC and Vancouverites in Ontario (of which I was one for seven years). Western Canadians tend to be particularly antagonistic towards the Leafs, and while I tacitly support the Leafs (in the same way I generally support all Canadian teams that aren't in the Northwest Division) I can't help but join in the fun.
This week, in the build-up to the Canucks/Leafs game on Saturday, 'Nucks and Pucks will feature a number of posts dedicated to Leafs bashing, hating and taunting. If I was still living in Toronto this week would be a great back-and-forth banter session with my friends who are Leafs supporters. In lieu of this annual tradition, I hope that this blog can recapture a little bit of that spirit.
I start with a highlight package from the last time the Canucks and Leafs met. I had the pleasure of attending that game, which took place at the Air Canada Centre in January 2007. There were probably 2000-3000 Canucks fans in the building, creating what was at the time the largest hockey crowd ever at the ACC. You can read a recap of the game here. Or you can watch this video for a visual reminder of the smackdown that the Canucks laid on Toronto. Oh yeah, Andrew Raycroft was in goal. Need I say more?
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Watching this clip again I just noticed that a classic weak Bob Cole call. At about the 1:28 of the video mark Cole criticizes the Canucks for passing too much on the powerplay by mockingly stating that "they're killing their own penalty!" He does a 180-degree turn less than 10 seconds when Linden scores: "It was only a matter of time!" WTF!?! How did he get away with that kind of broadcasting on HNIC for so long?
Some call Bob Cole's commentary nostalgic. I call it early signs of senility. I think he's still around because no one at CBC can bring themselves to fire him. It's like telling your grandpa he can't drive anymore because he's bad at it. No one wants to do it, but sometimes it's gotta be done.
Can we start a Canuck bashing week once the Leafs kick their ass on Saturday?
Congrats Jeff, you win the inaugural "Best Comment Ever Award" for the 'Nucks and Pucks comment section. Well done!
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