Really? THAT was Game 1?

Against the Blackhawks?

The same Blackhawks that resulted in the Massacre at the Madhouse last playoffs, where Chelsea Dagger played the Canucks right out of the playoffs?

Where Dustin Byfuglien was this out of control rampaging monster that the Canucks couldn’t hope to contain him?

And the Canucks won 5-1?

Wow.

I know that this isn’t ‘fan faithful’ of me to say, but I was bracing for a loss last night. It was the first game of a series that has a lot of history between both sides and it was on home ice for Chicago. I was ready for it.

Apparently the Canucks didn’t get that memo. I mean, you get a goal from every single line, plus an additional goal from your blueliners. Hard to complain about that when everyone’s producing. And hey, I predicted that Raymond was going to show up in this series over at the Canucks Corner pre-series blog and he’s off to a good start: his efforts at keeping the puck in led to the first goal from Ehrhoff and he ended up banging in a goal of his own to boot. Not a bad first game from a guy who was very quiet for the series against the Kings.

Also? I think it’s safe to say that Roberto Luongo is ‘back’ or he’s ‘in form’ or whatever term you’d like to use to describe his play. I had speculated before the playoffs started that the only thing effecting Luongo’s play may have been mental issues to do with the Olympics. Now that the games matter he’s been solid or better. Tonight’s game was probably his best game of the playoffs as he was beat on a 5 on 3 powerplay goal. I’d argue that there was a late whistle to factor in there as well, but I’ll trust that the referee had better sight of the puck than I did.

It’s really strange. For a series that was hyped as being full of emotion and unfinished business and rivalry and yadda yadda yadda you really couldn’t detect it. I Was surprised with how much room the Blackhawks were giving to the Canucks offense…the Sedins especially. Contrast with the Kings game where you’d find LA players all over players as they gained the zone. Any room Henrik, Daniel or anyone else wanted in the offensive zone they had to fight for. Contrast that with last night’s game where Kyle Wellwood was having no problems passing and shooting the puck and you have to wonder what the hell is going on with Chicago. I know folks are saying that Eager and Burish will be in for Game 2, but I can’t see them bringing enough of a physical edge that the Canucks will wilt.

And before I start getting carried away, there is still a ton of hockey to play in this series. While winning Game 1 was a surprise, it’d be even more surprising if the Blackhawks were to simply roll over and die. They’re going to be back with a vengeance Monday night and I’d expect a much tougher game from them. So yeah, I’m not planning the parade or anything just yet.

Beyond that, I’m loving the effort from our blueline. Don Cherry had an orgasm on air over Bieksa taking the hit from two Hawks players in order to make a play, but I have to say it’s insane how much Bieksa has stepped up his play in the playoffs. He’s pinching and joining odd man rushes but he is also making it back and is playing well in his own end. During the regular season Bieksa was a disaster out there, making bad decisions to pinch and the such. It’s great to see that he (along with SOB, but everyone’s been singing his praises, so I’ll shut up) has been playing really well.

And hey, let’s say something about Andrew Alberts real quick. He’s becoming a surprise out there on the ice. A very solid game from him. I speculated before that it may have just been adjusting to a new system and some bad luck and I’m glad to see that he’s continuing to play well (ie, his first game back after Baumgartner AND Rome both went down with injuries wasn’t a complete fluke.)

Beyond that, Joel Quenneville may be in over his head against Alain Vigneault and Antii Niemi isn’t looking particularly good at this juncture. It’s like he can’t handle anything that goes top shelf. Should he really start to struggle the Blackhawks may be in a lot of trouble: beyond the 20 minutes he logged last night in relief, Huet hasn’t played in a month. Not a good position to be in.

Game 2 is on Monday! Woop woop.