After mini-vacation Canucks resume action tonight at Garage

After disposing of the St. Louis Blues in four straight games, the Vancouver Canucks were forced to sit and watch while the rest of the Western Conference battled it out for the right to move on to the second round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With the Anaheim Ducks disposing of the regular season’s best team, San Jose Sharks, earlier this week, the 2nd round matchups were set in stone. Anaheim will travel to Detroit to face the Redwings, and the Canucks will open the 2nd round at home tonight against the upstart Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks eliminated the Calgary Flames earlier this week to advance to round 2.

Fans here in Vancouver are stoked to say the least. They celebrated on the streets as if they had won the cup after the team’s first ever series sweep. It was a good feeling, but now that everyone has come off the high and dropped back to reality, I’m sure many will agree that there is still a long, LONG way to go.

Vancouver is going to have to be much better against the Hawks, who showed a lot of poise in the first round against the Calgary Flames. Not to take anything away from the Canucks sweep, but the Blues let them off the hook countless times, unable to capitalize on the power play. The Canucks better stay out of the box against Chicago. If the first round is any indication, Chicago will pick them apart.

Granted, the Hawks advanced against a depleted Flames lineup, but they are still deeper, have more experience with the deadline additions, and are probably a bit better in goal than the Blues were. One thing is for sure, it will be one heck of a series!

The puck will drop at the garage tonight at 6pm.