sports

Stanley Cup NHL Playoffs: Vancouver-Boston

Malhotra ‘doubtful’ for Game 1

Final
vancouver
canucks
vs. Boston
Bruins
Series tied 0-0
GAME 1, Wednesday
Boston at Vancouver, 8 p.m., CBC
Game 2, Saturday
Boston 6 at Vancouver, 8 p.m., CBC
game 3, June 6
Vancouver at Boston, 8 p.m., CBC
Game 4, June 8
Vancouver at Boston, 8 p.m., CBC
game 5, June 10
x-Boston at Vancouver, 8 p.m., CBC
Game 6, June 13
x-Vancouver at Boston, 8 p.m., CBC
Game 7, June 15
x-Boston at Vancouver, 8 p.m., CBC
scoring
leaders
G A P
Henrik Sedin, VAN 2 19 21
Martin St Louis, TBL 10 10 20
V. Lecavalier, TBL 6 13 19
Ryan Kesler, VAN 7 11 18
Teddy Purcell, TBL 6 11 17
Joe Thornton, SJS 3 14 17
David Krejci, BOS 10 7 17
Nathan Horton, BOS 8 9 17
Daniel Sedin, VAN 8 8 16
Dan Boyle, SJS 4 12 16
Ryane Clowe, SJS 6 9 15
P. Bergeron, BOS 4 11 15
Pavel Datsyuk, DET 4 11 15
A. Burrows, VAN 7 7 14
Logan Couture, SJS 7 7 14
Steve Downie, TBL 2 12 14
Joel Ward, NSH 7 6 13
Steve Stamkos, TBL 6 7 13
Patrick Marleau, SJS 7 6 13
Brad Marchand, BOS 6 6 12
Simon Gagne, TBL 5 7 12
Claude Giroux, PHI 1 11 12
S. Bergenheim, TBL 9 2 11
Michael Ryder, BOS 5 6 11
Chris Kelly, BOS 4 7 11
Dominic Moore, TBL 3 8 11
C. Ehrhoff, VAN 2 9 11
D. Setoguchi, SJS 7 3 10
Joe Pavelski, SJS 5 5 10
Alex Ovechkin, WSH 5 5 10
Mike Cammalleri, MTL 3 7 10
Danny Briere, PHI 7 2 9
David Legwand, NSH 6 3 9
Kevin Bieksa, VAN 5 4 9
Dany Heatley, SJS 3 6 9
Milan Lucic, BOS 3 6 9
Alexander Edler, VAN 2 7 9
Ian White, SJS 1 8 9
Nicklas Lidstrom 4 4 8
Henrik Zetterberg 3 5 8
Mason Raymond 2 6 8
MIKE ZEISBERGER
QMI Agency
VA N C O U V E R — W h a t
we have here is a failure to
communicate.
O n Satu rday , Va n couve r
Canucks coach Alain Vigneault
announced that injured forward
Manny Malhotra, who had been
out of the lineup since March 16
with an eye injury, had received
clearance “to play.”
On Tuesday, just three days
after Vigneault made that rev-
elation, the Canucks changed
their story, with general man-
ager Mike Gillis telling a room-
ful of reporters that Malholtra
had only b e e n cl ea re d to
practice.
What’s the deal here?
Wa s t h i s n o t h i n g b u t a
smokescreen?
Or had Malhotra suffered a
setback in the past couple of
days, possibly regressing to the
point that the optimism sur-
rounding his potential return
had evaporated?
Whatever the case, Malhotra
was not on the ice for practice
on Tuesday, just one day after
suggesting an appearance in
Game 1 on Wednesday night
was not out of the question.
That no longer appears to be
the case.
“It’s doubtful you’ll see him
for the opener,” a source told
QMI Agency. “Don’t expect him
to play (Wednesday).”
Indeed, the Malhotra situa-
tion seems to be evolving into a
shinny soap opera.
“Manny is doing as well as we
could have possibly have hoped
based on the injuries he’s had
and the procedures he’s gone
through,” Gillis said. ERIC BOLTE QMI Agency
“This has been a day-to-day Vancouver Canucks forward Manny Malhotra skates at the team practice at Rogers arena on Monday.
thing all along.
“He hasn’t been cleared to
play yet. He was cleared for “We have to be really patient “When he’s cleared to play, Malhotra’s potential absence Henrik Sedin said.
some contact. He gets moni- with this. play in the NHL, you’ll see him against the Bruins will most be “We’ve done a good job
tored every day. Today was a “We have to rein him in a little with the team. Until that point, felt in the faceoff circle, where all year on faceoffs. If Manny
day where they felt it would bit because he’s very enthusias- we’ll take it day to day and he is one of the league’s better comes back it’s going to help us.
be best if he stayed away for tic, as you know. It’s up to us to monitor it day to day. It’s part players on the draw. If not, we’re going to bear down
today. He’ll be back around the try to be as responsible as we of the ongoing plan that he’s “ To star t w ith the puck and do our job.”
team again (Wednesday), we possibly can be with his best had from the date of the injury.” against a team like Boston will
anticipate. interests in mind. If you say so. be key for us,” Canucks captain mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca

NHL Playoffs: Vancouver-Boston broadcasting

Five questions final will answer All-sports

The Stanley Cup finals begin
Wednesday in Vancouver as the
Canucks host the Boston Bruins;
the first time a Stanley Cup
final game has taken place in
Vancouver since June 1994 when
the Canucks lost in seven to the
New York Rangers.
Canucks fans have been wait-
ing a long time for the team to
win its first Stanley Cup in fran-
chise history.
Bruins fans have also been
chomping at the bit for some
time, not having raised the
Stanley Cup since Nixon went to
China, the Vietnam War was still
raging and some smarty pants
broke into the Democratic head-
quarters at Watergate in 1972.
Here are five other questions
that will be answered as the
Canucks and Bruins wage battle
on the ice for trophy.
Can the Bruins contain the
Sedins?
There’s nobody better at
maintaining possession of the
puck down low in the zone than
Henrik and Daniel.
After so-so play in the first two
rounds, the twins, 30, stepped
it up against San Jose in the
conference final and are in a
groove. Henrik has two goals and
19 assists to lead the playoff
scoring parade. Daniel has eight
goals and eight assists and sits
ninth in post-season scoring.
The Bruins’ defencemen will
have their hands full, but offen-
sive players, such as David Krejci
and Michael Ryder, will have to
be tougher on the puck in the
defensive zone.
Will Manny Malhotra’s return
upset Vancouver’s chemistry?
Malhotra is a character guy
and one of the best face-off men
in the NHL. The 31-year-old
has had several surgeries since
being hit in the left eye back in
March when a pass deflected off
the stick of Colorado Avalanche
defenceman Erik Johnson.
He has been cleared for light
contact and has been skating
with the team since May 12.
Face-offs are critical at this time
of the year, so Malhotra’s pres-
Boston Bruins right winger Nathan Horton, second from left, celebrates his goal on Tampa Bay Lightning with teammates Tomas Kaberle,
David Krejci and Milan Lucic during Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Finals game in Boston, Mass., on May 23.
ence would be welcome, but
coach Alain Vigneault has to be
thinking if it ain’t broke ...
Can the Canucks stop Nathan
Horton?
Nathan Horton logged six sea-
sons and 422 games in Florida
without ever playing in a playoff
game.
Acquired from the Panthers
in a trade last June, the impos-
ing forward just turned 26 on
Sunday and is enjoying his first
foray into the playoffs. He has
scored eight goals and added
nine assists in 18 games.
Astoundingly, Horton has
two game-seven winners — one
against Montreal in the opening
round and the margin of victory
Friday in the clincher against
Tampa Bay in the Eastern
Conference final. Can you say
clutch?
Which goalie will blink first?
How close is the tale of the
tape betw een Vancouver ’s
Roberto Luongo and Boston’s
Tim Thomas?
Both goalies have identical
12-6 won-lost records. Both goal-
ies have identical goals-against
averages of 2.29. Both goalies
have two shutouts in these play-
offs. Thomas’s save percentage is
.929. Luongo’s is .922.
Thomas is 37 and was a jour-
neyman in Finland, Sweden,
and the AHL before settling in
the NHL. He has since played in
three NHL All-Star games and
led the league this season in both
GAA (2.00) and save percentage
(.938). He’s a late bloomer who
seems to have the calmness to
win the big games.
Luongo has been a stud since
he was chosen fourth overall by
the Islanders in the 1997 entry
draft, but he didn’t see his first
NHL playoff action until 2006-07
after six seasons with the Isles
and Florida Panthers.
After last year’s gold medal
performance for Team Canada at
the Vancouver Olympics, Luongo
has proven he can win the big
game when it matters most and
his confidence has ratcheted up
as a result.
These are two netminders at
the top of their game. It should
be fun to watch.
Who will be the unsung
heroes?
Sure, the stars are glamor-
ous and talented, but there are
always one or two rank-and-file,
third and fourth-liners who con-
tribute big time.
For Boston, look for Chris
Kelly or Rich Peverley to score a
QMI Agency files
big goal, deliver a big hit, and/or
block a big shot.
For the Canucks, look for Chris
Higgins or Jannik Hansen to do
the same.
Not everyone whose names
are engraved on the Stanley Cup
are flashy, but to win 16 playoff
games you have to excel at the
fundamentals and know what it
means to make sacrifices.
This is a chance for the sup-
port staff — the so-called bottom
six forwards — to help write the
story.
You can’t make a blockbuster
movie without the grips and
the craft services folks, and you
can’t win the Stanley Cup with-
out guys willing to take a glove
or a puck to the chops and the
fourth-line penalty killers.
— The Sports Network
channel
‘a bright day’
for fans
Francophone sports fans will
have another viewing option
when TVA Sports hits the air-
waves later this year.
TVA Group announced the
creation of its new French-
language specialty channel
Tuesday in Montreal. TVA Sports
will begin broadcasting in the
fall, joining a TV sports land-
scape in Quebec that has been
dominated by Bell Media-owned
RDS for more than 20 years.
“All major cities in North
America and elsewhere have
at least two sports channels,”
Quebecor president and CEO
Pierre Karl Peladeau said. “But
until now, that has not been
the case in Quebec. This is a
bright day for sports fans, who
are the big winners in today’s
announcement.”
It will air 25 Ottawa Senators
games, 60 Blue Jays games, live
UFC fights, Champions League
soccer games, and professional
boxing. The Champions Tour
golf tournament in Montreal,
the Velirium of Quebec moun-
tain bike race and Quebec Open
volleyball tournament are also
scheduled to be broadcast start-
ing next year. TVA Sports will also
air sports programming that will
draw on Quebecor’s many media
outlets, including QMI Agency.
“Our well-known conver-
gence strategy is an effective and
attractive way to offer TV viewers
the best content,” Peladeau said.
“TVA Sports will be able to count
on not only the resources of TVA
and LCN but also Le Journal
de Montreal and Le Journal de
Quebec, all our dailies and com-
munity newspapers across the
country, and the QMI Agency.”
TVA Sports will be offered
to cable distributors across the
country.
— Dave Pollard, QMI Agency