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Five Thoughts: Relaxing on Jumbo Joe’s “choker” label and Canucks collective madness

Joe Thornton

After a wild night that saw yet another series move on to a Game 7 and another series wrap up in dramatic fashion, we’re left with a lot to ponder and it’s good if your name is Joe Thornton and not so good if you’re a member of the Canucks or Penguins.

1. Look who decided to show up in a big spot, none other than Joe Thornton. For all the needling Thornton’s gotten for his lack of big play ability in the playoffs (97 games, 17 goals, 53 assists, 70 points) he shows up in overtime of an elimination game and puts away the Kings with the game winning goal.

For all the undue crap Thornton’s gotten in his career from his days in Boston on through to San Jose now (both fair for disappearing at times and unfair for playing through broken ribs), he gets the goal that moves the Sharks on to the next round where they’ll either be rewarded with a Predators team on fire or a Red Wings team that looks terrifying. Some reward. Still, Thornton’s play in this series made him one of the Sharks top producers (two goals, three assists). We’re not saying that Thornton’s reputation should be forgotten about or wiped clean, we’re just saying that maybe we should cut the guy a break.

2. It almost didn’t happen for Joe Thornton though as the Sharks had to kill off a five minute major at the end of regulation and to start in overtime after Jamie McGinn was sent off for charging Brad Richardson. At full speed and on first glance, the hit looked and sounded terrible. McGinn streaked in at Richardson from about 40-50 feet away and didn’t slow up at all in taking Richardson out. It’s as historically a dumb penalty as you’ll ever see but was it major worthy? After replays it certainly didn’t look that way and much of that is in part due to Richardson ducking his head out of the way at the last second.

That said, the ferocity of the hit, the speed of the play, and McGinn launching himself into Richardson all makes that initial call the right one even though hindsight says it was an overreaction. Officials don’t get that benefit though. The Sharks had the hockey gods on their side though as they killed off the penalty and won the game, but with everyone eager to condemn players for bad hits

3. As for people that might be due to eat a lot of criticism and for good reason, there’s Alain Vigneault, Mike Gillis and Roberto Luongo in Vancouver. Vigneault in announcing that Luongo would start Game 7 said that he told Luongo that he was starting the next game no matter what whether that was Game 7 or Game 1 of the second round. That’s awfully curious all things considered and it’s a bit of a peek at his confidence in Luongo. He’s either saying he felt that Cory Schneider would win Game 6 for them and Luongo was getting a quick vacation before the second round or that he was teaching him a lesson about sucking it up and dealing. Nice time of the year to do that. Luongo’s quotes in interviews yesterday sure made it seem like he wasn’t too eager to take the reins. Hoo boy.

As for Gillis, his tirade about how the officiating has been unfair all series (and Vancouver has been called for more penalties) is both a means for him to distract from the goaltending circus and a poorly timed effort to get the officials ears to call more in their favor. Good grief. If it works out, good for him. If not, the Canucks will have found a brand new way to embarrass themselves against Chicago.

4. Was it me or did Pittsburgh look awfully tired during Game 6 against Tampa Bay? Pittsburgh had good jump for about half the game but as time rolled along, the Lightning seemed to get stronger as the game moved along while the Penguins lost that ability to keep up. In Game 7 on Wednesday it’ll be a different setting and a desperate game for both teams, but given the way Tampa has looked in the last two wins, it’s not shaping up well for Pittsburgh. The Pens will need to play aggressive and on the edge of nasty the way Tampa did last night in defending home ice.

5. If Tampa Bay is to move on to the second round, the guy that will end up being the unsung hero for them after the first round is Ryan Malone. Malone, a former Penguin and Pittsburgh native, is playing with a certain edge and nastiness the rest of the Lightning team doesn’t necessarily have (aside from Steve Downie) and he’s relishing in the role of torturing and pestering his former teammates.

Whether he’s mixing it up after the whistle, committing questionable hits on Maxime Talbot, or shoving Penguins defensemen into Marc-Andre Fleury he’s gotten under their skin. Whether or not he has to hear from the NHL for his hit on Talbot remains to be seen, but we’re expecting he’ll not be suspended, especially for a Game 7. We’re sure that there’s nothing more that Malone would love to do than oust his former team.