GAME 6 NOTES + THE GOALIE PROJECT - Bob Essensa

GAME 6


Well...that was...well...just...well...sigh...That was a wasted opportunity. It didn't look like the game was going to unfold the way it did. The Canucks applied pressure, Hank almost sealed the first goal of the game on a bouncing puck that bounced off the boards directly behind the net (almost identical to Lapierre's game 5 game winner). That would have completely changed the outcome of the game. Not to mention the literal back breaking injury of Mason Raymond. I can't say that Raymond has been one of my favorite players of the play-offs but he has generated chances (although not finishing) with his speed and decent shot. I don't understand how you can injure Raymond the way he did and not get looked at by the league. The Boston player locked Raymond's head between his knee caps and rammed his tail bone into the boards. Don't make sense.

But hey, that's just me making excuses. Luongo let in three goals and got chased out in front of the cursed TD Gardens. Schneider did a pretty solid job although he let in 2 goals. He can't be blamed for either as the first one was a re-direct and the second one came mere seconds after an unbelievable goal line stop.

Saying this though, the positive thing we can take out of this game is that we could have come back. We hit the post on the powerplay in the 2nd that was followed up by a Thomas stick save on Kesler. There was also a 2 on 1 that was dangerously close to being capitalized on also in the second period. So with those two chances alone in the 2nd, this game could have been a 2 goal game going into the 3rd easily. Of course, the third period the Canucks had a very strong push including a Hansen post that all of Canada simultaneously thought was a goal.

But like EA Sports and myself predicted at the beginning of the series...Canucks in 7. It's so close we can taste it. I'll be around the city watching the game and I can't wait to see the atmosphere if when we win!

GAME 7 BABY! IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!

THE GOALIE PROJECT


Okay, so I haven't posted a whole lot about hockey cards in a while besides that nice Pinnacle pack rip I picked up the other day. I thought it might be appropriate to do what I like to consider a c4k "classic". Yup, that's the goalie project. This time it's a goalie that split a season with both Felix Potvin and Dan Cloutier (what a nightmare) - Bob Essensa.

Bob was not known for his time in Vancouver. He was more popular in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

This my lone Vancouver Canucks Bob Essensa card. Kinda a weird looking picture because it's from a weird angle, but I really have always liked the look of these 2002 Pacific cards.

These cards are technically not considered "RC" by Beckett but these are "All Rookie Team" cards so I'm considering these rookie cards. After all I'm not gonna go on Ebay and pay 5 bucks worth of shipping and handling for an Essensa RC worth 10 cents. So let's roll with it. By the way, can Winnipeg please not even consider any other jersey than those classics. I mean, that's a great looking jersey any way you slice it. Bring it to Winterpeg!

With that, let's take a look at where I'm at:

Alex Auld - 3/3 COMPLETE! 26 TOTAL
Murray Bannerman - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Martin Brochu
Richard Brodeur - 1/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Gary Bromley
Bruce Bullock
Sean Burke
Frank Caprice
Jacques Caron
Dan Cloutier - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Ed Dyck
Ken Ellacott
Bob Essensa - 3/3 COMPLETE! 13 TOTAL
Mike Fountain
Troy Gamble - 2/2 COMPLETE! 21 TOTAL
George Gardner
John Garrett - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Glen Hanlon
Johan Hedberg - 2/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Rick Heinz
Corey Hirsch
Charlie Hodge
Arturs Irbe
Jason LaBarbera - 2/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Ken Lockett
Roberto Luongo - 3/3 COMPLETE! 38 TOTAL
Drew MacIntyre - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Cesare Maniago - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Bob Mason
Dave McClelland
Steve McKichan
Kirk McLean
Rob McVicar - 1/1 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Alfie Michaud
Tyler Moss
Mika Noronen - 2/3 COMPLETE! 5 TOTAL
Maxime Ouellet
Félix Potvin - 3/3 COMPLETE! 25 TOTAL
Andrew Raycroft - 1/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Curt Ridley
Dany Sabourin - 2/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Curtis Sanford - 3/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Cory Schneider - 1/2 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL
Corey Schwab
Petr Skudra - 3/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Gary Smith
Garth Snow
Kevin Weekes
Steve Weeks
Kay Whitmore
Dunc Wilson - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Wendell Young

Okay so that's it until Wednesday night. You'll get my reaction after game 7, and I hope that I'll be as happy as I've ever been. Boys I've waited my whole life - please...bring the cup home!

GO NUCKS GO!