Aaron Rome for Norris

I know its early to be calling it, but before Leaf fans jumped on the Kessel for Richard bandwagon I thought I would get on this. Rome has been back 4 games and he's scored 3 goals, 5 points even having missed half of one game for an illegal hit that ejected him from the game. If can stay healthy all seson he is on pace to have 76 points by the end of the season. I getting them to take Jeff Cowan off the last Canucks Jersey off and put on Aaron Rome cause this guy is for real!

Aaron Rome suspension and Game 4 Lines

We all know that Alain Vigneault has a man-boner for Aaron Rome. Afterall, he has continued to play the $750,000 defenseman while making the $4.2 million dollar Keith Ballard sit. I just hope that Vigneault had somebody with him to comfort him when he found out Tuesday morning that Rome would be suspended for the remainder of the playoffs.

On paper the trade is awesome. Canucks lose their 8th seed defenseman and Boston loses a top line forward. Rome shouldnt have even been playing in game 3. I called for him to sit for Keith Ballard, but i have been calling that all season long yet inexplicably Rome has become a staple of the Vancouver defense. His untimely penalties have late have cost him, and his penalties usually come from being beat and then overcompensating. This penalty in game three on the other hand was just a late hit. It definitely was a 5 minute major and Rome was lucky the Bruins didn't score on that powerplay otherwise there might be a lot of canucks fans blaming him for the loss.

I like that Rome got suspended for the hit and I hope going forward that the league suspends all similar hits. But we know this is the NHL and they are very inconsistent and wish-washy on suspending head hits. IF this is a change of culture for the NHL I am happy, although it is a little curious that it is taking place in the SCF. The only reason i am not outraged is because I am very happy that Vigneault will not be able to throw Rome into the mix anymore when there are perfectly healthy other (better) options for him to put in.

Looking at the defense pairings for tomorow night, one wonders how the canucks will lineup. This is how i think it will lineup:

bieksa-ballard
salo-edler
ehrhoff-alberts

You keep salo and edler together because they are a solid pair. Bieksa and Ballard are a tough gritty combo, hopefully one of them remembers to stay home. And ehrhoff Alberts is a good combo with Ehrhoff providing the shot and Alberts providing the toughness

Lets see how it pays off in game 4.

-Hark

Sami Salo in for Game 6

With the news that Sami Salo is going to play Game 6, many are saying that this is a sign that the Canucks are ready to put a stangle-hold on the series tonight. Lets not get too excited! Salo will still be in the third defensive pairing, paired with Aaron Rome. It's not like Rome is going to be able to log any significant ice time, so why would Salo be able to as well. The first defensive pairing on the PP will stay Erhoff and Samuelsson after the goal Samuelsson had in OT last game. The second pairing is likely to be Edler and Bieksa, so Salo won't be getting any powerplay time.

In the regular season, Salo averaged 20 minutes and 20 seconds of time on ice per game. Tonight the only hope he has in reaching that will be if the game goes to overtime again. Don't get me wrong, Salo is a great player. However when you are talking about a third defensive pairing being the reason the Canucks will come to life tonight, you are so wrong. If the Canucks want to come to life tonight, it will be because the Sedin's finally realize its playoff time, the Canucks second line keeps up the solid work, and the canucks defense starts to hit the net with some point shots that are being screened (maybe Salo can play a role in this).

Otherwise this could be a long series for the Canucks, while the rest of the teams in the playoffs have the chance to rest up and await us to finish.

-Hark