These are Pat Stapleton and Bill White. I’m not old enough to have seen them play live but I was fortunate enough to be able to watch them on the Summit Series DVDs and they were arguably Canada’s best defensive pairing and Coach Harry Sinden’s first choice when Team Canada needed to defend a lead. After sitting out the first game, they drew into the lineup for game two and played through the rest of the series. Though they only scored two points between them, they finished the series a combined +13 and were two of the only Canadians who had the speed and the skill to match up well with the Soviets.

With Jannik Hansen demoted to Manitoba yesterday, a lot of Canuck fans find themselves running around like chickens with their heads cut off. There's plenty of reasons to be upset: since his Canuck debut in the 2007 Playoffs, Hansen has been one of the most likeable stories on the team. Long-shot 9th round pick from the obscure hockey hot-bed of Denmark makes good. He showed great spark, speed and hockey sense, and looked like he would be a keeper.

Three of the Final Four could win their first Cup in franchise history. Three of the four goaltenders are wholly unproven or, prior to seasons start, less than stellar. All four teams are offensively oriented, and only a few years ago two of them were staring bankruptcy induced self-destruction in the face.

Right now we sit on the threshold to three remaining series that will be full of complete unknowns, and in Sports nothing is more exciting than just that. But it’s a far cry from where the game was only 5 years ago.

For those that don't know the back story...
1) Shane Doan was picked for Captain on Team Canada's squad at the World Championship
2) The Bloc Quebecois will always be able to suck my tiny Asian Dong, no matter what the circumstances. Like I could be in the middle of my wedding with Keira Knightly and if this person which could figuratively represent the mental spirit and physical assets of the Bloc Quebecois walked in, I'd drop my pants and have it orally pleasure me in front of my parents.

It’s been a few too many days since there was an update on the site, and in that time we’ve seen the Canucks rekindle the kind of slow-burning gameplan that got them into the playoffs in the first place. In a fashion that would make Jacques Lemaire blush the Canucks have, for the last two games at least, forced the Ducks to play a game they would rather avoid completely; no flow, tight checking, and low scoring chances.

Tonight will undoubtedly see the Canucks bring their A-game, and then we’ll see if that’s good enough. As much a flaw it is that this team needs constant wake-up calls and reminders, they're still a prideful bunch and so far throughout the year they’ve never failed to bounce back after tough embarrassing losses.

Towelpower Consensus: Most of our analysts agree it will be a 7 game series, and much of it depends on goaltending. Ray Emery is still relatively unproven while Martin Brodeur struggled for four of the six games in Round 1. What is scariest for the Senators is that Brodeur played lights out for Games 5 and 6. Meanwhile, the scariest thing for the Devils is Ottawa's ability to adapt to playing either offensive or tight-checking, defensive hockey.