EDDIE’S EARNED IT
There’s no question who the Canucks’ starter should be for Game 1 of the playoffs: It’s Lack
Eddie Lack will be the Canucks’ starter in Game 1.
Is that so hard? One goalie is injured, and one is not.
One has played 21 of the past 22 and put up a .924 save percentage, facing 31.8 shots per game. One may play once in seven weeks.
One has two consecutive wins against the L.A. Kings. In those, he made 61 saves on 63 shots.
The other? If all goes right, he may get to play the Oilers.
Monday was Lack’s judgment day. It should have ended the debate.
All people should have left to anguish about is the six-day break between starts Lack is staring down if Ryan Miller gets Saturday’s regular-season finale.
Oh, and how long Lack’s leash will be.
G oalie torment in Vancouver is like worrying about the next rain.
You can escape it in July and August, and that’s about it.
But whether Miller plays or not Saturday, succeeds or not, shouldn’t matter. Not for Game 1.
Lack has earned it. He’s actually earned a few things. Like people shutting up about last year. Like people realizing he’s much more than a fetching personality, which got him more fans out of the locker-room than in it.
So, even that has been improved on. Fun Eddie isn’t so fun when he’s the starter.
“When he’s the No. 1, he’s quieter, more reserved,” Daniel Sedin noted. That has been by design. Lack started picking up on it a year ago. You want to be the starter, there is a certain expectation in the locker-room you carry yourself like a No. 1 goalie.
“I have grown up a little bit the past two years here,” Lack said.
“I used to always be this fun, laughing, jokester in the locker-room. I felt I had to calm myself down a little bit and pick my spots. I’m not all over the place like I used to be.
“It’s something I think about. If you want to be in the No. 1 seat, you have to make the guys trust you on and off the ice.” They trust him now. “You look at that L.A. game, the (Kings) were up 1-0 and two breakaways. If they score on either of those, it’s game over,” Henrik said.
“There were a lot of times (since Lack took over for Miller) the other team was up early, and then they came at us hard. He made some key saves.
“It’s all you can ask for.”
Lack didn’t get the Canucks into playoff position.
He did keep them from disintegrating.
Not only should it earn him the start in the postseason, it should probably earn him a long leash.
Of course, that’s not likely happening if Miller is an option.
“We needed him to step up,” Willie Desjardins said.
“We had a lot of hockey left without Ryan. He did a terrific job for us and certainly got us in.
“You will always take that into consideration.”
Of course, there shouldn’t be much to consider. Except how Lack handles the expected six-day layoff before Wednesday, the earliest the playoffs could start.
“If that’s the case, I would take the rest and be happy,” Lack said. “It’s been a lot, a lot of hockey. “Getting a mental break can help too.”
With three or more days rest this season, Lack has a 1.83 GAA and a .931 save percentage.
Kevin Bieksa chirped Lack Wednesday for possibly being tired having played “15 games,” but other players had a different perspective, admiring how he’s handled the past two months.
“For him to be able to manage this many games, is pretty remarkable,” Daniel said.
On Sunday, the Canucks finally gave him a day off the ice.
Asked if it helped, Lack said: “Ya, ya, ya. It was probably the first day in a long time I didn’t think about hockey almost the entire day. Having my mom here, we cooked turkey the whole day. “It was huge.” So was the way Lack played the Kings on Monday.
Lack’s mom was set to go back home before the end of this week.
She’s planning to be back Wednesday. To see her son start Game 1. At least, that’s how it should be.