Call it the curse of the Presidents Cup, call it the classic Canuck choke, call it extremely bad luck coupled with poor officiating but whatever you want to call it it still amounts to the same thing; the greatest first round meltdown in NHL history.

Not the record the Canucks want to be known for. Although Canucks fans are used to having tasted the giddy highs of playoff possibilities only to see their hopes dashed again and again, never have fans hopes for a run at the cup been so high as this spring.

It was all coming together this year, the Sedins continued their run as bona fide superstars, Luongo had recovered his winning form, plus if anything went wrong we had a very solid back up in Cory Schneider. Plus we had a young fast team of promising talent to play behind the top line and a solid veteran in Manny Malhotra to keep them anchored. Not to mention one of the most impressive defensive corps in the league.
 
Not only were the Canucks the top team in the league and the team with the greatest offensive firepower, they were also the team with the stingiest record on goals allowed, we were suppose to have it all. Not to mention history was on our side; the last two Canadian cities to host the Olympics won the Stanley Cup in the following season, Montreal in 1977 and Calgary in 1989.

All of the above said to Canuck fans, ‘yeah sure we’ve had our hearts broken before, but not this year, there’s just too much pointing towards a long run for the Cup, if not a win in the final.’

Starting out it all went according to script; they jumped out 3-0 against their archrivals the Chicago Black Hawks (and for those who know their Canuck history know that rivalry goes back a lot further than three seasons). The only lament from fans was that they wouldn’t see the Canucks eliminate the dreaded Hawks on home ice.

Be careful what you wish for goes the saying, when the Canucks melted down in Game 4 the old familiar doubts already started creeping in. ‘We’ll finish them at home in Game 5 is all,’ we told ourselves through false smiles and gritted teeth.

Well there’s no reason to recap how we ended up at a Game 7.

Okay maybe that all sounds a little bleak, so lets take a look back and see what we can learn from previous Canuck playoff runs: In 2003 the Canucks fell to the Minnesota Wild in the second round after gaining a 3-1 series advantage. In 2004 the Canucks went down in the first round to the Calgary Flames. In 2009 the Canucks easily swept the St Louis Blues in the first round only to go down in six to the Chicago Blackhawks (largely due to very unsteady goaltending in games five and six).

Okay that’s not helping is it? But the Canucks playoff history does have its share of glory; take the 2007 opening round against the Dallas Stars. Roberto Luongo faced down 76 shots in a quadruple overtime game and the Canucks went on to win that series in seven games largely by riding Luongo’s stellar goaltending.

And let’s not forget the Canucks first Stanley Cup appearance in 1982 a run that defied all expectations when the 1981-82 Canucks snuck into the playoffs three games under .500 and bested the Calgary Flames, Los Angeles Kings and yes the Chicago Blackhawks to reach the final (the series against the Hawks was when coach Roger Neilson originated the tradition of Towel Power).

But the game that must really stand out in the minds of most die hard fan’s memories would likely be that now legendary night in April 1994. In the seventh game of their first round match-up against the Calgary Flames goaltender Kirk ‘Captain Kirk’ Mclean stunned Flames fans and made true believers out of the legions of the Canuck nation when he made ‘The Save’. Stacking his pads to stone a smooth as silk Theoren Fleury feed to Rob Reichel right on the goal line in overtime. That set the stage for a Pavel Bure breakaway and the victory that propelled them all the way to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final.

So there you go just when you think the Canucks will break our hearts again, they do have the ability to rise to the heights and make us believers again.