It’s playoff time in Vancouver and the city is buzzing. The Johnny Canuck car flags come out, the jerseys are on show, and the Canuck fan in every Vancouverite seems to come to life (*cough* bandwagoners *cough*).

Since I’m a girl and can’t rock the playoff beard, I’m wearing my jersey every day for good luck – even to work. Every April and May my coworkers will have to deal with the stench, but at least they know it’s coming.

When it was first announced that the Canucks would be playing the St. Louis Blues in the first round of playoffs, a ripple of nervousness spread out across the city. All of a sudden, the most die-hard fans I knew were questioning whether the Canucks would be able to handle the toughness of the Blues, and if we’d be able to handle the eventual comeback of Kariya. Playing the hottest team in the NHL for the second half of the season? No thanks, we’d rather take on Chicago.

But last night the Canucks won an important game: their first playoff game of the year, and the first game of the series. Statistically, we know that the team that wins the first game of the series has often led to the same team moving on to the next round. I think the Canucks put a lot of the city’s fears to rest and calmed a lot of their own uneasiness by pulling out a victory in the first game of the series.

That’s not to say that it was an absolute beating. The Canucks, and by the Canucks I mean Luongo, weathered the storm in the first period as he stopped a number of significant scoring chances from the Blues. 5 penalties in the first period really sent the Canucks reeling against the hot special teams of St. Louis.

Thank goodness Daniel scored a nice goal from Demitra and Edler to take the lead. I wonder how many Canuck fans around the city breathed a sigh of relief when that happened. I know I did!

The second and third periods were played much better by the Canucks, as they came on strong, scored another goal and ended up winning the game 2-1. I have to say the real difference makers were the Sedins, who surprised pretty much everyone by playing tough, finishing their checks, and being physical while on the puck. If they can keep this up, I think the team we have now is the deepest and most competitive in Canucks history.

And so the city eagerly awaits for the second game of the series on Friday. Sadly, one of my good friends is a die-hard Blues fan, and I refuse to let him walk around for the rest of the year with a smug look on his face. So Canucks, please go on to win the series. For my sake, and for yours!

Go Canucks Go!