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Posted at 10:00 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Vancouver over Edmonton

10:07 PM EST. OT included. Call us crazy, but if we ran the NHL, we’d make sure our best player, Connor McDavid, would not play in postseason games where the puck will drop after 10:00 PM EST (we'd also have made sure to rig the draft lottery so that he did not end up in a frozen hellscape like Edmonton, but we digress). Even with the late start, the spotlight is on #97 and the rest of the Oilers here in Game 1. Seriously, if you’ve watched or listened to the lead-up of this game, you would think the result was a foregone conclusion, as the Oilers are the overwhelming consensus pick in the media and the market. Having the best player in the world will do that, but as we’ve seen time and again, one player cannot win a Cup on his own.

Because the Oilers have been dissected to death, we are going to look at this game through another lens that focuses on the Canucks, who, by the way, won the Pacific Division and are at home here in Game 1, yet are an underdog. We get it; the Canucks looked like crap versus the Predators, but you know what? Everything that could have gone wrong for Vancouver did, including a revolving door in net after starter Thatcher Demko went down after Game 1, and backup Casey DeSmith went down after Game 3, which dropped the responsibility of a Stanley Cup run on Arturs Silovs.

If you know anything about Canucks coach Rick Tocchet, you know he carries a big chip on both shoulders and swings a big stick. At least he did in his playing days, but he brings that attitude to the Canucks. He’s no doubt taken offense not only to the one-sided media coverage but also to the disrespect from the oddsmakers. "I love being doubted. At the start of the year, if you asked, ‘Is Vancouver going to make the playoffs?' A lot of people said no or a bubble team. So, we were underdogs there. As the season went on, when are they going to fall? Now, same thing. ... I just think we kind of like that underdog role and I think players should embrace it."

The Canucks certainly take a big step up in regards to the offense they will face, as there is no doubting McDavid and the firepower he and the Oilers forward group bring, but what about on defense and in net? That’s a step back for the Canucks, and a more wide-open game may serve them well here. Edmonton is not going to block shots like the Preds did, and the Oil do not have a defenseman of the caliber of Roman Josi, nor do they have a goaltender as good as Juuse Saros. The Canucks are an elite team, but they are not being given that respect here to begin this series, and we plan to try and take advantage of that market inefficiency. The Oilers are so overrated and overvalued that it’s not funny. At worst, this is a 50/50 proposition, and at best, the wrong side is favored, and we’re not passing up the tremendous value on the hometown Canucks, who man for man, are the better team top to bottom.

Sherwood

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