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Antti Niemi is a Vezina Trophy candidate for the San Jose Sharks, which is rather remarkable when you consider he’s Antti Niemi.

That’s not a knock on his talent, which is considerable, or his importance to the Sharks, which was enormous. That’s to say that Antti Niemi getting credit for his goaltending prowess is a recent trend, and something we didn’t seen when he backstopped the Chicago Blackhawks to the 2010 Stanley Cup.

There was a perception that the Hawks won despite him. At best, he was an anonymous netminder that was competent but unspectacular for a Blackhawks team whose stars up front and on the blueline overshadow the goalies.

Corey Crawford knows the feeling.

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It's a Thursday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Star: Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review joins us to talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins and the move to Tomas Vokoun.

• Alex Ovechkin's terrible back-check on Stepan goal.

• Recapping the Stanley Cup Playoffs

• Wysh's Twitter gaffe.

• The Leafs' strategy to beat the B's.

Question of the Day: Who do you most feel sorry for in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Email puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or hit us on Twitter with the hashtag #MvsW to @wyshynski and @jeffmarek.

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Getty Images(Ed. Note: As the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, we're bound to lose some friends along the journey. We've asked for these losers, gone but not forgotten, to be eulogized by the people who knew the teams best: The bloggers who hated them the most. Here is San Jose Sharks blogger Megalodon of Battle of California, fondly recalling the 2012-13 Vancouver Canucks . Again, this was not written by us ... OK, by all of us. Also: This is a roast and you will be offended by it, so don't take it so seriously.)

By Megalodon of Battle of California

"Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come,
And laugh at the Canucks because they suck."
-W.H. Auden

What? It's time ALREADY? Oh, gosh. Give me a moment to finish up my notes here....

Sorry folks, this all came as a bit of a surprise to me. Not the fact that the Canucks lost, of course—anyone with half a brain could see that was coming—but a first-round SWEEP?

My goodness.

Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, and esteemed Puck Daddy commenters: We are gathered here today to bid farewell to the Vancouver Canucks, a team as ineffectual, fat, and dead as the explorer namesake of their city. The Canucks may be out of the playoffs once again, but they should be proud of their performance.

No, wait, sorry, I read that wrong—I should have said "they should NOT be proud of their performance." My mistake.

Getty ImagesAt this point, another significant injury for the Montreal Canadiens is like salt in a wound that’s already been treated by lemon juice and paper cuts.

Brian Gionta’s down for the playoffs after surgery on his left arm. Ryan White and Brandon Prust were injured in their first-round series against the Ottawa Senators. Lars Eller was last seen bleeding all over the ice after an Eric Gryba hit.

Now, and perhaps most significantly, it’s Carey Price that’s down and out of the Senators’ series, with Ottawa having pushed Montreal to the brink of elimination. The Habs announced that their starting goalie will not return to the Ottawa series due to a lower body injury (a hip or a groin, from the looks of it).

So it’s Peter Budaj time.

The NHLPA on Thursday announced the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award, as center Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, right wing Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and right wing Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning are up for the award presented annually to the “Most Outstanding Player” in the NHL, as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA.

Getty ImagesHuzzah! The Ovechkin/Crosby rivalry is reignited, if only for a shortened season!

All three players have won this award previously – Crosby and St. Louis won the Pearson, Ovechkin won both the Pearson and the Lindsay. So did Markus Naslund, which still trips us out.

Who wins the Lindsay?

Hey, remember Ole-Kristian Tollefsen? Former Grand Rapids Griffin, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman? The dude who was ejected from an Olympic qualifying round game for an elbow to Lubos Bartecko’s head?

He’s playing for Norway in the IIHF World Championships. Norway and Sweden? Not exactly buddies. This was never more evident than when Tollefsen had his stick between the legs of Detroit Red Wings prospect Calle Jarnkrok and … ouch.

(You may need to run this full screen to see it well.)

Well, luckily the Swedish Men’s Chorus was in need of a soprano…

Norway would lose the game, 5-1, as Gabriel Landeskog scored two goals and successfully avoided an amateur circumcision from Ole-Kristian Tollefsen.

Hey, Jarnkrok, just be happy Tore Vikingstad retired; that stick would have butterfly filleted you.

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer’s wife April and his mother Marlene became TV stars during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Boston Bruins, as their reactions to the thrilling game were featured during the CBC broadcast.

That included their reaction to Reimer giving up the game-winning goal to David Krejci at 13:06 of overtime, which followed an egregious Dion Phaneuf mistake in the Leafs’ offensive zone. Oh, and would you look at that: Phaneuf’s future wife, actress Elisha Cuthbert, was sitting right behind her!

Awwwwwkward …

Phaneuf’s overly aggressive play in the attacking zone led to a turnover that the Bruins took the other way, resulting in Krejci’s third goal of the game and a 3-1 series lead for Boston.

Boy, that was sloppy by Phaneuf. Zdeno Chara had the secondary assist.

The video’s a little deceptive, as April Reimer appears to be looking at a video replay of the game-winner most of the time.

But at the end, the two lock eyes and … well, it certainly seemed like a tension convention. And by that we mean we haven’t seen Cuthbert in that uncomfortable a stare down since that cougar.

Incidentally, nothing in that interaction is as awkward as Cam Neely blowing that last high five. C'mon Seabass...

UPDATE: Because this story couldn't get more absurd, here's April Reimer's tweet after the game covering up explaining the situation:

For those who were thinkin @happyelishas and I were rolling our eyes @ eachother. Was the jerk beside us #rudecomment twitter.com/april_reimer/s…

— April Reimer (@april_reimer) May 9, 2013

So there you go.

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By the end of their sweep at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, the Vancouver Canucks had descended into contemptible pettiness; whether it was Kevin Bieksa questioning the “Canadianism” of Logan Couture and Joe Thornton for embellishment or the Sedins dwelling on an admittedly poor penalty call in the Game 4 overtime, while having combined for one goal (and seven assists) in seven games against the Sharks this season.

(Never mind the Vancouver Province’s Evil Referee theory.)

Is this how the window closes? Is this how a team that was one win away from the Stanley Cup two years ago calls it a run?

The Sharks’ sweep of the Canucks would appear to signal a period of significant change for the organization, potentially from the goalie crease to the GM box.

What the hell do the Vancouver Canucks do now?