Any so called 'reputation' is BS. If I recall correctly this originated two years in the Chicago series, those incidents where Kesler snapped his head back and (???) chicken winged a stick to get a hooking penalty. CBC was all over that with their in depth analysis, talking about how the refs don't like to be made fools of, and we did actually start to see some real consequences.
Two reasons why this is ******** though...
First, have you ever seen this standard applied to another team? For example just from our own most recent series against San Jose you had Couture throwing himself into the boards and Thornton faking an injury on the wrong wrist to draw penalties. Annnd nothing, no one said a peep and the refs didn't start acting any differently.
Second, that was two years ago. After those playoffs the Canucks cleaned up their act and toned it down. So why are they still under scrutiny? After this long it no longer becomes a matter of living under a 'deserved reputation' but rather an unfair vendetta from the other side.