You can see it in their body language, if you couldn’t hear it in their inflection. To one goalie, The Big Secret was neatly wrapped up under a tree, ready to be opened the next morning.

The other guy? He already knew what was inside the box. A great big turd.

Eddie Lack will open the playoffs as the Vancouver Canucks goaltender, because Ryan Miller’s injured knee simply isn’t ready. Of course, no one — on orders of head coach Willie Desjardins — is copping as to who has been told he is getting the start.

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“We know,” Lack assured the media. “But it’s (Desjardins) decision.”

Ah, Vancouver. Roberto Luongo has his feet up in South Florida, Cory Schneider’s New Jersey Devils are also out of the playoffs, yet the goalie controversy lives on here.

“It’s a city that loves to create controversy,” said captain Henrik Sedin. “I don’t think it’s about the goalies we had, or we have, or the players in the room. I think it’s more (that the) fans like it. I think media loves to create controversy. It’s been like that from Day 1, and I don’t think it’s going to change.”

What difference does it make to Henrik who is in the crease Wednesday night when the puck drops? “As long as they stop the puck, I don’t care. They can put Burr (Alex Burrows) in the net.”

Henrik is right: This is no controversy where the negative vibes might have an effect inside the Vancouver room. Miller is hurt, as his performance in Game 82 attests. And I am not sure he’s not further away from top form than he is letting on, this being the playoffs and all.

But here are the facts: Ryan Miller is a better goalie than Eddie Lack. That’s why he was the No. 1 before injuring his knee on Feb. 22, and that’s why general manager Jim Benning went out and spent $18 million over three years on Miller in the off-season.

The problem is, Miller isn’t a better goalie than Lack right now, when it really matters. Miller snuck a game in on Saturday night against Edmonton and was awful, though he did appear better in the latter stages than in the early going.

“This is still injury recovery at this point for me,” he said after the game, a 6-5 OT win. “I’ve always been supportive when Eddie’s been in net and I thought when Marky (Jacob Markstrom) came up I wanted him to play just as well too.

“This is about doing something as a group. You only get so many cracks at this. It’s not like I’m wishing anybody ill, I want to be in this situation as much as anybody…”

What do you think he meant by that? To these ears, he’s saying, “I’m 34, this was my gig until I was injured, and I’ll be a supportive backup. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to play.”

All the right words. The question becomes, however, can Miller find his true form in practice? Or does that require game minutes, which are far too valuable at this time of year to use as a rehab session?

Most importantly, can Miller show Desjardins in practice that he’s ready to be better than Lack, who has become a cult hero in this town, so well has Lack stepped into the void left by Miller’s injury.

“I’m not sure,” Miller said when I asked him if he could prove his readiness in practice. “This is the first time I’m going through this situation with Willie. It’s really up to the coaching staff … It really isn’t my decision.

“I’m still in a place where I’m chippin’ some rust off,” he said. “Stability-wise I’m in a good place, but I still need to get some of that quickness back. I still think there’s 10, 15 per cent to go.”

Lack, of course, is one of the nicest, most selfless men you’ll ever meet in the game. I don’t know what it is about Swedes, but I’ve run across every possible personality in dressing rooms over the years, and I can’t name a Swede who wasn’t approachable and unfailingly polite, if sometimes a tad quiet.

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The Canucks were in second place in the Pacific Division when Miller went down, and they finished the season in the exact same spot — testimony to how Lack stepped in and gave his teammates everything they could ask for.

He may not be as good as Miller at his peak, but that point is moot, because Miller is barely past base camp right now. Yet, as good as Lack’s game was down the stretch, the Canucks find themselves playing in front of a netminder who is breaking his National Hockey League playoff maiden in Game 1 against Calgary.

If they’d have been OK with that organizational plan, Benning never would have acquired Miller in the first place.

Then there’s the possibility of Lack taking the Canucks into the second or third round this season, and coming back next fall as, what? Miller’s backup?

Ah Vancouver. ‘Twas ever thus.