Round 2

I went 5-3 in the 1st round of the playoffs. I predicted Caps, Bruins, Flyers and Lightning coming out of the East and only the Sharks coming out of the West. I hope to improve on my winning percentage this round.

(1) WSH vs. (5) TB
This series might just be the best of the second round. Strong goaltending from Roloson in the 1st round gave the Lightning the series over the Penguins. Crosby and Malkin were both out for the Penguins, which was the basis of me picking Tbay over Pits. When you have your top clutch players out, its hard to win.

Washington seems to be a much different team this year. They let in the fewest goals in the 1st round, and its a mixture of solid goaltending and strong defensive play. I like this Defence 1st type of team that the Caps have become, and I think its going to take them far. Look for Ovechkin to step up this series. Pick: Caps in 6 Standout Player: Ovechkin

(1) VAN vs. (5) NAS
Vancouver blew a 3 games to none lead in the 1st round to the defending champs. A lot of hockey experts say that the team is pretty clutch, and Luongo has finally proved himself to come up big when it matters. I call bullshit to that. Luongo and this clutch team couldn't win games 4 or 5, as well they couldn't find a way to win a close game in game 6 either. This team has proved nothing yet, it was only the 1st round.

Nashville played well in the 1st round. They won a playoff series for the 1st time in their franchise history, and they deserve a congratulations. The round is over and now its time for them to step up, and show them that they WON the 1st series, and that it wasn't Anaheim losing it. Rinne is up for the Vezina trophy and this team needs him to be as sharp as ever. Vancouver might be on empty after that 1st round. Pick: Preds in 7, Standout Player: Fisher

(2) PHI vs. (3) BOS
Boston polished off les Candiens in the 1st round, winning 3 games in overtime. Being able to win close games like that, is great for a Boston team that could still be fragile. You got to think though, that the series win against rivals Montreal, will only help the Bruins confidence. Need a huge series from Chara and Thomas.

Philadelphia baffles me how they cycle through their goaltending in a series and still have better performances than Ryan Miller. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, last year, the Flyers came back from a 3-0 series deficit to take the series. Also, in game 7, Philly was down 3-0 in that game, came back to win it 4-3. This series is going to be a rough one, that's for sure. Pick: Philly in 7, Standout Player: Briere

(2) SJ vs. (3) DET
The wings swept away the poor Coyotes in the 1st round, and have had a week off to heal up their banged up players. The Wing know what they have to do, they have been here and they have done this before. Cleary and Franzen are going to have a big series. You can always count on Pavel Datsyuk. They should also get Zetterberg back soon too.

San Jose showed a relentless effort in the 1st round, especially in game 3 where they came back from a 4 goal deficit to win the game 6-5 in OT. Both Marleau and Thornton had a good series in the 1st round, look for them to carry it on into the second round. Ian White is a key player in this series. I like the forwards of the wings better in this series though. Pick: Wings in 6, Standout Player: Datsyuk

End of the Kessle Saga?

Brian Burke has been under fire since September 18th 2009 for trading away the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs for Phil Kessel. The trade was Toronto's 1st round pick in 2010 (2nd pick overall, Tyler Seguin) Toronto's 2nd round pick in 2010 (32nd overall, Jared Knight)and Toronto's 1st round pick in 2011 (undetermined). Everyone and their mother has their own opinion of this trade.

Recently, Burke has traded Thomas Kaberle to the Boston Bruins. This trade consisted of Boston's 1st round pick in 2011, prospect Joe Colborne (16th overall, 2008) and a condition 2nd round pick. The conditional pick is a 2nd rounder if the Bruins go to the finals, OR sign Kaberle to a new deal. Kaberle wanting to go to Boston points in the direction that there is a good possibility that Kaberle will resign.

When you look at these trades this is what you may see. The Toronto Maple Leafs essentially traded Thomas Kaberle for Phil Kessel. It doesn't matter that the picks they traded back and fourth are late and early round picks. With these trades, we still need to wait until the fat lady sings on each of their careers, but as it stands, Boston's 1st round pick of Seguin is playing, or sitting on the bench at the NHL level, and the Leafs 1st rounder is lighting it up on the AHL.

Its pretty even so far. Thank you Burke, for silencing the critics for a few weeks.

Chris Simon....

So you think 8 games is an outrage Chris Simon? Lets look at the stats. Goalies goals against average is calculated by taking the amount of minutes they have played, divide it by 60=GP then you take the amount of goal against and dived that by the games played. You have to take in effect the amount of time Pronger plays a night. He plays on any given night, anywhere from 3 - 10 times the amount that Simon plays. So when you think about it, Simon's average ice time this year is 6 minutes a 59 seconds. Lets be nice and round it up to 8 minutes. Pronger plays on average 28 minutes, we'll be nice to you again Simon and round down Pronger to 24 minutes. So, let's if we have the math straight. Pronger plays 3 times as much as you do. He got 8 games. 8 X 3 = 24. So compared to you he got 24 games. Yes that is six less then you got, but we were being nice and rounding up for you and down for him. Lets look at it the other way. You play 7 minutes he plays 28. 28 / 7 = 4. 4X8=32. So Pronger misses more ice time then you do. This is not even taking in effect that you are a thug. All you do if go around and make stupid choices that hurt other people. You should be banned from hockey period. You should feel extremely lucky you are allowed to play in the NHL.

Since When?

With all the hoop-la over the steroid usage, primarily in Major League Baseball, but as well in other professional and amature sports, I recently heard on the radio that Ipods are now on the list of banned "stuff" for marathon runners. Thats right, Ipods. Apparently, you can run faster when listening to your favourite music. What is this world coming to?

Roger Clemens was listed on the Mitchell report as a player who has used HGH during his Major League Baseball career. The greatest pitcher of my time, and arguably one of the greatest pitchers of all times is being slandered in the media all over the place. Who is this Brian McNamee guy anyways? Oh, I am glad you asked. He got caught using a date rape drug on a girl (Link is here: http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/2007/12/brian-mcnamee-r.html) He also bought/sold/pumped ilegal steroids to/into MLB players? Hmm, strange, all four of those thing are either ilegal or imoral. So why all of a sudden do we trust this guy? We trust this guy so much that we are going to just let him ruin the career of Rocket Roger Clemens. I could understand if Clemens was like Bonds and had his name all over the place in this, but he hasn't, not one mention for Roger's name anywhere until this report was made. This George Mitchell report isn't even worth the paper its writting on. This is all a joke and a mockery of Major League Baseball. Roger gets my vote for the Hall Of Fame, its very unfortunate that there is a tarnish on Rocket's career.

Head Hunters Must Pay!

Kudos to the NHL for their suspension on forwards Steve Downie and Jesse Boulerice, both with The Philidephia Flyers. Steve Downie charged from 45 feet out and leaped at Dean Mcammond of the Ottawa Senators in preseason action. He hit him clean in the head with his shoulder. Other then leaving his feet and a 20 stride start, it was a decent hit. He was given a match penalty and then after league review a couple days later, a 20 game suspension. This is fair.


Jesse Boulerice on the other hand, viciously crosschecked a player in the face in the 3rd period of a game when his team was winning 7-2. Ryan Kesler didn't even have the puck, was nowhere near the puck, and wasn't even looking. Out from the front of the net comes Boulerice and WHAM!!! Right in the jaw is Boulerice's stick. Boulerice got a match penalty and after review a 25 game suspension. Fortunately for Bolourice, Kesler got back up!


There was a time where there had to be a decision about elbowing. It was determined that it was a dirty hit. Now, comes a time again where a decision has to be made. Is any hit to the head dirty? I say it is. Heads should be off limits period. No excuses, exceptions. You hit someone on the head whether they are looking or not, you're outta here. Game over man! When you hit someone in the head you are taking a risk of ruining someones career. Head hunters should be banished. Even if they are the coaches that are telling these players to do this! Coach of the Flyers, should have a 50 game suspension for the 2 hits produced by his players. Note to John Stevens: Do your job better. The league wants less of these shenanigans. Apparently somebody didn't get the memo!
Below you will find one of my favourite Boulerice clip! Enjoy!

Keep Your Chin Up McCabe...

Note to self: Never ever take a player position with The Toronto Maple Leafs.
Note to Bryan McCabe: You'll never be as bad as Dmitri Khristich.

As for the rest of you, the ones that are talking negatively about Cabber... Close your mouth while you are eating, thats disgusting. We all knew when he signed that he was getting paid for his offensive numbers not his defense. Big deal, he put the puck in his own net in game 7 of the regular season. Let me ask you this. Who was in the penalty box when that goal went in? Raycroft was in net, we all knew what was going to happen. Bryan McCabe shoots the puck 1 inch further to the other side, horn sounds, end of overtime. Goes to a shoot out, and Raycroft lets in 2 of 3 and we lose. Bryan McCabe has 18 career game winners ( Same amount as Chris Pronger) and is just under a half a point a game. He is a plus player for his career and has played on some pretty crappy teams like the Islanders and Canucks. I find it funny sometime, reading a message board and seeing someone making fun of McCabe for being fat. That he needs to work off the cheetos he ate all summer. Lets be real here for a second. Its not Bryan McCabe. Sundin was on the ice for ALL 5 goals. McCabe was only on the ice for the one he scored. Every time a goal went in it was off of the player Sundin was taking.

Note to McCabe: On the brightside, you are not the most hated person in Toronto... that is reserved for Mr. Kerry Fraser... and Daniel Alfredsson

Playoffs

So the standings are final. First I would like to congratulate the Chicago Black Hawks for getting the 1st overall pick in this years draft! I hate Philly!

What first round match-ups that should be good you ask? Well as much as I hate Ottawa and Pittsburg, that should be the 1st round match up you should keep your eyes on. Can Sid the Kid preform in the playoffs? Will the Sens finally be successful in the playoffs? Well the answer to those two questions are Yes and No. Crosby will come out on top and will likely be the point leader in this series, with the Sens crumbling under pressure yet again!

My 1st round winners are Sabres, Rangers, Devils, Penguins, Red Wings, Canucks, Ducks and Sharks.

My pick for the Stanley Cup is The Anaheim Ducks! The Ducks will put out the Sabres Simply because no one in the east will be able to.

Check back for 2nd round predictions!

The Franchize