Lazy Sunday (Playoff Hockey Rocks Again)

Some odds and ends on a lazy Sunday.

The series I've probably enjoyed the most so far is San Jose-Calgary. I expect it to go seven games and I have no idea who's ultimately going to triumph because neither teams seems to be able to really carry any momentum for very long. I'm not sure I'd say that either team has played well for an entire game (and as a Sabres fan I think I have enough experience to accurately judge that). I want Calgary to win but for some reason I'm feeling San Jose. Unless the goalies carry them however, I don't see either team advancing any further if they continue to play the way they are right now. (Now I'm not sure about SJ winning the series. They were a hot ugly mess for most of the night tonight and Calgary mostly looked good.)

I missed almost every game in the Colorado-Minnesota series and I finally decided I was cheering for Nashville to upset Detroit even if it meant destroying my pick 'em pool but it looks like they're about to lose. Better luck with that playoff beard next year, JP. I have to admit, it's a little funny that they lost their captain to a mild concussion sustained during a goal celebration. That sounds like something only Tim Connolly could pull off. As an aside, I was super impressed with Nashville's crowds during this series. It was really nice to see them turn out and embrace the team despite all the off-season drama there. I was also enjoying hearing Vince Gill do the anthems because he has one of my favorite voices in the world.

I am largely uninspired by the Eastern Conference side. Some of the games in the Montreal-Boston series have been entertaining but I'm annoyed that the Bruins won't just go away. I hate you, Boston! Go away! I saw very little of the Rangers-Devils series and most of what I did see was dominated by talk about Sean Avery which is so not what I want in my playoff hockey. I did delight in the Penguins sweeping the Senators but that was not exactly unexpected and not really much fun to watch as far as the hockey goes. And despite the surprising spurts of affection for Danny Briere, I really want the Flyers and the Caps to go away as soon as possible. Perfection would be the Flyers winning the next game and then getting swept in the next round.

Theoretically I understand people's enthusiasm for the Caps (I guess) and I understand the NHL being excited about Alexander Ovechkin being in the postseason but Versus/NBC's endless pumping up of the team and the city is killing me. Pierre McGuire was having a heart attack because the crowd was really excited about a Caps goal. "Every time the Caps do something positive, this crowd responds!" Great! Well done, people of DC! I know when I first started watching hockey I had a really hard time keeping track of which team I was supposed to be cheering for! Every time the team had to switch ends I had no idea what was going on! Settle down, NBC and let me just notice the crowd on my own. It's not like I can't see or hear them.

Speaking of Pierre, when I was complaining about him the other day I forgot to mention the thing he does that bothers me the most: his interpretation of the body language on the bench. I don't need to see the bench to know that the team that's now done by two goals is bummed. And if I do see the bench I know that blank stares and bowed heads signify sadness and defeat. That's not something that is magically revealed to someone within a few feet of the bench which is what Pierre seems to believe.

In the Montreal-Boston game the other night there was a goal - I think by Boston - that went through what seemed like 18 bodies screening the goalie. Pierre yelled, "HE COULDN'T HAVE SEEN THAT EVEN WITH X-RAY VISION!" We're comic book geeks in our house so instead of going along with the hyperbole we had the following conversation:

"I don't think Pierre understands what x-ray vision is."
"Yeah, I see no reason that Superman wouldn't have been able to see that shot if he wanted to."
"Maybe Boston's uniforms are lined with lead?"
"That would explain it. That's the only thing that would make sense. But come on, they're not lined with lead."
"No, probably not. Too heavy for hockey."

Can we steal Stuuuuuuu Barnes back in the off-season? He's a veteran, right? I really enjoyed watching the Stars take the Ducks out in the first round. It was very entertaining to watch the rough and tumble Ducks bury themselves in this series with all the dumb penalties they took in the first couple of games. I have a soft spot for Marty Turco so I'm happy to see him with some success. I felt kind of bad for him because he played really well in the Dallas losses to Vancouver in the first round last season and still seemed to be stuck with the choker label. Hopefully he'll shake that a bit now.

For the record, I totally over thought my line-up changes for this week. Not knowing what teams were going to advance and when the next rounds were going to start really messed with my head. I'll probably be a disaster. And no, I don't care that everyone else has to deal with that as well.

Now That Was a Day of Hockey

Friends, I'm not going to lie. While I absolutely wish the Sabres were in the playoffs, I'm kind of enjoying the postseason without them. It's so nice to watch a game and pick a team to root for but not care enough about that team winning that I'm a devastated emotional mess when they don't. And what a great day for hockey! Today was full of good, bad, and ugly.

First up, the bad and the ugly, the Devils vs. the Rangers. Tonight's game was the first one from this series that I've been able to watch but I told you no one with a soul could cheer for the Rangers. Sean Avery's display today was just ridiculous. Here's video for anyone who missed it but basically Avery stood face-to-face with Marty Brodeur, turning his back completely on the play, and waved his hands in Marty's face like a third grader would. Seriously, the only thing missing was him sticking his tongue out and singing "na na na na boo boo, stick your head in doo doo." I understand that Avery has a job to do and part of that is getting under people's skin but this was so far beyond anything I've ever seen. It was immature, obnoxious, and the very epitome of unsportsmanlike conduct. He was completely ignoring the play, he was in no position to tip in a shot or tie up a defender. He was just being a first class, grade A jackass. I was pretty annoyed with the Versus broadcast for pumping him up all night and then ignoring the level of douchebaggery of that play but thank goodness CBC got it right (also in the linked video). Ron MacLean called it dishonorable and cited a rule that he would've used to level a ten minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike behavior and Kelly Hrudey agreed and said that it had no place in the game. Seriously, that display goes against everything I love about playoff hockey. Guys like Brendan Shanahan and Chris Drury should be chewing his ass out even as I type this for that. I realize "honor" is a tough concept for Avery but get a little, why don't you?

(Oh, I had this whole paragraph here about how awesome it was that replays showed Drury skate over and give Avery a little shove which had us all speculating that he was telling Avery to cut the crap and pay attention to the play and how even though I'm not as distraught over his departure as some people I did think it was really cool of him to do that and how it seemed very in character and indicative of how much he always seemed to respect the game and the people on the ice with him but then NHL Network isolated the play and zoomed in on Drury and it turns out that what he was actually saying was, "Stick down" which isn't nearly as endearing.)

Fortunately, the Devils won and the Hockey Gods saw fit to pour even more manna from heaven in the late game between Calgary and San Jose. Usually I kind of hate when an organization tries to get the crowd to all wear one color but the Calgary crowd really looked amazing. Not only were they all wearing red, almost everyone appeared to be wearing jerseys. Those people are hardcore! When the camera panned up some and you could see three or four rows of solid jerseys it was a very cool effect. Which is why it seemed so cruel that the Sharks scored a goal a minute for the first three minutes and chased Kipper out of net. Kipper, who had a kick ass game in their loss a couple of nights ago!

And then everything started to turn. I'll admit, I don't always buy "That hit turned the game around!" but geez, that hit on Patrick Marleau really did change the momentum of the game. The Flames were clearly picking up steam and the Sharks were clearly panicking which is something I guess they're familiar with. With all apologies to the Sharks fans of the world, watching Calgary claw their way back into the game in front of their backup goaltender with the crowd getting more and more crazy as time went on was pretty awesome, an example of sports at its very finest. Watching a team and its fans feed off of each other like that is always a little breath-taking. It seems ridiculous that 18,000 people could care that much about who puts more pucks in a net and it seems ridiculous that professional athletes who get paid a lot of money to do what they do could be that inspired by strangers rooting them on but as ridiculous as it may be, I think it's beautiful and I don't care how stupid some people probably think that sounds.

And I'm not going to lie. Brian Campbell being in the thick of things made it even better. He was playing his particular brand of "I'll just stand back here and wave at the shooter" defense on the game-winning goal and he did a totally needless spin-o-rama and turned over the puck right in front of his net which oh by way, had NO GOALIE IN IT. Uh, Brian... There's less than a minute left in the game and your team kind of needs a goal. Maybe you should pass the puck up the ice or chip it off the glass or something. If Alex Tanguay hadn't tanked the shot, he'd have looked even dumber. I'm sure we'll get video of that spin-o-rama up on Sabres Edge, right? Right? I mean, we miss Campbell and want to wallow in all his highlights, right? Again, with apologies to Sharks fans and bloggers, it's been kind of entertaining watching them go from, "Campbell is awesome!" to "Wait... I thought this guy was a #1 defenseman." I feel triumphant!

I am exhausted by hockey right now and I love it!

Flame on! (Photo by Mike Ridewood/Getty Images)