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.

This, That and The Other

Wow, so it turns out going to work all day is really, really hard. It's been two days now but I feel like I've worked two weeks in that 16 hours. I figured it would take me some time to get back in the swing of things but man, I'm beat. I collapsed before the late games even started last night (which turned out to be okay since I woke up this morning and discovered that the gross team won every game).

Random thoughts:

- I need to punch Pierre McGuire in the head. He's dreadful. He talks way too much for a guy standing between the benches (I miss you, Rob!). He's practically a second color man which is the last thing Versus/NBC needs since they barely do any play-by-play as it is. He talks like the players are Timbits he's coaching and his sentences get increasingly shrill and screechy until he's screaming about nothing. "Arnott isn't hustling after the puck, he can't do that, HE CAN'T DO THAT, WHY IS HE DOOOOOOOIIIIING THAAAAAT?!" He's also a creepy close talker as can be seen in this video. Dude, back up off of that guy. You're making me uncomfortable and I'm just a bystander. Also, the exchange from the 1:45 mark to 2:00 is... awkward.



- I think McGuire and Mike Milbury make for a dreadful intermission - I want my Ray Ferraro! - but I don't really have a problem with Milbury calling the Capitals the "Crapitals." First of all, these guys are getting paid to stay stupid stuff that winds people up. Mission accomplished. Second of all, it's kind of true. If you don't want people implying that you're crap, maybe you should play better. If they hadn't played well in the third period of the first game, this series could easily be 3-0 instead of 2-1. I certainly don't see why Milbury needed to apologize to Ted Leonsis. If these guys had to apologize for every stupid insulting thing they've ever said, we could be here forever.

- Despite my big talk about wishing postseason ill on all former Sabres except JP Dumont, I'm discovering a lot of residual affection for Danny Briere. Don't get me wrong, I don't want the Flyers to win it all or anything. They're the Flyers. But I would be perfectly fine with them beating the Caps before getting destroyed in the next round and I'm not going to lie, the Caps refuser in me is enjoying that Danny has been hands-down more noticeable and dynamic than Alexander Ovechkin in this series (so far). I was really not anticipating this but it's undeniable. When the Flyers advance largely because of Danny, I'll just block out Bucky Gleason. I can't let him control the way I feel anyway :P (But this will never, ever carry over to Chris Drury or Brian Campbell.)

- Speaking of Brian Campbell... Campbell Says Something Stupid Part 1,018. I'll let Kevin Sylvester handle this one.

I was surprised to read this quote from former Sabres captain Brian Campbell in the Toronto Globe and Mail on the difference between the Sabres and Sharks.

"The accountability inside the dressing room. It's probably the first team I've been on where guys will speak up and say something and you take it to heart. It's a big change that way, probably the biggest thing." -- Brian Campbell

Huh?

I can't imagine there wasn't accountability and guys speaking up with the two teams he played on in Buffalo that reached the Eastern Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons.

And as for this past season, wasn't he one of the leaders who's job it was to hold others accountable?

I don't mean to go hard at Brian, but I'm surprised these comments came from a classy guy such as him. I think his former teammates would be surprised too.

A few weeks ago I might have been surprised. Now? I am not surprised in the slightest.

(This is from Kevin's blog on Sabres.com but I'm posting it here because you can't read it without an Insider account and I didn't want to give people a link they might not be able to access. I hate how everything on Sabres.com is Sabres Insider only. It's not that hard to plug in my email address but I haven't noticed this on any other team's website. I don't want emails and text messages and I don't want your stupid prizes. I just want to read the website.)

- I kept meaning to respond to this comment from Vanek's Hair - in fact, I thought I did but I can't find it so I think I just wrote it in my head - so I'm going to do it here. He said, "May I confess I would probably like him (Sean Avery) on the Sabres?"

Well, Van, you may confess it but I'm going to have to give that a big fat negatory. I have no problem with pests. One of the first Sabres I really liked was Matt Barnaby. I would take Darcy Tucker. I would take Corey Perry and Steve Ott (and especially Steve Ott's kickin' playoff facial hair). On a very weak day, I might even take Chris Neil. (Very weak.) Avery has too much of a history of causing problems in his locker room for me to think it would be a good idea to ever bring him to Buffalo. His poor behavior on the ice is bad enough but it seems to follow him around off the ice too and I'm not into that.

That said, IF the Rangers can handle his personality they should absolutely make re-signing him this summer a priority. He changed that team the second he showed up there and from what I've seen of the Devils series (which is admittedly not a lot), he's been one of their most effective players. Better them than us.

- I picked Detroit to win it all in two pools so I'm pretty screwed if they lose. But I'm finding the Nashville team that I thought I hated kind of endearing. I appreciate them battling even though everyone thinks they're going to lose. And let's face it, the world is a better place with a fully blossoming JP Dumont playoff beard. For that beautiful sight, I might be willing to take a playoff pool hit. Go Preds go!

- I love, love, love Kelly Hrudey. He's not spectacularly handsome but there's something very pleasant about the looks of him. And even if I don't agree with him, he's just very soothing. He has opinions and he expresses them but he never yells, he never talks over the other people with him, and he seems to realize at all times that he's talking about hockey. Yes, it's awesome. No, it's not life and death. Now that I think about it, I think that's why I really liked - and miss - Ray Ferraro too. I like my sports guys chill, yo.

- Forget the Caps, people. The feel good story of the year is the Ottawa Senators. Charging off to a 15-2 start, completely blowing up around New Year's, plummeting for the remainder of the season, squeaking into the playoffs and then getting swept in the first round by a spunky little Pens team? That's so beautiful I could cry.

Game Three Thoughts

I finally get to watch an entire finals game! Woo-hoo!

- How the heck does Scott Niedermayer get a penalty for lifting a guy's stick (a.k.a. playing defense) when Chris Neil gets away with leaving his feet on every single hit? New NHL, my ass.

- Can we please, please, please do away with the kicking motion rule? When no one - players, refs, analysts, fans - can predict which way a goal review is going to go, it's time to re-think things. The NHL has been so inconsistent with this rule during the postseason that it's ridiculous. You could play 10 goals that were reviewed one after the other and have no idea which way the call is going to go. I'm convinced Toronto just flips a coin on these. I think the rule is stupid to begin with - if a guy is skilled enough to direct a puck into the net with his skate, I say good for him - but if Alfredsson's goal wasn't a kicking motion, I don't know what is. He reached back with his foot and flipped his ankle toward the net. I'm not convinced the league didn't have an eye on the scoreboard and the series when they made the decision to allow that goal. Gah! I hope Sidney Crosby is there somewhere flipping out and throwing things because this goal was deemed good and his goal earlier in the playoffs wasn't.

- In regards to the Alfredsson goal, Brett Hull is tearing into the NHL for not getting it right during the Stanley Cup Finals. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

- I’m sorry, the Senators stood up for each other during the Buffalo game? The Buffalo game where Chris Neil completely blindsided Chris Drury who, through no fault of his own, doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head? The Buffalo game where they all turtled and cried that the big mean Sabres came after them? The Buffalo game where everyone in an Ottawa jersey watched an enforcer fight their goalie? That game? Interesting interpretation, that one.

- All right, the Pronger hit to McAmmaond's head was ugly. But is it really that different than Chris Neil leaving his feet on every hit and connecting with people's heads? I really don't understand how some serious hits this season have been completely brushed aside and now suddenly the talking heads are all going on and on about Pronger possibly being suspended. Again, the inconsistency in the NHL is ridiculous.

- I hate Pierre McGuire. I don't need him to tell me that the Ottawa bench is upset by the no-call on Pronger. I don't need him to tell me that the Anaheim bench is encouraged by a successful penalty kill. I'm not an idiot. I don't need him to point out that Spezza is now wearing an Eaves jersey. There are two guys in the booth who can probably handle that. Go away, Pierre.

- Turns out I'm cheering for the Ducks. I was a little taken aback at just how much I wanted them to pull out the victory.