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.

Go West, Young Man

While I would much rather be rooting for the Sabres in the playoffs, it's possible that it might be kind of fun to watch the playoffs with no real emotional investment. I can hop on a bandwagon and not be devastated if that bandwagon derails some time in the next couple of months. I'll just hop on another one. So because I know you're all dying to know, let's take a look at who Heather B. will be cheering for on the Western side of things.

Before we get started, I will say that this is all sure to change once I actually start watching games especially in the Western Conference where I really know very little about the teams. Every post-season I find myself cheering for someone I never really predicted (never at the expense of the Sabres of course). Last year it was Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars. And sometimes, if a match-up is really bad, I find myself getting sucked into a team and then looking back and wondering what I was thinking. Last year I was fully behind the Ducks in the Finals even though I don't really hate the Sens and I can boil it down to a few very basic reasons: The brutal loss to the Sens was too fresh as was my outrage at Daniel Alfredsson's boarding of Henrik Tallinder and I really warmed to the stories of J.S. Giguere's sick baby, Teemu Selanne flying all his childhood friends in from Finland to watch the Finals and Scott and Rob Niedermayer winning a Cup together. Now I hate the Ducks. I really disliked Selanne and Niedermayer's half retirements and I think Chris Pronger is a blight on the NHL (how I overlooked that, I don't know). I can't believe I was rooting for them. But I was. Behold the power of the Playoff Goggles. Anyway... all that to say, this is where I stand now but don't hold me to it.

1. DETROIT RED WINGS
I know some people hate the Red Wings because they've won so many Cups and I know a few people who still hate them for how much press they got during that run. And I know some people around here hate them because of Dominik Hasek. I wasn't really following hockey very closely during their last run or during most of Hasek's Buffalo career so I have no real beef with the Red Wings. In fact, I'd be fine with them winning for one reason.

Nicklas Lidstrom.

Seriously, loving defense the way I do, how could I not love Nick Lidstrom? He's amazing. He boggles my mind. He's so good on both the defensive and offensive sides and he's been that good for a long time now. I wish we played him more often because I would love to watch him in person where I could just focus on him and what he's doing on the ice. On top of being amazingly talented, he never resorts to dirty play and he seems like a heck of a nice guy. So yeah, I could get behind seeing him with another Stanley Cup if it comes to that.

2. SAN JOSE SHARKS
This is a heart-breaker because I really do like the Sharks. I like Evgeni Nabokov and I love Joe Thornton. I'd like to see them do well. But they went and added Brian Campbell and guys, I don't think I can handle Brian Campbell winning a Stanley Cup. I can't handle a summer of Bucky Gleason crowing (because that's what he'd be doing) about how the great and wonderful Campbell was mistreated by Buffalo and went on to bigger and better things with an organization that really cares about its team and players. And just when I was thinking maybe I could handle it because once upon a time I did really like Brian Campbell and I thought maybe my heart would soften a little once I actually saw him hoisting that Cup with his big ear-to-ear grin, I read an article that included this quote from him: “I wanted to stay in Buffalo, we all did,” Campbell said after the trade that made a very good San Jose team even better. “Buffalo didn’t want to pay us.”

That quote made me totally cranky. First of all, way to speak for everyone who has ever left Buffalo. Second of all, way to look stupid doing it since in a couple of cases Buffalo did want to pay them and the players just chose to go elsewhere. And third of all, is it that hard to just go away gracefully? Really? I feel like that's not really asking that much.

So while it is with much sadness that I cast aside the Sharks and Brian Campbell, cast them aside I will. (I hope you do great, Joe.)

3. MINNESOTA WILD
Let's see... Here's what I know about the Wild. Marion Gaborik and Mikko Koivu play for them and their jerseys are very Christmas-y. (I like them although it is a little excessive when paired with the green pants.) I have nothing against them in theory and I think Minnesota would adore having a Cup champion so that's cool. But I always hear about them playing defensive hockey and that worries me. If I sit down to watch them play and it's like watching Boston, I'm out. No way I can get behind that.

4. ANAHEIM DUCKS
I hate just about everyone on this team so no thanks. I disliked Selanne and Niedermayer playing half the season and I hated the way the media slobbered all over Niedermayer's triumphant return. I despise the way Chris Pronger is handled with kid gloves and constantly getting special treatment no matter how dangerous his actions are to other players. And while this is not directly related, I think one of the funniest moments of the season was J.S. Giguere actually ducking a shot that then sailed over him and into the net. What a doofus. I wish I could find video because it was hysterical. Anyway, Ducks... It was nice rooting for you guys last season but I'm sorry to say, it was just a fling.

Stay tuned for part 2!

Wait, the Season is Over? Are We Sure?

Congratulaions to the Stanley Cup Champion Ducks. I try not to be overly vindictive and I don't despise the Senators the way many in Buffalo seem to... but it was kind of fun watching them roll over in the finals, wasn't it? And for all the hate thrown at him, I'd much rather see Chris Pronger with the Cup than Chris Neil or Ray Emery. Punk or not, he's one of the best defensemen in the NHL and he certainly earned his championship on the ice.

The Stanley Cup presentation is the only sports championship that makes me cry every single year, even when it's not my team winning. (Last year is excluded because I didn't watch it. It wasn't really an anti-Carolina thing so much as last season was just really heart-breaking. I didn't watch much of the Finals at all.) First, there's the Cup itself, the greatest trophy in sports. Then there's the Cup going right to the players instead of the owner or GM. Seriously, Jim Irsay is a great owner (I guess) but did anyone really want to see him with the Super Bowl trophy? No. No, they wanted to see Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison toting it around. Every player gets his time with the Cup, his little moment in the spotlight, skating around and hoisting that sucker over his head just like a little boy. This year there were three things in particular about the celebration that got me:


I adore all three of my brothers (usually) so I'm a total sucker for Scott taking less money to play with his little brother Rob. I love that when Rob finally, finally got to touch the Cup - he flatly refused to do so every time Scott won it with the Devils - it was handed to him by his big bro. (Sidenote: Everyone and their grandmother has mentioned it at this point, but kudos to Scott for one of the all-time great playoff beards. If I'm his wife, I'm shaving that sucker off and putting it in a scrapbook somewhere.)


I was already soft on Teemu Selanne because of the whole "I'm going to keep a childhood promise to 16 friends and fly them in to Anaheim and cover all their expenses" story. And of course there was the fact that he was this year's chosen beloved veteran who's never won a championship. But then he started getting choked up before he even touched the Cup. And then he took the Cup from Pronger and the tears started flowing more freely. And then one of his little guys leapt off the bench into his arms. And then he hugged his wife and completely fell apart, blubbering like a baby. I really can't recall athletes in other sports getting as visibly choked up about winning as hockey players often do and I love it.

But this... this made me lose it. Aftter seeing this I was as gone as Teemu.


Even now, just looking at this photo makes me a little emotional. I'm really surprised Giguere's story didn't get more attention during the Finals - I mean, how many times did they remind us during game 3 that Chris Neil was a new father? - but even without the constant reminders that his son Maxime has been through so much in his very, very young life already, seeing J.S. skate that little guy around the ice hit me square in the heart. And how beautiful is that photograph with the confetti raining down and the cast-off helemt? Gorgeous.

In closing, can we end the whole "Ugh, I can't believe the Stanley Cup is in CALIFORNIA" stuff already? Is Anaheim as a region going bonkers about the Ducks winning the way Ottawa or Edmonton or Buffalo might had their teams won? Hardly. But that doesn't mean the players are any less deserving and it doesn't mean the fans who were in the building or watching on TV are any less excited. I don't know if the Ducks winning is necessarily GOOD for the NHL, but it's certainly not BAD. So quit your whining!

More to come. I have to figure out what it is that hockey bloggers blog about in the off-season.

Game Four Thoughts

- I intended to watch the game on CBC tonight but when I turned it on they were in the middle of a lengthy, "heart-warming" story about Chris Neil which I just could not abide. Also Time-Warner Cable continues to suck and the picture on CBC was super fuzzy. So NBC it was. For a while they spent so much time talking about Chris Neil (Doc, the new face of the team? Really?) that I was beginning to worry that I was just going to have bail on the whole game. Fortunately, they cooled off after a while.

- My favorite Pierre McGuire insight of the night: "There are only two Niedermayers in the league. The other is a forward and he is Scott's brother." Thanks, Pierre. I was wondering if those two were related somehow.

- I'm usually kind of meh about Ed Olczyk, but I really enjoyed his ranting about the diving going on during the game tonight and in the league in general. I hate it - yes, even when guys in blue and gold do it - and I'm in total agreement that if the league really wants to get rid of it, they need to penalize the diver and let the other guy go. Coincdenatal penalties don't really discourage anything because the teams are still even. If the diver puts his team short-handed, I think it's going to stop fast. Honestly, I was surprised to hear Olczyk, Emrick, and McGuire so open about their feeling that Neil and Emery both got away with horrendous dives. Good for them.

- Daniel Alfredsson, what the heck was that? Shooting a puck at Scott Niedermayer in the waning seconds of the period? And don't tell me it wasn't on purpose because he clearly shifted the direction of his body and Niedermayer wasn't in between Alfredsson and the goal. I tried very hard to overlook the horrendous boarding on Henrik Tallinder in the conference finals but atleast that was in the heat of the action. There was no excuse for what he did tonight. I can't believe that between that and the punch he threw during the scrum afterward, he didn't get penalized. And seriously, Scott Niedermayer?

- I love watching Anaheim's defense. They just look so poised all the time. They're never panicked, they're never flustered, they never rush under pressure. Tons of fun to watch. What do I have to give Anaheim to get Niedermayer off their hands?

I'll be at working during game 5 and for the record, the Ducks are 2-0 in games I've worked through.

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.

Oh, There's Still Hockey On?

I've missed the first two games of the finals due to my second job so I've only seen bits and pieces of the games, but I'm wondering if we should all really be that surprised at how the series has gone so far. Yes, the Senators are a great team. Yes, they deserved to win every series they won. But I've maintained from the beginning - you'll just have to trust me on this - that they had a fairly easy ride to the finals. They absolutely deserve some of the credit for their opponents poor play, but let's face it, every opponent they played, particularly Buffalo, gave them a lot of help. Every talking head who has talked about the Ottawa-Buffalo series like Ottawa rolled through a juggernaut should be slapped upside the head because he clearly wasn't paying attention. The Sabres did not end the season well. They did not play well in the first round, they did not play well in the second round. The Sabres team the Senators beat in the Conference Finals was not the Sabres team that was rolling through the rest of the league in October. I'm also really surprised at how many people talked about Ottawa shutting down Buffalo's powerplay like it was a huge accomplishment. I know it seems logical that a team with so much offensive ability would kill with the man advantage, but again, have you people watched any hockey this year? Because that hasn't been the case all season! Most nights I could've gone on the ice with a few of my sixth graders and WE could've killed off the Sabres powerplay. No one mentioned that in the last three games of the Buffalo series, the Senators powerplay disappeared. No one mentioned that the Spezza line didn't dominate 5 on 5 against Buffalo the way they did against Pittsburgh and New Jersey. No one mentioned that despite Buffalo playing like crap for much of the series, the series was still almost all one goal games. So while I thought I was cheering for Ottawa, it appears that I'm much more bitter and vindictive than I knew because I'm really enjoying watching another fanbase who was sure this was the year suddenly looking bewildered and wondering what the heck happened to their team.

Other random thoughts:

- Other people have pointed this out, but it's like the Senators picked up all of Buffalo's bad habits during that series. They're not skating, they're trying to avoid getting hit, they're turning the puck over, they're not getting the puck on the net, they can't score on the powerplay. Who knew that stuff was contagious?

- I'm befuddled by Spezza and Heatley's refusal to hit and be hit. I know they're skill players, but they are not small men. I hated watching Danny Briere duck away from hits, but atleast he has an excuse. He's 5'9", 177 pounds - maybe... both numbers seem like exaggerations to me. Either way though, he's a little guy. Spezza is 6'3", 200+lbs and Heatley is about the same. Guys, you're not going to get hurt, okay? Stand in there and hold your own.

Boy, Danny's stats make you realize how absolutely scrawny Ryan Miller is. He's listed at 5 lbs. lighter than Danny, but he's 5 inches taller! (That's if you believe Danny really is 5'9".) It's a good thing he gets to wear all that extra equipment.

- Scott Niedermayer's playoff beard is a thing of beauty. I almost feel like it's reason alone for the Ducks to win. As someone much wittier than me said, at this point you could shave it off, put it on skates, and watch it kill penalties itself.

- I've spent a lot of time over these last few days debating Teemu Selanne. Namely, is he really kind of beautiful or really kind of funny looking? I think I've finally decided on kind of beautiful, but it was a tough call. But how can you not love a guy who promised his friends back in Finland that if he ever played in the Stanley Cup Finals, he'd make sure they were there to watch him and then actually followed through by flying 16 childhood friends to Anaheim, paying all their expenses, and finding them game tickets? You can't do it! I'm beginning to feel like I might be able to put up with Chris Pronger winning a Cup if it means Teemu gets one.

- It's been entertaining watching Buffalo fans go from "OH MY GOD WE GOTTA GET A DOMINANT NUMBER ONE LINE LIKE THE SENATORS OR WE'LL NEVER WIN ANYTHING!!!!" to "Yeah, this is why you have to spread the scoring out" practically overnight.

- I know a lot of people complain about defensive hockey, but I don't mind it when the games are still entertaining and I have to admit, I do enjoy Anaheim's smashmouth hockey. I love watching all of my little skilled guys fly all over the ice, but it's nice to see some bone rattling hits once in a while. Hockey should never lose all its physicality. A teeny tiny part of me is glad we're not in the finals since it's very possible the Ducks might've killed one of us.

- It's a tough call, but I think my favorite thing in hockey is watching a team succesfully kill off a 5 on 3 powerplay. It's always exciting - blocked shots, big saves, missed nets, huge clears, constant movement... It's everything that's fun about hockey crammed into one heart-pounding, nail-biting block of time.

- I love Chris Drury and I love Daniel Briere, but I think Thomas Vanek has to be the priority right now. Get that kid locked up and get him locked up good. Then deal with the captains after that.

I'm actually going to be home to watch game 3 which means it'll probably stink.