Waiting For Stanley

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Adiose, Peter
2007-04-21 10:14:00
It was deja-vu for the Predators as the Sharks beat them in 5 games in round 1....again. My ThoughtsI am sure that the absence of the oft-injured Steve Sullivan didn't help. Sullivan had 60 points in 57 games in the regular season , but did not play a game in the playoffs.The Preds looked completely undisciplined as well. Alex Radulov looked like he was going to become a star in this series, only to receive a 1-game suspension on his hit on Steve Bernier. His hot streak dried up during his day off.Pete r the not-so greatWas it worth it signing Forsberg? I think now that is was questionable, especially considering the fact they gave up Scott Nichol Scottie Upshall, excuse the brain fart, prospect Ryan Parent, and 1st and 3rd round selections in the 2007 Entry Draft. I guess at some point in time a team is ready to make a push for Lord Stanley and have to make a move like that. The gamble did not pay off. Peter had 2 goals, 2 assists and 7 shots on goal in the 5-game series. He just d...
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Cooke week-to-week / The Incredible Hill
2007-04-20 23:28:00
From TSN: Forward Matt Cook e's status has been down graded from day-to-day to week-to-week. Cooke hasn't skated since suffering a groin injury April 11 in Game 1 of the Canucks series with Dallas. "Matt is not day-to-day anymore," announced Canuck head coach Alain Vigneault at the morning skate Thursday. "He's either week-to-week, or week-to-day, or day-to-week. Or whatever you want to call it. But he's past the day-to-day stage now." - Vancouver Sun Well that is lousy news isn't it? We could sure use Cooke in the lineup. Then again, Jannik Hansen is performing admirably._______________________________ ______The Islanders recieved their own piece of bad news today. Defenceman Sean Hill has been suspended for 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA performance enhancing substance abuse program. The 37-year-old Hill will now wait to be signed by the Islanders or someone else in the summer, as he is an unrestricted free agent. Hill will not be paid for the next 20 games ...
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News out of Dallas
2007-04-20 18:03:00
First off, here is a clip of the post game thoughts of both coaches, Linden, Naslund, Morrow and Turco.From JJ Taylor of the Dallas Morning News :Now, they (Stars) have a legitimate opportunity to win one more game and extend the series, but it's going to take another committed effort to get it done. Perhaps these Stars play better as underdogs because they simply can't handle the pressure of expectations. Think about it. The Stars said they liked the idea of starting a series on the road because it meant Vancouver had all the pressure. All the Stars needed to do was win a game, get a split and get back to Dallas. Of course, when they returned to Dallas, the Stars felt pressure to seize control of the series and promptly lost both games, giving Vancouver a commanding lead. At least it took the pressure off the Stars, because no one outside of their locker room gave them a shot to win. The pressure remains on Vancouver to win the series. The Stars have the Canucks right where they w...
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Game 5: Stars 1 Canucks 0 (OT)
2007-04-20 09:55:00
Depressing. And it's spelled M-o-r-r-o-w. How much closer can this series get? OK, don't answer that, because I don't want to know the answer. Brendan Morrow tipped a Sergei Zubov shot past Roberto Luongo at the 6:22 mark in overtime to become the new hero of the series, and keep Dallas in it.What a game. What a series. All around this slugfest are teams annihilating other teams in 5 games, but the Canucks just couldn't quite get it done tonight. It took a Too Many Men penalty against Vancouver to give Dallas the slight advantage to score the winner.Final shots on goal: Dallas 30 Canucks 21HeartbreakingThe look on the Canucks and their fans' faces told the story. Now reality stares us in the face. The Dallas Star s , their fans, and the Dallas media-who gave the Stars no hope in this series- are going to change their tune now, and we will have to bear it all until Saturday.When you lose 1-0 in such a close game you can over-analyze what the Canucks did wrong. But I'm not going t...
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Canucks / Stars Game 5 Preview
2007-04-19 19:27:00
"We're probably more frustrated than the fans are," Morrow said. "We're the ones that go through it day in and day out ... 82 games, the hard work, the injuries, all the adversities. It's been a long road to get here. Our effort has been OK. It hasn't been good enough. It's been frustrating." It's all about frustration. To me, it seems that the Star s are defeated in their own minds already. I have not read anywhere in the Dallas media where someone says they are going to come back from this 3-1 deficit. So not even the fans believe in them.That would change with a win by Dallas in Vancouver tonight. The Canucks are going to have to keep their composure against a team that is playing like they have everything to lose. Smothering the Stars' offensive talents and scoring the first goal tonight would really help. You know, show some killer instinct.JUSSI WHAT I MEAN?Dallas will be without Jussi Jokinen tonight, who suffered an 'upper-body injury' in game 4. Big deal. Joke hasn...
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Columbus GM Doug Maclean gets the Axe
2007-04-19 10:15:00
From TSN: The Blue Jackets were 172-258-62 all-time under Doug MacLean , and are the only NHL franchise to have never reached the post-season. MacLean was named general manager of the Blue Jackets on February 11, 1998 and was named president a month later. He also coached the team from January 7, 2003 through January 1, 2004. He is the only president and general manager in the history of the franchise. Patience finally ran out on Maclean as the Jackets have never finished higher than 11th in the West since they entered the NHL. That just won't cut it when you compare the success of the Wild, Thrashers, the rebuilding of the Penguins, all during Maclean's tenure as the Jackets' GM.He meant well-Maclean drafted Nicolai Zherdev 4th overall in the 2003 draft and Rick Nash 1st overall in the 2002 draft. Too bad that those 2 guys, especially Zherdev, have turned in to injury-prone culls.-Take a look at the other picks he's made on draft day. Not many materialized into NHL-ers.-Chalk...
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Thoughts on the Rangers/Thrashers
2007-04-19 09:17:00
Thrashers lacked characterI'm looking like Nostradamus for picking the Rangers to sweep the Thrashers now, but let me quickly explain why I thought that.-The Thrashers play in a lousy division. Besides the Lightning, they played the Hurricanes, Capitals,and Panthers 8 times each. Their records against each team:Hurricanes: 4 wins 4 lossesCapitals: 5 wins 3 lossesPanthers: 6 wins and 2 lossesThere's 30 points right there. It counts. -Last time I checked, Tkachuk, Kovalchuk, Hossa and Kozlov were not team leaders. The point totals for each of those players:Tkachuk: 1 goal 3 assists.Kovalchuk: 1 goal 1 assist, 1 fight with his gloves on.Hossa: 1 assist. Is it pretty unanimous that it's better to have Heatley than Hossa?Kozlov: nothing. zip.The Thrashers will need to add a character guy or 2 like a Shanahan-type, because, like Mike Chen had mentioned, Bobby Holik is not going to use any of his experience to lead the team, even though he had more shots on goal than any other Thrasher ...
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100 tonnes of explosives
2007-04-19 02:36:00
Here is what 100 tonnes of explosives being detonated looks and sounds like. Listen to the debris fly by seconds afterwards...crazy. I agree with the guy at Break that this is one of the best explosions that I've seen.Hundred Tons Of Explosives - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!T Tags: 100 tonnes explosion detonation boom Break.com

We didn't start the fire
2007-04-18 23:05:00
I see NHL.com had this pic in their header yesterday. It seems that Christie Brinkley has bad taste in men and hockey. I kid, I kid.T Tags: Christie+Brinkley Islanders Jersey
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Frustration reigns supreme in Dallas
2007-04-18 20:46:00
Mitchell is godI found this post interesting in the Dallas Morning News Blog today: Brenden Morrow was really upset tonight. He's been around this and he wants to know what the heck the team is doing wrong, why it can't catch a break. I'm not sure why, either.It's funny, Willie Mitchell had the most memorable play of the playoffs for the Stars last season, in my opinion. Joe Sakic was standing on the doorstep taking three whacks at Marty Turco and Mitchell stood by and did nothing. Sakic scored, and it was clear the Stars were going to allow the Avalanche to go to the net for the whole series.This year, Mitchell rushes back and swipes a sure tying goal by Ribeiro off the goal line.I'm not sure what that means, but it has to mean something.Can I take a stab at that? Maybe it's because he WANTS to play here. On top of that, he fits in well with Alain Vigneault's system.Modano's disappointed...still"This feels a lot like last year; a lot of just-abouts, a lot of overtime goals,...
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Game 4: Canucks 2 Stars 1: Oh hell yeah!
2007-04-18 04:44:00
The Star s and their fans are leaving the arena disappointed again tonight as the Canucks have squeezed out another narrow victory to go up 3-1 in the series. For the first 50 minutes of this game:-both teams put up a defensive clinic. Most of the shots came from the outside.-the shots were pretty even.-Both teams took numerous amounts of penalties, some justified some not. The PP futility of both teams continued tonight. Vancouver was 0-for-5. Dallas was 0-for-6. A lot of that still has to do with each teams' brilliant PK.-Marty Turco stoned Trevor Linden.Then the mini game started half-way through the 3rd. It started to open up a little. At 9:46 Mattias Ohlund blew a slapshot over a sprawling Turco. Alright! The Canucks were going to win this one, right?Not quite. 3 minutes later, Naslund coughs the puck up with a half-assed clearing attempt, right onto the stick of Nagy, who slides it over to Sydor. Bingo bango bongo-check out the size of the 5-hole on Luongo. 1-1.Exactly 2 minut...
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The kid with the bra in Dallas
2007-04-18 02:58:00
Thanks to GZ Expat , a Canucks fan in China, who freezed-framed the image. I guess somebody else did recognize that Canucks fan in Dallas in game 3. Ah, but a Cowan goal is about as likely as getting rectal cancer nowadays, but hang in there, kid.T Tags: Canucks Bra+Power Cowan GZ+Expat
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Join the club, Luongo / Game 4 Preview
2007-04-17 17:37:00
InterferenceIt appears that the Canucks have made an official complaint to the NHL office about the Stars' rough treatment of Roberto Luongo. At one point in game 3 Luongo was laying on the ice in 'pain' because he was clipped in the head by I believe Ladislav Nagy."There were a couple of incidents in Vancouver where it was tough for the referees to see Louie getting bumped," Vigneault said. "But obviously, all teams tell their players to go hard to the net, to get foot traffic in front of the goaltender and to drive hard. Louie got hit twice there and once almost got hurt. The league is aware of it. It's something we hope the referees are going to be able to see."Vigneault may as well bring it to the League's attention because for one, he wants it to stop. Secondly, if it isn't going to stop, at least the referees will, or may be looking for it to happen and make the call.It's a tough scenario for the refs I'm sure. You want to make the interference call sometimes, but Luon...
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Modano sounds frustrated / Flames may rally at home
2007-04-17 08:51:00
Green with envy?I love it. I can remember a time when we used to think this way about Dallas over the past few years. Now their star player Mike Modano is saying it about the Canucks:"The scoring chances are slim and none out there," he said. "You try to make the most of it when you do get it. You've got to work through their checkers, then you've got to go through (defenceman Willie) Mitchell and then you've still got Luongo ... We've got our hands full.". Haha! Is that beautiful or what? Modano has no goals in the series so far. Let's keep it that way!Of course, I'm not taking anything away from Dallas, who can do the same thing to us.Fire at Home "I think these games are going to be a little bit different and I can expect more than 20 shots," Dominic Hasek said today. "They'll be home and will be throwing everything at us, so I expect more traffic and more work for me this time." Hasek faced 20 shots in game 1 and 15 shots in game 2. That isn't going to cut it for Calgary....
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Canuck Notes
2007-04-17 00:58:00
Jan Bulis had this to say about playing on a line with Jannik Hansen prior to last night's game: "I really enjoy playing with him. I think he plays a great game. We seem to create chances every shift we're playing together."No kidding. Jan Bulis chipped in a Hansen shot 5 minutes into the 3rd period last night to get the Canucks on the board, and the Nuckleheads never looked back. This is a great thing, because the Sedin/Naslund line was being smothered up to that point by a Stars checking line. During the first 2 periods I thought the Hansen-Bulis connection were the hardest-working Canucks out there. Jason Botchford has written an inspiring piece in the Vancouver Province about Ryan Kesler today. It appears that Kess is doing everything he can to get back into the lineup sooner than expected. "They're telling me I'll be out for four to five weeks, I'm saying I'll be back in three," Kesler said Sunday. I healed quickly before with the hip and I can heal quickly now."The poor ...
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Canucks 2 Stars 1 (OT)
2007-04-16 04:39:00
Period 1You know, this isn't going to cut it. The Star s are back to their usual tricks, shutting the Canucks down, keeping everything to the outside and out-muscling them. Luongo had to be much better than Turco in the first and the second period seems to be about the same. I got a bad feeling. The Canucks are not playing desperate either.Period 2Sure enough, the Stars continued their dominance in the second frame, and were rewarded by a Stu Barnes deflection.As soon as that happened, we finally started seeing some desperation from Vancouver.How many penalties is Bieksa going to take before I drive down to Dallas and and kick him in hte damned teeth? Fuck!You get the feeling that the first team that scores in this series wins every game.Roberto Luongo has been unbelievable. Those saves in the second period were phenomenal.3rd PeriodAnd those saves were game-saving because the Bulis-Hansen connection has struck again! What a great rebound goal.The Canucks are showing way more hustl...

Canucks / Stars Game 3 Preview
2007-04-15 11:06:00
What we talk about with our group is that you earn confidence," Star s coach Dave Tippett said. "To earn it, you have to do little things in the game that show you're successful. Getting a win does that, but it's the things we do during the game that give us confidence, the way we play and how hard we compete. Those are the things that give you confidence and turn into momentum. That's the way our team has been all year. We've been down, we've dealt with a lot of adversity and find a way to battle back."The Stars are flying high right now because:-they stole home ice advantage away from us-they responded after a disheartening loss in quadruple OT with a win in game 2.-they played a complete game in game 2.-they now have faith in Marty Turco as a goaltender.-they have the momentum in the series right now.Now let's take that momentum back. The Canucks are going to have to come out flying in Dallas and play defensively responsible at the same time. Is that possible for these guys?...
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Hansen and Smith will stay
2007-04-15 05:51:00
Jannik Hans en and Nathan Smith impressed Alain Vigneault so much, that it appears Tommi Santala will be the one getting demoted when Alex Burrows returns to the Canucks lineup on Sunday.Hansen is turning into a bit of a celebrity in his home country of Denmark. Apparently he was getting so many calls for interviews by the Danish press yesterday morning that he had to turn off his phone.Matt Cooke did not skate today, and is still considered day-to-day.The same applies to Josh Green, who could return any time now.T Tags: Canucks Hansen Smith Cooke Green Injury
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Stars 2 Canucks 0
2007-04-14 20:53:00
''Any time you lose a game you want to come back and have a good start,'' said Stu Barnes. ''It was nice to get the goal real early like that. I don't know if you can plan something like that but you want to come out and have a good effort.'' I still can't believe how the Star s scored goals within the first minute of the first and second periods. How deflating. Poor Roberto Luongo had no chance on either goal as both shots were deflected and went over top of his shoulder. Jeff Halpern and Joel Lundqvist scored the Dallas goals and Stu Barnes had 2 assists. Marty Turco was solid in goal stopping all 35 Canucks shots. Dallas had less shots than Vancouver this time with 27. Most of the Canucks' chances were from the outside as Dallas played a great team game in front of Turco. The Stars played the type of game that the Canucks were supposed to play, but just could not get it done. The 2 Dallas goals were results of broken defensive plays by the Canucks.Technically, this seri...

Canucks / Stars Game 2 Preview
2007-04-13 18:11:00
Now that the first marathon is over, can we expect to see another one? Every game in this series could go to overtime the way these 2 teams are matched. So make sure you drink alot of coffee pre game and bring your sleeping bags if you are watching it at a friends' house. It really is possible.In my opinion, I'd rather not see the wide open style of play from Vancouver. I'd like to see them buckle down and make it a tad more boring. Trap trap trap! I think they flourish that way.Hopefully Vancouver can get a lead and hold on to it this time without a 3rd period meltdown.I'd like to see Luongo play spectacular right out of the gate tonight and frustrate the Star s early, because you know that he is getting inside their heads already, after they peppered him with so many shots last game and still lost. I wonder how Jansen and Smith are going play tonight in the absence of Cooke and Kesler?When can we see Josh Green back?I'll keep you updated today.If you are going to the game toni...
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Canucks Update
2007-04-13 04:06:00
Ryan Kesler made his return to the Canucks lineup last night for the first time in months, and now he will miss another 4-5 months with a broken index finger. Geeziz.Matt Cooke is day-to-day with a groin strain. Alex Burrows does not have a concussion and wants to play tomorrow night.T Tags: Canucks Kesler Burrows Cooke Injury
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Don Cherry to guest on NBC during playoffs
2007-04-13 00:57:00
From the Associated Press: Don Cher ry is bringing his loud mouth and louder outfits south of the border.The outspoken former coach of the Boston Bruins, who has been a fixture on CBC's "Hockey Night In Canada' telecasts for more than 25 years, will make his U.S. broadcasting debut as part of NBC's Stanley Cup playoff telecasts, the network announced Tuesday."In the States, they wanted me to go on one time in Pittsburgh. Jaromir Jagr, it was when he had long hair and he was with Mario Lemieux and I said, 'There's Mario and his daughter.' It didn't go over too good. That was my last time in the States."Apparently, Cherry will be sitting next to Brett Hull. Now THAT should be great television! I just want him to say that Canadian hockey players are the best just once....T Tags: Don Cherry NBC
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And now on to serious Canadian issues:
2007-04-13 00:42:00
From the National Post:Nova Scotia MLAs sent a message yesterday to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: Saturday's game between Sidney Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ottawa Senators should be on Hockey Night in Cana da. The House of Assembly unanimously passed a resolution protesting the league's decision to schedule the opening-round playoff game at 4 p.m. Atlantic time, instead of Saturday evening. The change came at the request of NBC Sports, and is expected to reduce viewers in Canada, where Saturday-evening games get the highest ratings. "Nova Scotians, and all Canadian s, want to see Sidney Crosby and the Penguins Saturday night on national television," said the resolution read by Tory MLA Pat Dunn. Mr. Dunn said Mr. Bettman should care what politicians in Mr. Crosby's home province think of the schedule. He hopes future games will be shown in the evening.T Tags: Crosby Nova Scotia TV
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Now that I've calmed down, I think the Canucks should be better
2007-04-12 21:35:00
It really should not have gone on that long. The Canucks had a 4-2 lead at 7:36 of the 3rd period when Smolinski capitalized on a fortunate bounce off of the glass. A quick goal by Anti Miettinen less that a minute later seemed to rattle the Canucks, and their focus on tight defence was lost. That was seemingly evident on Ladislav Nagy's tying goal about 5 minutes later. Perhaps Luongo should have had that one, as it trinkled between his arm and body. The Stars outshot the Canucks 16-3 in the 3rd.I'm not trying to be pessimistic here. I would just like to see the Canucks maintain their composure in the 3rd period at a consistent level. They have had 3rd period meltdowns in the regular season as well. To the Canucks' credit, they didn't take any penalties in the 3rd last night. The Stars caught them 5-on-5. So there is my point. I think we can shut Dallas down when not down a man and keep composure. Composure is a sign of a championship team.Thankfully, the Canucks have one of th...
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Canucks 5 Stars 4 (4 OT)
2007-04-12 10:33:00
Wait a minute, I thought all of the games in this series were supposed to be 2-1!Instead, the 2 teams played a more wide open style throught the first 3 periods, the Canucks blew a 4-2 lead in the 3rd, and we had to endure over 3 periods of overtime before Henrik Sedin scored on Turco after a pass in front of the net from his brother Daniel. This game went so long that I couldn't even drink any more because I didn't want to miss the winner.Even though the Canucks snuck out a win, they were outshot 76-56. They were being outshot at a 2-1 ratio more than once in this game, but they out-waited Dallas and outshot them 24-18 in the last (almost) 2 periods. Luongo wasn't great until the overtime periods started.The Canucks even had to kill off a 2-man disadvantage in the 2nd OT.This was the 6th longest game in NHL history. I thought it was going to break the record.The Star s ' 76 shots breaks a modern-day record.My 3 stars:1. Roberto Luongo. Preserved the win. Stellar in the OT's.2. H...

Last time the Canucks and Stars met in the postseason (Video)
2007-04-12 00:09:00
In 1994, it was a violent affair, and Bure's elbow on Shayne Churla was the story of the series. You see some of the hits and rough stuff in this clip? They wouldn't be allowed to do that stuff anymore without getting a roughing penalty.T Tags: Canucks Stars Playoffs 1994 Bure Churla
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Canucks / Stars Preview
2007-04-10 22:13:00
Is it playoff time yet? I feel like going to bed right now and waking up at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. I just can't wait.This is my first time covering the playoffs, so I don't know what quite to expect, besides pandemonium!The Canucks and Star s series is going to be a nail-biting experience. These teams couldn't beat each other by more than 1 goal all year. Every score was 2-1. Each team won 2 games against each other. Both teams relied heavily on their goaltenders because they couldn't score a lot of goals. I guess we can expect the same in Round 1.But who holds the overall advantage here? Season Points Total: Dallas 107, Canucks 105Defensive Depth: Dallas. One of the deepest D-corps in the NHL. Adding Mattias Norstrom at the deadline was solid. The Canucks' D is good as well, just not on paper.Offensive Depth: Draw.Are the Habs kicking themselves for acquiring Niinimaa in exchange for Mike 'the Weasel' Ribeiro yet? Ribeiro led the team in scoring with 59 points. That honor w...
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Stacking up against the Big Guys
2007-04-10 20:08:00
Holy hell, I am the only guy predicting a Calgary upset. Oh well.The reason for posting this is for me to see how I measure up to the experts (not including JR). T Tags: TSN Predictions NHL
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The Class of Sakic
2007-04-10 07:43:00
Joe Sakic has signed on for a 19th NHL season with the Colorado Avalanche franchise, signing a US$6.75-million, one-year deal for 2007-08. "I was really impressed with the way this team came together and am looking forward to next year," Sakic said in a statement. "To witness the growth of our young players and see how they performed with some of our other veterans was very encouraging and says a lot about the expectations we'll have for next season." I am all caught up in the post season hoopla, but I just wanted to say that Joe Sakic is an amazing class act. His dedication to the organization that he has been with his whole career shows just how much of a loyal leader that he is.The soft-spoken and much-respected Avalanche captain will remain in Colorado until he retires.At 37-years of age, Sakic has only lost little of his speed and skill. Is he really going to retire after next season? He still has so much left in the tank, as his 100 point-plus season has proven.Only Joe knows...
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Playoff Predictions: Round 1
2007-04-09 22:40:00
I refuse to read much into each team's record against their playoff opponent in the regular season. The playoffs are a new scenario altogether. The opinions below are just my opinions, and I'll be keeping track of my progress and comparing my predictions to the TSN guys for example....and Maggie the Monkey.Western ConferenceDetroit(1) vs Calgary(8)The Oilers beat the Red Wings in the first round last year, and I think that the Flames will do the same this year. I think Calgary has a built-for-the-playoffs type team with plenty of heart. The Wings may still lack that post season character, especially with the losses of Yzerman and Shanahan last summer. Datsyuk has never performed well in the post season. No, Bertuzzi and Hasek can't save them.Flames in 5Anaheim(2) vs Minnesota(7)The Wild may have been red hot in March and early April, but out of those 18 games, 10 of the opponents were non-playoff teams. Out of the 13 wins they had, 10 of them were against non-playoff teams. That ...
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