Eight More Wins 'Till The Cup by Deb Beckers
So who’s going to the big show?
Detroit (1) v. Anaheim (2) The perennial playoff losers, the Red Wings, have finally managed not to get eliminated in early rounds and are one match-up away from the big show. It’s either going to be a heartwarming story about how a goaltender got his nickname back or another round of “I told you we sucked” and 9 holes of golf. I’m hoping for the former. Even if Teemu Selanne has found his inner Peter Pan (at 36 – which is NOT FEKKING OLD – Chelios is old he’s 45!), as long as he can keep his face away from pucks and Pronger’s flailing sticks he’ll be fine, not pretty, but fine. The Ducks have proved their mettle, they just need to take a bath, fly south and/or make soup – whatever it is you do with ducks besides throw stale bread at them. I know I say this every column, but Hasek has to stay healthy. He did something to his glove hand in the last series, but SJ didn’t seem to put a lot of pucks that way anyway. He’s got good defensemen and has the luxury of having been in this pressure cooker before, besides, Hasek has reason to stay healthy – he’ll pocket and extra $1.1 million if they win the cup. We were here in 2003 when the Ducks took eliminated the Wings from the playoffs. Could history repeat itself? Goddess I hope not. The Ducks spent part of last season battling with Buffalo for top seed overall, but upstart Detroit managed to outdo them in the latter half of the season, where the Ducks started to lose speed.
Buffalo (1) v. Ottawa (4) I was a bit torn on this one. Buffalo is like a home town team for me (1 hour away), but Ottawa is the team of my heart, I’ve loved them (sometime not wisely) since the day they made their re-appearance in the league. I went to University in Ottawa, I survived an Ice Storm in Ottawa, and so Ottawa it is – even though they’re 5 hours away. The Sabres are sounding a bit cocky to me. I heard that they were saying that they haven’t been playing their “A” game for the playoffs, but were ready to produce it in their series against the Senators. Give me a fekking break; with the way they have been playing some games in this playoff season I think they might be running out of steam. Time to throw some buffalo pats in the fire and watch then disintegrate. There is a history of fights between these two teams, so look for a lot of hard hitting and a lot of penalties (in the first game) as the referees try to establish their control and set the tone. The teams have similar playing styles, but Ottawa is a faster skating team. It’s going to be a fun one to watch, but the Sens will kick the angry right out of Buffalo’s comma.
IIHF World Hockey Championship Canada is kicking ass, throwing wicked elbows (that we were punished for) and causing parliamentary debate (Hockey Canada had to explain to a Parliamentary committee why they chose Shane Doan as the captain). They’re on to the semi’s. Bring home the Gold Boys! |
Comments
Prediction:
Ducks v. Sabres in the final.
Quack!
Posted by: michele | May 11, 2007 6:56 AM
Ducks will walk straight thru this one. The only reason Vancouver made it so far with them was Luongo. Now that he is gone, it is all easy living.
yes. I am cocky this morning
Posted by: turtle | May 11, 2007 6:57 AM
Hoping for Ducks / Sens.
Posted by: Ernie | May 11, 2007 2:36 PM
Y'all can take any of your predictions that don't include a Sens/Wings final and eat them without Rooster Sauce.
That's right I went there.
SENS, BTW, kicked some serious Sabre Ass for at least two out of three periods last night. I'm still not entirely sure what they were doing in the second period.
They also need to keep an eye on their turnovers, for the love of Gob.
We also found out last night what Brodeur said to Emery...
It's yours now.
Because apparently everyone who beats him in a series has won the cup that year.
And you DON'T mess with the Stats guy. *ew*
Posted by: Deb | May 11, 2007 6:24 PM
CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP!
Posted by: Ernie | May 11, 2007 8:29 PM
well, poo
the ducks looked tired before they hit the ice
Posted by: turtle | May 11, 2007 11:14 PM
They did look tired, they seemed to get some of their spark bak in the third though, the beginning of the third...
GO WINGS =)
Posted by: deb | May 11, 2007 11:40 PM