Deals so far 3

Bill Guerin (F) New York Islanders ----> Pittsburgh Penguins
Conditional Draft Pick ------> New York Islanders
Great move for the veteran forward, he will probably link up with Sid The Kid in the end. This will boost the Pens to the playoffs.

It is really a slow day today.......

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Dominic Moore (d) - Toronto Maple Leafs ----> Buffalo Sabres
Carolina Hurricanes 2nd round draft pick ----> Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto has given up this season, while Buffalo will be heading into playoffs with a strenghtened defense. It won't take them to the Cup, but it'll treat their fans to a nice ending of the season.

Derek Morris (d) - Phoenix Coyotes -----> New York Rangers
Dimitri Kalinin (d), Nigel Dawes (f), Petr Prucha (f) - New York Rangers ----> Phoenix Coyotes

Morris is a great player. But the price the Rangers had to pay for him. I wonder if it's really worth it. This is a win situation for the Coyotes, I think.

Nik Antropov (f) - Toronto Maple Leafs ----> New York Rangers
2nd round draft pick, Conditional draft pick ----> Toronto Maple Leafs

A good deal for the Rangers. A great scorer who will bring a lot of smiles to the Garden faithful. But having lost Prucha and Dawes, the Rangers could well be the losers in the end.

Daniel Carcillo (f) - Phoenix Coyotes ----> Philadelphia Flyers
Scottie Upshall (f) - Philadelphia Flyers ----> Phoenix Coyotes

Carcillo will be missed in Phoenix, but Upshall is a really talented player. Could turn out to be a good move for both teams.

Eric Christensen (f) Atlanta Thrashers -----> Anaheim Ducks
Eric O'Dell (f) Anaheim Ducks ----> Atlanta Thrashers

For the second time in two years, Eric Christensen moves on deadline day. The only loser here is Eric O'Dell who ends up outside the playoffs. But for the 09-10 season, this could prove to be a good move for him as well.

Deals so far 2

Brendan Morrison (F) - Anaheim Ducks ----> Dallas Stars
Waivers
Tells us nothing really. I like Brendan as a player, since his time during the lockout in Linkoping. Hopefully he can revive his career in the Lone Star State

Olli Jokinen (F), 3rd round pick - Phoenix Coyotes -----> Calgary Flames
Matthew Lombardi (F), Brandon Prust (F), 1st round pick - Calgary Flames ---->Phoenix Coyotes

Jokinen is the biggest name so far to move. With over 800 games in the NHL and not one post-season game, Olli Jokinen will be hungry when the puck drops in the playoffs. Some say he made the Coyotes a worse team, some say he was a cancer. Some will miss him. One thing's for sure. He will be one happy man. But now, Calgary needs to get rid of someone, due to the salary cap.

Steve Montador (D) Anaheim Ducks -----> Boston Bruins
Petteri Nokelainen (F) Boston Bruins -----> Anaheim Ducks

Definetly a nice move for Nokelainen. A somewhat cheap move for the Ducks, since they acquired D-man Ryan Whitney yesterday.

Deals so far 1

Pascal Leclaire (g) + draft pick- Columbus Blue Jackets ----> Ottawa Senators
Pat Vermette (f) - Ottawa Senators ----> Columbus Blue Jackets

Good deal for the Sens. They, too, were in the need of a good goalie. In Leclaire, they have a great one. Pat Vermette will be useful for the Blue Jackets, for sure. But the big winner is the Sens.

Jordan Leopold (d) - Colorado Avalanche ----> Calgary Flames
Laurence Nycholat (d), Ryan Wilson (d), 2nd round draft pick -----> Colorado Avalanche

A bit of a gamble by the Flames, since Leopold will be an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer. Although, since this is his second spell at the Flames, Leopold might stay.

Mikael Tellqvist (g) Phoenix Coyotes ----> Buffalo Sabres
2nd round draft pick ------> Phoenix Coyotes

A cheap move for an under-rated keeper. Tellqvist will get his chance, thanks to the injuries on Ryan Miller. This is his big chance of making it. He will.

D-day

D-day is today, Deadline-day that is.

First off:
Sean Avery is back! He's a jackass, a free-spoken maniac who does pretty much whatever he likes. He annoyes the living hell out of pretty much everyone. And now he's back with the New York Rangers, a team which is now under the reign of John Tortorella - also a free-spoken maniac. The result could be World War III. Will it? Nope.

Broadway Sean proved his worth to the Rangers last season and is determined to do the same thing once again. Chris Drury told nhl.com: "The only two things I need to know and I think the other guys in this room need to know are: One, he wants to be here, wants to be a Ranger. And, second, he wants to win a Stanley Cup. What more could you ask for of a teammate?"

The answer is: Nothing. Avery always speaks his mind, on and off the ice. Some things are more suitable than others but over all he stands up for what he says. With no. 16 back (probably already for the Islanders clash on Thursday) and with the demolition of Colorado in fresh memory, this will boost the Rangers.

I will update this blog later today!
Stay tuned

Having another go

I haven't been active with the blog for ages. My last post was on Oct. 21st 2008.

Due to lack of feedback from readers, thus giving me a lack of motivation, I've been nowhere near this blog. This is going to change.
The Swedish hockey league is going into the playoffs, starting Thursday. It should be a great few weeks, possibly with the factor of some upsets for the major teams. I think Linkoping and Farjestad are the main contenders this year. Although I must post a word of warning for the oustider Timra from Sundsvall. For almost the first time since the beginning of the season, they have a full strength team.

In the main part of this blog, I'm discussing the NHL. This will be no exception today. Things have happened since my last post. The most important being the switch of coach in the New York Rangers. Tom Renney got the sack and now "the Sean Avery of coaches" is running the show: John Tortorella.

And he has managed to break a bad streak. With a slow start (losing 2-1 on penalties against the Maple Leafs). But the 6-1 demolition job against the Colorado Avalanche might be the thing turning the Rangers around again. They are still in desperate need of some luck, turning those chances into goals. But the Avalanche game was a start.

Tomorrow, we have the busiest day in the NHL - the trade deadline. Philadelphia might look for a keeper, Calgary needs a puck-moving defensemen according to most experts and the Rangers need, as mentioned above some scoring. So, do I have any thoughts about this?

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. With almost the whole team of the Toronto Maple Leafs being available, a few guys might move there. Also, Jay Bouwmeester of the Panthers, Chris Pronger of the Ducks, Marian Gaborik of the Wild and Keith Tkachuk of the Blues are a few guys to be mentioned as possible bricks to move tomorrow. I doubt that Gaborik will move but if Bouwmeester doesn't, I'd be very surprised. Rumour has it that he doesn't want to re-sign with the Panthers, thus making this the last chance for the Florida management to get something in exchange.

I think the Flames might make a move for Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle, he'd fit right into their plans if the price is right. Also, Nik Antropov might be at a new club by the end of tomorrow. But where might he go?
If the Rangers need scoring, they will need to dig deep. Only a superstar will do. And that will be costly. The Flyers might be looking for a new keeper, but who'd want to let their top goalie go? Cam Ward is out (the Hurricanes are building their team around him) unless the Flyers pay BIG. Tomas Vokoun could be the man.... Perhaps Vesa Toskala from the constantly under-achieving Maple Leafs?

Some experts say that it will be a calm day. I think not. The move of Pens defenseman Ryan Whitney to the Ducks in exchange for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi, sort of set the tone for tomorrow. This is a big deal and both parts will benefit from it. I'm a big fan of Whitney and this was a bit of a surprise deal. And last night, veterfan defenseman Niclas Havelid (and minor forward Myles Stoesz) moved to New Jersey Devils in exchange for defenseman Anssi Salmela. A calm deadline day? I think not.

Stay tuned

Turning?

First of all, I'm sorry for not being here for a while. But I've had loads of stuff to do.
Not too much to cut off the good old hockey but way too much to be able to write about it.

So, I got a bit cocky last time and said: "Bring on the Sabres.."
And they did. Since I wrote that line there hasn't been a full time victory for the Rangers. Loss against the Sabres, OT win vs. Toronto, OT loss vs. Red Wings and a loss against the Stars last night.

According to the live reports from the Garden last night, it took about 25 seconds before Broadway Sean (Avery) got his: "Avery SUCKS!" from the Garden Faithful. Well, Sean, if you're not with us.....

Last night, there was a brother vs. brother fight in the Garden. King Henrik Lundqvist vs twin brother Joel. And it was Joel who came out as a winner. He didn't score but the Stars still won. Much thanks to Swedish super rookie Fabian Brunnstrom. This exceptional talent, who thought of quitting hockey at the age of 15 and played in the Swedish third league two years ago, is off to an amazing start in the NHL. He scored a hat trick in his debut and he has now got four goals and one assist in five games, I belive. Impressing!

Sure, I'm a Rangers fan but still, it's fun to see how the Swedes are doing over there. I hope Fabian can go free from injuries this season. If he does, could he be Rookie of the Year? In the Brunnstrom Saga, nothing surprises me anymore.

I'll try to write more frequently!

"You can't beat us..."

I was wrong, at the same time I was right. I was right in saying that the Rangers would win. But man, I was wrong about the score. 4-1....
I mean, it's like I can taste it.

Sure, good old Marty fumbled a bit when the first puck hit the net. But then the Rangers show began. It wasn't until the second period the Devils got back in the game. But there he was, Henrik Lundqvist. Unwilling to let anything pass him. It wasn't until the end of the second period, John Madden (I love that name...) found the net with a rebound after a magnificent Lundqvist save.

Aaron Voros, that's a guy that keeps impressing on me. Two goals last night. Both of them coming Holmstrom-style. In front of Brodeur he was, fighting and earning those goals. He will be vital for the Rangers during tis season.

Also, a good game from Dubinsky. 2 goals and 1 assist. The assist was to the empty netter by Ryan Callahan. Dubinsky could have gone for goal himself, thus earning a hattrick but he passed and let Callahan finish the job. Good boy!

This was the Rangers 8th victory in 9 matches against the Devils and when the match was nearing the end, the Garden Faithful just chanted: "You can't beat us!" Very nice.

Before the game there was a moment to honour the memory of Rangers draft pick Alexei Cherepanov, 19 years old, who died during a game with his Russian side Avangard Omsk yesterday. The Russian collided with former captain Jaromir Jagr. The hit itself didn't look that harmful but Cherepanov died on the bench a few minutes later. Today my thoughts and condolances goes to his family and friends.

R.I.P Alexei Cherepanov

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In other news, I'm surprised about the Blackhawks. They mix nice matches with pure crap. Tonight they lost at home to Nashville, 3-2.

The Sabres crushed the Islanders (7-1!) on Long Island and coach Lindy Ruff has got his side all fired up for Wednesdays clash with the Rangers on Manhattan. Should be a good one!

Stay tuned

We're doing fine

Off to a good start, one might say.
If someone said that to me I'd say: Yes. But there is a long way to go. Four victories in as many matches is a nice start for the Rangers. But there are many teams to overcome if we are going to see the Blueshirts in the playoffs.

Look at me go, I'm talking about playoffs already. No. Let's focus on tonight instead. A nice little thing with the Devils is brewing. I wonder if we get to see Stephen Valiquette in net tonight. I'm thinking...no.

Henrik Lundqvist is a magnificent goalie and on the other side of the ice tonight, there will be yet another one. Martin Brodeur is a true great. He is still one of the best goalies in the entire sport and he will, for sure, do his outmost to stop the Rangers tonight. But will he succeed?

Nope. There will be a fierce battle. And rest assured, the Rangers won't be allowed to slip away in the first period as they were against the Flyers on Saturday. The likes of Nick Zherdev, Markus Naslund and captain Chris Drury will have their artillery loaded. Not to mention former Devil hitman Scott Gomez, who spent his first seven seasons in New Jersey.

Watch out though. The Devils has got a few guys able to hit the net. Brian Rolston is still lethal. Patrick Elias and John Madden as well.

The Devils @ The Rangers in the Garden. Boy, I envy those of you able to be there to watch it.
I say: The Rangers will win it, but by a slim margin. 3-2. No OT.
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A big congratulations to Lukas Kaspar of the San Jose Sharks. He scored the only goal against the Kings, thus earning his first NHL career goal! CONGRATULATIONS!

Further thoughts

Vladimir Mihalik got sent down to Tampa Bay's AHL affiliate after the teams return to the US. Why, I wonder. He had two good games in Prague and I belive he'll be back in the NHL within a foreseeable future. He has a good eye for the game and I reckon he'll do well this season. Perhaps I'm totally wrong here. But I really liked his way of playing in Prague.

It is nice to see that Markus Naslund has found his place in New York Rangers so fast. Two victories and two goals for him does count as a pretty good start to the season. Scott Gomez and Chris Drury do have some more tricks in their books than the Sedin brothers did. Speaking of those two, they've actually done pretty good during the pre-season with new-boy

Defenseman Kyle McLaren has been put on Waivers by the San Jose Sharks, thus possibly ending an era. The veteran could move to Worchester Sharks, San Jose's AHL affiliate, which would still keep him in the organisation but his salary ($2.5M) would not fall into the Sharks' total cap. I like McLaren and I hope he will be able to play most of the season this year. Last year, he was plagued by injury and only played in a few games. But with new guys Dan Boyle and Rob Blake, a place in the Sharks seems rather unrealistic for McLaren. A team in constant need of defensive improvement is the Phoenix Coyotes.

Speaking of Prague. The Champions Hockey League kicks off tonight. My "boys" are in Prague to watch Linkoping HC play away @ Slavia. There will be a fight on ice. Will there be one in the streets?

The real NHL premiere is on Friday night. See you around!

08-09, here we go!

It's off!

The whole shebang kicked off last night. I will of course focus on the Rangers but there were a few other matches as well.
The Pens beat the Sens , 4-3 in Stockholm. A nice match with a lot of goals. Let's just hope the Swedish referees were there so they now know how to handle a game.

In Prague, the Blueshirts kicked off their season in the best way possible. Markus Naslund opened up in the first period but his shot hit the post. In the second, he got his goal. A magnificent pass from Scott Gomez made Naslund get his first marker for the Rangers. Martin St. Louis equalised before Brandon Dubinsky scored in powerplay, giving the two points to the Rangers.

A few thoughts of 08-09:
The Rookie of the Year will be Steven Stamkos
* Keep your eyes on Vladimir Mihalik (Tampa)
* Wade Redden might get a great season
* The Pens plays even more fun than last season

More thoughts will follow

Keep up!

Slow times...

Not that much going on right now. I'm getting more and more curious about what the Blackhawks might stir up with their fresh batch of players, combined with some of the routine they actually have.

Giving the C to Patrick Toews shows that they have a lot of faith in their young guns. It is beyond any doubt that the expectations of this team has been raised along with the firepower added to their team. There is still one big question to be answered:
Will the competing goalies get along? Khabibulin and Huet are two great goalies, both worthy the primary spot, thus starting the majority of the games. If there is a drama and these two gentlemen doesn't get along, the Blackhawks will have a problem. Khabibulin will be almost impossible to trade, given his huge salary. On the other hand, who signs a goalie just to trade him right away? I know, this is the NHL and it does happen but it sounds a bit far fetched.

I do think Toews will rise to the challenge with his C, and he will be the Blackhawks top scorer this year. Again, if I'm not mistaken. I'm very interested in what $7.1M man Brian Campbell will achive. We all know that he is a tremendous D man. Will he bring stability to the defence? I think so. In combination with Cristobal Huet, who I personally think should be the first goalie, this could be very interesting.

Given the fact that it is still off season, my postings might not be that many right now. But I'm going to be more active, the closer we get to the first puck dropping.

I have to admit something. I read most of my news at tsn.com or nhl.com, but this thing about was really my own initiative. Then I had a look at nhl.com and what do I see....a column about the Blackhawks. Ah, well.......

The Sharks get their man

Told you so, didn't I? Yesterday I wrote that I didn't think the Sharks were done signing D men. And what happened over night (for us in Sweden)?



For the "cheap" price of their 2009 first round Draft Pick, 2010 fourth round Draft Pick, Matt Carlie (D) and Ty Wishart (D) they got their man, Dan Boyle, from the Bolts. Together with Boyle comes Brad Lukovich. Nice move by the Sharks, although Boyle is on a five year, $40 million contract. This takes up a lot of their cap, but they get a very good D man. Are they done now? Signing D men perhaps.





Short one today, going to Gothenburg in fifteen minutes. Springsteen!
I'll be back tomorrow

Some big-name moves!

First of all:

Markus Naslund, 34, has signed for the New York Rangers. The contract is for two years and all in all it is worth $8million. Naslund stated that the Rangers was his first choice and hopefully we'll see him get some points in. He had "only" 55 points (25 + 30) in 82 games during the 07-08 season. This also means that Jaromir Jagr will not be playing for the Rangers next season. We will probably find him in Russia and in the new KHL. We'll see...

One more player has signed for the Blueshirts. And yes, it's a new D man! Having sent both Tyutin and Backman to Columbus, it wasn't a big secret that the Rangers needed a new defenseman. Dmitri Kalinin, 27, joins the club from Buffalo Sabres. He is a defensive D man which will suit the Rangers just fine.

Both Naslund and Kalinin was Unrestricted Free Agents.

Miroslav Satan (former New York Islanders) has signed for the Penguins on a one year deal. It's not a bad deal at all. The Pens needs the firepower, although Satan has dipped is points over the last season (41 pts in 80 matches). The Pens has also signed Ruslan Fedotenko on a one year deal.

Rob Blake has left the Kings and signed for San José Sharks on a one year deal. This is an attempt to fill the void after short-termer Brian Campbell moved to Chicago. Blake is a good player but he is not a fast-moving skater. I think the Sharks aren't done signing D men.

Other players who moved yesterday was:

David Hale (D), two years - Phoenix Coyotes
George Laraque (F), three years - Montreal Canadiens
Antti Miettinen (F), three years - Minnesota Wild
Daniel Tjarnqvist (D), one year - Colorado Avalanche

Also worth noticing is that Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury to a seven-year contract worth $35 million.
That was just day 3 of the Free Agency and it feels more crazy than ever. Amazing.

And I'm back!

Hey!

The weird part is that I published this post on te day before yesterday. At least I thought I did. So there will be a "double" post in the same post, if you know what I mean


Call me mad if you want, but the NHL began yesterday. OK, it really began with the draft. But I've been in Thailand so I couldn't follow it that much. Now, however, is the time of wheelings and dealings. The thing we all now is that Mats Sundin won't be playing with the Maple Leafs this upcoming season. The latest rumour is that he's off to Vancouver. We'll see what happens.



These are just some of the deals done during the Free Agency period:
Niklas Hagman (F), four years - Toronto Maple Leafs
Jeff Finger (D), four years - Toronto Maple Leafs
Curtis Joseph (G), one year - Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto is building a new team, which means that this is not the last moves we will see during the summer. Worth mentioning is that Andrew Raycroft (G), Darcy Tucker (F) and Kyle Wellwood no longer are Toronto-players.

Andrew Raycroft (G), ? - Colorado Avalanche - Replacing Jose Theodore

Jose Theodore (G), ? - Washington Capitals - Replacing Cristobal Huet

Cristobal Huet (G), ? - Chicago Blackhawks - Will work "together" with Khabibulin. I'm interested in if this will succeed. None of those two would want to sit on the bench.

Ty Conklin (G), ? - Detroit Red Wings - Will be a backup for Osgood. Weird move by Holland. There were better guys out there.

Olaf Kolzig (G), one year - Tampa Bay Lightnings - Will bring stability to the goalkeeping side. Interesting.

Alex Auld (G),? - Ottawa Senators - This means one thing and one thing only. Ray Emery WILL be gone.

Brian Rolston (F), four years - New Jersey Devils
Bobby Holik (F), ? - New Jersey Devils. - Both these guys will be coming "home" and they will rock in "The Rock".

Brian Campbell (D), eight (!) years - Chicago Blackhawks - Long contract, hefty price ($7.1 million a year). But it's a great player and he's needed to bring calm to the young Chicago team.

Wade Redden (D), ? - New York Rangers - Fantastic signing by the Rangers. He will be great. Together with Campbell, Redden was the best D name in the Free Agency.

Jarkko Ruutu (F), ? - Ottawa Senators - Somewhat a weird move. But the signing has to do with the fact that Ruutus older brother is a scout for the Sens.

Sean Avery (F), four years - Dallas Stars -$3.87 million a year for four years. I don't know. Is it worth it? I mean, he's for sure a special player but that's a lot of money. I would not have signed him for more than two years, perhaps with an option of extension.

Darcy Tucker (F), one year - Colorado Avalanche - One weird move, for sure. The Avs need to get younger players into the team, not collecting old ones.

Kristian Huselius (F). four years - Columbus Blue Jackets - A good move for Huselius. He's coming to a new team. A team that has just lost one of its snipers (Zherdev) and this could mean playing in the first line. Worth mentioning is that he's linking up with former team-mate Fredrik Norrena, who he played together with during the lockout season in Linkopings HC (Sweden).

Four player trade:
Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche goes to New York Rangers in exchange for Christian Backman and Fedor Tyutin. A nice move for both teams. The Rangers needs to improve their offence while Columbus needs some strong defensmen. My guess is that the Rangers aren't even close to be done aquiring new guys for the 08-09 season.

Marian Hossa (F), one year - Detroit Red Wings.
Nice move by GM Ken Hollamd. But is Hossa as good as the hype tells us? Personally I think the Pens would have done just fine without him in this playoffs. But maybe Holland knows something we don't.....

Like I said, these are just some of the moves done. More will follow. Stay tuned!

Alive

And, once again I've been slipping with posting here. My weeks are just flying by and I can't really do everything I want to do.
Surprise, surprise! The Stars are still in it. Courtesy of Marty Turco. In his first carreer win in the Joe, Marty Turco was OUTSTANDING. Some of the saves he made aren't from this planet. Add to that that he got the only assist on Joel Lundqvist game winning goal.

Next round will be in Dallas. For the sake of some nice hockey, I hope the Stars win that one. Personally, I'm just enjoying the playoffs now. No nerves anymore. The Pens killed'em all by knocking out the Rangers.

Tonight we can see the fifth round between the Pens and the Flyers. I belive it all ends here, for the Flyers. Hopefully it doesn't. Because it has been a nice series to follow. Will Martin Biron stand against the mighty attacks of the Pens tonight? And will the Flyers boxplay manage to keep the hungry power play line of Pittsburgh at bay?

I know, I know

Yes, it has been a while again. Been a busy week for me, but I've managed to watch some hockey anyways. Although, I haven't had the time to write anything.

What is there to say about the Conference Finals so far?

First of all: Evgeni Malkin. What a player? Did you see his goals?! The last one really made me laugh. I don't know why, but that was a bit funny. Instead of trying to deke Biron in his breakaway he simply loaded the big gun and let the slapshot do the talking. That's business, for you. Will Malkin be the MVP of the playoffs? Maybe, if the Pens go to the Finals. But that series is far from over.

O-s(o)-good it must be to be a Red Wings fan right now. With Chris Osgood in net and the always alterning attacks of four amazing lines in offence, it's really hard to see anything stand in the way of the Wings machine. Up 2-0 against Dallas. Now they're going to the Lone Star State for two games. I reckon the Stars need to win both to stand a chance. I don't think they will, though. The Wings will take at least one of the games there and then finish it off back home. I know, I thought the series would go to six or seven games but I can hardly see anything pointing in that direction right now. Maybe if the Stars win the first match in Dallas.

Conference Finals

That's it. The season is over for the Rangers and the Sharks. The Sharks lost the Battle of the West in the fourth OT-period last night. We got to see some amazing goaltending throughout the game and especially in OT. Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco tried (at least it looked like they did) to outclass eachother in amazing saves. Togehter they stopped 114 shots (Turco 61 and Nabokov 53). This was the only game in the series where the team who scored the first goal, won the game. It's been a great season for the Sharks but I think they thought they could go all the way after gaining some momentum against the Stars. I know one player who really really wanted it to happen. Jeremy Roenick. "JR" will probably quit playing now and he was hoping to do what Andreychuck and Borque did in their last seasons as players - lift the Cup for the first time. We'll see, maybe JR will give it another go next season. I hope he will, he deserves to lift the Cup as well.

The Rangers but themselves in the situation leading to their termination. Looking back over the series, maybe it was all decided in that first game. The Rangers was up 3-0 in Pittsburgh but relaxed and lost it 5-4. That just gave the Pens some momentum and from that point it all rolled on. Marian Hossa scored twice last night. What a trade that turned out to be. The question still remains, will he stay in Steel City after this season? But if the Pens go all the way and win the Cup, I reckon they will find the deal being worth it - even if Hossa leaves. He has been magnificent since arriving.
Now the Pens will face the Flyers. That ought to be one interesting series. Both teams have lots of confidence and they allways shoot from the hip, so to speak. I expect lots of goals and many great hits and saves. Both teams have fast skaters and players with great stick skills. Will this go to seven games? Maybe. It all depends on wether the Pens will try to set the tone from the start. If they win the first match by some margin, it might be a shorter series. But then again, the Flyers have done the impossible - twice. So I will not coun't them out this time. Lesson learned.

Biron vs. Fleury: Seven rounds. Winner? I'll say the Pens. They should take this. But, once again, I won't, I just won't, count the Flyers out once again.

In the West, the Stars will face the Wings. Probably a seven-round fight as well. I had the Stars as outsiders in the playoffs and they might surprise again. Brenden Morrow has been great for the Stars and The Mule (Johan Franzen) has been outstanding for the Wings. We'll also see two teams with great defense.

The Mule vs. Morrow: Six rounds. Winner? I'll say the Mule. But it would be nice to see the Stars go through. They've really impressed me.

The Flyers....and me being stupid

First of all! The Rangers are playing TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT. Not yesterday....What's up with me?

Anyways, the Flyers are through to the Conference Finals. It's unbelivable but true. They outplayed, outgunned and outsmarted the Canadiens. I was wrong, totally wrong. I'd never thought the Flyers could and would take the Canadiens. No, never. Hats off to RJ Umberger, who scored eight goals in the series. Hats off to Martin Biron (see some of my earlier posts), who's been amazing. Hats off to the Flyers. Can they go to the Finals? They've proven that nothing is impossible.

Tonight it might be decided who they will play. And it probably will be decided. The Pens are up, 3-1 and are playing at home. I said it before the last game and I will say it tonight. It will end here. Although "King" Henrik stated that the Rangers could turn things around, one has to be realistic. In Pittsburgh, the Blueshirts had nothing to come up with when the Pens gained momentum. Even if the Rangers score the first goals, the Pens won't give in. No, it will take a miracle for the Rangers to turn it around. But The Return of The King on Thursday may have given the team a boost.... It will, for sure, be interesting.

What's with these guys?

Between the Sharks and the Stars, the same story continues. The team scoring the first goal looses the game. And who scored the first one last night? Jere Lehtinen of the Stars. So, the Sharks won. The Stars were up 2-0 and had two goals waved off, one for kick and one because the would-be scorer used his hand. Both "goals" were scored by: Brenden Morrow. He did, however score a goal that didn't get waived off. But then the Sharks started to circle around their prey. 1-2, 6:20 into the third, was scored by Milan Michalek and the equalizer was scored by trade deadline aqusition, Brian Campbell with about nine minutes to go.
After little over a minute in OT, Joe Pavelski scored the winner and HP Pavillion exploded.

This series is far from over and now we're heading into deep water. Sixth game, this time in Dallas. I think the Stars are a bit shaken over this, but they haven't given up. Why should they? They're still in the drivers seat. I will end with a quote from the commentator on Versus:
"The Sharks have another date, in the Lone Star State"

I wonder how long he'd been thinking about that one-liner.....

Oh, yesterday I wrote that the Rangers would be getting a new chance tomorrow (meaning today). That was totally wrong, and I don't know why I wrote that, since they're playing tonight. I must have been very tired when writing that.....

It's alive!

The King has spoken. "We can turn this around"
Well, Henrik. Let's not get carried away. But winning last night sure as hell made things a little better. And Jaromir Jagr? What is going on? In the first match in MSG he scored one, but most importantly: He fought for his team. That time litteraly, when he had a little workout with Gonchar, I belive.

And last night, he scored - twice. Also worth noticing is that Brandon Dubinsky scored one. Last night I was sure that the series would end. But I'm glad they didn't. The only downpart with last nights game is the fact that I couldn't see it myself. Isn't that typical? The one game they win, and I can't see it! Ah, well. A new chance tomorrow....they better win. For me.

Due to the fact that I'm at work right now, I can't write more right now. I, unlike some other very fortunate people, am not getting payed for writing about the NHL

Oh, I almost forgot. The Mule is in the historybooks! He scored his second hat trick and NINTH goal in the series against Colorado last night, when Detroit crushed the Avs. 8-2 was the final score and the Wings are through to the Conference Finals.