...though I suppose this is more like pond hockey with college and minors being the babies. Meh. The point is in my beloved North Division the two worse teams possible had to face each other. That is the baby slugs (yes I do indeed call them that because you can't shorten Buffalo or Sabres to anything cute) and the baby habs had to face off. It's actually strange enough that I even care that much about Hamilton let alone enough to make them one of my favorite teams but it's no secret that it's probably all the fault of la famille Biron in particular le petit pas frerot. But then watching the team the depth of the habs organization started to emerge especially their ridiculous knack for amazing french goalies. Plus Jaroslav Halak who is sadly off being amazing at worlds but that just means one Yann Danis gets plenty of time to shine (and when the goalie he's facing is Dennis that makes for some amazing confused hilarity from the drunk college crowd let me tell you).
So before getting too into why there is love for them, the point is they beat Rochester and advance to face Manitoba (a shame it couldn't have been Grand Rapids if only for Steph but they were really only pulling off wins in OT) . The plus side is that the Sabres have pretty much called up all their prospects in a similar fashion to New York. I assume this is to give them a feel for the NHL playoffs (and many of them had already been called up for the regular season) and keep them a little busy for the rest of this run to boot. Or maybe Stafford was just lonely.
So it's all Hamilton and WBS from here. I can't really say I know enough about the other teams play to determine who will take series but it seems like Hamilton has a decent chance against the Meese. The team I'd be worried for is the Iowa Stars as the Wolves swept their first round opponent (the adorable Milwaukee Admirals with the cutest little skull logo in the whole of hockey shush don't deny it!) and dealt a brutal beating for game one. Atlanta can certainly remind us that a 7-0 shut out is no minor sting. I've seen them a little due to their solid fanbase and I think it's a safe bet to say they can take conference if they keep it up and I only hope that round will involve Hamilton so I can see them both at the end of the month.
As for the East (Hamilton and Rochester in the west? Weird huh?) WBS probably will have their hands full with the current defenders the Hershey Bears but if they can pull off the needed wins I think they puts them in a good position for finals. Otherwise I wouldn't mind seeing Hershey defend either. Now if only that success would translate up a level.
4 comments:
The nice thing about the Griffins losing is that we can pull up Ellis, Meech, and Liv as necessary now....but I was hoping to catch at least one more game for the season. Manitoba's a tough team though, I'd bet on them against the mini Habs, but then again my Hamilton knowledge isn't perfect and I do think they'll put up a good fight.
I am also throwing support behind Hershey just because Laddy Smid is Bears alum :b
See I'm just the opposite not knowing as much about Manitoba but either way I think they're both strong contenders and it should be a worthwhile series.
As for the bears I'm always going to cheer for current players over past XD but Hershey is well on it's way for a sweep the way I hear WBS is playing so we'll see >>
I think the only thing I really know about Hamilton is that they used to have a Ty and Sherry really likes their new goalie XD
And Laddy's only a year removed! It counts somehow!
He's rather cute to. Fucking habs need to share as that is the entire basis of my love for them XD
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