This is me not caring about the playoffs! :D

So yeah. I hate Anaheim, and am not the biggest fan of Ottawa either. So I'll just cut to the chase.

Ottawa in 7.

I'll go back to ignoring hockey now, kthx.

PS: I'm in Atlanta now. Kari Lehtonen: ...You better fear for your life. :D

Your regularly scheduled roundly update

Though that is only because the entirety of the eastern finals were too painful to comment on and not just because of the loss. But here are my thoughts on the west:

Canada for the Cup!!

Firefox ate my post.

So I had started a playoff predictions post earlier, and then my Firefox imploded, and I lost it. Gee, thanks, Firefox. SO MUCH.

Anyways. Here's a shortened version of what it was going to be.

Western Conference

(1)DET vs (2)ANA
So, I had this nice little paragraph written up about these two teams, and how I disliked them both at the beginning of the season, and now I have a stupid affection for the Wings. Seeing as I can't remember what it all said, I'm just gonna say this is going to be a very hard fought series.

My Prediction: Detroit in 7

Eastern Conference

(1)BUF vs (4)OTT
Gee, another matchup where I like one team and loathe the other. Again, both teams are very good, and it will be hard fought. Not to mention The Brawl that happened earlier this season. Will we see a repeat performance? Let's hope not. We don't have Martin Biron to go up against Ray Emery anymore. ...Though that could possibly be a good thing, no matter how much I love Marty. *pats him*

My Prediction: Buffalo in 7

So there you have it. I don't think I've been right so far, so who knows what'll really happen? :D

So.

First of all, amazing win for Detroit earlier today. That game was just made of awesome.

I didn't get to watch a lot of the Sabres game last night, but I saw the last four minutes and the overtime goal, and that's all that really matters, jaayeah? ...I need to stop with the Finnish. Seriously.

Anyways. I have some news. I was planning to go to the NHL Draft in June in Columbus. Sadly, since I am moving to Atlanta in two weeks, I won't be able to do this...I'm seriously distressed about it, but there's not much I can do about it.

So, like, Steph, Drea, if you still want tickets or something, let me know, and I'll keep the tickets reserved for you.

So, right. I'm gonna go back to listening to Green Day and hoping I can watch more hockey later tonight. :D

Random ECHL Update, Whut?

Yes, that is what I am going to talk about. XD

So. I live about a half hour away from Dayton, Ohio, where the Dayton Bombers play. Well, they're in their playoffs right now, and my mom and I had kind of resigned ourselves that they were going to get eliminated, because they were down 3 games to 1 game. And wouldn't you know it...

Dayton Beats Cincinnati 5-3
Bombers Advance To American Conference Finals

They came back from a 3-1 game deficit to win the series. Way to go, boys!

That'll teach Mom and I not to count good ol' Ohio boys out, huh?

Sometimes I like to follow baby hockey...

...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.

So, uh, I had something to say.

Really, honest I did.

But then this happened.



...My brain is kind of dead.

That's my contribution for the day. :D

The picture is shit and I still stand by it...

As I told Skye. Either King Henrik's pads have sprouted cancer (and if so, it's such a shame that it's not contagious) or that's a puck I see over the goal line. And I can argue it with that kind of shit quality. I think that's the most blatantly BS call I've seen all season regular and post.

That said the slugs are still living up to that name and they shouldn't even NEED to be relying on these type of goals to have a shot at OT and relying on OT to have a shot at possibly maybe winning the game. They're a better team than that. I can't even watch them anymore because they lack energy and heart and grit and they don't even deserve to be called sitting ducks right now the way that team is showing up. It's like they're already polishing the golf clubs for all they care. Whatever they care about it certainly doesn't seem like the rest of this play off series with the cup waiting at the end. New York isn't even playing THAT much better save for Lundqvist who has been nothing short of a wall and I think the number of times I heard his posts ring was damn near heart breaking. If Buffalo stepped it up... if they could get even one line moving they'd probably be putting up and even fight.

If the rest of the series' continue the way they're going I dare say I will be left teamless by the end of this round. It's rather baffling to considering going into even conference finals full of indifference and I don't like it one bit. Someone better step up soon (No slight against you Vancouver, you guys have been playing your hearts out and it shows and I only wish it would show in the score)

Playoff hockey? ...Oh yeah, that's still going on. :D

So. I'm not dead, honestly. Just have been kind of blah lately, but figured I'd give my predictions/thoughts/whatever on the next round.

Eastern Conference

(1)Buffalo v. (6)New York Rangers
Well, I have an affection for both teams, but I want Buffalo to advance. A goal from Petr Prucha for NYR would not be discouraged though.

My Prediction: Buffalo in 6.

(2)New Jersey v. (4)Ottawa
...Can I say neither? No? Ok. Uh. Damn this one is really hard.

My Prediction: New Jersey in 7.

Western Conference

(1)Detroit v. (5)San Jose
So, as much as I love San Jose lately, I still have to go with Detroit, because of the rookies. That and I'm a horrible Ohio girl. *sigh*

My Prediction: Detroit in 5.

(2)Anaheim v. (3)Vancouver
This one's harder. Anaheim has been a good team all year. But, I'd love to see Vancouver go forward, soooo. (No mid-series breakdown, this time, ok, Canucks? Ok. Awesome.)

My Prediction: Vancouver in 6.
--------------

So, right, I think that's it from me for now.

It's like a triathalon...

...except instead of simply passing on the magic wand at the end you have to wrestle some other jerk at the end of the line for it. Unless you are the magic wands. Better luck next decade?

No I'm not sure where I'm going with this metaphor or if it even makes sense but with each pass it gets a little harder on them and a little easier for me to ramble about them. I suppose I should have made another post after those last two slugs games since it seems like all I really do is rag on the team. But seriously. I was proud of the team. I was happy to see them doing well again. Game four I thought they showed up in a way that hadn't since the plague of injuries struck. Minus a captain going down here, a goalie brawl there and a trade deadline to top it all off. Which is more than I can say about a certain coach who we have the misfortune of being associated prior to Ruff's tenure. (Seriously though, I don't dislike Nolan but geez could he whine about every thing OUT of his control a little more? How about owning up to the fact that you're stuck with two of the real slugs in the league. Still cleaning up the mess you started with aren't ya Ted.)

That said this was just the begining and everyone better know that. The Rangers are not the Islanders. But bias aside I'd be hard pressed to ever doubt (at least for quite a while) that upset can't over come the challenge of long island (I'm seriously thrilled about this whole mini battle of New York State we've got going on okay?) So what makes this one so much harder? Jagr and Nylander? Yeah sure they can throw a bit more offense at us than the Isles but they're only running two... three lines at best and I hear they plan to put them through the blender to take ours on. When Buffalo shows up they have four solid competant lines. Do the math. Avery? Ha. Ha. Ha. And I'll have you know each one of those exclamations was written with emphatic deliberance (IT'S A WORD) Avery thinks he can get under our skin as do a couple comments from the coachin staff that I've seen. Not going to happen. Tom of Sabres Rattling points out that Buffalo faces guys like Chris Neil and Darcy Tucker eight times a season. We know what to expect. We know how to take advantage of it and we've got our far share to throw back just in case. Defense? I don't think it's any secret that this is probably the weakest point of both teams. That said Buffalo's D is very different in that they regularly perform offensively. We wouldn't have made it out of round one without them and I think that could make a huge difference in the long run.

So that pretty much leaves. The goalie. I think the hardest wall to over come is without a doubt the better half of the lesser known pair of swedish twins. Lundqvist is hot right now and he knows it and that's a dangerous combination. I could make plenty of arguements that he's in far better form than Miller and I think round one already offered us a glimpse at what can happen when a lesser team has a superior goaltender. Does that mean it's over? Of course not! If Buffalo keeps playing the way they have it'll be a long painful series. I could see it going to seven rounds like that. But they keep improving and if they're in top form for this series I could see it getting done in 5 but lets just say 6 to be on the safe side.

As for the rest of the league. Ottawa faces New Jersey and nothing will make me happier than to see one of those two teams get knocked out. Now who do I prefer? Well our record against both isn't too different. 3-5-0 for the Sens and 2-2-0 for the Devils this season. That said I think Ottawa tends to get under Buffalo's skin more. Imo the most annoying team in our division but we know them. I'd still prefer the devils as if the first series was any indication Ottawa is playing some of their best hockey all season. Not to discredit the Devils as it seems like they've found a perfect medium to play their trap while still carrying some effective offense which makes them just as dangerous but it doesn't look like they're as together as the Sens. A point for the Sens also lies in the brawl of the season which could make for a fantastically good series and added rivalry. Either way it'll be hard but should be good.

In the west I think I'll be paying the most attention to the Ducks and the Canucks (oh snap it even rhymes). Not to discredit the Wings or San Jose who are both looking great but I think the conference winner is going to come out of the other series. Calgary's out (and I won't defend what they did nor speak ill of it but I do feel that series ended in the best way possible as Steph so cleverly pointed out) so that pretty much leaves me with Jan Bulis Vancouver to cheer for from the great white north. My pool has the Ducks taking it but that doesn't mean I don't still have faith in Canada and if I end up having to cheer for the Sens over Anaheim I may as well just take up golf early like the 22 not so successful teams of the season have already. And I loath golf. Maybe I'll just eat this glass bottle sitting next to me. I'll save it should the need arise.

Buffalo and Vancouver to play tonight and I'll be stuck at school being lured in by free sushi. There in spirit. Go Slugs.