There seems to be a foot of fresh snow on the ground this morning and the drift at my back door was nearly two feet high.
Welcome to springtime in Canada.
It seems appropriate, the AAA season kicked off yesterday and the first game here was cancelled / postponed due to the weather.
I’m not even ready for baseball as there are other warriors readying themselves to embark on a quest for that holiest of holies, Lord Stanley’s Cup.
It is time to offer up prayers to the hockey gods and stock the fridge with ice cold beer. I must remember to place that offering of thanks on the altar as my own prayers were answered in that the Habs have made the playoffs.
Sure… we finished eighth and have to face our arch foes in the form of the Boston Bruins…
There will be blood shed and bones broken during this and other battles around the continent, it promises to get pretty fucking ugly.
It’s easier to put them here from the start, I wouldn’t want any of our benevolent and wonderful mods to pull a muscle by having to move this later.
Jarbaby will show up and start telling us just how great the Blah Hawks are and that flatfoot from T.O. is sure to slip in here and besmirch the good name of my beloved Habs while going on about how the Leafs finished out the season with 100 + points.
No-one should be surprised if this goes seven games and the Habs come home with some shiny pelts. They are going into the post season with a 8-2-0 record (last ten) and are firing on all cylinders.
In the west the team I wouldn’t want to face in the first round is Vancouver, they have been the best team in hockey since the All Star break and have been rolling over the competition with wanton abandon.
Detroit seems to have blown a wheel or something… their 110 points are impressive but I wonder if those old geezers have any steam left to make it down the home stretch.
It is a sad thing that the Oilers will be hitting the golf course early but one can only rejoice that they will get to play that golf with the Dallas Stars.
I don’t think Detroit has blown a wheel as much as they’ve got a bad case of “we can coast through this” syndrome. But now they’ve got a purpose in life again. It’s time to send those godless Canucks packing in 4. Hopefully Hasek will remember how to not be a sieve.
The Boston - Montreal showdown is going to be incredible, I pick Montreal for the upset.
And it is sad that Iginila, one of the best players this year, is sitting at home watching all the action on the big screen.
Ok Jarbabyj, time to get in here and rant about how your Hawks are going to slap the Blues around…
I’m just gonna throw my hat on the ice for the St.Louis Blues now so that when Lord Stanley’s Cup is being carried down the streets of StLouy(finally) I won’t be called a Bandwagoner. I just hope the record the city has for NOT destroying the town when a sports team win something continues.
dead0man
With that out of the way, I’ll say that I like our chances to at least take a couple from Detroit. It’ll be better than last year, anyways. The Morrison, Bertuzzi, Naslund line is kicking some serious ass. Two of the top 3 scorers and the hottest team in the league? Detroit will have to work hard to beat 'em.
People are excited. It’s gonna be tough to get tickets.
Indeed. Theodore has been nothing short of phenominal and the emotional boost provided by the return of Koivu will carry them a long way. I look forward to the Leafs beating them in the conference final.
Speaking of the Leafs, I’m happy about the match-up against the Islanders. I sense a rivalry in the making. It won’t be easy, but it’s better than the Devils match-up I’d been dreading.
Please, please, please let the Canucks upset the Red Wings.
Agreed. I desperately wanted the sweetness of Edmonton thumbing their noses at Dallas this year. Alas, it was not to be.
Oh, and I might as well cheer for Chicago, too. They’re all ex-Leafs, anyway.
The Sharks will be in at minimum the conference finals. The Phoenix franchise hasn’t won a playoff series in like 20 years and Colorado has played so much hockey over the past season that they will be tired out.
And Devils beware! Arturs Irbe is one of the most underrated goalies of the past decade and Carolina does have an awesome top line.
Hockey fever is alive and well in this town, all right! I hear the first game sold out in half an hour after they had to have a lottery. Guess who ended up winning the rights to buy the first tickets? Some guy who was at GM Place **[20 minutes/B] before the tickets went on sale; I bet the guy who was sleeping there overnight wasn’t best pleased!
We are so NOT going to get swept this year (hint to Skydive101), for the reasons that Lord Derfel stated above… besides, Naslund and Cassels are in more than fine form, and not being injured, will be able to contribute a lot more than just emotional support! (not that that’s not important, as well, but their on-ice contributions do bring a lot to this team)
