Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Lord Stanley and some quick hits

- Liverpool's 4-2 triumph over Arsenal, tonight, to push them through to the Champions Leagues semis for the third time in four years (once again to face Chelsea, unbelievably) has to be one of the greatest matches I've ever seen. Especially because we friggin' won! Rafa Benitez: A true master of the two-legged tie.

- Speaking of "greatest ever seen..." Last night's National Championship game between Kansas and Memphis was one of the most entertaining games in a long while and certainly the best title game college hoops has seen in a decade. At least. All this despite long stretches of truly sloppy play. But with the pace so frenetic, who cares?! Could barely catch my breath. College football can suck it.

- All this greatness over the last two nights segues perrrrrfectly into the next two months: The Stanley Cup Playoffs. Drool. Right off, I think the whole world should rejoice the fact that Washington made the playoffs. Undeniably, this has been the year of Ovechkin and now that the Caps are in the post season, there can be no doubt that he's the runaway Hart trophy winner.

My lowly Kings couldn't win anything, this year. Not even the lottery (2nd pick). But there is one bright spot to arise from this season: Erik Ersberg. The young Swedish goalie is well on his way to being among the next set of elite netminders. He'll soon be in the Luongo, Brodeur, Lundqvist discussion. Mark my words. Had the pleasure of seeing him blank Ottawa back in March.

Back to the playoffs and some first round predictions/observations. Mentioned Washington and Ottawa already and they represent the hottest team and perhaps the most disjointed. But in the Eastern Conference, I see little reason to waiver from the team that caught my eye back in December when everyone else still considered them a darkhorse: Montreal. Even after bizarrely trading away Cristobal Huet to Washington (and isn't Washington grateful for that!), the Habs managed to maintain their superb balance.

1 Montreal v 8 Boston
Great matchup for the Habs. Boston deserves a lot of credit for scrapping and hanging on at the end, but the Canadiens have the talent and the discipline to get out of round one -- no tricky feat for an NHL 1-seed. Montreal sweeps 4-0.

2 Pittsburgh v 7 Ottawa
The Sens might be the biggest trainwreck entering the Stanley Cup playoffs this year. The Pens have learned how to excel both with and without Sidney Crosby. But Ottawa trainwreck so far removed from the squad that dismantled Pittsburgh in five games last season? I'm not so sure. FYI to the gamblers out there: a 7-seed in the NHL playoffs is akin to a 12-seed in the NCAA tournament. I'll go with the underdog to keep it interesting. Ottawa in seven. Though it could just as easily be Pittsburgh in five.

3 Washington v 6 Philadelphia
The Fighting Ovechkins have won something like 12 of their last 13! They're the hottest team in the league by miles. Does anyone think a team as erratic as the Flyers can stop Washington's form, now? No chance. Ovechkins in six.

4 New Jersey v 5 New York Rangers
Arguably the best matchup of the first round, if only for the goalie matchup. But the regular season series dictates that the Rangers have a distinct edge here. Barring a 0.60 GAA from Marty, I don't see why that should change. Blue Shirts in six.

Out West, we're in for an even more exciting set of series by virtue of it being (like it's NBA counterpart) so wide open. Any of the top five or six teams can emerge, but I'm going with the Sharks. They're peaking at the right time, Nabokov is in the thralls of maybe his best season, Joe Thornton is picking up, they don't take bad penalties, they have a great power play and there's only one team that can stop them: Anaheim. Yes, I realize I just said that the West is wide open, but it'll be a California battle in the conference finals.

1 Detroit v 8 Nashville
As bad as the Central Division was, this year, Detroit actually would've done better to draw a team like Calgary or the departed Vancouver. Nashville knows exactly what the Wings are all about and can give them all they want. Detroit escapes the first round in seven, only to run out of steam in the second round. Typical Presidents Trophy stuff from Detroit, right?

2 San Jose v 7 Calgary
The one area that Calgary might have on the Sharks is "toughness." But recently, SJ has shown they can mix it up when its required of them. San Joser in five.

3 Minnesota v 6 Colorado
The Wild have home ice and won the regular season series, but Colorado has come on strong ever since Peter Forsberg came back to town. Not sure the Wild have the firepower, at the end of the day, to keep up with Colorado. This one goes the distance, however, and the '96 Avs move on.

4 Anaheim v 5 Dallas
Epic first round clash, but sadly Dallas hasn't been holding up it's end of the bargain over the past month. The Stars have been falling while Anaheim (as we know from their run last year and Bryan Burke's insistence on not making any major additions to the squad, this year) is a team built for 1-0, 2-1 playoff hockey. The only question mark is in goal, given that Giguere is still a health concern, but it's going to take a lot (likely from San Jose) to best the defending champs. Ducks over Dallas in five.

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