In honor of William and Kate, I was going to do a blog about great sports marriages today. But ESPN.com beat me to it. And Jim Caple did a much better job than I would've. So, that's out. (Wedding sidebar, think there's any chance Pippa Middleton is single?)
Left looking for a subject, I'm going with the one that I would've done yesterday if the hypocricy of the NFL lockout (which is back in place, by the way) wasn't screaming out at me! Playoff hockey is awesome! The first two weeks of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs only served to prove that. There were four game sevens in the first round, and six of the eight series went at least six games.
There's nothing like a game seven. Win and advance. Lose and go home. It looked like the Canucks would sweep the defending champion Blackhawks before Chicago woke up and Vancouver tried to piss away the series. But top-seeded Vancouver won game seven in overtime to continue what I think might be an inevitable march to the Finals.
In the East, the only series that didn't go seven was Capitals-Rangers, which was hardly a surprise. The Rangers tried their hardest to avoid playing for the extra week and a half, and after Washington won two games where it got outplayed, you knew the Capitals were going to win the series in five. It looked like the Penguins would win their series against the Lightning in five, too, but Tampa Bay shockingly dropped an eight-spot in game five in Pittsburgh, then won game six 4-2 to set up a deciding matchup. Dwayne Roloson (who I think found the Fountain of Youth once he got to Florida) made 36 saves in a 1-0 victory to complete the Lightning's comeback from 3-1 down. I wasn't surprised Tampa Bay won the series, but I didn't think it would be because of the play of their goaltender.
It wasn't a surprise at all that the other two series went seven. I think everyone knew that Bruins-Canadiens was going seven. But how was a little bit of a surprise. Montreal won the first two games in Boston, then the Bruins evened the series with two wins in Montreal. After the Bruins won game five in double overtime, Lady Gaga made them play games six and seven back-to-back. When it went back to Boston, the Bruins won in overtime for the third time in the series to move on. I knew that the Sabres would have a chance against the Flyers because of Ryan Miller, and he single-handedly won two games. The Sabres won in overtime in Philadelphia in game five and had the lead midway through the third period at home in game six. But Philly pulled it out in overtime, 5-4, then won game seven 5-2 to somehow win the series despite using three different starting goalies. The Flyers think they can get back to the Finals, but they need to figure out their goalie situation in order to do that.
Now on to predictions for round two (yes, I'm aware that three of the four series have already started). I can't remember a time when all six division winners actually all advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which creates some really intriguing matchups. Flyers-Bruins and Sharks-Red Wings could easily both go seven, and the Capitals-Lightning series is made even more unpredictable by the fact that they're division rivals who know each other so well. The only one that I think has the potential to be a dud is Vancouver-Nashville, although let's give the Predators credit for winning a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.
Of course, I go into that series thinking that, and Nashville makes it a game. However, Roberto Luongo looked like Roberto Luongo for the first time all playoffs and the Canucks won game one 1-0. Vancouver's the better team, and my guess is that the Canucks will eventually let the Predators know who's boss. If Vancouver wants to win the Stanley Cup, they need to win this series quickly and get some rest, because the Western Conference Finals will be a dogfight against whoever wins that Sharks-Red Wings series.
Like me, the San Jose Sharks are probably tired of the Detroit Red Wings winning the Western Conference every year. Like the Canucks, San Jose is a team that has traditionally underachieved in the playoffs. I don't think the Sharks are as good this year as they have been in the past, and the Red Wings are the Red Wings. This series really could go either way. The offensive stars on both teams are really good. It could come down to goaltending, which probably favors San Jose.
The bigwigs at NBC were probably rooting desperately for the Penguins to knock off the Lightning and set up the Washington-Pittsburgh series that would be their "dream" matchup. But alas, the Capitals are playing Tampa Bay. For Washington, that's a good thing. The Lightning see them six times a year in the Southeast Division, but Pittsburgh is deep, talented and experienced. That would've been a much tougher matchup for the Capitals. Both teams can score, so it might come down to goaltending once again. I'm not sure the Dwayne Roloson of old is going to stand on his head two series in a row, so I'm giving the edge to Washington.
Now, the Boston-Philadelphia matchup is intriguing on several levels. Led by Zdeno Chara and goalie Tim Thomas, the Bruins have the defense to stop the Flyers' scoring machine, but can Boston score itself? Those three overtime wins over the Canadiens can only serve to benefit the Bruins, who were outplayed in that series and probably should've lost it. Likewise, the Flyers could've lost to the Sabres, but found a way to pull the series out. And don't forget these two played in the same round last year, when Red Sux fans learned what it feels like to lose a series after leading 3-0. The Bruins will be out for revenge, while the Flyers used that comeback to fuel a Finals run. It could easily go seven again. Boston better hope not, though, because they won't win a decisive game in Philadelphia. For the Bruins to win this series, they need to finish it off in six.
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