The Quest Continues

Could the NHL Playoffs be any better? I mean, granted they are by far my favorite postseason in all of sports (March Madness is a very close second, emphasis on very), but this year they seem to be just awesome. While this comes as no surprise, the excellence of the first round has me even giddier for the rounds to come (mostly because of the Blueshirts making noise in the playoff world). Before I ramble on about the second round and my predictions and what not, why don’t we take a look at some of the memorable (in some cases not so memorable) moments from the first round:

• It didn’t take long for the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs to start off with a bang. The Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks played fourth OT on the first night of the playoffs, with Henrik Sedin sending the hometown fans home happy by scoring 18:06 into the fourth OT to propel the Canucks to a 5-4 Game 1 victory. Greatest part about this game: Roberto Luongo saving 72 shots while making his postseason debut
• The Ottawa Senators showing up the cocky, inexperienced Pittsburgh Penguins by crushing them in Game 1 6-3 and winning the series will relative ease in five games. Colby Armstrong’s hit on Patrick Eaves was memorable though- and scary.
• The New York Rangers- After getting swept last year by New Jersey, the Rangers come shooting out of the gates in round 1 and sweep the Atlanta Thrasers. The 7-0 game 3 thrashing (I had to say it) was memorable in itself. The Rangers were moving the puck so well it looked like they were playing a team from my dad’s adult league.
• The fact that Marty Turco had three first round shutouts, yet his team still was booted out of the postseason. It is tough to have offense when your star player is 36 years old (no offense to Mike Modano)
• Ryan Miller’s glove slave on Miroslav Satan (I can only imagine what he is called by opposing team’s fans) was stunning. As Al Pacino said, it’s a game of inches, and the Islanders came inches from continuing what was a great, hard-fought series. Nice job Islanders for challenging mighty Buffalo! (I will never give praise to the Islanders like that ever again. EVER!)
• The fact that the New Jersey Devils have not sold out their home arena once this season…not even during the playoffs. Shows what type of fan base they have.
• The near pregame brawl precipitated by Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard who mixed it up with Ducks enforcer George Parros (his mullet is second only to Barry Melrose…and that moustache…). It ended up with Teemu Selanne somehow getting hit in the head with a puck and was reminiscent of that classic scene in Slapshot where the Chiefs start an on-ice brawl during warm-ups.
• Johan Franzen scoring the series-winning goal in double OT against the Flames. A day after being slashed in the stomach by Calgary goalie Jamie Mclennan, Franzen sent the Flames packing early when he beat Miikka Kiprusoff glove side to win the game.
• The fact that I was one Dallas win away from having a perfect first round in my NHL pool (somehow my 10 year-old sister did have a perfect first round; kids these days…). I was 8-8 in my blog predictions, but those we’re made after the first night began (I’m still giving myself a pat on the back for that one though)
• I could go on for days listing more memorable moments…really, I could

In 24 hours, I will be sitting at my desk, decked out in my Rangers jersey and hat, anticipating the start of the second round. While we (us Ranger fans like to consider ourselves part of the team, even if we’re 45 years old, 100 pounds overweight, and think back-checking is checking someone from behind) are taking on the high-powered, offensive juggernaut that they refer to as the Sabers, we are confident that the team will post a good showing in the second round. Because I don’t really care about any other series (I probably wouldn’t be writing this article if the Blueshirts weren’t in round two) and I am tired as hell, I will just leave you with some thoughts/predictions as we get ready in usher in part deux of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

• The Vancouver Cancuks will get a serious wake-up call when they take on Anaheim starting tomorrow night. With Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer manning the points, and 38 year-young Temmu Selanne finding his game in the playoffs, the Cancuks will get run over by the Ducks. They barely escaped in round 1, with a weak Dallas team taking them to a Game 7, which they would have lost had Marty Turco played like all three periods like he did in the first period. We’ll say the Canucks take one game because of Luongo and Swedish twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin; and that’s being very generous. Ducks in 5
• The Red Wings-Sharks series should be an interesting match-up, even though it will get about as much media attention as Johnny Drama does. The Sharks are a very physical team, as evidenced by their first round series romp over Nashville, but Detroit already met a very physical Calgary team and stood their ground. Detroit will provide a tougher challenge for the Sharks, but the Wings lack a dominant offense player that can take over the game when it matters. The Sharks have three: Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, and Patrick Marleau. Add in the depth the Sharks showed against Nashville (18 players recorded points in the first round) and this should result in the Sharks advancing. Plus, the Shark Tank is second only to MSG in terms of crowd factor (yes, I am fanbasing…you got a problem?). I’ll say Sharks in six, but it will be a fun series to watch,
• I honestly could not care less about the Ottawa-New Jersey series. I really have no interest. I’m not even going to take the time and right about it. I’ll just say Devils in seven.
• Now on to the most exciting series of the postseason! Get hyped for the Rangers-Sabres. Boy, I am excited. The Blueshirts in the second round for the first time in 10 years (doesn’t seem like the Rangers have had a lot of “first time in ten years” moments so far in the playoffs; hmm, I wonder why). This series should be fun, I am not saying that just because I am a dedicated fan of the Broadway Blueshirts. The Sabres have a high-octane offense, lead by Thomas Vanek (48 goals), Chris Drury (37 G, 32 A), and Daniel Briere (32 G, 63 A). The Rangers also boast some offensive firepower; do names like Jarmoir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, and Michael Nylander ring a bell (Nylander and Jagr combined for 15 points against the Thrashers)? The only problem with both teams, and admittedly more with the Rangers is the defense. Neither team as a standout defensive guy, such as Chris Pronger, who always seems to make a difference in the playoffs. Though both coaches are able to spread out the ice-time amongst their defenders, a weak defense is not something a team wants to have associated with their name. And then of course, there’s Henrik Lundqvist versus Ryan Miller. Two young goalies, who have been awesome in the playoffs and will again dazzle fans with their innate ability to make great saves, especially under pressure. This series should be filled with great offense, hard hitting (think Sean Avery- it’s impossible not to mention him once whilst talking about the Rangers), great goaltending, and two brilliant coaches try to out-manuever each other. This should be exciting, and I have to say, I mean I gotta say, I mean how couldn’t I say…Rangers in 7

Finally that’s a wrap. I’ll put out another article about the NHL soon…most likely will depend on how the Rangers do…they tend to affect my mood a lot, too much probably.

Barney- tried to keep it short…honestly he tried. But somehow couldn’t. No wonder teachers always write on his papers, “This could be 3 paragraphs shorter and still good.”