Round Two - Ghosts Of Wild Past and Celebrating 1961

Preds vs Canucks: Canucks 2-1 Series Lead   Game 4 is Thur night 
Wings vs Sharks: Sharks 2-0 series   Game 3 is Wed night

Lightning vs Capitals: Bolts 3-0 series   Game 4 is Wed night
Bruins vs Flyers: Bruins 2-0 series   Game 3 is Wed night



Preds/Canucks:  I really enjoyed watching game three and it should be very clear to a seasoned Minnesota Wild fan why. Old habits die hard - Barry Trotz coaches the same style of hockey as Jacques Lemaire.  Defense first, forcing the opponent to make a mistake and then take off to the offensive zone.  I do think it's wrong to have an NHL team in a state where the Grand Ole Opry and NASCAR are next to Godliness.  I have to give credit where it's due though and that's to the Predator's fans.  Listening to them screaming at Mike Fisher to move the puck up the ice and for Martin Erat to shoot the puck lets me know that there's hope for southern fried hockey after all.  
This game was an up/down, back and forth.  The Canucks struck first, then the Preds tied it up and followed that by going up one goal.  The Canucks answered back to tie the game and then went up a goal over the Preds.  Late in the third period the Preds tied it up yet again and it's a former Wild player, Joel Ward who gets the goal.  For the 19th time in the 2011 playoffs a game goes into overtime.  I don't know how these guys are doing it game in and game out.  Overtime was a battle to the bitter end, and it was bitter for the Preds - giving up the powerplay goal to the Canucks on a craptastic call by the refs.  Turnovers and Penalties will do the Preds in so they've got to regroup and stay with their game.  Take it from a Jacques Lemaire fan - it works.  Game 4 is Thursday night.     

Caps/Bolts: Game three just about sent me into cardiac arrest on a number of levels.  The Bolts scored in the first period, assist to former Wild player Dominic Moore, and held tight until half way through the second period when the Caps scored two goals.  Tampa scored to even up the game but the Caps came back with a powerplay goal by my boyfriend to take the lead back going into the second intermission.  The Lightning scored two goals within 24 seconds early in the third period and for a change this post season - the game ended in regulation with the Bolts going up 3-0 in the series.  Game 4, possibly the end of the road for the Caps, is Wednesday night and you'll need the Center Ice or NHL Network channel to catch it.  Versus is showing the Bruins/Flyers game.  
Jumping Ship - Every time Washington scored I was jubilant.  But then the Lightning would score and I found myself cheering louder before I could stop.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I'm just about fully on board the Ning Dynasty Train.  I mean, who wouldn't be?  This is the 'who are these guys?' team of this playoff season and they're proving to be more than a fluke. My heart is with Roli, the former Wild goalie who played so well in tandem with the likes of Manny Fernandez and Niklas Backstrom.  Then there's Adam Hall, former Wild player, who is so prominent on the ice that he gets praised by the tv analysts and color guys just about every shift he skates.  

Bruins/Flyers: I thought game two was going to be the James van Riemsdyk show when he scored two goals in the first period but the Bruins got their game on by scoring twice themselves before the period ended.  There were more penalties than goals in the first and both teams came out in the second much more disciplined.  It was a goalie's game from that point on but the Flyers were changing their netminders out like they were spark plugs.  Brian Boucher left in the second period when he injured his left hand on a save.  Bobrovsky, or Bob as we like to call him, stood tall for the rest of the period and Boucher was back on duty for the third period.  Of course we needed overtime to settle this game and I was riding the Bruins something fierce.  I did the happy hockey dance when David Krejci scored six minutes in to send the Flyers down the tunnel hanging their heads.  Game 3 is Wednesday night on Versus - early.

Aeros Update: Game three is Thursday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.  Please do entertain yourselves with the great writing and pictures shared on T3I, the blog dedicated to our farm babies.  

Celebrating 1961 

JFK is sworn in as the 35th President Of The United States.  George Clooney is born.  The US launches a chimp into space and tests the first MinuteMan missile.  The Russians send the first human into space.  Diana, Princess of Wales, is born.  Construction of the Berlin Wall begins.  The Bay of Pigs Invasion began and failed all within 48 hours.  The Viet Nam War officially begins.  The comic Fantastic Four and the book Catch 22 are published.  Barbie gets a boyfriend - Ken is born.  The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club and Elvis Presley raises $62,000.00 for the U.S.S. Arizona memorial fund by performing a benefit show in Hawaii.  Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier are born.  Bob Dylan is discovered by Columbia Records through a music critic's review in the NY Times.
 
Movies: West Side Story, 101 Dalmations, The Guns of Navarone, Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Hustler.   
TV Shows: Mr. Ed debuted in 1961 and popluar shows included Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Red Skelton Show, Candid Camera and The Twilight zone.    

• The Minnesota Twins finished with a record of 70-90, seventh in the AL.  This was the franchise's first season in Minnesota after 60 seasons in Washington D.C. The Twins played in the Metropolitan Stadium...waaay before the Metrodome or Target Field.

• The Minnesota Vikings played their first season as an expansion franchise with a record of 3 - 11.  They were coached by Norm Van Brocklin.  Fran Tarkenton was the rookie quarterback. 

• The St. Paul Saints, also known as the Fighting Saints were a minor league hockey team in the IHL from 1959 to 1963.  The team was based in St. Paul and played at the St. Paul Auditorium.  They won the Turner Cup for the second consecutive year in 1961.  

On May 4, 1961 my dear friend Robyn was born breech and so it is we're celebrating her 50th birthday on this fine day.  Robyn is the first of a group of us gal pals turning the big FIVE OH this year and I expect she'll show us the way in style.  And if not in style, it will certainly be with good cheer and a big dose of WOO-HOO!  That's how we old bags roll, always have.  She's one of the Three Stooges, she's a best friend since grade school, she's a co-worker turned BFF&E.  She's everything you could ask for in a friend and sister.
 
So everybody join me in wishing Robyn a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!!


See you tonight, girlfriend!!