Game One

Devils Hosting Kings              Devils 1   Kings 2 in OT

I would boo Bettman if he announced world peace or the cure for cancer.  He's just so smarmy and creepy.  I feel like I need to shower after watching him. 
I am ridiculously addicted to International Delights Iced Coffee mixes. 
  

I am ridiculously over caffeinated.
 

JR: The 90's called.  They want their peroxide blond streaks back.  And their gel styling product. 

Note To Kings: Since 2001, four teams have had 7 days of rest between winning their conference titles and starting the Cup Final.  NONE of them have won.   

Holy Playoff Hockey Beard, Kovalchuk!

C'Mon Marty...Let's win this for us old folks!

Pierre McGuire: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.  Disses Doc by only responding to Eddie Olczyk.

Pierre McGuire calling Eddie Olcyzk "Edzo"  #shinslist

Note To Marty: Wake the fuck up, dude! 

Friggin' Quick making saves like he's a super goalie or something. 

Lightning Fast first period.   Kings defense is like a brick wall. 

Note To Self: Pay for overnight shipping of voodoo dolls of Kings defensemen.  Especially Willie Mitchell.

Clarkson: Furiously Red Playoff Beard and Mustache!

Note To Marty: Quit playing like an old fart.  Swallow those rebounds, grandpa. 

Hello - my name is Marty "Huge Ass Rebounds" Brodeur. 

Just say no to a shut out for Quick.  Seriously, say it.  Jinx that Effer. 

Rest or Rust?  Clearly the Kings are not rusty. 

Devils finally ruin the shutout.  Thanks to all the peeps out there who chanted SHUTOUT to jinx Quick. 

Deflected puck off of Kings...still counts as a goal for the Devils. 

Spectacular stand up save by Brodeur.  There's the goalie I know and love.

Sobbed so hard watching this.  Could have been the caffeine high wearing off:


Funniest tweet of the night: from Dirty Dangle Hockey: "I wonder how much maple syrup is in Dustin Penner's beard right now."

Five minutes remaining in third period and the Devils are doing everything they can to give the Kings the lead back. 

Arena crew taking a sledge hammer to the boards...WTF?

Brodeur with pad-stack save.  Kicking it old school!!


Second funniest tweet of the night: Bruce Ciskie - "No, Marek Zidlicky is not under the influence. This is normal, as any Wild fan can attest."

Because I Need To Watch Hockey As Long As Possible: OVERTIME!!

Best Goatee: Adam Henrique

Eddie: "Devils with a missed opportunity."  There's the understatement of the night.

Brodeur gets beat far side, under the leg.  Dammit, Stanley. 

Kopitar with the OT winning goal, hair and beard.  

Game 2: Saturday night, NBC, 8:00 p.m. eastern time.  That's 7:00 for you central zoners. 

Is It Wednesday Yet? Remembering Bailey

Where Did The Time Go?
I know I've been antsy waiting for the Cup Final to begin.  It's crazy for me to go these last few days with no hockey to watch after the almost constant bombardment leading up to this point.  And yet, the calendar doesn't lie.  It's the end of May going into June.  It's here, the Cup Final, already.  It's the series we wait for all season long and yet I can't help but feel melancholy.  I mean, it signals the end of hockey until October.  There will be that empty space in my soul for 12 plus weeks.  I will need therapy - the kind that comes in the form of hours spent in the sun and in the pool and in the garden.  Hopefully my southern friends/family will take me in and let me play in their dirt and water.  Otherwise there will be some awkward moments when they find me shoveling dirt in their yards or floating aimlessly in their pools.  But there are a few days of glorious balls-to-the-walls hockey left before the depression sets in.  Let's set the table shall we?

The Rangers are on the outside looking in.  That leaves only their eulogy left to be read.  I'm not sure if I ever posted the Coyotes' eulogy so here's that.     

L.A Kings - Western Conference Champs
Here's NHL.com's take on what they need to do to win the cup. 

New Jersey Devils - Eastern Conference Champs
Here's NHL.com's take on what they need to do to win the cup. 

For some reason I just can't get my head or heart around the Kings.  I know lots of hockey minds out there think the Kings are a lock for the cup.  I'm just not feeling it.  It could be that the Devils still represent all the things Jacque Lemaire brought to the table in terms of defensive play and pressuring the other teams into making huge gaffes on the ice. I love nothing more than a costly turnover which then turns into the kind of play that leaves the other team looking like utter fools.  To top that off there's Ilya Kovalchuk and Adam Henrique.  Google Images.  'Nuff Said.  Of course, I temper this declaration of Devils for the Cup with my disclaimer for being the world's worst gambler.  So there ya go.  

My plan is to blog for each game so keep the texts and tweets coming in.  Here in Georgia there are a couple of new friends who are doing their very best to learn the game and are excited to be watching the finals with me.  Should make for some interesting observations.  

The Diva Next Door
 We live 1200 miles apart now, but Connie and Randy will always be my next door neighbors.  I remember so clearly the day I met Connie.  They were in the process of moving in.  She came knocking on my front door to introduce herself, and to assure me that the nonstop barking I was hearing would stop shortly as she was on her way to the store to pick up a new battery for her dog's electronic collar.  The barking dog turned out to be Bailey, a female yellow lab who had a reputation for being a tad bit on the anti-social side, very alpha position driven and especially not very welcoming to new dogs in her life.  Bailey made an exception for me and my Casey Jones.  There were a few anxious moments in the beginning but in a very short time Bailey was welcoming us into her yard and home with a big smile and a happy bark.  And so the years of going back and forth between our homes began.   
One of my absolute favorite memories of living next door to Connie and Randy involves Bailey.  I always loved turning the corner onto our street and having Bailey greet me from her yard, wagging her tail and barking happily as if to say "Welcome Home, I've been watching for you!"  She would wait for me to park the car in my driveway and make my way way across the yard to see her.  There's nothing like having a dog lean into you upon greeting you and Bailey really threw herself into her hellos.          
That's not to say Bailey didn't challenge Connie and Randy over the years.  There were times when I really thought Connie would have to make a choice between Bailey and her hubby.  She got into everything, even when you were standing right there, FFS!  I nicknamed her my Diva Girl early on because she was clearly getting into trouble just to make sure she was getting attention, good or bad.  You could even tag Bailey as the female version of "Marley & Me."  Some of her escapades are legendary.  The pot roast debacle is my favorite to this day.  All five pounds of it.  Just hours before hosting a large crowd of folks for a party.  Bailey tried our patience for sure, but for those of us who were privileged to be accepted by her, we received all of her love, without question.  She was my Buster's first love, a mother figure.
Through it all, good and bad, Bailey has been Connie's soul dog.  The one dog that gets you, understands you, like no other dog you've had before or will ever have again.  These last couple of years have taken a toll on Bailey and we've known that her time with us was coming to an end.  I was lucky to get to see my Diva Girl just a couple of weeks ago on the trip back to MN.  I could see her pain in her eyes and her weight loss confirmed what Connie and I could only mention in brief passing for fear of a tearful onslaught.  
Sunday night I got the call from Connie.  I knew from her voice what was coming.  She and Randy did what was best for Bailey and she is now resting in peace, without pain.  The pain in Connie's heart will take time to mend.  I want to leave her with some memories of Bailey when she was at her best.  I've posted my favorite pictures of our girl on the Through The Lens tab.   
             
         

Cup Final: Kings vs Devils

So, what's shaking folks?  Oh, right.  There's playoff hockey!  I've been absent due to a trip back to Minnesota for a wedding and some serious hugs and catching up with folks.  I mean, I'm pretty sure Vicki and I stood in her driveway hugging for 10 solid minutes before letting go of each other.  It was a whirlwind 3000 mile round trip drive which included getting to see Vicki's oldest walk down the aisle looking like a fairy tale princess.  Sarah deserved the absolutely beautiful day that transpired and I wish the very best for her and her husband.  The fact that I remember when Sarah still thought boys were icky only points to the fact that I'm aging at a rate I'd rather not acknowledge.  So, on to the hockey cuz that's timeless.  


Seriously, if you bet the farm on my Stanley Cup picks, I live in a studio apartment so there's no room for you to move in with me.  The Kings dispatched the Coyotes without much trouble.  They have been waiting and resting to see who will be their opponent for the Cup.  In the meantime the Rangers dispatched my Capitals, heavy sigh.  Looks like my boyfriend has as much chance at a Cup before he retires as the Wild do before I die.  Perennially Disappointed, table for 18,000.  Meanwhile, the Devils finally ousted the Flyers.  That was a series which was almost the death of me.  So the Rangers were waiting for the Devils and it looked like it was their series to lose.  Who knew that was going to be the way it would go down?  The Rangers came out with the energy of a team that was well rested.  Too bad they got zero performance from the likes of Gaborik and Richards.  In fact, Gaborik got benched during game five.  The Hockey Gods punish, Marian.  Vengeance is mine.  Game six was a nail biter.  The Devils went up 2-0 in the first only to have the Rangers totally own them in the second and tie the game up.  The third period was nerve wracking and entertaining.  Adam Henrique took one for the team.  I mean, like, probably won't be fathering any children. 


Overtime proved to be a short-lived thing.  The Devils attacked Lundqvist and kept banging away until Henrique took a Kovalchuk shot that trickled through Lundqvist's pads and swept it into the net.  Sweet justice for a guy that gave up his manhood to block a shot in the 3rd period.  As Ryan Stanzel, Wild PR Guy, said via twitter: "It's a good thing Henrique went to the locker room to find his man parts after blocking that shot in the 3rd." 
   
      

And Now For The Cup Final
It will be the Kings against the Devils for Lord Stanley's Cup, the Holy Grail of all sports trophies.  Tune in Wednesday, May 30th, NBC.    

Sexism and the NHL
First there was this Newcastle Ale Ad:

This is funny, not sexist.  Get over it people. 

Then came While Men Watch on CBC:
Two women who talk on the phone while their husbands watch hockey and make up their own stories out of the play-by-play and color analysis.  This is Funny or Die kind of shit that you have to experience in order to believe it.  It is not sexist.  It could very well be that these two gals are just that stupid when it comes to sports.  But hey, they found a way to deal with being ignored by their husbands and ultimately are now getting a paycheck for it.  So, who's laughing now?  This is not feminism taking a giant leap backwards.  This is good humor.  If a few of the female persuasion happen to get seriously interested in the game of hockey (or any other sport these two ladies torture in the future) going forward, I say it's all good.  Lighten up, Francis.  It's all for a few chuckles.  And who doesn't need a couple of good laughs in their day?  The only sour grapes I have is that Vicki and I didn't think of this first.  Our own version, intelligent hockey analysis combined with just a hint of puck bunny, would have been an overnight hit.  I'm sure of it.  

Memorial Weekend
While most everyone is looking forward to the three day weekend I'd like to take a moment to thank the folks in my life who are serving or have served our country.  Thanks to you and those who served before you, I get to be deliriously happy at a silly sporting event.
We don't all agree on the wars we have fought or are fighting but we can all support those men and women who choose to put our country first.  

    

Not The Betting Kind

As I've said at the beginning of every post season, "never bet the farm on my Stanley Cup picks."  Once again my picks are now playing golf and contemplating where they'll be playing and/or coaching next season.  I may have lost based on the teams I picked to make it to the final round but I'm a winner thanks to the superb coverage of this post season by NBC network of stations. 
After years of hating on ESPN for not contracting with the NHL after the lockout my soul has been healed.  NBC has aired every game live, in it's entirety.  For some of those epic overtime thrillers it must have caused sheer panic for the folks in charge of programming at CNBC.  I mean, the normal audience for shows like American Greed or Mad Money must have thought aliens had taken over when they tuned in to find hockey?? of all things airing instead.  
In the years since the last lockout everyone has bemoaned the fact that the NHL has needed national television exposure.  We all complained about not getting any props in the pro sports arena and we bashed ESPN for not including enough hockey in their highlight reels. 

Well, now we've got this post season of glorious nationally televised coverage and it had nothing to do with ESPN.  Neener, neener, neener on them, right?  You gotta give the head honchos over at ESPN credit for sticking to their guns on their decision making process...even while having those huge ratings at NBC thrown in their faces.  Ed Sherman, blogger of SHERMANREPORT, wrote a great piece titled "ESPN Doesn't Hate Hockey, or so it claims..."  It's an insightful look at Vince Doria's, ESPN's senior vice president and director of news, defense of the lack of NHL support at his network.  You know, the network that claims to be the "WorldWide Leader in Sports".  Vince's two main arguments are 1. NHL doesn't translate well to tv, and 2. Fans are too locally loyal, meaning that once the Blackhawks are out of the playoffs all of their fans turn off the tv and won't turn it back on until October.  I love the fan comments in response to Doria. 

Awful Announcing, great site I visit often, added their response to Doria's out of touch take on the NHL's viewership needs.  Doesn't transfer to tv well?  The ratings for this year's post season slap Doria across the face and points out just how stubbornly wrong and closed minded the executives at ESPN are regarding hockey coverage.   And now they're having to stew in that for another 10 years.    

Greg Wyshinski, Puck Daddy contributor, included Ed's piece in his blog post response to ESPN titled  "Why ESPN Doesn't Cover Hockey."  Greg adds his own arguments to Doria's responses.  He joins Ed Sherman and Awful Announcing in the belief that NHL fans across the countries do indeed care about what happens to the elite players regardless of what team they play on or where on the map that team happens to hail from.  For taking that bet and signing a 10 year contract with the national hockey league NBC has been rewarded with ratings through the roof and that translates into immeasurable rewards as well for the NHL. 

For me, Greg hits it on head with this: "Why doesn't ESPN cover hockey?  Because we no longer need it to."

ROUND TWO WRAPPING UP

Capitals VS Rangers: (Still the Deluxe Extended Play series)   Series tied 3-3  

This series couldn't get any better than if it was scripted.  In game 5 the Capitals had the Rangers by the proverbial you-know-whats with just 2 minutes left in the third period.  And then it happened: Joel Ward, the OT hero from game 7 against the Bruins, turned into the anti-hero.  With 21 seconds remaining in the 3rd period Joel highsticked Hagelin of the Rangers and drew blood for the double minor.  The Rangers scored on the ensuing power play to tie the game with just 06.6 seconds on the clock.  With Joel still in the box for the beginning of OT, double minor for having drawn blood, along with my latest hottie Patric Lundqvist, the Rangers scored the winning goal on a slap shot that was deflected in past Holtby. 

I give Joel Ward a ton of credit for manning up after the game.  This guy is high on my Class Act list, not just because he's a former Wild and Houston Aeros player.  He really is a decent human being.  He sat in his stall in the locker room and waited for the media to surround him like jackals, knowing this was going to be the hardest interview of his career.  "I definitely let the squad down, and it cost us a game with a terrible play," Ward said. "I was just kind of hoping for another chance to redeem myself."  Joel was trying to get to his position after he blocked a shot.  "I kind of saw that he was running a pick on me, so I just tried to get around the pick," Ward said, speaking of Hagelin. "I got my stick under him and that was it.  It's a little mentally disturbing for sure right now," Ward said. "It's tough to be in that position when you're letting the team down."   

In an equally classy act of support his team and coach responded: "It was an accident," Caps coach Dale Hunter said about the ill-timed double-minor high-sticking penalty. "It was a high stick. That's the breaks of the hockey game. They got a break."  "You can't say it was his fault," Washington captain Alex Ovechkin said in defense of Ward. "We all lost the game. We win as a group and lose as a group." 

The Caps totally owned game 6, making the Rangers look like they weren't even there for most of the game.  That's not say that Holtby wasn't tested.  There were enough OMG, OMG, OMG moments - especially for Holtby's mom.  She is the cutest hockey mom in the NHL.  The Rangers pulled Lundqvist in the last 2 minutes of the game and came within one point of tying it up.  Fine, no shutout for Holtby but the win is ALL that matters.  It's off to game six.  What is this crap, making us wait until Saturday for that?? 

Flyers VS Devils:              Devils Won The Series 4-1

Andy Kimelman of NHL.com writes Five Reasons Flyers' Hopes Came Crashing Down.  I submit to you there is a sixth reason.  I'll add it at the end:

1. Absence of offense

2. Missing Giroux

3. Emotionally empty

4. Lack of mobility on defense

5. Where did the power go?

And now my reason which brings the total to six:

6. Crappy Puck Handling of Bryzgalov. 

Read the Flyers' Eulogy here.  Sally, this one's for you!

Kings VS Blues                  Kings Won The Series 4-0 

This is the only sweep of the playoffs going into the final four.  Again, good thing I never place money on my SC bets.  I had the Blues taking out the Kings.  See, the Kings pretty much had to back their way into the playoffs even though they played so well early in the season.  Sound familiar?  Anyway, who knew the Kings would go back to playing top notch hockey?  Clearly not me.  Read the Blues' Eulogy here.       

Coyotes VS Preds           Yotes Won The Series 4-1

Seriously, never bet with me on my SC picks.  I had the Preds going all the way to the SC final against the Pens.  Vegas is not on my top 5 list of places to visit, ever.  No scoring and totally getting away from their game, which got them into the playoffs in the first place, did the Preds in more than anything else.  It certainly didn't help that the Kostitsyn-Radulov Party Duo caused such an uproar.   Read the Preds' Eulogy here.    

Second Round Coming Along Nicely

First, Some Housekeeping
Somebody's having a birthday!  She's one of three stooges.  She's in love with Cal Clutterbuck.  Ladies and gentlemen please give a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY greeting to the one and only breech-born girlfriend I know...
ROBYN!


We'll celebrate in just few days when I'm back for a visit.  Champps fries and chocolate cake, baby!  I know it's not Cal Clutterbuck with a strategically placed bow, but it's the best I can do.  Love You :)

AND NOW FOR SOME HOCKEY

Capitals VS Rangers: (Deluxe Extended Play series)  Rangers 2-1 series lead
 
The Rangers are leading the series 2-1 but certainly not for a lack of trying on the Capitals part.  In the triple overtime marathon that was game 3, the two teams battled - leaving everything on the ice.  Pucks rang off of posts, both goalies make insanely magical saves, players laid down in front of howitzer shots and got back up to skate the puck out of the zone.  There were HUGE hits and inadvertant flying sticks which left blood on jersies and sutures on faces.  The crowd cheered, booed, oohed and ahhhed, screamed and stood - but never left the building.  The Rangers finally got one past Holtby and you would think the one player who would be the most ecstatic would be the Rangers goalie Lundqvist.  Instead of jumping for joy he could barely drag himself across the ice and into the locker room.  From his postgame  presser:  "It's a feeling where usually I scream because I'm so excited," Lundqvist said. "I was just too tired. I kept saying, 'Oh my God, it's over.' I mean, oh my God. It felt like it was never going to end."
This video of Holtby's parents reactions to their son's saves and eventual goal against during the game is the purest expression of a mom and dad supporting their child throughout the good and the bad. 
HOCKEY PARENTS RULE!


Flyers VS Devils:                            Devils 2-1 series lead

The Devils got Ilya Kovalchuk back for game three.  Either the doctors and trainers on staff are miracle workers or Kovalchuk got a message from a divine entity.  No matter what conspiracy theory you subscribe to Ilya's back issue was nowhere in sight for game three.  He played 22:09 minutes, 31 shifts and had a plus-2 rating.  He was a game changer all night but his set-up of Alexei Ponikarovsky (say that 3 times fast, dare ya) during a Flyers line change in OVERTIME was a thing of hockey beauty.  The Devils are now back on top of the series and hopefully with Parise, Zajac and Kovalchuk clicking the Flyers will soon be playing golf.   



Kings VS Blues                         Kings 3-0 series lead
This is the only series of the second round to have one team looking for the potential sweep.  There, I said it.  Out Loud.  SWEEP.  JINX!  I can't afford to have the Kings messing up my Preds For The Cup quest.  The Kings are back to looking like a legit cup contender these days after I had written them off as first round fodder.  And what the hell, Blues??  Could you be any more off your game?  Hitch didn't come in and unite you guys during the regular season to get to this point and then just roll over.  Not that this series has been dull, far from it.  Game three alone is chock full of highlight reel memorabilia: The Kings got a Gordie Howe hat trick from Mike Richards, first playoff goal by Dwight King and a goal by roolkie Drew Doughty.    
*For those of you rookie fans a Gordie Howe hat trick is defined as one player getting in a fight, scoring a goal and getting an assist on a goal.    


Coyotes VS Preds                    Yotes 2-1 series lead

Pekka Rinne, who's name reminds me of a fancy brick of cheese, was a brick wall through the regular season and for the first round of the playoffs.  He's the main reason I picked the Preds to be the Cup Final.  Unfortunately Rinne melted like cheeze whiz in the microwave for games 1 and 2.  The team playing in front of him didn't do much better, leaving him dangling more often than not.  Plenty of blame to go around with those nine goals given up in the first 2 games.  Game 3 was on their home ice and they seemed to have found their mojo.  It must have been hard to do with all of the hoopla surrounding the suspension of  Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn for game 3.  These two morons partied like there was no game 2.  They didn't get back to the hotel until after 4:00 a.m.  Well, now we know why Keith Jones ripped on Radulov's total lack of play during an intermission.  Upon returning to Nashville the media folks who happened to have witnessed the party boys in action advised the Pred's head coach Trotz of the apparent cause of Radulov's and Kostitsyn's poor play.  Hence the suspension for game 3. 
All's well that ends well, since the Preds won game 3, right?  Not so much.  The coach is riding the same players from game 3 into game 4 since you don't mess with what's broken.  I love Trotz and the Nashville management.  Go Preds!! 


Over Exposure
I loved the new commercials from our good friends at who are sponsoring the beloved sport of hockey this year.  I grew tired of them towards the end of the first round because they played the same ones over and over and over and... you get the point.  It didn't help that there were 16 overtimes in round one.  Just when I thought I was going to have to have reach for jagged piece of glass to end all I caught sight of this sexy little number.  Oh, I don't drink whiskey - foul liquid if you ask me.  I just love this commercial.