I watched hockey all day Saturday and all day Sunday. The only time I left my apartment was on Sunday to go over to my parents' house to watch hockey. When I close my eyes to fall asleep, I still see the outline of the television. I have a little headache right behind my eyes. I love every minute of my weekend and I regret nothing. Playoff hockey is awesome.
GAME 1: New York Rangers at Ottawa Senators, 4:30PM on CBC, CNBC, RDS, MSG (HD)
SBN Blogs: Silver Seven & Blueshirt Banter
Series Record & Storyline(s): '07 Cup Losers 1 - Gossip Girls 1. It looked like the Rangers were going to manhandle the Sens in this series...and then the second game happened. There were some fights, illegal hits, and a few more fights. Now I'm not talking Penguins and Flyers, but it was brutal enough that both teams will be without one player on each side. For Ottawa, they will be without tough guy Matt Carkner who went after Brian Boyle after Boyle decided he didn't want go anymore. Carkner received a one game ban from the Shanahammer. Then there is Carl Hagelin for the Rangers. He took an elbow to the face of Daniel Alfredsson, which caused Alfie to leave with a concussion. Hagelin, a first time offender, received a three game ban. The NHL Wheel 'O Justice strikes again and Brendan Shanahan was on the radio this morning doing damage control.
***
GAME 2: Boston Bruins at Washington Capitals, 4:30PM on CBC, NBCSN, RDS2, NESN (HD), CSN-MA (HD)
SBN Blogs: Stanley Cup of Chowder & Japers' Rink
Series Record & Storyline(s): Patriots 1 - Pinheads 1. Both games in this series have been boring (to me) until they reached the OT period. There is nothing more exciting than OT playoff hockey. Let's hope for another OT game. Let's also hope that President Obama shows up to his first ever Caps game tonight and decides to visit both locker rooms. I'm sure Tim Thomas would enjoy that. Also, I hear that Bruce Boudreau was awesome on Hockey Night in Canada. I didn't see any of it - stupid American feed. The only big thing I heard repeatedly was that he tore into Alex Ovechkin's playing style. If any of our Canadian friends (Justin...) can detail BB's comments in the thread, that would be much appreciated.
***
GAME 3: St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks, 7:00PM on TSN, NBCSN, RDS, FS-MW (HD), CSN-CA (HD)
SBN Blogs: St. Louis Game Time, Fear the Fin & Battle of California
Series Record & Storyline(s): Jon Hamm's Favorite Team 1 - Jen Neale's Least Favorite Team 1. Blues primary starting goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, is out after suffering a 'lower-body injury' when he collided with his own defenseman in Game 2. Luckily for the Blues, they've got a helluva goalie waiting in the wings in Brian Elliott. During the season, he went 23-10-4 with a 1.56 GAA and a .940 SV%. He didn't let in a single goal after taking over for Halak. Not bad, eh? Things got pretty nasty in this game where the box score for the final two minutes of the 3rd period looked like this:
| 18:36 | STL | David Backes : Roughing - 2 min |
| 18:36 | SJS | Brent Burns : Roughing - 2 min |
| 19:12 | SJS | Dan Boyle : Roughing - 2 min |
| 19:12 | SJS | Dan Boyle : Roughing - 2 min |
| 20:00 | STL | Vladimir Sobotka : Fighting (maj) - 5 min |
| 20:00 | STL | Vladimir Sobotka : Misconduct (10 min) - 0 min |
| 20:00 | STL | B.J. Crombeen : Cross checking - 2 min |
| 20:00 | STL | Roman Polak : Fighting (maj) - 5 min |
| 20:00 | STL | Roman Polak : Game misconduct - 0 min |
| 20:00 | STL | Barret Jackman : Fighting (maj) - 5 min |
| 20:00 | STL | Barret Jackman : Game misconduct - 0 min |
| 20:00 | STL | Jamie Langenbrunner : Roughing - 2 min |
| 20:00 | SJS | Dominic Moore : Fighting (maj) - 5 min |
| 20:00 | SJS | Justin Braun : Fighting (maj) - 5 min |
| 20:00 | SJS | Justin Braun : Game misconduct - 0 min |
| 20:00 | SJS | Douglas Murray : Fighting (maj) - 5 min |
| 20:00 | SJS | Douglas Murray : Game misconduct - 0 min |
| 20:00 | SJS | Douglas Murray : Roughing - 2 min |
| 20:00 | SJS | Daniel Winnik : Roughing - 2 min |
No supplementary discipline was handed out after this melee.
The series moves to the notoriously raucous Toilet Bowl (where all fish go to die) and will likely be just as loud as St. Louis was. I firmly believe that if the Sharks drop this series, Todd McLellan will be out of a job.