15 hours of hockey today! We might see a few more eliminations tonight, joining Detroit (woot!) on the sidelines.
In case you were wondering how our predictions on the Detroit/Nashville series worked out, here you go!
| #4 Nashville vs. #5 Detroit | ||
| Winner | # of Games | |
| Jen | Nashville | 7 |
| Robby | Detroit | 6 |
| Daniel | Detroit | 5 |
| Kristen | Detroit | 7 |
| Sara | Detroit | 6 |
| Chris | Nashville | 7 |
| Justin | Detroit | 7 |
| Kevin | Nashville | 7 |
Yeah, we're not so good. No one guessed the series winner AND number of games. I'm going to make some sort of point system out of this to see which one of us is the best at this. The person with the least amount of points is sacrificed to the Hockey Gods.
Once again, we wish our Ducklings with the Syracuse Crunch all the best at their second playoff game today. They are down 0-1 in the best of 5 series, but knowing our kids, they can bounce back. The fact that they surged to make the playoffs tells you that they can handle the adversity.
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GAME 1: Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins, 12:00PM on NBC (HD), CBC, RDS (HD)
SBN Sites: Stanley Cup of Chowder & Japers' Rink
Series Record & Storyline(s): Fenway Park 2 - White House 2. It's pretty amazing that a month ago, Braden Holtby, the Capitals goalie, was in the minor leagues. Now he's playing some of the best hockey of his life against the defending Stanley Cup champs. The Caps get Nicklas Backstrom back today after serving his one game suspension in Game 4. He could be the x-factor that the Caps need to push them over Boston. Another thing to look at is Alex Ovechkin. He was Boudreau'ed (benched) towards the end of Game 4. Does he come back and play harder or act like a spoiled child and give a half assed effort? Dale Hunter isn't afraid of him, even if it could cost him his job as well.
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GAME 2: New Jersey Devils at Florida Panthers, 3:30PM on NHLN-US, TSN2, RDSI, MSG PLUS (HD)
SBN Sites: Litter Box Cats & In Lou We Trust
Series Record & Storyline(s): The Sopranos 2 - The Golden Girls 2. Right when I floated the idea that Martin Brodeur might be too old for playoff hockey, he gets his 24th playoff shut out - a new league record. Of course that would happen. Also, I would personally like to congratulate Zach Parise on his two goal game in Game 4. Good job Zach! As for Florida, I'm still not entirely sure who is on that team. Sean Bergenheim is tied with Mikael Samuelsson for the team lead in points. I thought Bergenheim was still in Tampa. I should really pay more attention. Pavel Bure is still on the team, right? He hasn't done very much to help his team :)
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GAME 3: Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers, 4:30PM on NBCSN, CBC, RDS, MSG (HD)
SBN Sites: Blueshirt Banter & Silver Seven
Series Record & Storyline(s): America 2 - Canada 2. I didn't think the Senators would be as difficult as they are for the Rangers. Perhaps the Rangers regular season magic is starting to dry up? The Sens will once again be without Captain Daniel Alfredsson, who did not make the trip to New York. Carl Hagelin, the reason the Sens are without their captain, is serving his final game of his three game suspension. Both teams are having trouble scoring goals. It's not a surprise that the Sens can't score seeing as their facing Henrik Lundqvist, but the Rangers are going against Craig Anderson! He's no Curtis McElhenny, but he's not exactly Patrick Roy either.
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GAME 4: San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues at 4:30PM on CNBC, TSN, RDS2, CSN-CA (HD), FS-MW (HD)
SBN Sites: St. Louis Game Time, Fear the Fin & Battle of California
Series Record & Storyline(s): Winners 3 - Chokers 1. OOOHHH! I do love me the possibility of San Jose being eliminated from the playoffs - again! If San Jose can't eek out a win tonight, they're going golfing for the millionth year in a row. Sure, my team missed the playoffs but I'd rather have them miss than be labeled as chokers year after year after year...Should they lose, this could also be the last we see of Todd McLellan and/or Doug Wilson. Hey, I hear Ron Wilson is free. Perhaps they want to give him another try? Not much has changed since the last time he coached the team.
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GAME 5: Chicago Blackhawks at Phoenix Coyotes at 7:00PM on NBCSN, TSN, RDS, CSN-Chicago (HD), FS-Arizona+ (HD)
SBN Sites: Five For Howling & Second City Hockey
Series Record & Storyline(s): Sandy City 3 - Second City 1. Aside from the relative surprise by many that Chicago could be eliminated today, the only thing people are talking about is the suspension of Raffi Torres. Torres was suspended for 25 games (in the playoffs and regular season only - he is ineligible for pre-season) for his nasty hit on Marian Hossa. I am are really surprised at the length of the suspension because it doesn't fall in to the line of suspensions handed out by Brendan Shanahan this post-season. It's not that he doesn't deserve it, because he does, it's just interesting that Shanny would use Torres - a multiple repeat offender - as his example. Giving Shea Weber a suspension is truly using someone as an example, not giving a dick what was inevitable.
If you'd like to see Shanahan's full explanation of the suspension, see the video below. We should have this depth of explanations for ALL Player Safety decisions, even if it comes from one of Shanny's minions: