Day 2 of the NHL playoffs

Thank God there wasn’t another quadruple overtime game; I’m not sure if I would have been able to take it.

Kari Lehtonen dyes hair blue, lets in four goals. The thing is that his opponents, the Rangers, also wear blue; the Thrashers goalie should’ve done a little bit more homework on his opponent before updating his coif. With their 4-3 win in Atlanta, New York also became the first lower seed to take a game so far in the playoffs. The question is if anyone in New York cares with the Yankees and Mets hitting the field and the Knicks some how pushing for a playoff despite being run by Isiah. Yes everyone, that was an unprovoked Isiah Thomas shot.

Buffalo predictably beat the Islanders and did some damage to the legend of Wade Dubieliwicz in the process. The young goalie’s regular season success didn’t carry over to the playoffs and people in Long Island should be clamoring for Rick Dipietro to come back (the good news is he’s practicing).

Who would have thought the highest scoring game of the night would involve the New Jersey Devils? After defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3, Leafs fans must be wondering where that offense was on Sunday.

The West’s number one seed Detroit walked through Calgary’s defense with ease en route to a 4-1 win. Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff faced 46 shots in the loss. There isn’t much else to say except that when a guy named Valtteri Fillpupa scores the first goal on you, you’re better off calling it a night.

Drew Bledsoe retires

Dallas Cowboys back up quarterback Drew Bledsoe retired yesterday after playing 14 seasons in the NFL; he made the Pro Bowl in four of them. Bledsoe was drafted by the New England Patriots in 1993 with the first overall pick and led the Pats to the Super Bowl in 1996 but lost to the Green Bay Packers. Sadly, Bledsoe may be best remembered as the guy who lost his job to future Hall of Famer Tom Brady in New England. He also was passed over for Tony Romo in Dallas this season after delivering sub-par performances. Now that he’s retired, the possibility of erecting a statue of Bledsoe could come to fruition as Drew could stand out side of a stadium painted in bronze and pretend he’s in an NFL backfield.

Wow, that took a while

While some may consider this update a bit late today, one should take into consideration what happened in the sporting world last night; namely, the Vancouver Canucks vs. the Dallas Stars. The game started at roughly 10 p.m. eastern standard time which equates to 7 p.m. pacific standard time as the game was played in Vancouver. While each team managed four goals a apiece during regulation, it took well into the fourth overtime for Henrik Sedin to finally score the deciding goal. The game ended at roughly 3:30 a.m. EST and was the sixth longest game ever played. I’m still tired.

In the games that didn’t cause me to lose sleep:

Sid the Kid was dealt his first playoff loss at the hands of the Ottawa Senators. Some one should tell the Sens to check their inbox for the memo about the NHL needing Crosby playing to sell him to the U.S. market. There’s also a memo in there that everyone hates the Senators too but they should already know that by now.

In the other long west coast game, the San Jose Sharks came through in the second overtime to deal the Predators a loss. It wasn’t all roses for the Sharks as they lost their top scorer Jonathon Cheechoo for what might be the rest of the playoffs. He has a MRI scheduled for his knee today to examine the extent of the injury that occurred in the second period in a collision with Nashville’s Scott Hartnell. This is could be a big blow for poolies everywhere.

The Minnesota Wild played a lot better than I thought they would and it wasn’t until the late third period when the Ducks managed to grab a lead and then held onto it. It’s exactly play like that makes me think I should have picked Anaheim in 5 instead of Anaheim in 4. Too late now I guess.

NHL Playoff Preview

Yes, it’s that time of year, when flowers begin to blossom and the Toronto Maple Leafs begin to work on their golf game; it’s the NHL playoffs. Here is your favourite blogger’s (and his lazy intern’s finals) picks for the NHL’s postseason.

Buffalo Sabres vs. New York Islanders: It’s tough to go against the President’s Trophy winners in the first round but the Isles have been extremely hot; they had to be to sneak into eighth. This series will be closer than it looks on paper. Sabres in 6.

New Jersey Devils vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: One thing is for sure, when the Devils play playoff hockey, it’s the boringest thing to watch this side of LPGA golf. It’s too bad their style works so well. Devils in 5.

Atlanta Thrashers vs. New York Rangers: Two teams with high-powered offenses meet up in what should be a fire-wagon series. Expect a lot of goals, a lot of shell-shocked goalies and, I think, an upset. Rangers in 6.

Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby makes his postseason debut against a team that’s known to choke in the playoffs. Everyone exluding Ottawa natives doesn’t like this team for some reason and it’s this reason that they’ll win, as much as don’t want to pick them. Senators in 6.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Calgary Flames: While the Flames do have the playoff experience to make it past Detroit, they backed into the playoffs with 4 straight losses to end the season. It’s hard to pick a team with that kind of momentum. Red Wings in 5.

Anaheim Ducks vs. Minnesota Wild: Can you name five players on the Wild? I’m hard pressed to and I work in newspaper sports department. The Ducks are the popular pick to go to the finals and win it all and there’s no reason they can’t manhandle the Wild. Ducks in 4.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Dallas Stars: Much will be made of Roberto Luongo’s lack of playoff experience but it won’t matter – this guy is great. The Stars also have Marty Turco, whose past playoff experiences (failures) have been well documented. Canucks in 6.

Nashville Predators vs. San Jose Sharks: By far the best looking match up in the first round. This is going to be hockey at its best and we’re talking good hockey – not the goonery that you can catch whenever the Toronto Maple Leafs are in town. Thornton vs. Forsberg is a bona fide marquee match up and the goaltenders are top shelf as well. The hardest pick of the first round: Nashville in 7.

As for the rest of the playoffs:

The Finals: Ducks over Devils
Intern’s pick: Ducks over everyone.

MVP: Scott Neidermayer
Intern’s Pick: Bjorn Melin

Disclaimer: The intern knows nothing about hockey.

NFL comes down with iron fist

Commissioner Roger Goodell came down on Adam "Pacman" Jones and Chris Henry yesterday with seismic force. Pacman will be forced to sit out the entire upcoming season while Henry got away with an eight-game suspension. Both players were involved in multiple off-field incidents with the law that were widely publicized.

Pacman Jones, who plays for the Tennessee Titans has been interviewed by the police ten times over the past year regarding five different cases and that's not including his involvement in a (hilarious) scene during the NBA's all-star weekend in Las Vegas. During that weekend, Pacman had brought $63,000 in bills to a strip club with the intention of "making it rain money"; this caused a brawl broke out and three people were shot.

Henry, a member of a Cincinnati Bengals team that ended up with nine different players arrested at some point of the past season, has been arrested four times in the past 14 months. He was pretty much the poster child of an unruly team and had already been suspended for two games for his conduct. While the team hopes he can right his ship, it seems doubtful to me at least.

All I can say to them both is that when you put up numbers on the field, there's always a spot on the Oakland Raiders for you guys.

Side note: While the whole "Game Over" headline may be alright to an extent, it already smells stale guys, let's try something new.

Draft Declarations galore!

Kevin Durant ended the speculation that he would return to Texas for at least another year by declaring for the NBA draft. Durant, who won the John R. Wooden award that is given to the NCAA's best player, will either be drafted first or second depending on whom you talk to. The biggest factor, one would think, is the money that is awaiting him at a professional level, especially a shoe deal that should be worth at least $40 million. NBA GMs on floundering teams can breathe a bit easier knowing his intention now.

UCLA's Aaron Afflalo also declared for the draft yesterday after guiding the team to consecutive final fours. Afflalo declared last year but withdrew after some poor showings during evaluation camps. While he did win the Pac-10's player of the year award, he shouldn't figure into a lottery team's plans.

Another talented prospect who has committed himself to the draft is Julian Wright of Kansas. Wright is seen as one of the more versatile players in the draft, announced he would be leaving school on Monday. He should factor into the first five picks of the draft, going as high as third in some mock drafts

Bad day for Miami athletes who drink

Not one, not two but three athletes based out of Miami were arrested yesterday for having too much to drink. First, it was reported that Florida Panthers goaltender Ed Belfour and forward Ville Peltonen were arrested after a scuffle with some cops on South Beach. Belfour, who has been known as a drinker in the past, was with Peltonen when the bar’s managers asked the police to escort him out. Eddie didn’t take to kindly to this and (this is my favourite part) “approached the officer in a fighting stance” and then shoved him. Needless to say, the cops didn’t back down and Eddie and Ville were taken in to the drunk tank before being bailed out.

Next on tap, Miami Heat forward James Posey was arrested on South Beach for driving under the influence after he was found stopping his car in the middle of two-lane road while talking to pedestrians and other drivers. Posey was found with bloodshot eyes, a strong scent of alcohol on his breath and slurred his speech when he talked. He was released after paying $1000 bond.

In the wake of these arrests, wouldn’t it have been a ton better if Officer Shaquille O’Neal was the one doing the arresting? Just try to picture a drunken Ed Belfour (not hard) walking (or stumbling) towards Shaq with his fists raised, and then shoving him while falling to the ground drunk. Yes, I’m laughing a bit too.

You have to love South Beach and understand why everyone wants to play there.

NHL Playoffs set

After a thrilling shootout win in New Jersey, the New York Islanders secured the last spot in the East and bounced the Toronto Maple Leafs in the process. Sure, they now get to go on to face the President’s Trophy winning Buffalo Sabres and more than likely get sent home quickly, but at least they can say “we made it” and stick it in the faces of Leaf fans everywhere. You might know the type; they’re the ones who’ve convinced themselves into believing their team has a chance every year. People with any knowledge of hockey realized how bad the team is long ago.

In the West, the Calgary Flames punched their playoff ticket when Colorado lost to Nashville on Saturday night. The Avalanche made quite the run at the playoffs going 14-2-2 in March and April combined but ultimately fell short. The odd thing is that Colorado was only failed by the NHL’s point system which awards a point in the standings if a team loses in overtime or a shootout. If the league had only gone by wins and losses, the Avs would be playoff bound and Flames would be booking tee times. Looks like there’s another thing to chalk up in the “things that are wrong with the NHL” column.

The Masters round up

The stat that Tiger Woods has never won the Masters after entering the final round trailing rang true on Sunday and because of it, the relatively unknown kid, Zach Johnson has a new green jacket in his wardrobe. Johnson shot a -3 on the day to finish with +1; Tiger ended his day with even par but +3 for the tournament. Sadly, it’s safe to say that Johnson will be nothing more than a trivia answer in the future but at least he has that going for him.