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.