Sin City had his choices for the first round and did pretty damn good, going 5/8 and he was 1 goal from being right in the Rangers series (think I’m bitter???).  Well since my computer was pooched I never got to call my picks for the first round (I was 7/8 by the way…that was a blatant lie) now I will give you my 2nd round choices and I encourage Sin City and even our baseball guru The Sheik to get in on the fun, HECK, all of you should chime in too!!!

ROUND 2, LET’S GET IT ON!!!

Vancouver vs. Chicago- Let me tell you first off, this series is my favourite and my least favourite at the same time. Favourite because I love both the teams and least because I want them both to be in the Western finals, which is obviously impossible.  Both Chicago and Vancouver looked fairly sexy in their respective first round series with goaltending as opposed to goal scoring being the difference in both series. But in this series, I like the ‘Nucks.  Better goalie, more experience and the only Canadian team left.  Vancouver in 7.

Anaheim vs. Detroit - What can you say about Anaheim?  No one in their right mind thought they would actually help fulfill San Jose’s destiny as playoff choke artist but they did!  What does that mean in their next series against the boys from Motown?  The same thing War means to Edwin Starr, “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, HUH!!!”.  Detroit in 5

Pittsburgh vs. Washington – Let me tell you right now, if the NHL was a 13 year old boy, the series would be Miley Cyrus in a shower.  Gary Bettman must be harder than a slab of marble tile right now just thinking of having Sid the kid vs. Ugly Alex for a possible 7 games.  As for me, I will get a bucket ready for all the close ups of Ovey and a pillow ready for all the interviews with Sidney Crosby.  Either way, this series will be great for the young NHL superstars and for creating some excitement for hockey in the States in a time that it desperately needs it.  Pens in 7

Boston vs. Carolina – Two teams with two very different first rounds will be meeting in this match up.  Boston will have been off for over a week before their first game on Friday, while Carolina will only have 2 days off.  So I guess this story comes down too, who do you think has the bigger advantage?  The team who came back from a 3-2 series deficit to beat the favoured team at their own rink?  Or the team who swept a team that squeaked in the playoffs?  For me, when it comes to the playoffs and hockey, I gotta believe the more rest the better. 

Peace!

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Here’s the clip and just so you know it was a 1 on 4…UNREAL!!!  Celebrate OV CELEBRATE!!!

What did you think?  Too much?  Not enough?  Keep it coming?

Peace!

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Concerns about Tavares’ development will be all for naught if he comes in next year and tears it up like Sidney Crosby did as a rookie. If he stumbles, however, you’ll start to hear some skepticism about how his situation was handled. Crosby didn’t play major junior hockey at 15. Instead, he spent a year at a private school in Minnesota renowned for developing young hockey talents. After two years in Rimouski, Crosby was definitely ready to move on to bigger and better things, but it never felt like he was wasting his time there. Obviously, the jump from junior hockey to the NHL is a massive one, even if you are an elite prospect. Tavares may suffer from his extensive time in the OHL if he’s too accustomed to playing against that level of competition. Undoubtedly an “exceptional player,” his key development years may have arrived sooner than other players his age, and if he wasn’t challenged enough during this time, will he reach his full potential at the NHL level? Only time will tell.

For Tavares, there’s no use dwelling on the past or wondering if a higher level of competition would make him better prepared for the jump to the pros. He’s now looking ahead to what should be a very bright future in the NHL. But this brings up another question – how does he feel about the probability of being drafted by the league’s most comical franchise, the New York Islanders? There hasn’t been any indication from Tavares or his agent that he might “pull a Lindros” and refuse to go to any specific team, but if you were in his shoes, what would you do? There may be other franchises in worse shape than the Islanders (Atlanta comes to mind), but they’ve got to have one of the most dysfunctional front offices in all of sports. Even without any inside knowledge of their situation, I feel safe saying that Mr. Wang and Co. have an ass-backwards way of doing things. Hey Charles, how’s that Rick DiPietro 15-year deal working out? We’re just two years in, and it’s already looking like a disaster with DiPietro playing just five games this season due to a lingering knee injury. As a result, the Isles are riding the tandem of Joey MacDonald (who…) and Yann Danis (…are you?) to a guaranteed last-place finish, primed to win the John Tavares sweepstakes. They might as well sign Yutaka Fukufuji for some help down the stretch.

If he does end up getting drafted by the sad-sack Isles, it’s doubtful Tavares would snub them. Who knows? … maybe he’ll develop some good chemistry with a few of their other prospects and turn the franchise around like Crosby did in Pittsburgh. Sometimes all it takes is one player to send a team in the right direction. On the other end of the spectrum, he’ll see Ilya Kovalchuk, buried in Atlanta with nothing more than some impressive personal stats to show for his seven seasons there. Tavares has got to be hoping he doesn’t end up in a dead-end situation like that, but with the way the Isles are going, it’s definitely a possibility. That being said, quick turnarounds do happen on Long Island. Just look at Garth Snow – it only took him one day to go from backup goalie to general manager! Yikes.

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Kobe and LeBron

I don’t give a rat’s ass.  That was Kobe Bryant’s response when a reporter asked him how he felt after Lebron James overtook his title of “youngest player in the history of the NBA to reach 12,000 career points” (Lebron reached the mark just after his 24th birthday, while it took Kobe until he was 25).  This reaction fell perfectly in line with how I’m used to viewing Kobe – he’s an arrogant, self-centered megastar who can’t be bothered with the suggestion that another player might just be better than he is.  To Kobe, he doesn’t owe it to anyone to give a more “politically correct” response.  He’s not the type to give us one of these gems we’re so used to hearing from more humble athletes: “Uhh, yeah, you know, Lebron is a great player.  I can’t believe how he’s so, umm, dominant at such a young age… I’m not sure who’s a better player, but, you know, individual stats don’t matter and it’s all about the team.”  Like him or not, Kobe’s telling us how he actually feels.  He doesn’t give a rat’s ass.  He thinks/knows he is a better player than Lebron James, and he won’t beat around the bush just to seem like a nice guy.  He’s too good for that.

There are some people who see Kobe’s attitude and are turned off by it.  Others will applaud his confidence and view him as the coolest guy ever.  No matter what side of the fence you fall on, you can’t deny the fact that Kobe’s unapologetic attitude about being the best basketball player in the world helps to build up the rivalry between him and Lebron.  This kind of stuff makes for great entertainment and adds more fuel to the fire as the debate rages on about who is the better player.  The Kobe vs. Lebron angle will be played up in sports media for years to come.  As the hype machine grows, so do ticket sales and TV ratings.  The NBA has always been a star-driven league, and even though they may look like idiots sometimes, the players understand that.  Most aren’t shy to show off their personalities, and the storylines grow from there.

Based on the incredible talents of their top performers, the NHL should be a star-driven league as well.  The problem with hockey players, however, is that they are simply too nice, or at least too well-mannered when the microphone is in front of their face.  Yeah, their humbleness makes them quite likeable in a “role model” kind of way, but it sure ain’t interesting.  Sidney Crosby playing hockey puts me on the edge of my seat.  Sidney Crosby’s personality (or lack thereof) puts me to sleep, yet the NHL continues to market Crosby as the game’s biggest star.  To some extent, I believe his talent should speak for itself, but we’ve reached a point where the NHL needs something else to vault itself into the upper echelon of professional sports leagues.

It’s a well-known fact that Sid the Kid went through lessons in media training to prepare for life under the spotlight.  While his squeaky-clean image helped him earn endorsements, it’s not helping the NHL’s entertainment value.  We’ve all seen Crosby wear his emotions on his sleeve in the heat of battle, and I think the league would really benefit if he started to come out of his shell a bit more off the ice.  And that can be said for the majority of pro hockey players, especially the North American ones.

So who’s the biggest “personality” in hockey today (aside from Don Cherry)?  I think most would agree that distinction belongs to Alexander Ovechkin.  Ovechkin represents a new kind of hockey star, one that the NHL would be wise to promote above any of the other boring meatheads.  In the first interview I ever saw with him, he could barely even put a sentence together in English, but it was a hundred times more enjoyable than anything I’ve ever heard Crosby say.  “Who’s your favorite player in the NHL?” the reporter asked.  Looking as goofy as ever, Ovechkin didn’t hesitate to answer: “Me!”  He may have been smiling, but he certainly wasn’t joking.  Like Kobe (although he comes off more innocent and a lot more charming), Ovechkin thinks/knows he is the best, and that makes for great television.  I want to see more of this guy and more guys like him.  The NHL is so starved for personalities like this, and in my opinion, they are missing out by making Crosby their poster boy over Ovechkin.

The Crosby/Ovechkin comparison leads to a wider realization: lately, the compelling storylines in the NHL have revolved around European players.  Just look at the rivalry between Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, or (on a smaller scale) Mikhail Grabovski vs. Sergei Kostitsyn.  TSN, trying their best to hype up a run-of-the-mill regular season game in February, ran a long feature on the “Battling Belarusians” back-to-back days on Sportscentre.  When I tuned in at 7:00 to watch the game on Hockey Night in Canada, the broadcast began with a shot of Kostitsyn in the dressing room pretending to train for a boxing match, wearing gloves and throwing fake punches at the camera.  By God, the Euros get it!

Leafs coach Ron Wilson got sour (big surprise!) at all the fuss that the media was making about the Grabovski/Kostitsyn feud.  “Are ticket sales down in Montreal?  Geez, why is everyone making such a big deal about this?”  Wilson’s attitude is typical of the traditionalists who believe the game sells itself, and that belief might hold water when you’re talking about lifelong hockey fans.  To attract new fans to the game, however, the league should embrace the egos and the gimmicks.  Coaches, general managers, and the rest of the old farts won’t like it, but to hell with ‘em.  When the audience grows, they’ll all end up richer anyways.

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