Game(s) 1 Round 1

by Anne

So the Habs squeaked by the Flyers in this one. Thank goodness. I'm not sure lil' Danny would've made it out of the Bell Centre alive. I can't believe how intensely he was booed. Ok, ok, if we had faced Philly in the playoffs this season, we more than likely would've booed him into next week....or next season...

It's a weird feeling cheering for a team I don't really care all that much about (The Habs) when they score a goal, and then looking down and realizing that they just beat Marty. He had no chance on that 2nd Montreal goal. :(

Detroit beat the Avs. Crap. I picked the Avs. JOSE?! Could you have waited to screw up until after this series? Granted, it's only been 1 game, and apparently you were sick? Ugh, whatev, I only wanted you win this round, I would've picked the Stars/Sharks over your team anyway. Thanks a ton. I know that there is some great playoff history between the Wings and the Avs, but I honestly could not possibly care less. Not even a little bit.

I should probably give one of those teams a chance to bowl me over with at least one totally smokin' player, but I just don't wanna. I mean, come on, the Avs average sexiness is so MAJORLY low, I'm not sure what can bring it back up. I mean, they have Ryan Smyth AND Peter Forsberg? Are they trying to make their female fans retch? Cuz, mission accomplished from this non-Avs fan. On the other side, I cannot possibly find a man attractive in a Red Wings uniform. GAH! They're so hard on the eyes. In this side-by-side comparison, the Avalanche win in a landslide. Their uniforms are at least pretty colors.

In other news, I'm sad to hear Gabby is injured with one of those "worn out hockey player after 82+ games" injuries. That could explain why my Superman posing studman was left with 1 singular assist in the Avs series.

Here's how NHL.com awkwardly describes his injury:

The Wild issued a brief news release that revealed Gaborik has a "hip deficiency attributable to overuse."

Ok, I'm just gonna let that one go. I think I made enough jokes off the blog about Timmy's hip injuries and bone spur to last a lifetime.

I always forget Gabby is from Slovakia. Just like I always forget Daniel Alfredsson is Swedish. Kind of like the time when I realized Cristobal Huet was a gen-u-wine Frenchman and not French Canadian. Blew my mind.

So Team USA meets in Maine today, where our new AHL affiliate will supposedly be come the '08-'09 season...Hey! Gerbenheimersmith, isn't Portland GREAT?! Don't you want to play there soooooooooooooon?

Day 3, still no Buffalo Sabres. I don't like this practical joke anymore

by Anne

After 3 days:

Sens v. Pens (Pens win 5-3, lead series 2-0)
NYR v. NJD (NYR win 2-1, lead series 2-0)
Caps v. Flies (Caps win 5-4, lead series 1-0)
Avs v. Wild (Wild win 3-2, first OT, series tied 1-1)

I watched the first period of the Pens game before going for coffee and came home just in time to see them win it. WOOOO!!! I actually said "Did we win?" WE? I suppose in the absence of my Sabres, the Pens are my "we".

Yay for my Atlantic Division boyfriend! Good boy, Ry-Ry! That was a SICK wrap-around goal. He's gonna beat the Sens just for me. Poor Gerber he stopped 50 shots and STILL lost.

Now, you are subjected to a gratuitous shirtless shot of my (Atlantic) man:

Yessssss

Ok, Devs. We need to talk.

How can Zachy lose his teeth in a loss? Come on now. He didn't sacrifice his pearly whites for THIS.

Look at that smile:

: (

Gone forever....or at least until he can get to the nearest Newark-area dentist.

I hope Staffy calls him with comforting words and pudding recipes.

Congrats, Ovie! Of course, he got the game-winning goal on his first playoff goal, so now the NHL will talk about nothing else until Drury is Captain Clutch or Crosby grows wings and flies over a goaltender to score. Oh, Flyers. Danny and Vinny Prospal each net 2 and they STILL lose. HA! Sorry, Danny! Actually, no, I'm not at all. What a shock...the tying goal was a PPG by Mike Green from Ovie and Backstrom. How often do we see that combination? Look out for that to be a HUGE trio for years to come.

I honestly don't really care about the Avs v. Wild series. Sorry. I will say I think Jose Theodore has his goal posts blessed between periods, though.

Did anyone else notice how herky-jerky TSN's tenths of a second are in the countdown to the end of a period? They fly down to .0, pause and then move on. Showing tenths of a second always makes things seem more frantic. They should do it the entire period, that'll at least get the crowd and home more into it...by drastically raising their collective blood pressure.

Words cannot express how much I love watching Manny "I'm 5'9"!" Legace commentating on Versus. He's new to this, he doesn't want to make grand, unsubstantiated, sweeping generalizations about a team or a player. Give it time, Manny, give it time. Ha! He was in the can for the end of the Wild game because it happened after only like 1:30. At least he admitted it, haha. Aww, Manny.

I wrote this post while watching the Wild game, it's currently 1-1, 7:30 into the third, so I can't post this until it's over in order to accurately post the score and the series standings. EDIT: I prematurely declared a 2-1 Wild win in this post, so when the Avs tied it up a few minutes later, I declared it my fault and took that part out.

Oh What a World

By Anne

Tuesday was a crazy hockey night, kids.

Thrashers roll over the Red Wings 5-1 IN Detroit! Hossa netted himself a natural hat trick in the first 21:14 of the game. Atlanta, who can't pay their locals to see the games, beat the top team in the NHL. Sweet. I love a good upset. Unless you're the EC Finals in '07, Ottawa Senators.

Jose Theodore, who made the toque over the goalie mask famous in 2003:

had his 24th career shutout- and his first since FEBRUARY OF 2004! What the heck? Almost 4 years without a shutout? I know they're difficult to come by, but that's a loooooong time. Kee-razy.

And THEN the freakin' Capitals beat Ottawa by 2+ goals again! What the heck? Green? Semin, stepping up to fill in for Nylander and his shoulder? Ovie? What have you been drinking?

I am happy to report that Jason Spezza seems to have recovered from my curse. He didn't score, but he did have plenty of ice time. S(h)ara and I fear that our attempts to curse the Rangers deflected off of Chris Drury's helmet, still covered with residual Buffalove from when he was nearly decapitated last year, and hit poor Mike Nylander of the Caps, keep on, keepin' on with that torn rotator cuff.

Who ever writes the NHL. com "Game of the Night" really loves describing a close loss as a "nip".

This is the list from today's Game of the Night page:

That's weird.

I'm sick to death of hearing people talk about how Soupy won't talk anymore. Goosie said they don't talk about contracts in the locker room, and I think that's probably the best policy considering SabreBritney and his lack of living up to his millions. I think for the time being we should follow the Goose's policy and think of Western New York as a collective locker room: it smells kind of funny and we don't talk about contracts.

Sidenote, does Jose Theodore look like Neil Patrick Harris to anyone else?