Three teams will be calling it a season tonight, then it's on to conference finals.

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

Today and tomorrow, three teams will be eliminated from the playoffs.  Of course this is the nature of the playoffs — as long as one team wins, the other one loses and their season is over.  To me, game 7s are the epitome of hockey.  They are fast paced, they get dirty, and usually only one goal makes the entire difference.  Expect at least one of these games to go in to overtime — and my money is on the Caps – Pens game.  Read on for previews of all the lucky, and maybe not so lucky, game 7 players.

Tonight’s Game 7: The  Penguins go to Washington

Who is having more fun right now – Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin?  While both teams are obviously tied at three games a piece, I’m thinking that Ovechkin will be the one out celebrating tonight.  Ovechkin is loving all the attention right now, and he openly admitted to watching himself on television and highlight reels when he’s at home.  And why shouldn’t he?  He’s the most interesting man in hockey right now, and arguably the most talented one.  If I were Crosby I’d definitely be nervous… although Crosby hasn’t been so bad himself.  After scoring a hat trick last week and finally getting some contributions from Evgeni Malkin and even taking the lead in the series for a game.

Of course, no matter how much we wish otherwise, this game 7 is about more than these two superstars.  The Caps are 2-5 in their game 7 history, while the Pens are are 5-4.  I think this game is going to be like the rest of the series — fast paced and unpredictable.  More attention will also be placed on the goaltenders, Marc-Andre Fleury has been brilliant for Pittsburgh; but even more remarkable has been the young and silent Simeon Varlamov (in case you haven’t heard, it’s Var-LA-mov!), who hasn’t seen the bench since Jose Theodore choked in the first round against NY.

Most players today will be treating this game like every other game… but we all know that this one is different.  Tonight, someone will be headed back home for good.  I don’t even know who I am going to root for tonight.  I picked the Caps but both teams are so good I just want to savor their last game against each other for the season… Mmmmm so good.

Tomorrow night’s Game 7s: The Ducks head to old Hockeytown, The Bruins host Hurricanes

First game up tomorrow night is the Anaheim – Detroit game.  This is going to either be an exhilarating underdog tale or a complete heartbreaker.  I never thought I’d really be rooting for Anaheim; after they won the cup in 2007 and no one in Anaheim seemed to give a tiny rats a**.  It was a tad annoying that the cup went to Anaheim at all, as my experience has shown that there aren’t too many people in California that care about hockey.  But since 2007 my experiences have changed and I now am really pulling for the Ducks.  Of course it is all in the Ducks’ favor that they are playing the Wings – and we all know there is nothing I hate more than the Detroit Red Wings.

One interesting thing about last night’s game in Anaheim was the brawl at the end.  A small fight started at the end of the game and by the time the clock showed 0:00, everyone on the ice was involved in separate altercations, including Pavel Datsyuk!!! Datsyuk has only played for the Wings and has won the Lady Byng trophy three consecutive seasons in a row (06-08).  While he is a good player, I find him boring to watch.  The Ducks know how to keep a game — and a series — exciting.  The team will be looking to Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger for big contributions and LOTS of energy.  The Ducks moved the puck really well last night — and let’s hope they can do it again tomorrow.  It’s the only thing they can do to get the puck away from the fast and furious forwards of Detroit.  The only other way?  Get physical.  While Detroit used to be the dirtiest team in the NHL, they don’t hold that crown anymore.  They are a simply a fast team that can score — and unfortunately, it’s quite a lethal combination.

An hour after the Anaheim game starts at 5pm mountain comes the Bruins and Canes showdown in Boston.  I don’t know if I should write anything about this at all because I didn’t give the Canes ANY credit, and picked Boston in 5.  Big-time Boston center Marc Savard will be back in the line up tomorrow night after leaving game 6 early after a collision with Chad LaRose.

Now we know Carolina wants it – bad.  They were brilliant in the last few minutes of the series against New Jersey and fought H-A-R-D.  Expect them to do the same in tomorrow’s game as well.  But I still think Boston as the edge.  They didn’t finish 1st in the East for no reason at all… and while I am surprised this series has even gone to 7 games, it’s all a matter of heart over skill.  This one will be a fight -to-the-death, every-second-counts sort of game.  But then again, isn’t that how they all are during this time of the playoffs?

I wish I could say I will be live-blogging the game tonight, but the fact of the matter is that when I stare at my computer the whole time I occasionally don’t get to see the fantastic plays.  But I can promise that I will be back online tonight right after the game with the full recap of who moved on and who moved out.

Ahh, the playoffs.  While it is the best time of the hockey season, it is also the time of the year when you can throw out the window everything you think you know.  No predictions are guaranteed.  No players are even guaranteed.  Injuries are undisclosed.  It’s a time when everyone is reminded why they really, really love this game.  In fact, here are the five things I love about hockey because of the 2009 post-season so far.

#5 – Ovechkin versus Crosby

Who would have thought we’d see this?  Sure, I picked each team to advance (and so did most people, I’m sure), but all the same it’s exciting as hell to watch these two international superstars battle for their teams.  The excitement came to an all time high on Monday, as both Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby notched hat tricks.  Ovechkin scored his late in the 3rd to dash any hopes the Pens had of winning the game in OT.  Washington is now up 2-0 in the series, but I’m sure it will be an entirely different game when the Pens get home ice back tonight for game 3 (5pm mountain).  This series has it all: the superstars, a hot rivalry, two incredible and young goaltenders, passion, scoring and even a few veterans who could be playing for their last shot at the cup (read: Bill Guerin and Sergei Fedorov).  As Markus Naslund proved, anyone can be in the middle of their last season – not just Joe Sakic.  Ovechkin and Crosby have brought enough fans to the game already, now hopefully they can help bring their sport to center stage (or ice).  I just hope this is a 7 game series… can you imagine anything more exciting? This just could be the playoff series to end all playoff series.

4 – Every second counts (also, don’t make plans for after a playoff game)

And no, I didn’t steal that from the NHL playoff commercials on TV.  This is something I have been preaching to my friends and family for as long as we have been going to Avs games (as my brother AJ can attest to).  One of my biggest pet peeves is when people leave hockey games early.  Every second really does count in hockey, as the fans of New Jersey and Carolina can attest to.  There has already been one OT game in the second round (Anaheim 4, Detroit 3) and no doubt there will be more to come. That feeling of sudden death is better than a first kiss — hands sweaty, nervous, sometimes pacing up and down the living room, wondering who is going to make the first move — your team or your enemy’s?  And just to put my two-cents in on the whole playoff OT debate, no the NHL should not change the overtime format.  The playoff sudden-death, full-period full-strength format is one of the best things about the playoffs.  How would you feel if your team was eliminated on a shootout goal?  Not very good.  Keep OT the way it is, long and strong.  And keep them coming!

3 – The Wings are down to the 8th seed

I love it.  Let’s hope Anaheim can keep it up.  Or keep them down.  I don’t care how they do it and how many overtimes it takes Todd Marchant to score.  Just keep doing it.  Now I’m sorry if I’ve offended anyone out there with my hatred for the Wings, but it comes down to two facts:  1. I’m an Avs fan.  2.  Enough already!  I’d love to see some other teams play for a change.  The Wings had the cup last year, the playoffs every year for the past I-don’t-even-want-to-know-how-long, and even got to take part in the Winter Classic.  Let’s watch Anaheim.  Let’s watch Carolina.  Let’s watch Boston.  Anyone else, please.

PS – Just saw a nasty little remark on a Red Wings blog regarding the Anaheim series: “Skate to throat, bitches.”  Wow.  Probably came from the guy I met in Detroit back in 2004 with the Red Wings tattoo down his entire leg.  Wearing shorts.  In Detroit.  On Valentine’s Day.

2 – All bets are off

No one can predict what is going to happen.  Anaheim is ousted the winners of the President’s Trophy in the first round.  The Caps aren’t starting their star goaltender, Jose Theodore, but instead a rookie who hardly speaks English – and it turns out Simeon Varlamov is the best decision they’ve made.  Evgeni Malkin is scoreless this round.  And while even without the playoffs, it’s the time of year for decision making: Marcus Naslund is retiring. The Phoenix Coyotes have an offer to be purchased by Jim Balsillie, who wants to move them to Ontario (where the Coyotes used to play as the Winnipeg Jets).  It really is the time of year when anything can happen, and people can say what the will, but all you can do now is sit back and watch.

1 – The beards are back.  

The rivalry continues.

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

I’m sure I’ve lost plenty of credibility after my round 1 matchups, but I’m giving round 2 a shot anyway.

Here’s a recap of my round 1 picks and who advanced:

Boston v. Montreal – Boston in 6 – actual was Boston in 4

Washington v. New York – Washington in 6 – actual was Washington in 7

NJ v. Carolina – Carolina in 7 – actual was Carolina in 7

Pittsburgh v. Philadelphia – Pittsburgh in 7 – actual was Pittsburgh in 6

San Jose v. Anaheim – San Jose in 5 – actual was Anaheim in 6

Detroit v. Columbus – Detroit in 6 – actual was Detroit in 4

Vancouver v. St. Louis – St. Louis in 6 – actual was Vancouver in 4

Chicago v. Calgary – Chicago in 6 – actual was Chicago in 6

So actually I only guessed wrong in two teams… let’s see if I can do a better job here.  This time, let’s preview the western conference first since they were decided much earlier – no series in the West went to 7.

Detroit (2) v. Anaheim (8):  Well I’m not going to pretend that I saw this coming, because I posted my no-love for Anaheim on the internet.  But I do have to say that I feel much differently now.  While I didn’t think that Anaheim had the power to get past San Jose, I now have much more faith in them.  They didn’t just beat San Jose – it was a 6 game series in which Anaheim outscored 19-10.  Jonas Hiller has played fantastically, even getting a shutout against the President-Trophy-winning 1st round opponent.  In this series, Anaheim proved that they not only have the necessary goaltender — or the necessary scoring power — but they also have the physical power needed to overthrow a top seed.  This is not to say that Detroit doesn’t have those same power points; after all, they were able to sweep Columbus and score at least 4 goals in each game.  But if there is going to be an upset in the West — and there will be — this will be the series.  I mean, someone has to beat the Red Wings at some point, right?  Detroit proved, once again, what I claimed about them back on April 13th – that they aren’t even fun to watch.  Let’s hope this series proves me wrong (at least in that aspect).  Both teams will be well-rested coming in to this series, and I think Anaheim wants it more.  They have the momentum after beating the big guns at home and I think they’ll keep it going.  My drastic pick will be Anaheim in 7.

Vancouver (3) v. Chicago (4):  Can’t believe that Vancouver made it.  I really thought the big 1st round collapse of a western team would be the Canucks, not San Jose.  If Chicago’s young and powerful defensemen can shut down the ever-annoying Sedin twins, they might have a shot.  If Chicago’s young and powerful forwards can get past Roberto Luongo’s 0.962 save percentage, they might have a shot.  If Chicago’s Bulin Wall stays strong the way he did for the 03-04 Tampa Bay Lightening, they might have a shot.  There’s a great chance that Vancouver is going to come in to this series with a little too much ease, coming off of a sweep.  But they need to remember: the season series was split.  Chicago won the first two meetings and Vancouver took the last two, and this Chicago team isn’t afraid to get down and dirty and play physical with players such as Adam Burish, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg — who have all showed they aren’t afraid to drop the gloves when needed.  On top of which Chicago was able to score a total of 21 goals in the first round – and Vancouver was able to win with only 11.  There’s no doubt that this Vancouver team is older, wiser and has more experience than the Hawks, but I think youth will ultimately rule in this series.  I’ll take Chicago in 6 for two upsets in the western conference.

Boston (1) v. Carolina (6): This will be the first post-season meet-up between these teams since 1999. My husband was already telling me he could see NJ going all the way to the finals as Jussi Jokinen turned it all around for the Canes.  I don’t want to say that Carolina got lucky in this series.  After all, Carolina and New Jersey faced each other 11 different times since December 4th and they knew what to expect from one another.  But when the whole series ended up coming down to the last 1:20 of game 7, I think luck can’t be completely thrown out of the equation.  The bottom line here is that Boston finished 1st in the East and for a fantastic reason – they are an amazing team this season and have a ton of faith in their goaltender, Tim Thomas, who only let in 6 goals in the first round.  And on top of it all, Boston swept Carolina in the regular season series.  I think this is going to be a great series, of course.    I’ll go with Boston in 6 for this one.  Sorry, Carolina.

Washington (2) v. Pittsburgh (4):  This is what we call “the money series.”  If you aren’t even a hockey fan, this is still a series you’d want to watch.  Washington fans hate Sidney Crosby (and Evgeni Malkin) and Pittsburgh fans hate Alex Ovechkin. I’m going to take a lot of heat from my Rangers-fan-friends for this, but it’s almost worth NY bowing out in the 1st round to see this match-up. Ovechkin and Crosby will get to renew their mutual hatred of one another (check out the highlights of the individual series here).   While this will be the first post-season meet-up between these teams since 2001, there was plenty of meetings during the regular season; the Caps won three of the four meetings during the regular season and the last game was determined by a shootout. The bottom line here is I really don’t want to have to pick between these two teams here.  But if I had to… I think I’d say Washington has the edge.  They now have a fantastic goaltender in Simeon Varlamov, who they should have a lot of faith in.  They have the perfect balance if young talent and mature veterans.  I know Bill Guerin is in Pittsburgh but… I think I’d take Sergei Fedorov over him.  I’ll say Washington in 7.

There are no games until Friday, but as Barry Melrose said last night, “There are no days off during hockey season.”  Click here for the full upcoming round 2 schedule.  The hockey is only going to get better from here and there isn’t a game you’ll want to miss out of these match-ups.

Good: NY Rangers.  That was the best game I have seen so far and I’m pretty stoked the Rangers won.  Yes, I know I picked the Caps to take the series – and I still think they will – but I knew the Rangers were going to come out swinging and play with a lot of heart.  But if they are going to win another game they have to play better defense on A.O.  Henrik Lundqvist was the only reason that Ovechkin didn’t score (although he did notch two assists).  But besides not holding off Ovechkin to the best of their abilities (although he did get hit five times in the 1st alone), the Rangers played a fantastic game.  Sean Avery was at his absolute worst; picking meaningless fights and complaining like it was his job – oh wait, that’s right, it is his job.  Rumor has it that NY Captain Chris Drury will be back tomorrow… let’s hope so.  I think the Caps will take game two. 

Bad: Columbus Blue Jackets.  I really hate watching the Red Wings play – but the only thing I hate more is watching them win.  Especially when the opposing club is Columbus and they finally made it in to the playoffs.  But it’s a little hard to feel bad for the Blue Jackets when they played as badly as they did last night.  Chris Osgood didn’t have too many shots to take care of; he only made 20 saves.  Chris Mason made 21 saves before giving up three goals in a five-shot stretch.  Not the best record.   I definitely am going to give Columbus the benefit of the doubt by saying they were just a little caught up in the emotion of playing their first-ever playoff game and got a bit too fancy.  But I don’t think they will win a game until they get the series back to Columbus on Tuesday. 

Ugly: Philadelphia Flyers.  Did I really say that Philly would push it to seven games?  I’m not going to retract that statement just yet… but if the Flyers keep playing the way they did on Monday night then I’ll be wrong.  Not only did the Flyers play horribly but they were also kind of sore losers.  In the last seven seconds of the game, Philadelphia forward Daniel Carcillo decided to be an ass and hit Pens forward Max Talbot on the head with his stick.  Wait… I thought those jobs were left to Donald Brashear?  Now the Flyers are the proud recipients of a $10,000 fine to the league because of Carcillo’s actions.  I guess since Philly couldn’t really score goals they had to send a message some way… after leading the league in penalty minutes during the regular season, they continued the trend and took 35 penalty minutes.  The Pens played some of their best, classic hockey and took contributions from their leading players: Sidney Crosby (whom I love more and more every day) had a goal and an assist; Jordan Staal had a goal, an assist and four shots on goal; Evgeni Malkin had an unassisted goal and an assist.  Gotta love those Penguins, who I think will also take game two tonight in Pittsburgh.  I might have to re-evaluate some things…

Good: New Jersey Devils.  More specifically, Martin Brodeur.  While I was unsure of his play going in to the series, Brodeur had no problem proving me wrong, stopping 18 of the 19 shots he faced.  Cam Ward had an astonishing 39 shots fired his way – no small miracle the score was 4-1 in NJ’s favor.  The key for the Hurricanes, who I picked to win and am starting to regret, is defense.  Every single from Carolina has a negative +/- except Ray Whitney, Jussi Jokinen, Tim Conboy and Patrick Eaves.  I still love Cam Ward and refuse to admit those goals were all his fault with ratings like that.  Pretty sad.  Once again, I think the Hurricanes will lose another game in NJ before getting the series back to Carolina.

Bad: St. Louis Blues.  Bad luck that is – not bad hockey.  There were 15 minor penalties and two misconducts during game one against Vancouver – and the Blues took just one more penalty than the Canucks. Each team had one power play goal; Vancouver’s was the game winning goal by Sami Salo.  The key to the second game for the Blues will be discipline – no more sloppy penalties (although some of those calls were a bit of BS).  St. Louis’ defense will also have to keep a better eye on those Sedin twins – Daniel had two points in game one and Henrik had one.  I think Vancouver will take game two – but the series will turn around once it gets to St. Louis. 

Ugly: San Jose Sharks.  After winning the President’s Trophy, it’s a little unbelievable they could turn around and lose to the 8th seed in the West in the Tank.  Pretty embarrassing, especially considering they were shut out.  Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller played fantastic, turning aside all 35 shots on goal the Sharks fired.  Rob Niedermayer uncharacteristically took three penalties.  Evgeni Nabokov didn’t too fantastic; he faced only 17 shots but only blocked 15.  San Jose will have to do better, and I think they will, Sunday on their home ice.

Good: The Chicago-Calgary game.  In the first OT game of the playoff season, Martin Havlat with his two goals and the Blackhawks proved to be the heroes.  Once again I am questioning my pick.  Actually that’s a lie, I still think Chicago will win, but this series is looking like a 7-gamer.  And a great one at that.  The game was pretty clean with minimal penalties and was very evenly matched on shots – 25 for Calgary and 28 for Chicago.  Calgary has to be a little better on defense; most of their players also had a minus rather than a plus like Chicago’s did.  Game two is tomorrow in Chicago, and I’m counting on the Blackhawks to take that one as well… though it’s going to be much harder for them to win once the series gets back to Calgary.

Bad: Both Boston and Montreal.  While the Bruins won game one, it was more by luck than anything else.  After nearly blowing the lead in the second period, Boston was looking more and more weakened by Montreal into the third.  Carey Price started out poorly (as usual lately) but got stronger as the game went on.  There were far too many penalties and plenty of chippiness by the end of the third.  Both teams need to bring a little more to the table to have a good game worth watching tomorrow in Boston.  The good thing?  Boston is proving me right, and I’m still going with Boston in 6.  But the more I watch Price, the less I want him to lose.  Too bad about that. 

Get ready for game twos!  Interesting fact: 70% of game two winners go on to win the series.  If you only watch one game a day this weekend, here are the best bets:

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh tonight at 5pm

New York at Washington tomorrow at 11am (bring the Bloodies!)

Carolina at New Jersey Sunday at 5:30

May the best teams win!

Alexander Ovechkin has a bit of fun - remember fun? - at the NHL Skills Competition in 2009.

There are countless reasons why I love hockey more than any other sport. I will not list them all here — I know that most readers of Thin Air Sports are here to read about something other than hockey — but I will tell you one of them.  I believe that hockey is more of a team sport than most other sports.  Well not that it IS more of a team sport, but that the players have more respect for their teams.  When a hockey player scores a goal, the first thing you’ll see him to is have a group “hug” with his teammates on the ice.  You don’t see any of these ridiculous touchdown dance things, where players celebrate their general perceived-awesomeness because they ran the ball, forgetting the fact that someone ELSE was the one to throw it to them.

Enter Alexander Ovechkin, the fun-loving Russian (I think that used to be an oxymoron before he came along…).

Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season Thursday during the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightening.  In celebration of his 50th (the third time he’s accomplished this mark), Ovechkin dropped his stick and then acted like it was too hot for him to pick it up, getting his hand close before shying it away again.

Now, I am not saying Ovie is selfish or that he’s cocky (neither am I saying that all pro athletes who DON’T play hockey are selfish or cocky).  But the fact of the matter is, you don’t generally see a one-man goal celebration on the ice.  In the post-game interviews (the Caps won 5-2), Ovechkin said that his celebration was pre-meditated, and mostly the idea of Jose Theodore — and most people are pissed.

Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau told the media that he and Ovie had a “talk” and that he certainly doesn’t expect to see anything like that again from their star player, and a fan favorite across the NHL.  Don Cherry had a bit too much to say on the issue (but what else is new), mostly stating that the goal celebration was poor sportsmanship and an insult to Tampa.  His argument was that the Lightning’s fans didn’t pay money to go to that game and see Ovie rub it in their, as well as rookie goaltender Mike McKenna’s, faces.  (For more on everyone’s response, click http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Don-Cherry-whiffs-on-critical-Ovechkin-Hockey-N;_ylt=AmcCzS0uf1s2W60bvjkn_YF7vLYF?urn=nhl,149654).

50-goal seasons are still something to celebrate.  Right now, it looks as if Ovie will be the only one to reach that milestone this season.  Second in goals right now is NJ’s Zach Parise — dangerous for sure, but I don’t think he’ll make 9 more goals in the next 3 weeks.

You know what I have to say?  Who cares.  This is so ridiculous — now people are fighting because we have someone who actually embraces his celebrity and has a bit of fun on the ice?  After the lockout, no one was watching the NHL — they were hurting for fans.  I mean, for the love of Richter’s stick, games were being televised on the Outdoor Life Network (now called Versus).  Pathetic!  Now, the league is wrought with hot, young stars just melting the ice.  But it’s not good enough for old-timers like Cherry.

Where is the line?  The Islanders can have “ice girls” who don’t do anything; the All Star Weekend can open with horrible performances by over-the-hill rockers; but the best players in the league can’t have a few fun goal celebrations?  It’s not as if Ovie was skating by Tampa’s bench mouthing off or picking fights.  He was just having a bit of fun on the ice, something that Tampa doesn’t know much about this season.  I’m willing to bet that there actually were quite a few people in the Lightning’s arena who paid to see Ovechkin.  Let’s face it; Tampa isn’t exactly having a banner season (23-33-16, 14th in the East with no playoff shot) and doesn’t have too many Ovechkin-caliber superstars. Ovechkin is a hot commodity in the league these days.  Not only is he a fantastic hockey player, but he’s fun to watch.  His enthusiasm for the game is contagious, and when was the last time anyone heard a Russian laugh so much?  Ovechkin is great at hockey and he’s quite a competitor.  A little bit of fun goes a long way.

Rewind to the end of January to the NHL All Star weekend in Montreal.  I believe it was Ovechkin who won the Breakaway Competition, no?  And why was that… was it really because he had a great breakaway or was it because he broke loose a bit and had some fun, putting on a hat and glasses complete with a Canadian flag?  I think it was the hat, personally.  And what’s even better is that Evgeni Malkin helped him — so the Pens fans can hush up.

As long as Ovechkin is just having a bit of fun, what’s wrong with that?  As long as every goal isn’t become a cause for touchdown dance celebration, I don’t think there is any cause for alarm.  He sells tickets.  He plays the game for the right reasons.  I can see why some people would be a little jealous… ummm, I mean mad… but seriously it’s all just a game hockey fans.  And Ovechkin is very, very good at it.

For the video of Ovie’s 50th, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyMaKvSwRh0.

Anyone check out ESPN’s “10 Burning Questions” online yet? While the questions are great, and they are questions I think any hockey fan has asked herself (or himself) in the few games since the All-Star break, I’ve got burning question number 11: anyone see a trend in these answers? Scott Burnside and E.J. Hradek are quite clearly taking the easy way out and answering these questions with what they’d like to see happen.

For the first question, Burnside and Hradek both agree that the Pens will advance into the playoffs. While I don’t necessarily disagree with that, Burnside’s genius reasoning is “any team with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin shouldn’t miss the playoffs.” Wow, he really studied the stats there, didn’t he? Now it’s true that any team with Crosby and Malkin shouldn’t miss the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t. Any team with those two skaters should never be shut out – but that’s happened a few times this year, hasn’t it?

And that’s just the East. In the West, we learn that Wild and the Stars will advance. Burnside’s reasoning here? “…just because I picked Dallas to win the Stanley Cup during the preseason.” Again, nice. Thanks for answering my burning question, Burnside. I very much doubt Turco is going anywhere past the first round.

Even more disturbing in the NHL today, the Red Wings are expected to announce their new deal with Henrik Zetterberg. Ready for this one? Twelve years, $72 million total. While I can make my peace with the $72 mil (coming out to $6 mil a season) would anyone really want to commit to twelve more years of Zetterberg? Everyone who knows me knows I hate the Red Wings, but I can admit Zetterberg is a key player. But the man is 28, and in this day and age we are seeing less players get to age 40 on the ice (take the hint Chelios). They better hope in Detroit they don’t end up having a Rick-DiPietro-type-situation up north.

Most upsetting of all, with last night’s loss to San Jose, our beloved Avalanche now have a losing record. Sitting in 5^th place in the Northwest conference and four spots out of 8^th in the West, the Avs are 23-24-1 for a sad, sad 47 points. Just how sad is 47 points? We are still behind Vancouver by 4 points and Vancouver is on a 6 game losing streak which could be extended to 7 if they don’t shape up against Nashville tonight. Not that I care if Vancouver doesn’t shape up – they are right behind Vancouver on my list of most annoying clubs. The only good news is that the West is still looking remarkably competitive. If the Avs manage to catch up to Vancouver with just three wins, we could potentially swing back into the playoff picture as the 8^th seed.

What do the Avs need to do to ensure we see the first round? Consistency. Granato should put Raycroft in the net and stick with him; no more of this Raycroft-for-a-few-Budaj-for-a-few line up. It just isn’t working. It’s definitely been hard with us managing to catch the injury bug again, but we could be coming to the end of that stretch. The bad news is Sakic and Stastny will be out at least a few more weeks, and Foote is still out as well. The good news is Laperriere has been activated off IR, and we’ve still got strong scoring skaters like Hejduk, Arnason and Svatos. While I’m betting that the Avs make it up to 6^th or 7^th for a post-season run, it could be anyone’s guess what’s next in Colorado… but that’s another day and another blog entry.

See you next time hockey fans!

]]> http://thinairsports.com/2009/01/28/self-fulfilling-prophecies-and-nhl-round-up/feed/ 0 Alaina 30781