NHL 2007-2008 Season!

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You'd think we need an Alley behind the Colloseum now. Chris Pronger got suspended for 8 games for a stomp on Vancouver's Ryan Kessler. Earlier this season,. Chris Simon got 30 games for a similar offense. Pronger has one suspension more then Simon over his career. The only differences are that Pronger is always a candidate for the Norris Trophy, and that the Playoffs would be 9 games away for Anaheim.

Needless to say, I don't think that's fair. I believe that Colin Campbell has done a poor job of maintaining consistency in dicipline, handing down huge suspensions one minute then light suspension the next for similar offenses. If he wants to raise the bar for suspensions, he has to keep handing down longer sentences...

 

Well, it looks like my Leafs are mathematically eliminated from the Playoffs for the third year in a row. If they lose their last four games, they could be in a position to get a top 10 draft pick. Also, if they get the right deal for Kubina in the off season, the rebuilding process may not take as long as feared...

 

Alexander Ovechkin scored 2 goals tonight, giving him 64 on the season. This is a new NHL record for mose goals in a season for a Left Winger. The previous record was 63, held by Luc Robitaille when he was witht he Los Angeles Kings in the early 1990's.

 

Canucks are out of the playoffs too, making my playoff prediction off by one team. Going 1-6-0 down the stretch and missing the postseason by 4 points did them in. They even had early 2-goal leads and third period 1-goal leads in at least half of those 6 losses and still lost in regulation time. What sounds even worse is if they lose their last game, they could finish tied with Edmonton for last in the Northwest division after winning the division last year.

I guess I'm a Habs fan now
My playoff prediction would be San Jose to win it all.

 

I want to see the first round matchups before I stick my foot in my mouth. If the Washington Capitals make the playoffs, they could make some noise...

 

Canucks GM Dave Nonis got fired basically for missing the playoffs this year. I'm a bit indifferent about it... at least he didn't trade a bunch of assets just for one year's (long) shot at the Cup. But someone was going to get punished for the lack of success this year, it turns out that the guy being too conservative gets the boot.

Sens are getting dominated. Flames are playing great against a choking Sharks team. The Shark's best players have been neutralized all series long. Montreal is looking strong.

[EDIT] Spoke too soon. Thorton and Cheechoo both got their first goals in the last 5 minutes of the game to tie the series at 2.

 

I'm surprised that Nonis got the axe, but at the deadline he tried to get Olli Jokinen, but the Panthers wouldn't budge fromt he demand--of the Sedin twins!

I'm loving the Senators struggle. They need to make major changes. Starting with the GM and then the goalies. Redden is gone as a free agent, and they need more support for Fisher to make a second line...

 

Playoff update:

Ottawa has been swept by the Penguins, no surprise, Murray is looking for another coach (instead of a new job), He also wants to trade Emery (like that's going to happen), and will need to replace Redden on the Blue line. How long before they don't make the playoffs?

New Jersey lost to the Rangers in 5. I still am not impressed with the Rangers, but still get a chuckle from the overplayed antics of Sean Avery.

WE also have our first game 7, Boston capitalized in a game where Carey Price had a bad game, then won a wild one. Monday night is game 7. Could this be the big upset in the first round?

 

I guess that tomorrow night we have 2 game 7 matchups. Calgary vs San Jose and Philly vs Washington.

I'm taking Calgary for the upset, and Washington to set up the Crosby vs Malkin showdown that US television will drool over...

 

There are three potential sweeps in the second round, which is a little disappointing. The only interesting one to watch is the Montreal - Philly series. Detroit and Pittsburgh are just overwhelming their opponents, and I'm not too surprised. The Dallas and San Jose series was a major letdown. On paper it should have been a close series. The first round was far more exciting to watch.

 

The Rangers won 3-0, but with the wings up 7-1 after 2 periods, the Avalanche are going to be golfing this weekend. I figure that the remaining series will end in 5.

 

Down goes Montreal I think the Habs fans would have liked to see Crosby play some playoff games there.

 

And the Rangers joined them this afternoon. Dallas and San Jose are in OT as I write this...