And then there were two...

Ottawa and Anaheim. I expected for Ottawa to beat Buffalo, but not quite as quickly. The Anaheim series was about what I expected, so it comes down to the series I was looking forward to. In the end, I think Ottawa is peaking at the right time. They really look great and I think they will carry their momentum into their first championship*, bringing the Cup back to Canada. I will continue with the Ottawa pattern and have them winning in 5. I'll even root for them, as I did with them against Buffalo.

Stanley Cup Finals
Anaheim (2W) vs Ottawa (4E) - Ottawa in 5

* Any "championships" earned by a previous incarnation of a team calling itself the "Ottawa Senators" do not count. They're not the same team. I got into an argument/discussion about this before with someone, I don't remember who.

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Eastern Conference Finals
Buffalo (1) vs Ottawa (4) - Ottawa in 7 5

Western Conference Finals
Detroit (1) vs Anaheim (2) - Anaheim in 7 6

NBC/Game 5

I've held off so far in discussing the NBC Debacle with Game 5 of the Sens/Sabres series. I was watching the game with the sound off at a friend's house and just guessed that the game was on Versus after we noticed horses instead of hockey, so we all were able to catch Alfie's game winner.

The NHL has to be better than this. NBC is all about the ratings, which is all well and good, but if they're going to dump your sport for fucking horses, then they're out. No more hockey for NBC. Period. Go online, invest money in Versus to make it on every cable system in the nation, make Center Ice free - something! Anything!

Personally, I wouldn't mind getting some of the Canadian stations on our cable package. I would much rather watch Hockey Night in Canada than Versus anyway. If anything else, NBC needs to be booted.

White Flash 0, Ice Hawks 6

We started the season strong and I picked up just where I left off last season. We were a bit sloppy late in the game, but we managed to preserve the shutout. I had the privilege of breaking the game wide open in the second period with two goals and a nifty assist on a two-on-oh break.

Game Details

Scoring	1	2	3	Total
White Flash	0	0	0	0
Ice Hawks	2	3	1	6

Shots on goal

White Flash	10
Ice Hawks	20

Scoring Summary
Period 1
Ice Hawks - Matt Casulli (Ray Eustace), 3:40
Ice Hawks - Walter Bradshaw (Jay Rocker, Nicole Leech) , 19:58

Period 2
Ice Hawks - Chris Caran (Joe Rizza, Walter Bradshaw) , 6:21
Ice Hawks - Chris Caran (Kevin Kleber) , 10:02
Ice Hawks - Ray Eustace (Chris Caran, Matt Casulli), 12:46

Period 3
Ice Hawks - Chris Ellis (Matt Casulli) , 7:05

Penalties
Period 1
White Flash - David Lamborn - (Elbowing Minor), 2 min , 5:56
Ice Hawks - Ray Eustace - (Interference Minor), 2 min , 13:08
White Flash - Jim Roush - (Interference Minor), 2 min , 15:39

Period 2
Ice Hawks - Jay Rocker - (Interference Minor), 2 min , 15:41

Period 3
White Flash - Dave Thelen - (Hooking Minor), 2 min , 6:47
Ice Hawks - Ray Eustace - (Roughing Minor), 2 min , 11:37
Ice Hawks - Chris Ellis - (Roughing Minor), 2 min , 13:23
White Flash - Neal Cutler - (Roughing Minor), 2 min , 14:40
Ice Hawks - Bruce Borer - (Slashing Minor), 2 min , 14:40

What the hell?

What in the world is happening to Buffalo? Ottawa is owning them and the Sabres seem to be hardly mustering the effort to fight back. Without Miller in net last night, the score could have been 6-0.

Playoff Picks - Round 3

The Conference Finals are upon us. I just got back from vacation this past weekend, so I'm still catching up on everything. All in all, my picks for the Semifinals weren't too bad. The Conference Finals are a little too close to call in both series, so I'll take a random stab at it.

Eastern Conference Finals
Buffalo (1) vs Ottawa (4) - Ottawa in 7

Western Conference Finals
Detroit (1) vs Anaheim (2) - Anaheim in 7

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Eastern Conference Semifinals
Buffalo (1) vs NY Rangers (6) - Buffalo in 6
New Jersey (2) vs Ottawa (4) - Ottawa in 6 5

Western Conference Semifinals
Detroit (1) vs San Jose (5) - San Jose Detroit in 6
Anaheim (2) vs Vancouver (3) - Anaheim in 5