Cinco de Mayo 2007, Last May Hockey for NJ Until Now

Well we did it!  The final 8!!! A quarter of the way there.  After a dismal playoff-less season flanked by 3 straight 1st round exits, we finally can say we are playing May hockey.  Henrique blew my mind wide open when that goal was scored to win the series.  I actually felt sicker and sicker as the OT continued on.  John Madden almost put us away but Marty was not getting beat.

Here are my predictions for round 2 which is MUCH more confusing than the 1st round. Just a quick side note.  Has anyone else but me noticed that each team in the final 8 is a different seed number than the others? (1 is NYR, 2 is STL, 3 is PHX, ect.):

#1 NY Rangers VS. #7 Washington Capitals:
Game 1 is in progress and currently 1-0 NY in the second period.  The Caps and Rangers playoff battle seems to be an annual event.  Caps usually take it from NY and perhaps that might happen again.  There is one major difference this time.  The goalie for the Capitals is on fire.  Brayden Holtby seemed to come out of nowhere.  Well, maybe it's because he did.  Saskatchewan to be exact.  He has become a major part of the Capitals core and was able to eliminate Thomas the Tank Engine and his Bruins in round one.  But where Thomas was great, Henry is even better.  I think this one will go 7 with a win for the Rangers.

Game 1 in NY: Rangers win
Game 2 in NY: Rangers win
Game 3 in WSH: Capitals win
Game 4 in WSH: Capitals win
Game 5 in NY: Capitals win
Game 6 in WSH: Rangers win
Game 7 in NY: Rangers win



#5 Philadelphia Flyers VS. #6 New Jersey Devils
This is going to be either a REALLY easy series or a REALLY hard series.  Giroux is dominating the playoff scoring BUT Bryzgalov is a sieve.  If Marty, Bryce, and Greene can shut down Giroux and Jagr, we might have a good chance.  But it won't come easy.  A lot of Flyers' fans are overlooking NJ and already thinking about the Caps and Rangers.  Let's give em a rude awakening.  Don't underestimate the Devils!  I am obligated to predict a Devils' victory in the series.  But truth be told I'm not so sure.  It depends on Marty, Bryz, Giroux, and Kovy.  This series could really go either way.  But I predict a Devils win in 6.

Game 1 in PHI: Devils win'
Game 2 in PHI: Flyers win
Game 3 in NJ: Devils win
Game 4 in NJ: Devils win
Game 5 in PHI: Flyers win
Game 6 in NJ: Devils win


#2 St Louis Blues VS #8 Los Angeles Kings
The Kings shocked the hockey world by eliminating the President's Trophy winners without much difficulty.  We may have even seen our final game of Luongo in a Canuck jersey.  As far as this series goes, I think LA will win this.  Yes, I am going with the 8th place team.  The goaltending of Jonathan Quick has been crazy.  Yes Elliot is a great goalie but Quick is much better.  I think this one will end in 5.

Game 1 in STL: Kings win
Game 2 in STL: Blues win
Game 3 in LA: Kings win
Game 4 in LA: Kings win
Game 5 in STL: King win


#3 Phoenix Coyotes VS #4 Nashville Predators
Phoenix has relied wayyyy too much on OT.  I thought this series would be a simple sweep for the Predators.  However last night the Coyotes won it in OT to take a lead 1-0.  This changed my prediction.  I think that since the Yotes are quite literally playing for their lives as a hockey team, they will be extra charged  heading into this round.  Coyotes in 7 in what is going to be a goaltending duel between Rinne and Smith.

Game 1 in PHX: Coyotes win
Game 2 in PHX: Predators win
Game 3 in NSH: Predators win
Game 4 in NSH: Coyotes win
Game 5 in PHX: Coyotes win
Game 6 in NSH: Predators win
Game 7 in PHX: Coyotes win

Time to Prove the Haters Wrong!

Game #7.  We didn't WANT to be here a week and a half ago, but we are.  Over the past 2 weeks the Panthers have become a rival.  Both on the ice and off.  A now famous Twitter war has sprung.  Controversies concerning plastic rodentia have caused a spark amongst fans.  And blind-side plays have caused post-whistle scrap after post-whistle scrap.  And even a fellow Devils Twitterer (Tweeter? Twit? Tweeterian?) being ejected from the Rock.  I will actually go out on a limb and say they have taken the place of those damn Hurricanes as our little thorns in our sides from down South.  

The cockiness of the Panthers official Twitter have actually caused me to get angry.  I mean, it's a minor complaint, but at least show a LITTLE bit of sportsmanship. "Things are getting chirpy. Note to the #NJDevils, if you go after Weiss, the #FlaPanthers might get feisty."  Just things like that.  Another interesting note on Twitter is this Michael Yormark thing.  The President of the Panthers openly stated (he had a chance to revoke this... It's called the backspace button) it was Devils' fans who started throwing the rats during game 5.  Wait... WHAT?! You simply ask, "how do you know?" or "Who said?" and Mikey gets all defensive apparently.  A fellow Devils fan, Lauren, on Twitter learned that the hard way.  She called him out on it and he made fun of how many Twitter followers she had............

..... I will repeat that.....

A man... A grown up man... Grown... Up.... Man.... played the Twitter follower card to a girl.  I wish I was making this up.  But, in an act of vengeance by fellow fans, Lauren then started to find her Twitter follower count rise.  Until finally, just a few minutes ago, it surpassed Michael Yormark's follower count.  There is poetic justice in the Devils world.  Lauren, PF&HS salutes you!

Another person who has actually openly stated his hatred towards NJ in the past, Jeremy Roenick, had this to say.  And I quote: "I have no problem saying that this is probably the least intriguing series of the playoffs, and probably the least exciting in terms of the fighting, the physicality and the speed. 

However, it is exciting that Florida keeps battling back from deficits. The Panthers go down 3-0 and battle back to win Game 3. They're down 2-0 in Game 6 and battle back to tie it only to lose in overtime.

I just think it's the Panthers' turn. It's their year. They haven't won a series since 1996 and this team is resilient. But they have to play more intense and be more aggressive than they were in Game 6. They sat back. They tried to not make mistakes and it ended up burning them in the end.

Home-ice advantage will be huge for them and getting Jose Theodore back in net, if his injury is healed, is also big. 

Scott Clemmensen played well in Game 6, but he wasn't tested much. A lot of the shots were from the outside, from the corner, pucks just thrown at the net. I don't think he was tested all but two or three times, and he let up a weak goal to Steve Bernier and probably could have had the winning goal by Travis Zajac. I guess all in all he played pretty sound, but if Jose can go, he should be in the net.

Dale Tallon has put together a team that might be able to get this done. It's a 51-49 shot for me and I'm going to the home ice. "

 Ok, let's go through this step by step: 1.  if you think a series is boring, you don't SAY it!  You work for the NHL you idiot!!!!   2.  "Scott Clemmensen played well in Game 6, but he wasn't tested much." Your brain can fight that allllllllll you want.  But APPARENTLY 42 shots on goal, 39 saves.... is NOT BEING TESTED!  Um OK!  JR, take more than 5 minutes to write a post!  I do for crying out loud!  And I'm just starting out as a blogger.

I know I drifted off from what a I wanted to originally post about which WAS game 6.  But so much has happened since that I can't keep up.  Game 6 was a great hockey game if you were a fan or not.  And Zajac left for a few minutes and his return was in doubt.  He returned shortly thereafter and got a partial break.  Then in OT he lit the lamp to send this series back to Sunrise, FL.  My next post will either be one of joy, admiration, and ranting about the crying of the Panthers.  Or of heartbreak.  We will see.

What the hell is going on?

I was going to post a new post after each series. I mean, it IS the Panthers we are dealing with. It's not Philly, Pittsburgh, or New York. It's the Florida Panthers. But that raises the question. What are the Devils doing out there as we stare down on elimination in a series none of us even thought would go past game 4? I decided to try to put into perspective 5 things that have been wrong with our team this series and what needs to be improved by Tuesday or we will once again pull out the shaving cream early on in the playoffs.

 #5. The Officiating OK, the Devils have been known to be screwed over in the playoffs by refs before. '08 against NY that icing call during a PK that cost the Devils the series. '09 in Carolina we had that clear goalie interference call with 1 second to play which led to a Hurricane goal. But this is getting strange. Devils are getting called for simply checking guys while only blatant calls are being assessed to Florida. Since when was racing to prevent an icing call and checking the guy BEFORE the whistle a penalty? And it's starting to effect the way Florida plays. During game 2 or 3 a Panther got caught up in the legs of a Devil while the NJ player was on the ground. Instead of simply falling to get a penalty, the Panther player dove into the Devil slamming his head against the ice. If these refs don't stop suffering from what I call "Koharski Syndrome" we are in trouble.

 #4. Sean Bergenheim When we came into this series we were told that one line was our biggest fear: Weiss, Versteeg, and Fleischmann. But Sean Bergenheim has been a force in this series. But don't take MY word for it. Chico Resche has made a point to mention him every 3 minutes at least. So while I agree he needs to be contained, I'm going to spare you all. Let Chico talk about how amazing he is.

 #3 The lack of shots to the net and forechecking We need to shoot the puck at the net. But instead we are going for these stupid deflection plays that do work... when they actually get deflected to the net! We gain the zone for a small point shot or a shanked shot from the slot if we are lucky. After that, Florida's defense has been stripping the puck away with ease. Start hitting without taking stupid penalties. You can do it! Hitting IS allowed!!! Stop playing too careful and get some pucks in their zone and sustain pressure. And that's the key word here, sustain! Aside from game 4, they haven't been able to sustain pressure for a full 60 minutes.

 #2 Pussification of the coaching staff Listen, when you're losing a series 3-2, a loss away from elimination to a team that int he mind of most hockey fans shouldn't even exist, don't talk to the press like "ohhhh well we had some trouble todayyyy". No, you deny comment to the press, get your ass into that locker room and scream at them. It works! And don't even tell me Petey that you aren't the "angry" type. Larry Robinson, Mr. Smiles, walked into that locker room after going down 3-1 to Philly, and basically beat the crap out of that locker room. And guess what, we came back and won the series and then the freaking Cup! 1980, Herb Brooks yelled at college kids every day for a year, and we all know what happened there! So please someone other that Oates (because I can see he's actually trying to be a hard coach like he should be) man up, harden up, and whip this team (literally if you have to) into shape!

 #1 Penalty Kill uhhhhh, what the hell happened here?! We broke the RECORD for best PK in NHL history! Now, the playoffs begin and we suck on the PK. What happened in the course of a week?! Not much I can say about this one except, fix it!

Facing elimination sucks, but we aren't done yet, so let's fight Tuesday to stay alive. This is Florida's series to lose now. Let's make those little kitties pay.

Playoff Predictions video

I'm wrong already haha. But still fun to look at!

Eastern Conference Predictions!

Well it's finally here! Playoff time! A clean slate! A new season! Eric Boulton is equal on the point race with Ilya Kovalchuk! (in the words of the great James Hetfield "Sad but true") And there is NO reason why we should be stuffed in the afterburner of the playoff schedule as we are. Everyone will be pumped up tonight and even tomorrow. But we don't start until Friday. Why?

Well, here are my predictions on who will win what in the very first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Why the East only? Because who on here really cares who wins between the Sharks and the Blues?... Oh you do?... OK, well maybe I'll do the West later on today.

First, my Conn Smyth prediction? Cam Janssen! Now, that we got that out of the way let's move on!

#1 New York Dirtrags err I mean Rangers VS. #8 Ottawa Senators:

They always say don't ever base a playoff prediction on the season match up, but in this case I gotta go with that. The Sens went 3-1 against NY. So I think the Sens will give the Rangers a dogfight. But this one will go to NY in 6. I don't see the Sens taking out the best team in the East. (as much as I'd love them to). My main reasoning behind this has got to be Henrik Lunqvist. He has stepped it up bigger than ever this year and has made the Rangers a legit Cup threat for the first time since 1997.



Game 1 in NY: Rangers win
Game 2 in NY: Rangers win
Game 3 in OTT: Senators win
Game 4 in OTT: Rangers win
Game 5 in NY: Senators win
Game 6 in OTT: Rangers win

Final Verdict: The Senators get assassinated


#2 Boston Bruins VS. #7 Washington Capitals:

This series works out the same way as the other one whereas the lower seed had a 3-1 record vs the higher seed. However where I saw the higher winning the first one, I see Washington actually taking this series. Boston hasn't played it's best hockey of late, going 12-10 in their last 22 games. Two of those losses came against the Caps. I see the Capitals winning this series in 5. Yes, only 5!

Game 1 in BOS: Capitals win
Game 2 in BOS: Capitals win
Game 3 in WSH: Capitals win
Game 4 in WSH: Bruins win
Game 5 in BOS: Capitals win

Final Verdict: Ovechkin goes hunting and comes home with a bear head on his wall


#3 Florida Panthers VS. #6 New Jersey Devils:

Ah yes, the series match up we wanted. Or so you'd think. Florida has been a slight thorn in our devil horns all year. We split the season series 2-2. The Cats won the 1st and 4th games while we won the middle two. However I like so many others I don't see NJ losing this series. But like I've said so many times before. Don't underestimate a team in the playoffs. If you do, it will bite you in the behind. I.E. 2009 against the Hurricanes. But truthfully, I see a 4 or 5 game win for NJ, and I'm going to go with 5. Theodore and Clemmer will split the series. Clemmensen, who has played well against the Devils, will get the Cats only win of the series in game 2 after a devastating game 1 for Jose Theodore.

Game 1 in FLA: Devils win
Game 2 in FLA: Panthers win
Game 3 in NJ: Devils win
Game 4 in NJ: Devils win
Game 5 in FLA: Devils win

Final Verdict: The Kitties get euthanized in 5


#4 Pittsburgh Penguins VS. #5 Philadelphia Flyers:
This is the interesting one. That brawl last week has sparked a civil war in the Keystone

state. The league is finally taking media notice of the Penguins whining with comments by multiple people including a $20k fining statement by John Tortorella. In terms of the series, I see this one falling into a back and forth battle. Claude Giroux will be the defining factor for Philly, as goaltending has been a problem in Philly for many years. I think Pittsburgh will take this in 7. Both teams will win their respective home games in this one I feel. I also say at least 3 or 4 of these games goes into OT.

Game 1 in PIT: Penguins win
Game 2 in PIT: Penguins win
Game 3 in PHI: Flyers win
Game 4 in PHI: Flyers win
Game 5 in PIT: Penguins win
Game 6 in PHI: Flyers win
Game 7 in PIT: Penguins win

Final Verdict: The Flyers get their wings clipped