Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Stanley Cup Finals!

Well that was quick...

So there we have it, the SCF is upon us and who will be in it??

[#2 Chicago Blackhaws V #7 Philadelphia Flyers]

Chicago were able to do a proper job of sweeping the San Jose Sharks. The Flyers almost did that against the Montreal Canadiens but settled to win in 5 games thus taking them to the SCF. I won't be picking a team to win the Cup this season though I do have hopes, but I will say that I am happy to see the Sharks, Wings, Kings, and Yotes nowhere near Lord Stanley's hardware. It's also nice to know that the Ducks are still the only California team to have a Cup. So we will see who's year it will be when game 1 kicks off this coming Saturday. Sadly, I won't be able to see games 1-3 live because of the new job, so it will be DVR madness for me!

Speaking of the Ducks and Cup, I will be doing a special entry on June 6th which will mark the 3 anniversary of Anaheim winning it all against the Ottawa Senators. I also will be having a guest writer give us his memories of that glorious event! It's going to be great.

* * * * *
In other news:


Detroit Red Wings legend, Steve Yzerman, has been named the new GM for the financially struggling Tampa Bay Lightning. This comes as a little surprise to me because I would think that one such as Stevie Y would not want to having anything do with a franchise that is known to be on their last breath, but it's obvious that he's up to the challenge.




ALSO:

Contract negotiations between Anaheim Ducks GM, Bob Murray, and the Bobby Ryan camp have resumed. It's-about-time. Negotiations between the two stopped because BM felt that it was better to have BR focus on his game towards the end of the regular season and didn't want to create any unnecessary distractions. All of the Ducks faithful have been wondering what was going on between the two parties being that they would like to see BR get re-signed with Anaheim and not have to get to the point where the club has to match any offer sheets from other bidders. Remember the Dustin Penner situation but then former Ducks GM, Brian Burke, had the team in a dodgy situation with the salary cap and were forced to move Penner to Edmonton. This time around, it will be a better situation:

“First of all, we’re in a much better shape financially than the summer with Penner,” Murray said. “A much better situation. Secondly, with Donny Meehan (one of Bobby Ryan's agents), it’s his job to get the best contract possible for his client. It’s David’s and my job to fit it in the right spot so we can compete next year. We both have different goals in mind."

“In the end, you usually can come together.”

The cap hit for Bobby's next contract looks to be no less than $5MM a year and would see him in a Ducks sweater until 2014. A contract very much like Anaheim forwards, Ryan Getzlaf + Corey Perry, who were re-sign with the club for a little more and whose contract will be up in 2013.
Bobby Ryan has stated that he still wants to be with the club. I think the fact that he has bought a new home in SoCal will suffice as clear evidence of his intentions.

We will see.

And last but not least:

This weeks Ducks Vlogstrosity is up and running for your viewing pleasure. And even though I talk about the same stuff in today's blog entry, that doesn't mean that you get to NOT watch it. So watch it!




Go Ducks!

PS:

If you want to see something amazing:

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Conference Finals

Today marks the start for both of the Western and Eastern Conference Finals.

For the West, we have:

#1 San Jose Sharks V #2 Chicago Blackhawks



This could be one hell of an amazing series and most are saying that the winner of these two could probably be the winner of the Cup. Chicago dispatched the Vancouver Canucks in 6 games and showed that they have learned a lot since last year's post season. They'll look to take their experience against the Sharks in hope of moving to the SCF since the 91-92 season. As for San Jose, this will be their 2nd WCF in franchise history, since losing to the Calgary Flames in 2003-2004. We all know that the Sharks have been good at choking in the post season, but being that they pretty much dismantled the Detroit Red Wings in 5 games, they'll look to redeem themselves for many years of playoff disappointment.

So far, Chicago's rookie netminder, Antti Niemi, has been pretty solid as well as the team playing in front of him. San Jose will hope to ride on the shoulders of an amazing Joe Pavelski as well as their top players. Will this be another conference final exit for the Hawks?? Will San Jose have too much rust from over a week off the ice? Or will old demons haunt the Sharks in this final?? We will see.

As for my picks on this series? I'll keep my mouth shut since I have been 50% right.

For the East:

#7 Philadelphia Flyers V #8 Montreal Canadiens



Both teams have come on top after upsetting their opponents as well as surprising most of the hockey world. The Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins after being down 0 - 3 in the series, they came back to win it 4 games to 3. In game 7, they were down in Boston 0 goals to 3 but were able to come back and defeats the B's in a final score of 4 - 3. Completely creepy and crazy. As for the Habs, they went on to defeat the Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in 7 games and in that 7th game, they were able to not just win but crushed the Pens in a final score of 5 - 2. It looks like the Habs could have a great chance at the Cup and will be on a tidal wave of momentum to that goal. Halak has been a wall and players like Cammalleri, Gionta, and PK Subban have been contributing.

For the Flyers, netminder Leighton has filled the shoes pretty well after being asked to step up when Boucher injured himself, but also stepping up have been players such as Richards, Pronger, Briere and of course Gagne. This will be an evenly matched series and will be interesting to see who will move on to the Cup final.

My picks for this one? I think the Habs will be the team to move on and it could happen in 7 games. But who knows? I haven't been spot on in my Eastern picks. Let's hope I am for this one.

There you have it. We will see where these four teams will be when I do the Ducks Vlogstrosity this coming week. Til then:

Go Ducks!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

New Ducks Vlogstrosity!

D.V. is back this week after taking one off!!

Just a quick catch up on round 2 as well as other news and as stated in the vlog, I will be doing a write-up on the conclusion of the 2nd round following tomorrows game 7 with the Bruins and the Flyers: 2 teams enter. Only one will move on (cue suspense music).

Go Ducks!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Who the heck would've guessed?!?!

Some quick playoffs yapp...

But first: HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!
Todays honoured guest who is Mexican AND plays pro hockey:

Scotty G!

Round 2 is well underway and it looks like some things have been moving along nicely... unless you're the Detroit Red Wings.
As of last night, the Wings look like they're on the brink of being swept by... THE SAN JOSE SHARKS?!?!

We who follow hockey rather closely are a tad surprised because we're used to two things when it comes to the post season:
1. The Wings always dominate and if not, they go to 6 or 7 games.
2. The Sharks choke around this time of year.

This doesn't look like what we're used to. San Jose will look to clean house tomorrow night in Detroit and although I don't like the Sharks to say the least, it will always bring a smile to my face to see the Wings lose let alone get swept because Detroit will trump San Jose in the title of "rivals" when it comes to Anaheim. I for one don't want to see either of these two teams take the WCF, and I know that I'm not alone on this one.

As for the other series...
*Pittsburgh took one over the Habs last night in Montreal and are now 2 - 1 in their series.
*Boston will look to go 3 - 0 over the Flyers tonight in the first game at Philadelphia in this series.
*In the first game at the GMP of the Nucks/Hawks series, one team will go 2 - 1 at the end of tonight. But who will it be??? (cue suspenseful-dooming music)

That is pretty much going to be it for this week. I decided not to do an episode of Ducks Vlogstrosity because to be honest, it was easier for me to type than record. I would've said the same thing on video. However, I will have one next week. I promise you.

But before I go, I wanted to share something that it absolutely non-hockey related. I know, right??? I came across a wonderfully amazing site that someone has here on good ol' blogspot.com. The site is dedicated to one Nick Cage which feature photos of Nick Cages' mug on different famous figures. Check it out, I'm sure you'll dig it as much as I do.
Also, in a very hockey related topic, I wanted to give a shout out to Jer's (@thelinear) website called (cue trumpets): HOCKEY PUNX
If you're into hockey AND punk rock then this site is for you! He gives amazing insight to both things and his playoff pick vids are amazing!! Tell him I sent you!
And I'm sure he'll agree:

Go Ducks!

links:
http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/
http://www.hockeypunx.com/main/
http://twitter.com/thelinear