Round 2 Picks

I wish to open by thanking the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils for giving me a not great3-5 record in the first round, as opposed to an absolutely disastrous 1-7. Undaunted, here we go with round 2...

WESTERN CONFERENCE

NASHVILLE AT PHOENIX-Mike Smith Vs, Pekka Rinne will be the storyline in this series, that will probably be little seen in much of the country. That being said, the Preds seem to be on a roll, and the better team-PREDS IN SIX.

LOS ANGELES AT ST. LOUIS-This seems to be the Blues' year to make a big noise in at least the Western rounds of the playoffs. The Blues should win this, depending on their goaltending, and how Jonathan Quick does for the Kings-BLUES IN SIX

EASTERN CONFERENCE

WASHINGTON AT NEW YORK RANGERS-Both teams got pushed to seven games in their first round series and got through. That being said, the Blueshirts are the better team, and should get through. NBC execs will be very happy-RANGERS IN SIX

NEW JERSEY AT PHILADELPHIA-This could be Martin Brodeur's last hurrah, but the Flyers had an easier than expected time with their cross-state rival Penguins, and could be set up for a long playoff run. As I said about the Rangers, NBC execs could be very happy with what could be a classic Eastern Final-FLYERS IN SIX

Too many defensive breakdowns=Early Summer

It's over. The Red Wings, during this entire series broke down way too many times, and hung out Jimmy Howard to dry over and over again . The result, The Wings are either playing in the World Championships in a couple of weeks, or heading to the golf course. As the summer goes on, questions will have to be answered about Nick Lidstrom and Thomas Holmstrom, will they return? The final breakdown, 13 SECONDS IN to the third...ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE.

Game 4: Hung out to dry again

In game 4 of the Wings-Preds series, Jimmy Howard was hung out to dry again. The Wings have had way too many defensive breakdowns, and they are paying for it. Friday night is game 5, and if they do not correct this Tout De Suite, they'll be playing golf, or in the World Championships next week.

A POTENTIAL NIGHTMARE FOR THE NHL

These playoffs are becoming a potential ratings nightmare for the NHL, as it is now quite likely that the Wings, Canucks, and Pens will be out of the playoffs by the weekend. Stanley Cup Playoffs featuring San Jose, Nashville, Phoenix, and Florida or New Jersey may well be a horrible draw TV-wise.

Game 3: What a difference 00.2 makes

The Nashville Predators defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 at Joe Louis Arena in game 3 this afternoon. Perhaps the biggest moment of the game occurred at the end of the 2nd period, when Pavel Datsyuk held the puck perhaps 2 tenths of a second too long, which meant Johann Franzen was too late with what would have been a game-tying goal. The Wings were then not able to get the second goal until under a minute to go, which was after the Preds had increased their lead to 3-1, which meant this game was out of reach. The Wings had better win game 4 Tuesday night, or it will be a long summer around here.


PITTSBURGH-PHILADELPHIA-What had looked like the best series of the first round is turning into anything but. A series I thought would be tight and at least six games-see Boston-Washington, where it looks like the entire series has been played in Overtime-is looking like a sweep, or five games at best. The Flyers are baiting the Pens into playing their game, as opposed to what works for Pittsburgh. They managed to get Crosby into two fights in game 3, and they have blown out the Pens in the last two games.

Game 2: Had To Win, Got It Done

Going into Game 2, the Red Wings needed this game to give their NHL-best 31-7-2 home ice record a chance to work, and they got it. Todd Bertuzzi set the tone, when he made Shea Webber answer for his uncalled-for hit on Henrik Zetterberg at the end of Game 1. Ian White scored to put the Wings up 1-0, then rookie Cory Emmerton made it 2-0. After Nashville made it 2-1, Johann "The Mule" Franzen scored what would be the game-winner. That put the Wings up 3-1, and then they held on for a 3-2 victory. The series is now tied 1-1 with Game 3 at High Noon on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.

Pens go from bad to worse-Pittsburgh and Philadelphia played game 2 of their series in the Steel City tonight. The Pens blew game 1 after leading 3-0, and taking the feet off the gas. That was not the case tonight, as the Flyers beat the Pens 8-5, in a game that had BOTH teams keeping their feet on the gas. The series now moves to Philly for games 3 and 4.

Game 1-Howard hung out to dry twice, Pens learn about taking your foot off the gas

Night one of the playoffs...
Red Wing goalie Jimmy Howard was hung out ot dry on the last two goals. You're not going to beat a good Nashville team very often doing that, since goals will be at a premium in this series. Darren Helm left the game with a cut forearm, and underwent surgery at a Nashville hospital tonight. Mike Babcock was not sure if Helm cut any tendons in the arm.

Pittsurgh learned a tough lesson about taking their feet off the gas when you have a team down 3-0, as they blew the lead, then blew the game in OT.

DROP THE PUCK!!!! 2012

It's time the playoffs are here....

EASTERN CONFERENCE

OTTAWA AT NEW YORK RANGERS-The Sens won the season series 3-1, but they are reeling going into the playoffs. That stat notwithstanding, the Rangers are the better team, and this will play out in the series-RANGERS IN SIX

WASHINGTON AT BOSTON-This one may be the easiest series of the first round to call. The Caps have not been playing well recently, and the defending champion Bruins are simply the better team-BRUINS IN FIVE

NEW JERSEY AT FLORIDA-The Panthers are returning to the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 lockout (only the Leafs remain among those who have not made it). Martin Brodeur makes their stay a short one (Sorry to my relatives in the Miami are), as he is the difference-DEVILS IN SIX

PHILADELPHIA AT PITTSBURGH-The best series of the first round. These teams despise each other, and put the "battle" in the Battle Of Pennsylvania. The Pens, though, have the better players, and will win-PENS IN SEVEN

WESTERN CONFERENCE

LOS ANGELES AT VANCOUVER-The Kings have dropped from the 3rd to the 8th seed in a week's time, so now they have to play the Canucks, and will keep dropping, as they drop right out of the playoffs in five games-CANUCKS IN FIVE

SAN JOSE AT ST. LOUIS-The Blues have a history of underachieving in the playoffs. Not this time. This is a bad matchup for the Sharks, and the Blues advance in six-BLUES IN SIX

CHICAGO AT PHOENIX-This may be a surpisingly good series, as these teams are evenly matched. The Hawks may well end up being the final opponnents in the history of the 'Yotes, as they end up in Quebec next season-HAWKS IN SIX

DETROIT AT NASHVILLE-This is a very difficult series to call, as, like the Hawks-'Yotes series, these are two evenly matched teams. If the Wings are going to win this series, they probably need to win one of the first two games, since they were 31-7-2 at home this season. The Wings cannot afford this series to get back to Music City for a seventh game-WINGS IN SIX, OR PREDS IF IT GETS TO SEVEN

Who The AI Top 8 Remind Me Of

As we get farther into the American Idol finals, the top 8 are starting to develop their personas, and this is who they remind me of:

De Andre Brackensick: Name Your Boy Band Singer
Elise Testone: Stevie Nicks
Phillip Phillips:Dave Matthews
Joshua Ledet: Any Number of 70's Soul Singers
Jessica Sanchez: Whitney Houston
Hollie Cavanagh: Christina Aguilera
Colton Dixon: Get back to me on that
Skylar Laine: Reba Mcentire

KISS has been in some strange places lately...

The rock group KISS has been in some strange places lately... Sunday night, the band, in full makeup, were presenters of an award on the Academy Of COUNTRY Music awards, and next Monday they will be leading off the show on "Dancing With The Stars". Not exactly VH1 Classic, to be sure.

The Rolling Stones will be premiering a documentary film about their incredible career at the band's golden anniversary celebration in September, although a full-scale 50th anniversary tour is not likely until 2013. They are not the only rock legends celebrating 50 years this year. The Beach Boys are doing a full-scale tour with the surviving original members this summer, Life magazine did a tribute to Bob Dylan, and Newsweek has released a Beatles tribute issue.

10 Days To Go...

After taking much of March off, I am back as we now enter April. We are just 10 days away from my favorite time of year. The weather gets good, my birthday is at the end of the month, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin...

First of all, I want to give a belated birthday shout-out to Gordie Howe, who turned 84 yesterday. Second, I've been asked for my take on the firing of Montreal G.M. Pierre Gauthier, which happened Thursday. I don't believe Les Canadiens are that far away from being back in the playoffs next year, especially when you consider that they were only a goal away from a long playoff run last year. Had they scored the winner in Game Seven against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Bruins, last year, who knows? Serge Savard, who is helping Jeff Molson in the search for a new G.M., pointed out that the candidates for coach and G.M. MUST be fluently billingual. In other words, it will not be enough to be strictly Anglophone, OR sricytly Francophone. Montreal is unique, in that the politics get involved in a way that does not happen anywhere else in the NHL, though that may be about to change...

I say that may about to change, because the speculation is swirling around the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, and that speculation is saying that a move to Quebec City may well be in the offing, in which case the Dogs would become Les Nouveau Nordiques.

With 6 days to go in the regular season, Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh 6-4, in a game that ended in a wild brawl, that even Flyers Coach Peter Laviolette wanted to get into. He succeded in getting both one of his assistant coaches and himself ejected. You don't see coaches get ejected from a game very often. The Red Wings beat Florida 2-1 in a shootout, to get a much-needed extra point that put them ahead of Nashville for fourth seedd in the upcoming playoffs.

BREAKING NEWS AS WE GO TO PRESS-New York Cosmos legend Giorgio Chinaglia has died at age 65. He was a star with Lazio of Italian Serie A before he joined Pele and Franz Beckenbauer with the Cosmos of the Old North American Soccer League in 1976. He was the all-time leading goal scorer in NASL history.