Round 2

Well, round 2 of the quest of the cup is underway and it looks like most the series will go the distance. Each series has had two games played and from the looks of it, we will see many many more. Each series stands tied at 1 game a piece with the exception of the pens and caps, who have only played one game. These ties include a shocking win for the ducks that occured after 3 overtimes on Sunday afternoon. The Wings who were picked as undoubted favorites in this series will be looking to rebound after the shocking win by the ducks. Boston is licking its wounds this morning due to the beat down by Carolina last night. The former Whalers dominated the play for the entire game winning 3 to nothing. This may have been a bigger margin if a play late in the second period had been called a goal, but due to not enough evidence, the call of no goal stood. My prediciton for this one is that it is far from being over.
On a personal note, my team, the New York Rangers suffered a first round elimination at the hands of the Washington Capitals. While this was a sad moment for Ranger fans, espeically since there is little doubt that they played the better last game, we must admit that overall, the Capitals controlled the series and that they cleary deserve to be moving on. They will be playing the Penquins in what is to be a match up of many star players. I wish them goodluck in playing the Pens, because I really can't stand that team. As for the other series, I am going to be putting my support behind Boston. In the west, I am still picking the BlackHawks to shock the league and advance to the next round, where I predict they will be playing detroit.

Ouch Town

Ok, so with game seven of the Rangers and Capitals here, I am not going to sit here and say that the Rangers are undoubtly going to win. I will however say Donald Brashear needs to be kicked out of the NHL. On Sunday afternoons game, he threw a cheap shot that ended the season of Blair Betts. Now, I am all for fighting and hard hits in hockey, and for the most part, I really dont mind seeing two players beat the hell out of each other, but when there is a cheap shot like the one that was thrown, there needs to be a bigger penalty. Betts clearly did not see the hit coming, if he had, he would have at least braced himself. This is not the first time that something like this has happened and I wonder if the Rangers had played Colton Orr, if it would have happened. Well, thats my rant, good luck tonight Rangers, you are going to need it.

The first round

Ok, well I have already been proven wrong and its less than a week after I made my first picks. Last night Vancouver finished its first round sweep of the St. Louis Blues. Honestly, I dont think many people saw this coming. St. Louis finished the regular season with huge wins and were carrying a lot of momentum into the playoffs, Im honestly not sure what caused the collapse, but it may be time for some changes in that organization. In both the Detroit Columbus and the Boston Montreal series I appear to be dead wrong with my picks. After thinking that the underdog had made it into the heads of the favorites, it appears that both these series could end up in four game sweeps. Yea, I really dropped the ball on that one. In two tight races both the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricane series as well as the New York Rangers and Washington Captials series appear to be very tight and may go the distance to seven games. In the back and forth series that has taken The Devils and the Hurricanes into a 2 game a piece tie the Hurricanes have proven that even the best goaltender on the ice can be beaten. With a huge overtime win last night, they carry the momentum. I wish I could say the same for the New York Rangers, who were handed a beating on Monday night after a huge 1-0 win on Saturday. This is a series that all expected to be tight, but trading shutouts isnt what anyone had in mind. The Rangers need to take more advantage of the home ice in the next game and bring their fans back into it. It is one of the hardest places to play, New York, and the Rangers need to remember that going into game four. What doesnt surprise me is the Chicago/ Flames series in which Chicago has a 2-1 lead in. This is a great test for an untested Chicago team and if they want to advance, they need to keep their heads in it and play the game they love. Well thats all for now, I know that the temps will be heating up in the next few days but it will be even hotter on the ice. HAPPY PLAYOFFS! and as always, LETS GO RANGERS!

The Playoffs

Well its mid April and that can only mean one thing, the quest for the Stanley Cup is upon us. Now recently there has been some talk as to who will make it beyond the first round. People have been making their picks and recently I was mentioned on my good friends blog. Kyle posted my picks for the first round and I am here today to justify why I choose the underdog is almost every match up.
East
Bruins V. Canadians: Yes, I am going to pick the 8th seeded Canadians in this one for two basic reasons, the first is that history doesnt lie. The Habs have traditionally beaten the Bruins in the playoffs and I feel this year will be no different. The other reason is that Montreal did a great job at getting to Boston in their last regular season matchup this past week. They are in their heads and thefore they will cause Boston to take a lot of penalities. My pick stands at Canadians in 6.
Capitals V. Rangers: There is little doubt that I would pick any one but my home blue for this one. Being from New York and being a diehard Rangers fan all my life, what do you expect. The Rangers will need to shut down the offensively minded Capitals which I think they are more than capable of. My pick is Rangers in 6.
Penquins V Flyers: Ah, the clash of two teams I hate. Both teams have had impressive seaons but my pick goes out to the Flyers. I simply can stand them more and I would rather have them advancing to the next round because the Rangers can beat them, if that becomes an issue. My pick are the Flyers in 5.
New Jersey V. Carolina: There is little doubt that the Devils goaltender is one of the, if not the best goalie in history, but there is more to the game than that. Carolina is traditionally a great team, a fast team and a scoring team, the pressure will overwhelm the Devils. My pick is Carolina in 6.
West
Saint Louis V. Vancuver: The Blues have come from no where this year to make it to the playoffs yet again. They dont have the experience but they do have a great desire to win and great coaching. Because of this they are my pick in the first round, to win it in just 5 games.
Ducks V Sharks: The ocean will not be safe for this one. The sharks have had an amazing season and they will make quick work of the Ducks. The Ducks are floundering right now and despite being a great team in the past, will be swept under the rug. My pick, Sharks in 4.
Flames V. Blackhawks: Two teams who have been battleing for home ice for the better part of March into April will collide in Chicago for the first two games. I picked the Blackhawks after the third week of this season and I will sit by that pick. Blackhawks in 6.
BlueJackets V. RedWings: Ah, the clash of a team who either wins it all or is elimintated in the first round. Detroit has been over looking this match up and are not ready for the kind of determination that the BlueJackets are going to arrive with. The series will not be a sweep but I feel that the Redwings will blow this golden oppertunity and be out after the first round. My pick stands at The BlueJackets in 6.
Now, Im sure many of you may not believe me but thats your decision. Whatever happens the only important thing is that it is playoff season for hockey, and anything can happen.

Long Time No Talk

Well its been a while since I last posted. Not much has changed. With each day that goes past the Rangers are looking to be fading out of play off contention, the Spartans have schocked the NCAA by making it to the finals and the Red Sox open up their season at home today, as long as the rain holds off.
On the lighter side of the news, the lowell devils lost on friday night against the portland pirates when the devils goaltender tryed to be a little too fancy. In a clearing attempt the goalie hit it off of his own player and into the net, giving the team from portand the 2-1 win.
The level of fear for the economy seems to be growing each and every day. Each day we hear of more job losses and more stories of homlessness. This recession has really started to take its toll on every one and I am hearing more and more friends not being sure if they can go to school next year because they cant afford it. Whoever said that the world doesnt revolved around money is clearly not paying attention. It seems the number one fear of americans is not being able to pay the bills. During this time we seem to look for people to blame, and instead of looking at the government, we should look at the crooked ceo's on wall street who are the most greedy individuals in the history of mankind. Not only should these people be forced to payback every cent they every stole, they should spend the rest of their lives rotting in prision cells, and even that would be too good for them. When these people stole money from average Americans, it wasnt just money, it was retirement, vacations, tuition, and doctors visits. The politicans in Washington need to stepup and make examples out of these people who took so much more than money from us, and make it clear that no one will get away with this type of behavior in the future.
Of course, all of this comes at a point where times arent good in this country anyway, with 2 wars being fought, natural disasters destroying entire areas of the country and mexican drug wars spilling onto our soil. What people need to realize is that there is no quick fix to this, its going to take time, and chances are things will get worse before they get better. I think the best we can do is to just hold on and wait it out.

It was a hockey weekend

Yes, this weekend was indeed one for the ages. Despite losing to Boston University, the Riverhawks of Umass Lowell shocked hockey east and stunned Northeastern University to make it to the championship game of the hockey east conference. I must say as a advid fan of the schools hockey team, that the team played their hearts out and have absolutly nothing to be ashamed of. The team which was picked as the underdog in both games shocked the college hockey world and for that their fans are very grateful. There is little doubt in my mind that when the next season starts the chants of UML will echo again through the Tsongas arena and that when other teams look at the UMass Lowell Riverhawks, they will realize that they have a tough battle ahead.
As for the pro side, the New York Rangers split a pair of home games again Buffalo and Ottawa. From this point on in the season every point will be a fight and if the Rangers want a playoff spot, its time they step up and not give up any more bad goals and stop taking penalites. Also as a fan message to the team, SHOOT THE PUCK! We spend so much time passing around, trying to make a perfect play when in reality one does not exhist. Take the shot, and slam in the rebound if there is one.
As for the fact that it is the first day back from spring break and teachers are begining to seriously talk about the end of the semester, I am realizing that in the past week I become to accustomed to going to bed late and sleeping until past 10 am. It was truly a struggle to fall asleep last night and even more so to wake up in the morning. There were a few pieces of good news this past week, mostly that I got a new hockey jersey of my favorite player of all time, Adam Graves. It was an unexpected birthday present from my parents, even though they also bought me a new phone.

Why?

Its amazing, for the longest time I have resisited the urge to blog. Now, since sometime last week when I wrote my first, I have been continually ranting on the many topics which annoy me. Well today is no different, its the last day of class before spring break and for me at least. Two of my classes are cancelled for tomorrow and theres no chance that I will be coming all the way to Lowell for just one class. Things in life have been pretty boring if you don't pay attention to the way that the country is slowing going down the drain, thanks to the economy and the other many problems that plague our land. The plus side is that with all that is going on, I can still turn to sports to get me excited. The playoff race continues to heat up and the New York Rangers goaltender is just one win away from a Rangers and NHL record. I have to work tonight and that means that I wont get to see the game tonight which kind of sucks, but what can you do. As much as I would like to, I can not get into basketball, which means I could care less about what the Celtics did last night, o well. The plus side is that baseball spring training has started which means there will soon be nightly games on to watch...that should provide some relief from my boring life. I turn 23 on Saturday...I cant believe it...it seems like birthdays mean less and less to me not that I have passed 21...o well. I got to take a midterm now.