Ovie Vs. Malkin

Wow, that’s all I have to say about what happened tonight, in this rare hockey-filled Wednesday. (Good Ol’ American Thanksgiving, wouldn’t want to show any hockey while the entire US has a day off eh, Bettman?) Anyways! Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin just keep on rolling, and continue to amaze us.

Alex for his part, pretty much single-handedly beat the Thrashers tonight, rattling off a Hat trick, scoring on 50% of his shots, adding an assist, and his goals counted for two on the PP and his one that wasn’t on the PP just happened to be the Game Winner. I’d say that was successful outing.

Malkin on the other hand, decided that he didn’t feel like losing tonight. After the Pens go down two on a late in the second, (read: normally a momentum boost) he comes out and sets up some Crosby guy to pull within one, then says ‘ef this noise, and scores a natural hat trick, meanwhile registering on 75% of his shots. Take that Ovechkin.

I personally love this rivalry between these two superstars, but one has got to wonder what is going happen come 2010. Rumour has is, that there is no way they could agree to play with one another, so Russia might have to make due with only one of them. Which puts them in one helluva squeeze. First off, which guy do they pick and at the same time, which guy should they completely piss off to the point that he’ll probably never return to ‘Mother Russia’? Or do they just try to persuade them both to share a locker room and hope that their hate for each other doesn’t spread throughout. We all know how well that situation is working out in the Dallas locker room with Avery.

Honestly who knows, but I for one, cannot wait to see what will happen. I just wish that they would have been playing against eachother when they decided to pop off those hatties.

Big Night In The NHL Tonight

Gotta love Saturday nights. 15 games, 30 teams, all ready for action. Couple things to really look forward to however, and we’ll start in the East.

The team everyone loves to hate, and hates to love gets a big addition tonight. The big off-season signing, Jeff Finger finally makes his Maple Leafs debut tonight. Finger’s signing was a shocker, as Fletcher threw a lot of money at the Free Agent even though he’s really only in his second season, and was a healthy scratch at times during the play-offs last year. Ron Wilson and Fletch still contend that Finger is worth the 3.5 million per year. The Leafs also sent Jiri Tlustly down to the Marlies, which would probably mean that the Leafs will get at least 43 shots tonight, since Blake will be in the line-up.

Philly looks for their second win of the season, but if they want to win they’ll have to allow less goals which shouldn’t be too difficult since they are playing the Devils, but then again, it’ll be tougher to score too. Meanwhile Marty looks to inch closer to Roy’s records.

Personally, I think the match-up to look for in the East has to be the New York Rangers facing the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers are off to an unbelievable start, and the Penguins… well, they’re the Pens. Anytime that you get Crosby, Malkin, J. Staal on the ice facing Gomez, Drury, Zherdev, and Naslund, there’s going to be one helleva game.

In the West, the high flying Red Wings are set to face the young Blackhawks in what should be a great Divisional Match-Up. I am torn on this one, but I gotta say, I hope the Hawks come flying out of the gates, and Toews puts up 4 goals, all of which are assisted by Keith and Campbell. That would get me up in the standings in my pool at work. Regardless, should be a good, high-paced game.

Other than that, another Divisional Match-up in the Northwest as the Kid Line and their Oilers take on the surprising Canucks tonight. Gillis’ weird made up team (honestly, what the hell?) are having a slow start to the season after ripping it up in the pre-season are looking to rebound, meanwhile the Oiler squad look are also looking to rebound after a couple losses. Oilers should take this hands down, but then again, anything can happen…

So one game is already underway, and hopefully the next 14 get off without any starting goalies tripping over rugs… Legace, idiot.

NHL Play-Offs: Round Two

Alright, so as I’ve found out, doing this, following the post-season, and writing finals all at the same time is harder then I thought, but with one final to go… I should be able to balance it out better. Onto the play-offs!

First Round Review

• Eastern Conference
  • MON vs. BOS: I chose Montreal in 5, and figured they would walk right through this series… MON took it in 7 and Price had two bad games, which I think are outshined by his two shut-outs.
  • PIT vs. OTT: I called Pittsburgh in 6, claiming that the Sens were the biggest chokers in recent history… well I was right, the Sens are big chokers… bigger then I thought they were. PIT swept.
  • WAS vs. PHI: I picked Washington in 7, and they were one shot away from making that happen, but the Flyers persevered in 7.
  • NJ vs. NYR: I really thought Brodeur would carry the Devils through when I picked them in 6, didn’t really think that NYR would for the most part, manhandle the Devils in 5.
• Western Conference
  • DET vs. NAS: I underestimated Ellis in this when I picked the Wings to sweep the Preds, but other than one wicked bounce… Ellis was spectacular,  but wasn’t enough to get the Preds through as they lost in 6.
  • SJ vs. CGY: I picked the Sharks in 7, and I feel as though they are lucky to have pulled it out after blowing a 3-0 lead in Game 3. But they did, and won in 7.
  • MIN vs. COL: I picked this one completely by guessing, and was biased because my Dad’s team are the Avs, so I chose them in 6, and low and behold, they won in 6.
  • ANA vs. DAL: I really thought that the experience of the Ducks would make it impossible for the Stars to win when I picked Ducks in 5… turns out Dallas won in 6, and the Ducks never had a chance!

So in the end, I finished with a 5-3 record and I called 2 of the 5 in the correct number of games. Not bad… but not good at the same time, hopefully the second round is better for me.

Second Round Predictions

• Eastern Conference
  • MON vs. PHI: While Briere hauled ass in the 1st Round, he wasn’t playing against Komisarek, Markov, & Price. I expect his production to stall, and I believe the Habs too much depth and speed for the Flyers to handle. Canadiens in 6.
  • PIT vs. NYR: I was pulling for the Pens vs. Caps, because that would have just been epic, but now this. This is a completely different match-up for the Rangers, and while I under estimated their depth last round, I seriously doubt that they can bring it when they are forced to play defensively. Pittsburgh in 7.
• Western Conference
  • DET vs. COL: Let’s call this one the “Senior Men’s Cup”. Colorado’s average age is 26.7 while the Wings clock in at 28.2; two of the oldest teams in the league. Still though, I think the wings pull it off and Theodore can’t keep playing like this… can he? Detroit in 6.
  • SJ vs. DAL: The Sharks could be tired after the physical series with the Flames, and the Stars disposed of the Ducks with ease. The Stars showed that they will not be intimidated and that they can apparently handle anything. Dallas in 7.

So there you have it, I am looking for a Montreal/Pittsburgh Eastern Final, and a Detroit/Dallas Western Final. Now I have to go back to studying.