First Round Wrap-Up

Time flies when you're watching other teams play in the postseason.

It's hard to believe that the first round of the NHL playoffs is already over, but it's time to look back on my predictions and see just how terribly woring I was.

Eastern Conference

* Boston over Montreal (4 games): I predicted a sweep by the Bruins, and that's exactly what we got. I didn't watch much of this series; there were too many thoughts of "what if" the Sabres could have snuck in and faced a team that they had a winning record against.

*Washington over NY Rangers (7 games): I picked the Caps, but I thought it would only take them 5 games to overtake the Rags. I really didn't care how long it took them; it was actually a lot sweeter to see the "best leader in sports" Chris Drury watch his team lose a 3-1 series lead.

*Carolina over NJ (7 games): I was proud of myself for calling the seven-game series, but I was so unhappy by the way it ended:

I HATE seeing the Hurricanes happy over anything. This should never have happened. Never. I'm still to shocked and appalled to write anything else about it right now.

* Pittsburgh over Philadelphia (6 games): Just as with the last series, I predicted the right number of games, but was disappointed with the winner. I really liked the Flyers this season, but now we have to deal with endless Crosby vs. Ovechkin talk for the next round. Ugh...

Western Conference

* Anaheim over San Jose (6 games): Just further proof that any team I pick to win anything will lose in shocking fashion. Not only did I think the Sharks would win the series, I picked them to finally win the Cup. I should have known better; there just wasn't enough fierce competitiveness needed to drive those players to the greater toughness needed for the postseason. At least when the Sabres won the President's Trophy they made it to the Conference Finals...

*Detroit over Columbus (4 games): Just like Boston in the East, a sweep here was not too hard to predict. I really hoped Columbus would make it a series, but Detroit is a proven winner for a reason.

*Vancouver over St. Louis (4 games): I was pleasantly surprised to see this sweep. Vancouver is a dangerous team right now, and I really hope they can ride that far into this postseason. They have to do their damage this year; there are too many free agents on this team for success like this to be guaranteed again.

* Chicago over Calgary (6 games): Again, I picked the right length but the wrong winner. Chicago was just too offensively potent for a Flames team that took too many penalties in games when it mattered the most. As much as I love Patty Kane, Jarome Iginla has a lot fewer years left to win a Cup. I really hope someday he gets rewarded for all his leadership.

This round cemented my love for Jarome Iginla. No offense, Craig Rivet, but he is, without a doubt, the best captain in the NHL today. See Game Four of the series if you need proof. He took the team on his back - he wanted to win and he played in a way that ensured that he would get what he wanted.

Ok, now that my "Iggy love-fest" is over, it's time to turn my attention to the next round. Predictions should be up sometime tonight or tomorrow afternoon.

Until then, how did you do on your first round picks?

Ryan Miller Love-Fest

I was looking through some of my past posts, and I've realized something very unfortunate.

I do not mention Ryan Miller nearly enough on this blog.

As I've said before, I feel extremely protective of our wonderfully quirky goalie. I love that he's our guitar-playing, picture-taking, deep-thinking goalie.

This weekend has provided me with the perfect opportunity to bring my love for Ryan to the forefront once again. He was a rock for us, stealing the shootout win over the Rangers and keeping us in it against the dreaded Red Wings until the very end. With 43 saves Friday and 45 on Saturday, Ryan deserves to keep the Pigeon of the Game for as long as he wants it.

I only wish the team could have gotten at least a point for Ryan's effort in Detroit because he had so many family members and friends there.

I guess I'd rather not talk about last night's game because I'll have fits if I try to articulate my anger at being unable to hold on for 2 minutes.

Instead, I'd like to talk about Friday's exhilarating win over the Rangers. If ever there was a time to use everyone's favorite cliche of "poetic justice," it was the second that Chris Drury grabbed the puck at center ice and began skating towards Miller.

Photo courtesy of The Buffalo News

There it was, right in front of us - the man who left versus the man who stayed. The man who turned his back on an adoring city versus the man who has embraced Buffalo with all of his heart. For one night, the Buffalo guy came out on top. The quietly intense goalie who said he'd give up all of his money for a Stanley Cup in Buffalo proved that, if only for a moment, karma could work out in our favor.

My best friend and I went to practice on Friday morning, and we could tell then that Ryan was going to have a good night. It was the loosest I'd ever seen him. He was shooting pucks into the boards to startle everyone watching, practicing puck-handling with Goose, and playing faceoff judge between Goose and Pommer.

The Trio huddles with James Patrick to discuss how awesome they are.

The best part of practice, though, was when Ryan decided that he was actually going to take draws against his fellow Trio members. Goose and Pommer looked like they didn't believe him at first, but Ryan proved just how multi-talented he truly is by actually winning a faceoff (Does that just mean that Goose and Pommer were really bad at draws?).

In conclusion, Ryan Miller is getting a lot of credit right now, and I would just like to say that it is completely deserved. On that completely unoriginal note, I present two final pictures of Millsey from Friday's practice (if you want to see the rest of my pictures, click here for my Facebook album):

Even though last night's loss still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, I'm looking forward to Wednesday's game in Chicago. If Ryan Miller is in goal, I like our chances against just about anyone right now.

Things That Make Me Happy...

Thomas Vanek. Thomas Vanek on the PP. Thomas Vanek on the PK. Thomas Vanek on pace to now score 136.67 (ish) goals this season.

Beating the Rangers. Beating the Rangers in New York. Beating the Rangers to hand them their first loss and get Lindy's 400th win. Beating the Rangers at their own defensive game.

Watching Thomas Vanek beat Chris Drury to seal the game and hearing him specifically mention that in his postgame interview. Watching Chris Drury lose to the boys he left behind.

Seeing the desire and effort in this team so far this season and having the feeling it's not going to let up any time soon.

My Unsung Hero of the Game goes to Lindy Ruff. Many congratulations on your 400th win and even more congratulations for getting everyone to buy into team defense this year. I honestly was ready to see us lose this one, and I am so proud that they proved me (and pretty much everyone else) wrong.


More to come when I'm not falling asleep at the keyboard.