Next Rnd Stanley Cup Predictions!

So during the first round we picked 7 of 8 winners but not all in the right amount of games.
Here goes for the next round!

Eastern Conference:

Pittsburgh in 7 over the Capitols
Boston in 6 over the Hurricanes

Western Conference:

Detroit in 6 over the Ducks*
Vancouver in 6 over the Blackhawks

* this series could go either way.  but we’ll go with the depth of the Wings over the depth of the Ducks.

Bobby Lou! How Do U Do?

Well not only do we feel better that we ranted yesterday about scrums and got that monkey off our backs, the  Vancouver Canucks also won a feel-good victory last night over the Carolina Hurricanes.  Yep, the once Mighty Canes got whipped by the capable Nucks!  (ok we kid about the Canes being mighty which means no1 should be getting stupid excited about 1win.)  Mats Sundin had his first multi-point nite of the year & other than stumblin’ once over his own skates & a blown pass back to his D Men, actually had his first decent game.  The determined look on his face after his wrap-around goal spoke volumes that the passion is returning in step with the rust falling off. Woodpeck fave, Alex Burrows scored the dramatic short-handed winner & in his post game comments totally gave all the credit to his teammates.  Nice on ya Alx! 

Of concern was Bobby Lou’s shaky netminding.  He looked horrid on Pitkanen’s goal thru the 5 hole and from then on it seemed like he was playing on marbles.  BL’s hasn’t impressed much since his return from injury and Woodpeck is wondering what the issue might be.  Is the injury still not 100%?  Is it too much for him to be the captain & deal with those responsibilities while trying to prepare for a game?  Does he not have confidence in himself and/or his defence?  Is his head not quite in the game?  Is he wondering that he could be injured again at any moment?  Something is amiss with him.  The sooner the issue comes to light, the sooner we can sleep easier at night.  Admiting there’s a problem is the first step to a solution & resolution BL!

Time for a doughnut breakie! The shoppe is finally open & we need the energy to devise a way to get AV away from the bench…

We’re Going to Use This Win as a Building Block.

Here’s what we’ve got on our mind today:

• The IA trade wildcard in the matter appears to be that of Piston Coach, Michael Curry.  The rookie coach appeared slightly unconfident, unprepared and nervous when talking to reporters about the trade.  This is the guy that is supposed to lead the team to the promised land? His resume says differently (ie: praise for his leadership qualities, demeanour, etc) so maybe it was just a bad day at the office for Mr. Curry or something.  Regardless, we plan on closely monitoring his courtside manner tonight in Toronto to see what the real deal is. 
• The Wellwood Story in Vancouver is great.  Kudos to the guy for coming back from the minors and clearing waivers to lead the team to victory with some sweet goals.  Sometimes its not the goals themselves but how they were scored that matters.  That was the case last night.  Now we won’t jump on his bandwagon quite yet.  But if he could begin to contribute regularily that would be a start. That way we can at least stop worrying about him being in the lineup. 6 goals to lead the team is a decent way to get into our good books!  Keep ‘em coming!
• A good feature on Carolina Hurricanes’ Dan LaCouture coming back from the brink and now back in the NHL at age 31.
• The NHL numbers are in for October.  All positive it seems.  The most striking number is that the Chicago Blackhawks attendence is up a whopping 71%.  Was it really that bad there?  Guess so.
• It would be great to ollie around the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay.  Its close but not close enough.  Good on Tbay for getting a sk8park!  Check out the construction pics here!
• Finally, guys and girls take note of the Language of Beer survey results.  What does YOUR BEER say about you?  More things to consider when out at your fave watering spot!