Random rants or posts by a Brown Guy who is not always Angry.
I asked this on my Facebook, Twitter and Gchat earlier so I might as well put it up here as well.
Question: Can you rank these teams according to their tv share in the NY/NJ market: Mets, Yankees, Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Nets and Knicks.
No prizes but you can pat yourself on the back knowing you got it right before anyone else.
If I need hockey news from someone I know personally, it is usually down to three people and two of which I went to high school with. One of those two has written a guest post on the upcoming NHL playoffs that get underway on Wednesday with 3 Eastern Conference series and 1 from the Western Conference.
I have bolded his series predictions below and added mine [in blue]. I think it just might be a nice contest throughout the playoffs to see who predicts the series more accurately.
Here is an analysis from Rusty Moke who is an avid hockey fan since as long as I can remember and has been in attendance for more hockey games this year alone than I even I got to watch:
The NHL playoffs are finally upon us; if 82 games weren’t enough get ready for a couple more. Now, I’m no NHL scout or hockey analyst, (just an old high school buddy of a specific angry brown guy, who I’d like to thank for making room for me in his intelligent blog) but as an avid hockey fan/player you might be able to find a morsel or two of decent predictions among all of my ranting.
There are 8 different matchups, so I’ll make it short and sweet for each one.
(8) Montreal vs (1) Boston – The Bruins have surged forward this season, from 8th playoff seed last year to 1st this year. The Canadiens have limped down the stretch, Markov is injured, and Price needs another year or two to become an outstanding goaltender. Although I believe Boston is overrated and Tim Thomas is garbage, I’ll say Boston wins the series 4-1. [Boston – 4-2]
(7) New York (R) vs (2) Washington – My hatred of the Rangers aside, they are going to have a tough time with the Caps. Washington has too much firepower for Lundqvist to handle between Ovie, Semin, Green, and Backstrom. Theodore is Washington’s weak point, but the Rangers season long scoring problems shouldn’t give him much of a problem. Having the #1 penalty kill in the league doesn’t win games. Washington sweeps 4-0. [Washington – 4-2]
(6) Carolina vs (3) New Jersey – I’m obviously going to be biased towards the Devils. Yes, we’ve had problems with the Canes all season long. Yes, since Marty broke the record he hasn’t been at the top of his game. But, Marty finally has rest and we have too much history with Carolina to drop this game. Keep an eye on Babchuk, he’ll make things interesting. NJ wins in 7. [Carolina – 4-3]
(5) Philadelphia vs (4) Pittsburgh – Not much to say here. Since the coaching change Pittsburgh has been nearly unstoppable. Everyone recognizes the names Crosby and Malkin. Philadelphia has always been an unpredictable team, I don’t think they can hold onto this series, Biron isn’t very reliable. Pittsburgh wins 4-1. [Pittsburgh – 4-2]
(8) Anaheim vs (1) San Jose– Not much to say here, get out your brooms. Keep an eye on Cheechoo. San Jose in 4. [San Jose – 4-1]
(7) Columbus vs (2) Detroit – Look no further for an upset. Columbus has fought too hard to lose to the Wings in their first post season appearance. Osgood isn’t as good as he is made out to be, Nash’s leadership is better than Datsyuk’s. Mason isn’t done with shutouts this season. Columbus in 7. [Detroit – 4-1]
(6) St. Louis vs (3) Vancouver – The Canucks faltered during the middle of the season, they won’t during the playoffs. Congrats to the Blues for making it to the playoffs, they better enjoy it while it lasts. Luongo has this one. Vancouver wins 4-2. [St. Louis 4-2]
(5) Calgary vs (4) Chicago – Another close series. Chicago has youth; they can make a run at the cup next year. Calgary’s trades this year were invaluable. Calgary wins 4-3. [Calgary 4-1]
Don’t go placing bets on my predictions, but then again who knows. The playoffs always find some way to keep things interesting. My cup prediction: New Jersey vs Calgary. That’s probably biased, but I’ve seen it all season.
I will probably add my own analysis tomorrow but once again big time appreciation and thanks to Rusty for some fantastic analysis. Once again, if any of you wanna jump in and add your predicitions, feel free to comment below and just let either me or Rusty know wha you think of the guest post.
I usually don’t like posting very much about the Devils since I despise them with pretty much every ounce blood in me but there was something yesterday that I just couldn’t pass up. So here is an old friend of mine from high school who has gone to more New Jersey Devils games than anyone else I know. Just turns out that all that paid off yesterday as he was in attendance for Martin Brodeur’s return in which he blanked the Colorado Avalanche 4-0.
Brodeur’s win which his seven of the season now puts him at 545 for his spectacular career, leaving him just six shy of Patrick Roy’s NHL record of 551. He also recorded his third shutout of the season and 99th of his career, which puts him four short of Terry Sawchuk’s all-time NHL mark of 103.
Congrats Rusty, he seemed in pretty good form for being out how ever many months he was out.
If you wanna follow a team that is doing remarkable, record shattering stuff right now, then you need to follow the San Jose Sharks. After 30 games, they are 25-3-2. They have gotten 52 points out of a possible 60 points and have played only 3 games where they did not pick up a single point. How does that even happen, especially in the NHL now which has so much parity due to the salary cap structure. There are 3 other teams who have 6 or less losses after 29 games this season (Blackhawks, Bruins, Red Wings) all three of which just happen to be Original Six teams.
I don’t know why but I only seem to talk about hockey about once every blue moon but here is the shootout from last night’s Leafs/Devils game. I don’t get to watch too much hockey now but I make to sure catch some of it when the Leafs are playing one of the local teams since they are on tv so I caught the game yesterday. It was a pretty tightly contested one where both teams could have put this one away in regulation but even after overtime they were tied so here is the shooutout.
The entire shootout clip is the second one but if you don’t have time (or even 4 minutes) to watch all 8 shots, here are the two top clips from the Leafs’ end. Just beauties – especially the Jason Blake shot (second shot in the first clip).
The entire shootout (after the break): Continue reading “Sharks Talk… Some Leafs Too”