Salt on Monday

It’s been a busy start of summer here at SOM – and yes our heads have gotten big enough that we can refer to ourselves in the third person with a cool acronym – with work going nuts, and my fiancé trying to see how long this old man can work seven days a week without collapsing.

( My betrothed has taken on a Rachel Ray quote - “I like to work like an Ox” - as her personal mantra. Aside from my personal belief that Ms Ray is the love child of John Madden and Martha Stewart, her mantra is killing this particular Ox…)

Thankfully there is precious little going on in the sports world at this time. They have apparently canceled the Cup finals, and no one is going to stop San Antonio from grabbing another NBA title, so that’s it for Salt this week. See you all next week….

Bye!

See ya at training camp!

*$^*&%^#(*!!!!

Fine then.





While walking home from getting Loblaws billionaire owner Galen Weston to sell me two primo sandwiches for the price of one my gleeful reverie was interrupted by the sight of an Ottawa Senator banner flying large and in charge on the second floor of a duplex on my Beloved Dupont street.

I stopped in my tracks. My worst nightmare had come true. (Well, actually my worst nightmare involves the ghost of Harold Ballard returning to run the Leafs, that is if he doesn’t get the Iraq War Czar position first...)

The HATED Ottawa Senators have made the cup final.

Truly, it isn’t that bad when you think about it, having the hated Sens reach the final. Add to that Blackberry Billionaire Jim Balsillie – J Ball from the west side Yo! – threatening to put a team in Southern Ontario and we finally might have the perfect storm for forcing the Maple Leaf Money machine to think about putting a winning tradition.

But then I see that two tower condo monster (The Residence at Maple Leaf Square) is 99% sold and I realize that there will be so much money floating around MLSE that they won’t care if the Leafs finish first or last or if they only sell twenty thousand jerseys instead of thirty thousand. So until Richard Pettie stops unzipping the Teachers Pension Fund and/or his feud with chairman of the board Larry Tanenbaum comes to an end and they give the job of Hockey operations to a G.M. who won’t be cowed by the money and influence - Brian Burke come on down – floating around the MLSE offices, we will be stuck with a team that has more money than hope.

I digress.

I said earlier that no one was going to stop the Ottawa team except for a Detroit team with Hasek standing on his head. Well, I was wrong there cause it seems that JS Gigeure has his playoff mojo back and outplayed the legendary Hasek in their recent match up. The Ducks also have no problems matching the Sens in outright surliness and cheap shots, so I am predicting a final that will be as physically tough as any we have seen in recent years.

The Match ups

Duck Defence vs Senator Defence.




Those who have followed my playoff predictions will remember that I called Chris Phillips the leading candidate for the honorary ‘Darien Hatcher Rolling Stick Violation Award’, but I left out Chris Pronger in my calculations. As mean as Phillips has become (and as cavalier as he has become about it) he still might have a way to go to match the well trained elbows of Mr Pronger. The 6’6” native of Dryden Ontario is a nasty bit of work as evidenced by his attempt to crush Tomas Holmstroms head with his elbow. The fact that the refs didn’t see the blow is nothing new, as Pronger is a master at using his massive frame to hide fouls.
The Ducks also have a Norris trophy guy named Scott Niedermayer along with the up and coming Francois Beauchemin as their second and third best defensemen. Niedermayer is perhaps the best offensive defenseman in the league, but has been hit and miss this playoff season. His good games have been great, and his bad games have been Brian McCabesque – Leaf fans you know what I’m talking about, those games where McCabe goes running around looking to jump into the rush while letting forwards stream by him in the transition game.

The rest of the Ducks defence – Huskins, DiPenta and whoever - , are a bunch of guys who get the eight to nine minutes of ice time scraps that Pronger, Niedermayer, and Beauchemin - O’Donnell too – leave to them.
Look for these guys to play the last three of four minutes of any blow out games.

The Ottawa Defence is deep and solid.
Phillips has gone all Anakin Skywalker and decided to use his skating ability for evil and his shut down partner Anton Volchenkov has blocked more shots than Leaf starting goaltender Andrew Raycroft.
Joe (Who?) Corvo has found the mark and his 4.8 shooting percentage on forty three shots on goal in the playoffs has nowhere to go but up. His partner Tom Preissing is the invisible man in these playoffs; he hasn’t made any mistakes and he hasn’t made any noticeable plays. The third pairing is Wade Redden and Andrei Meszaros.
The third pairing.
Redden and Meszaros.
That’s really really deep.
The Ottawa defensemen all average about 20 minutes a game.

Who has the edge? The depth and consistency of Ottawa or the Norris Trophy pair on Anaheim. Well Anaheim has two players who can play at a level that Ottawa just can’t match.

Edge: Anaheim

Forwards

Everyone knows about Ottawa’s big line. The Heatly/Spezza/Alfredsson line is playing as well as any line in recent playoff history. Heatly is flying right now, and is using his size to get scoring opportunities – lord knows he isn’t using his size to check anyone.. – and his finishing ability is only matched by Jason Spezza’s set up skills and on ice vision. Add to this Daniel Alfredsson who is playing like a man possessed and you have a solid playoff fact.

This line can’t be stopped.

That wasn’t easy for me to say believe me, (I think I threw up a little in my mouth),
but the facts are there.
You can’t stop this line.
You can only hope to contain them.

They have gone from impressive to unstoppable in these playoffs. They will get three to four quality scoring chances every game while they are playing at this level – and they have been converting those chances at about a 75% clip so far. Not even the menacing Chris Pronger will be able to shut them down. The only guy who can shut down the HAS line – HAS? ASH? SHA? I got nothing here people… - is Jean Sebastian……more on that in a minute.

As well as the HAS line is playing, the rest of the Ottawa forwards have to be given credit also. I hate the sight of them, but Fisher, McAmmond, Sheaffer, and Kelly are like buzzing bees that keep a hard fore check on the opposition and pot the occasional goal. I forsee the Ottawa irritants dumping the puck into Prongers corner in an attempt to wear him down. The series will hinge in part on this. If the Ottawa irritants – basically any forward not on the HAS line – can take a few good runs at Pronger and get him off the ice or off his game then it’s parade time in the nations capital.

The Duck forwards aren’t as celebrated, but they are something that Ottawa hasn’t seen yet this playoff season and that is they are BIG.
And they play big.
No Eric Daze softies here, these guys were running through that depleted Red Wing Defence as if they weren’t there. Getzlaf, Moen, Perry, and Rob Niedermeyer are integral parts of the Anaheim attack. They are young, fast, strong, and BIG. These four average 6’2” 208lbs with skating skills. The Ottawa Defence won’t be able to feast on this group like they did with the munchkin courage deficient forwards from Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Even New Jersey doesn’t have forwards with this kind of jam.

Add in the venerable Teemu Selanne, and Andy McDonald and you have a team that is a solid three lines deep. Problem for The Ducks is that Ottawa is Four lines deep and the top line is unstoppable.

Edge: Ottawa

And finally we get to goaltending.
As always in the new NHL, the final tournament seems to hinge on the play of the goalkeeper. And no goal keeper has played better this spring than……Ray Emery.

Yes Ray Emery.

He has played every minute in goal for the Senators and comes out with a sparkling .919 save percentage. Emery will give up the occasional early bad goal. He will let a big rebound out from time to time, but like that other famous money goalie Grant Fuhr, Emery has been money during crunch time. He won’t be swayed by the big Anaheim forwards crashing the net, in fact I predict an Emery / Coery Perry/ Rob Niedermeyer fight sometime in the first two games.

JS Giguere just knocked off the Dominator, so how can I pick Ray Emery over Jean Sebastian who even boasts Stanley Cup Final experience. Well, JS has been knocked out of a few games this spring and if anyone is going to get a goalie all twisted up and left with a shattered psyche it is the Ottawa Senators and their big HAS line.

So saying that, it is with full nausea and personal disgust that I have to pick the Ottawa Senators over the Anaheim Ducks in six bone crushing, rock-em-sock-em playoff hockey games.

I really hate the Leafs right now……

Game III Live Blog

Here we go into game three in this series, and if you listen closely, you can hear the sounds of the Ottawa fans breaking body parts jumping off the bandwagon. The city has to be one of the most fragile in terms of fan psyche in North America.

6:11
Pittsburgh fans show they can be just as classless as the next bunch of yokels as they boo the Canadian anthem. Can we dispense with the anthem playing before sporting events already?

6:12
Crosby, Armstrong, and Roberts score 51 seconds into the first period on a rush and the Pittsburgh arena loses it.

6:14
The Pittsburgh fans start going after the Ottawa goalie with the ‘Emmmmry, Emmmmry’ chant.

6:16
If the Ottawa fan base was jittery before the start of the game, they must be in a full blown panic at this point. Hey, we are three minutes into the game and the refs haven’t called a penalty yet?

6:19
Hmmm, there doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency from the Ottawa players. Roberts just took a run at Volchenkov and got the worst of it, but even that doesn’t seem to wake the Senators up. You would think the series wasn’t tied at one game each.

6:22
Hey, Malkin is showing up early in this game. None of this can be good for the Senators.

6:23
Ottawa seems to want to go the wide open route the evening, which will lead to yet another wide open shoot out type of game. This plays into Pittsburghs hands as their young players don’t have the ability to stay with Ottawa in a tight defensive style of play. Staal and Crosby have both had nice scoring chances on the rush. If Ottawa isn’t careful, we might remember them as the team that the Penguin dynasty came into it’s own against.

6:25
Something Chris just said to me on the phone is also something that I agree with; for a 6’3” 216 lb winger, Dany Heatly is the biggest small man in the NHL. Martin StLouis plays with more edge than Heatly. Hell, Jason Spezza plays with more grit.

6:35
Heatly kills an promising Ottawa power play with a silly cross checking penalty.

6:38
Pittsburgh is all over the Senators during the Power Play. Where is that Ottawa team from game 1? The one with all that discipline? The team with the elightning fast transition game? Where did they go?

6:45
Ottawa kills a penalty and now they tie the game with a bit of a garbage-jam-the-net kind of goal. At this point I don’t think the Sens would care if the goal came from a Zamboni malfunction.

6:49
First period is over. I don’t know why Ottawa is going with the wide open style. Pittsburgh can play wide open all night long, so can the Sens, but why not play to the Penguins weakness instead of their strength? At this point Pittsburgh is determining the style of play and the Senators are trying to adapt to it.

6:53
Coaches corner. Hoo boy….

6:54
We open Coaches corner with a close up of his Sylvester and Tweety tie. Then he goes on to praise Emery. Wow. Never though I would see the day that happened.
Cherry calls out the Ottawa defense. Hey, I been saying that for two games now.
Cherry goes on to praise Chris Neil who went from a ‘dummy fighter’ to a real hockey player. Unfortunately they also show Neil crosschecking Crosby who was covered while the uncovered Roberts puts the puck in the net.
He goes on to show how Gary Roberts is doing his best to get into the officials heads during every break in action. Of course we end Coaches Corner with one of Ron McLean’s patented terribly unfunny puns. I would repeat it, but you don’t need that kind of crap in your life do you?

7:10
Second period starts and two minutes and thirty seconds in the Senators get their forecheck on and get the go ahead goal from Mike Comrie. Ottawa is pouncing on any neutral zone errors by the Penguins.

7:14
Crosby steals the puck from Corvo and scores, but Roberts is teaching Spezza some respect for the elderly and the whistle had blown so the goal is disallowed.

7:17
Joe Corvo walks in alone on Fleury when Gonchar slips and takes out the othe Pitt defenseman, Eaton. Fleury stones him with a toe save and you have to think that any jitters from his game one gaffes are gone, gone, gone.

7:18
Well Malkin came to play tonight, unfortunately he didn’t come to skate and gets a second penalty tonight for hooking.

7:19
Ottawa defenseman Corvo misses a mile wide on one shot and hit Fleury between the nipples on another. Why is he the Power play quarterback?

7:21
Alfredsson beats Fleury shortside with one that should have been stopped. Lets see how the Pens respond to this latest adversary.

7:26
Patrick Eaves gets nailed coming around the net. He is lying on the ice and hasn’t moved yet. McAmmond and Talbot stage the obligatory stick-up-for-your-teammate fight.

7:30
Through the commercial break I still haven’t seen Eaves move.

7:31
Saw Eaves talk and move his hands as they take him off on a stretcher. The announcers are saying that Colby Armstrong hit Eaves in the Head with his shoulder, but Armstrong did not head hunt, and the hit was clean. That’s Hockey. Real hockey, not that fighting nonsense.
Lets see what this break does for these two teams. Seeing a player lying on the ice motionless has got to be distracting.

7:34
Malkin and Crosby are back on the same line. Lets see if Malkin can stop getting penalties and start causing scoring chances.

7:42
Somewhere between the called back Crosby goal, and the Armstrong hit on Eaves, the Penguins have decided to start playing shinny and their defense has disappeared.

7:46
The Penguin power play has turned into ‘lets see what Sydney can make happen..’

7:47
The pens blow their power play and Ottawa scores shorthanded. Ottawa has put it to the Penguins defense and they Pit rearguards can’t handle it. CBC colour analyst is raking Sergei Gonchar over the coals for turning away from the play on a two on two rush that led to the shorthanded goal. I can hear fans in Boston saying ‘it was just a matter of time..’

7:52
Second period is over and the Pens have taken a step back. The Ottawa team absorbed the Penguin burst in the first period, and came out in the second with a commitment to neutral zone pressure and defensive zone spacing. The Penguins tried to get the Senators to start runnin’ and gunnin’ but all that led to was more turnovers and Ottawa goals.

7:54
Chris Neil just gave Elliot Freidman what will probably turnout to be the most expensive interview of his career. Neil used the word ‘payback’ three times in reference to the Colby Armstrong hit on Patrick Eaves. Even the NHL officiating office won’t miss that fine. I’ve seen WWE interviews that had less threats.

7:55
Look! It’s my favourite minor celebrity crush and the Casino Rama commercial!! ‘Work it, work it on the islands…’

7:57
Oooo! A second edition of Coaches corner! How did we get so lucky?

8:14
Third period, and it seems that neither team wants to prolong this game as the first 6 minutes has flown by seemingly in real time. The Sens blew a three goal lead to Pittsburgh late in the regular season. Not much indication of that happening here.

8:17
That poker star commercial – the one that is offering ‘Canada’s seat in the world poker championships – is on again. Now I think we will be looking back at this poker craze in about ten years and say ‘what the hell were we thinking? It’s a stupid card game fercrissakes!’ In the annals of embarrassing popular culture, perhaps the recent poker craze will only be topped by the even more embarrassing pet rock era. (Oh just google it or ask your mom.)

8:22
Ottawa hacks Crosby’s glove off of his hand and the ref reluctantly calls a penalty. The Pens don’t come close to scoring and have managed to blow their last chance at making this game close.

The Penguins are an interesting team in that they are so loaded with young talent, you just kind of watch and wait for their eventual ascension to the top of the league. But tonight, yesterdays talented young team is showing them what they learned on their journey up the NHL ladder. The Pens aren’t there yet, but I can’t think of a single hockey fan that doesn’t think that they will eventually get to the top of the NHL.

8:33
Malkin and Crosby work a nice give and go and Crosby scores. Five minutes left and maybe we have life in this game yet. Crosby jumped past Volchenkov on his way to the net as if Volly was standing still. The kid is fast AND quick.

8:37
Ottawa’s Chris Schubert runs Scuderi into the endboards like a runaway train. Pitt has a powerplay coming, if the refs don’t cal lthe even up penalty on Pittsburgh. Andddddd the ref evens it up.

8:40
Chris Phillips mauls Crosby yet again and to his defense come… Evegeni Malkin? Malkin leaps at Phillips like a 12 year old grandson whos’ bubbe just walked down the arrivals ramp at the Airport. I was waiting for Malkin to wrap his legs around Phillips and snuggle into his neck.


8:45
The Senators kept the young Penguins at bay with a commitment to neutral zone discipline and an end to some silly defensive zone gaffes. Oh, and run Sydney Crosby at every opportunity because the refs won’t call it.

Let us not forget the play of Ray Emery who came up with quite a few timely saves – including a dive across the crease to stop a Malkin shot late in the third. Ottawa wasn’t firing on all cylinders, although the Penguins didn’t put up a sustained effort this day.
(Don Cherry comes out and claims that Crosby won’t get calls because he embellishes hits and complains to the Refs too much. How it is Crosbys fault that the Refs won’t call fouls on him is beyond me but I don’t have that single game of NHL experience that Cherry has so, let us not belabor that point.) Pittsburgh needs to get some inspired play from Jordan Staal, and Evegeni Malkin on a far more consistent basis. They need to get some disciplined play from their defense and they need Fleury to stop giving the Senators a cheapie goal almost every game. What’s happened to Mark Recchi? Where are the timely goals from a third line plugger that a team needs for playoff success? The Senators are more than happy to concentrate on Crosby and Roberts if the rest of the Penguins won’t do more than stand around and wait for a play to be made by the two forwards who are playing as if they realize that this is an elimination tournament.

Game 2 Live Blog!!

3:19
Yes we are a little late on this game, but life has a way of getting in the way of stuff. Either that or I am a champion procrastinator, take your pick. Anyway they just dropped the puck and Crosby and the kids were on the bench. Seems like Therrien is awake this afternoon.

3:24
The Ottawa crowd is booing Crosby every time he touches the puck. (Yeah cause Sidney is such a bad guy, he rips the city of Ottawa mercilessly, and he hates everything about Ottawa. What? None of that is true? Well that must mean that Ottawa has a classless bunch of small minded yokels as fans.)

3:25
Pittsburgh scores on the Powerplay. Crosby makes a nice pass while taking crosscheck #44 in the back from Chris Phillips – who is trying desperately to take Derian Hatchers number one position on the ‘dirty hacker’ list.
Of course the Ottawa crowd boos Crosby.

3:33
Phillips, realizing that the NHL refs have swallowed their whistle on all fouls regarding Sidney, has taken to following Crosby all over the ice and cheap shotting him. This is what is wrong with the NHL. Any other sport would go the extra mile to make sure that their meal ticket for the next ten years isn’t getting mauled with every stride, but no, let’s make the kid run the gauntlet for a few years. I am not asking for special treatment or ‘Jordan Rules’, at the same time Ottawa is hitting him three strides after he has passed the puck and TWO guys are hitting him. I hate NHL refs. This is why there is fighting in the sport still.

3:38
6’, 3” 227lb Christoph Schubert bumps into 5’, 11” 193 lbs Maxime Talbot and falls to the ice and hits his head. Ottawa coach Bryan Murray is livid. Ottawa, the short sighted capital of the western hemisphere.

3:44
Fleury has been solid in the Pittsburgh goal. The Penguins are doing a much better job getting into the Ottawa zone by dumping the puck deep then pressing the defensemen for the puck. Coach Therrien is fully awake today.
The game is also on NBC, and I was going to switch back and forth from the CBC feed to NBC, but I don’t want to mock the NBC coverage this early in the playoffs. Maybe in the second period.

3:48
Eveginy Malkin sighting! Everybody drink!
At least he made the game this afternoon. I guess someone set his alarm correctly this time.

3:51
55 year old Mark Recchi loses his helmet mixing it up in the Ottawa zone. Recchi is 5’10 and 190lbs with a microwave on his shoulder. He took a Phillips two hander to the chops, but he bounces back up and makes sure he gets the number of cheap shot artist Phillips before rushing back into the play. Recchi is 39 years old. That, my friends, is a Hockey Player.


3:56
Ottawa Powerplay. A legitimate hold.
At least the refs haven’t ruined this game like they did the last one.
The Ottawa crowd is chanting Fleury’s name, but the Goaltender has been solid today.

3:59
Phillips highsticks Crosby in the throat. Sid doesn’t go down, but gives a Phillips a shot on the end boards. The period ends. Crosby complains to the refs. Refs could care less. I hate the NHL for this.
How does that officiating meeting go?
‘Okay guys, lets wait a few years before we call legitimate cheap shots on Sidney Crosby, just to keep him humble, OK?’

4:02
Uh oh. Here Comes Don Cherry and the bark a thon Coaches Corner!! Lets see what stick enabler Ron McLean pokes him with today.

4:05
Cherry claims that Crosby accentuates the fouls that are committed on him, and the refs won’t call it cause they feel he is showing them up. See Sid! When you take that stick to the throat just pretend it didn’t happen. Then they will call the penalty. What a great league!

4:07
Cherry show a series of fights to refute the notion that there is no fighting in the playoffs. He has the replay stop to show a group of girls at rinkside cheering the players on.
So there you have it, irrefutable evidence that fighting is good for the game. Don makes such convincing arguments. People like pro wrestling also, so why don’t we give the players nicknames and have a ring set up at the side of the rink so goon can really get it on. People will love that!!


Second period.

4:18
I haven’t said much about him, but Ray Emery has been a rock for the Senators. The Pitt goal today was a lucky deflection. Ottawa seems to have solved their ‘tender problem for a while.

4:21
Fisher hacks Fleury like a lumberjack. Then gives another Penguin a glove to the chin after the whistle. He is doing his irritant best to get under the skin of the Penguins. Does any other sport tolerate irritants to the level that hockey does?
Ottawa Power Play.

4:24
Comrie, Fisher and Neil as a power play unit. An entire irritant line. Ottawa Defensivemen Corvo and Preissing just don’t have the powerplay quarterback look about them. Coach Murray might think about putting Spezza back there for the PP.

4:25
Crosby touches the puck and gets booed.
Ottawa’s irritant line of Vermette, Fisher, and Neil starts stupid scrum #2.
Melikar and Vermette get minor penalties.

4:30
Spezza gets a goal off of a Alfredsson rebound. Tie game.Fleury had no chance on that one. Crosby gave Spezza the old ole instead of backchecking him. Not Sidneys best defensive effort.

4:34
Another Pittsburgh penalty. I’m going to switch to the NBC coverage for the Ottawa Power play.

4:36
Just saw that vonage commercial where they tout the clarity and reliability of Vonage. WHAT? Has anyone actually tried Vonage? I have a friend who has it and I know he is calling me cause I can see his number but there is no one on the other end. Why can’t they just admit it cheaper, but it isn’t as good as traditional service? Why liewhen no one is fooled?

4:38
OH MY GOD OTTAWA POWER PLAY! SHOT ON NET! TWO ON ONE!! HELD BY FLEURY!!! OH MY GOD!!!

4:39
The announcers on NBC are a little excitable.

4:41
The announcer on NBC is Screaming on EVERYPLAY THAT MIGHT BECOME A SCORING OPPORTUNITY!! His voice is starting to go he is screaming so much. Every second play he sounds as if he is going through puberty all over again.

4:44
I’m going back to CBC. The NBC guy is scaring my dog.

4:47
Colby Armstrong runs Emery. Made no attempt to avoid Emery. Ottawa Power Play. Emery skates around in circles beside the net. If they are trying to rattle Emery, it didn’t work.

4:50
Fleury STONES Alfredsson.

4:50:20
Alfredsson gets his goal this time. Pittsburgh cannot give Ottawa this many Power play opportunities. I don’t know what Therrien tells his penalty kill squad to do, but I am pretty sure it isn’t “stand around and watch Ottawa tic-tac-toe their way to a goal”.

4:53
Another Ottawa Power Play. Ottawa can ice the game here if Pittsburgh doesn’t come to life.

4:53
Ottawa has changed their PP strategy. Instead of letting Corvo and Preissing control the flow, they are keeping the puck down low where their skilled forwards can make magic with it. Smart move by Ottawa.

4:56
The second period is now over.
Pittsburgh still hasn’t figured exactly how much it is going to take to win a game in the playoffs against Ottawa. Crosby isn’t helping with his weak defensive efforts, and taking stupid retaliatory penalties will kill them. They need to mount some forechecking pressure – which has disappeared since the first period entirely – and get pressure on Emery that doesn’t consist of running him and taking a penalty. Did Malkin go home after the first period? Is he selling programs in the stands? Where is he???

Bob Errey comes on and makes some excellent points in an interview with Ron McLean
- Pittsburgh needs to get Malkin on the line with Crosby to generate some offense.
- Pittsburgh tried to be New Jersey and protect a 1-0 lead for a period and a half.
- Put Crosby on the Penalty kill and force Murray to respond with Alfredsson or Spezza.

Geez! Nice work Bob. Not bad for an old Senator.

5:14
Two seconds after the puck drops Armstrong and Comrie drop the gloves and fight. How is this still happening in this league? The replay shows the two talking before the faceoff, and then they go at it right after the play starts. That isn’t Hockey folks. Stop kidding yourselves.
5:16
Stupidity aside, if Ottawa kills this penalty this game is over.

5:18
Malkin sighting! Everybody drink!!

5:18:15
Gary Roberts scores. Emery lets a big rebound out into the slot and Mr Roberts makes him pay.

5:21
The Alfredsson, Heatly, Spezza line causes a Pittsburgh penalty. Those three are murder on the Pittsburgh defense. Therrien needs to look at some old Leaf tape and see how the Leafs stopped these guys if Pittsburgh has any chance in this series. Ottawa looks like a team that is going to do what it needs to to get to the Cup finals. They are loaded with skill players, they have 75 irritant type players who are willing to get into the face of the opposition and they go six deep on Defense. Add to that a solid Goaltender in Emery whois on the cusp of going All World, and this team is scary.

5:25
Chris Kelly jumps a Pittsburgh change and beats a screened Fleury to make it 3-2 Ottawa.
I can’t see Pittsburgh getting back into this game. I know it is only a one goal lead, but the Penguins are looking for a break instead of trying to make one, and I don’t think Ottawa will give it to them.

5:30
Crosby touches the puck. The Crowd boos.

5:31
There is the break that Pittsburgh needed. Mr Roberts nails a defensiveman and the ensuing play gets out to Rookie of the Year Jordan Staal who makes no mistake.
Game tied again.

5:37
Malkin sighting! Everybody Drin…wait a sec !!! Goal!!!! Crosby!!

5:38
Pittsburgh is trying to steal one here today. Can they hold Ottawa off? Will they find their playoff cojones here? This is why I love Hockey and the NHL playoffs.

5:39
Malkin sighting!!1 Everybody Drin…..oh, Malkin penalty.

5:40
The more this turns into a shootout, the better it is for Pittsburgh. At this point there isn’t a lead that would be safe this afternoon. Ottawa can play the shootout game, but so can Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh can’t really play the grind-it-out game as we saw in game one.

5:41
My minor celebrity crush has another commercial during the playoffs. The redhead in a chip commercial who says Jah-Lap-Pen-Oh peppers. She kills me! ( C’mon people, find out her name and email it to me!!)

5:47
Pittsburgh is playing the dump it in protect the lead game again with four minutes left. What are the chances this works out for them?

5:48
Jordan Staal is now on a line with Mr Roberts. Good move Michel Therrien. You might just have a job next year.

5:51
1:00 left in the game, the refs have swallowed their whistle but do the Pens realize it?

5:53
Fleury ROBS Mike Fisher!!

5:54
Pittsburgh steals one.

Pittsburgh stole one this afternoon, but you need to do that in the opponents’ rink to win a series if you don’t have the home ice advantage. They got Ottawa to move away from their usual tight defensive team play and turned the game into a shoot out in the third period. Gary Roberts got the Penguins going with some timely hits and just plain old heady veteran smarts. The tying goal – the break that the Penguins needed but seemed reluctant to go after - was a testament to his constantly running motor. He ran the Ottawa defenseman off of the puck behind the Ottawa goal and made it easy for Michel Ouellet to get the puck out to Jordan Staal.

When the tight checking disappeared and the game opened up, Evegeni Malkin decided that it was time to make his appearance. His offensive skills helped the Pittsburgh offense get going and his assist on the winning goal was a thing of beauty.

Ottawa’s Ray Emery didn’t have a chance on the final goal, and would have had to make a spectacular save on Staals’ goal, or the Roberts Power plat goal, at the same time spectacular saves in the playoffs is what separates the top goaltenders from the Andrew Raycrofts of the league.

Ottawa vs Pittsburgh LIVE blog

We going live baby!!

6:47 – I am a bit nervous, this live stuff is kinda anxiety building. The deal here is that I will watch the Ottawa game and type in my observations live, live, LIVE as they happen!!

I stole the idea from the Sports Guy Bill Simmons, but I am sure he stole it from
someone else, whatever, I am not sure I will be able to top the live blogs going on at nhl.com where they have such luminaries such as the guy from the TV show ‘Bones’ doing playoff blogs all being hosted by Christie Brinkley.

( I would have loved to be in that meeting in some café in NYC – the hockey epicenter, the very soul of the sport)
- ‘yeah uh, who do you think we could get to host the whole deal and stay within budget?
- What about Christie Brinkley?
- Call her agent, see if she will do it for $40 000, if he says yes lets get this thing committed to paper’
Was Boy George busy? Did anyone try to get Dan Rather? He has some free time…


6:54
I haven’t turned to TSN yet. I am a little scared to go there as I caught a bit of their 72 hr marathon of pre playoff coverage – I think they went from the trade deadline overkill straight into playoff hype. I think I saw a monkey making picks on TSN. I also saw a benobo chimp making picks. I guess the monkey was allowed some time away from his handler Belinda Stronach. How they got the suit over it’s massive head I will never know…

6:58
The weather woman on CBC is calling for snow and freezing rain. Wow, we are getting hockey weather with the playoffs…

6:59
Just cracked a beverage. I didn’t want to get all sloppy so I picked Pabst as my beverage for the evening. Pabst should change their tag line to ‘Yes. It’s supposed to taste like that.’ Somehow I don’t think they will be going down very quickly…

7:00
Ok. They went ahead any way. I was concerned that without the Leafs and the Habs, they might have canceled the playoffs, but they decided to go ahead. Great, I was a bit worried.

7:01 CBC’ opening montage has a bunch of highlights – goals, hits, plays, - what no fights? Ottawa native Katherine Edwards singing ‘I got moves you never seen..’ nice work CBC..

7:02
Dun da dun da dah, Dun da dun da dah !!!!!!!
7:03
Ron McLean opens and goes to Elliot Freidman in Ottawa.
Freidman still has the ‘I can’t believe I get paid for this’ look in his eyes on camera. He says Ottawa coach Bryan Murray will let Spezza cover Crosby. Anyone with Crosby in their playoff pool just made some money.

7:07
Camera panned on Sidney Crosby while that hockey Mountie sings the American anthem. He. Looks. PSYCHED.
They won’t be able to stop him tonight. Just a small prediction.

7:09
Alfredsson looks like a small town drifter with that buzzcut

7:10
Mountie dude does that pull the hanky out of his pocket and rev the crowd up thing that he does while singing the Canadian anthem. The crowd seems less than enthused. Maybe they saw Crosby on the big screen. Once again, he will be unstoppable.

7:11
Bob Cole puts his dulcet baritone to the play by play duties, and Neale his able colour guy. I love Cole and Neale, but the truth is these guys needs spotters. They are 105 and 101 years old. Thy couldn’t see a train coming towards them. They need help on the replays. I’ll do it.

7:13
Fleury is overplaying the angles and got beat. He is letting rebounds go all over the place.
Comrie scores 1-0 Ottawa.

7:14
Now the Ottawa crowd is into it. They start the ‘Fleuuuuury, Fleuuury chant!”

7:15
Not Harry Neale doing colour, but one of the fifty former goalies doing hockey commentary - Greg Millen.

7;16
Mesaros holds Stall and Pitt catches a break.

7:18
Fleury stops a shorthanded 2 on 1 with a through the crease side to side save.

7:19
Hoff calls to call out Pittsburgh coach Therrien. “Why doesn’t he have Roberts and Recchi start the game so the kids get a chance to lose the pressure jitters?” Good point.

7:21
Ottawa scores again. I think I jinxed Crosby. Fleury looks like as jittery as a deer in a shopping mall. We will see Thibault soon I think….

7:23
Cut to Mario in a trillion dollar suit in his owners box. Yeah he probably would help here…

7:24
9 shots for Ottawa. 2 for Pittsburgh.

7:25
Fleury holds on to his first rebound of the night. Two goals too late..

7:30
Ottawa power play. Double penalty. I think the question is when will Ottawa score on this power play not if. …

7:32
Hey Pittsburgh might just get through this…

7:33
Fleury holds onto anther rebound. Glory be..

7:34
And another rebound held. The tide be turning billy!!!

7:35
Fleury just made about four big time saves in a row. Sure his defenseman made one of them but…
Shots are 15 to 3 for Ottawa.

7:36
Gary Roberts draws a penalty. Can Pitt follow through? Nice first period so far.

7:41
Another Ottawa penalty, Pitt has them on their heels a bit now.

Just saw the massive VIAGRA ad in front of the Ottawa bench. I don’t want to be crude, but, if ever a team needed ‘stiffening up’ in the chase for the big prize, Ottawa is it..

7:45
The glass on the boards has to be changed and the rink crew comes on the ice to change it. They are all wearing helmets. Thanks Insurance industry. Say a hello to your cousin 'irresponsible litigation' for me will you?

7:46
Pitt penalty. Every play ends with one player or another gesturing to the ref protesting their innocence or complaining about a missed call. We need the 'no crying to the ref' rule in hockey . Call it hockeys version of the Rasheed Wallace rule. We will all be the better for it…

7:50
Pitt looking good killing yet another 5 on three penalty kill. U
h, Mr Bettman? Mr Campbell? Two 5 on threes in one period sucks the life out of Playoff hockey. I will just write a letter to you or send a quiet email.
Don cherry is about to go ballistic during his three minutes of slobber over this.

7:53
Coaches Corner
Hockeys John Madden credits Ottawa’s lead to ‘playin smart. Thanks for the detail Don.
Ron baits Don with a penalty question. Ron is such an enabler. If I was a functioning drug addict, I would ask for Ron McLean as my partner.
Cherry spends half the time talking about the Leafs. A team that didn’t make the playoffs.
Blue Blood folks, what can I say?

7:58
TSN here we go!!!
Let the screaming begin!! HELLO PIERRE McGUIRE!!!
Nashville vs San Jose Cheechoo vs Too Too!!

8:03
TSN has an in studio playoff desk with James Duthy, Darren Pang, Jeremy Roenick - and his massive head - , and Bob McDonald. Can you have a hockey panel with only one ex goaltender? Did the Hockey broadcast union know about this?

8:06
I like that funny Casino Rama commercial – “we showed people what excitement was”. Plus it stars the current Canadian commercial champ. She of the 5 national commercials at the same time my agent is kicking ass actress/champ. Don’t know her name but she is a redhead with that husky halting Brittany Murphy voice. She is my minor celebrity crush right now. She got some moxie.

8:10
San Jose/Nashville
Anthems playing. Players a rocking. Lets get it on!! Is there anything that gets your inner fan going better that the side to side tension release rocking by Hockey Players during the anthems at the start of the game?..

8:11
Don’t know who is calling the game but he is no Bob Cole. Oh great Pierre McGuire is doing colour. And our first penalty two minutes into the game.… I sense a theme here.
Back to Ottawa.

8:13
I need picture in picture.

8:17
First close up of Nashville coach Barry Trotz. I’m speechless. Only Claude ‘bobo the clown’ Julien looked more comical behind the bench. I am reminded of a Prehistoric Stegosaurus. Back to Ottawa.

8;21
Both teams settled down a bit. This is going to turn into a wait until the Power play type of game.
George Laraque sighting!!! Everyone drink!

8;24
98 year old Mark Recchi cycles down low for about an hour and skates through three or four crunching checks into the boards. Someone sneezes near Malkin and he falls…..


8;26
1-0 San Jose! Carle scored? I need Picture in Picture!!!

8:27
Greg Millen does a nice job explaining how the Pens kept the pressure on during the last shift. See Pierre? He didn’t scream or gush once! It can be done…

8:29
Staal, Malkin and Crosby. Zero shots on goal…

8:35
Preissing scores over Fleury’s shoulder. Perfect shot. Even though Fleury has been rushing about halfway to the blueline to cut down angles, Preissing picks the corner.

8:41
Staal gets a junk goal. Maybe Pittsburgh can make this close? You’ll never convince me that Staal doesn’t deserve the Calder over Malkin..

8;49
After two periods Ottawa has the Pens in almost every area. Where the hell is Malkin? I jinxed Crosby I am sure of it. This game has turned into a penalty fest. See leaf fans, It isn’t just Kerry Fraser.

8;53
HotStove!! They could not make this any less exciting. Even the commentators look bored. Someone needs to check Harry Neale for a pulse.
Stirring observation, they feel that Martin Brodeur will be a factor in the series against Tampa bay. You can’t buy that type of riveting analysis anywhere else folks ..

9:04
Nine seconds into the third, Heatly ices this game. Fleury lets another rebound free. Therrien should have pulled Fleury after the two goals. Mario Lemieux needs a real coach next year..

9:05
Five seconds later. Um. Funny thing happened. Crosby kicks it in. Millen hasn’t caught it yet. The ‘goal’ is under review.

9:07
Still waiting.

9:08
Still waiting. They are reviewing this in Toronto at the League officiating office. The rest of Canada must love that.

9:08:30
Goal is disallowed. Why didn’t they just call me? I told you they need a spotter in the booth. As long as the commentators are going to continue to average around 79 years of age, they need someone who can see without his progressive lenses…

9:14
Ottawa slowing the game down to a crawl. Icing. Icing. Long shot. Icing. Time for Mr Blue Ribbon again..

9:14:30
San Jose and Nashville are tied at 2.

9:17
Ottawa. Icing.

9:19
Breakaway goal by Neil. 5-1 Ottawa. Good thing my Crosby prediction isn’t making me look like a fool. Wait a second…..

9;23
Ottawa has been abusing Pittsburgh with their transition game. The Sens go on the attack in a blink.

9:24
Comrie scores. 6-1 Sens. Therrien? Pull Fleury now? Maybe? Whadaya think?

9:25
Crosby on the bench in Pain. It couldn’t possibly go any worse for Pittsburgh. Does Malkin still play for Pittsburgh??

9:27
George Laraque sighting!! Everybody drink!!

9:30
Finally Therrien lets Fleury out of the shooting gallery…
Thibault!! Now here comes the inevitable ‘late in the game and we are getting smoked’ scrum.

9:32
Eight minutes left. This game was done a while ago. Eight minutes to let the Refs shine!!

9:33
Gonchar scores on a 5 on 3 power play. Talk about garbage time. At least there is some genuine animosity building between the two teams. Any team that plays Ottawa eventually comes to hate them.
They wait till they have a big lead then start pasting everyone into the boards. They have pests in Fisher and Neil, and another in Swedish veteran pest Alfredsson. They boo your best player regardless if he is a decent guy or a mope. And the team is famous for falling short in the end. They never met a blowout they weren’t willing to pad with empty net goals. Ottawa is the biggest small town in Canada. If you play Ottawa more than once it is a virtual lock that you will begin to despise them…. Just saying….

9:47
Mercifully Crosby scores his first ever playoff goal. The Ottawa crowd boos. Don't wanna say i told you so….

9:47:50
Meaningless end of game scrum #38.

9:52
George Laraque sighting!! Everybody drink!!

9:52:35
Game over.
Pittsburgh is lucky they have an extra day before they have to play again. Ottawa smoked them. The only thing I saw Pittsburgh do well was that their Power Play had nice puck and player movement. No good scoring opportunities, just movement.
Will Malkin show up for the next game? Did he miss the filght? Will Therrien open the next game with Veterans, or will he throw his kids to the wolves again.

Whew! I wonder if this was good enough for Christie Brinkley???