farce poobah

The Eastern schools get a competitive advantage from regionals in empty buildings. They do that all season.

I bet the one employee that stayed on is a relative.

Chicago's window is closing. Yes Toews and Kane are entering peak years, but next year their cap hit becomes much higher.. That means a weaker roster down the line. They will have a hard time keeping the rest of their top-six forwards and their depth defensemen. Sharp has been mentioned as trade bait. Saad needs to get paid. And their farm system hasn't given them much for a while now. Not to mention goaltending where there's no proven backup for Crawford. I'm going to enjoy every minute of this run, but I think the balance of power shifts in the West, and not that far into the future.

Chicago defensive pairings for the next round: Oduya - Hjalmarsson Keith - Seabrook Keith - Timonen Keith - Rundblad

My bad. Thanks for clarifying the record.

Johnny Hockey with a great snipe to tie it. Sweet.

Win OR lose, they have a lot of holes in the lineup. And with 2 guys taking up 15-20% of your salary cap, there's a lot less room to add high end players. Agree on your specific names above. Koivu or Pominville could be moved to a contender who wants to win immediately. The organization suffers from a more fundamental problem - that of excessive attachment to getting Minnesota alumni / natives. Until they get a neutral view - and since the rest of the NHL knows that's what the Wild want - they will be prone to overpaying for local talent. The Vanek contract is just plain ridiculous, and coming right after a ridiculous contract to Heatly, that's a failure to learn from mistakes. By contrast, the Neiderreiter pickup was a fabulous, astute move. There's some excellent young talent - Brodin and Dumba to name a couple - that helped them lift their compete level this season. Granlund is a fine player - but shouldn't be asked to be #1 center at this point in his career. On the plus side, the style of play is now entertaining, and they have most of the personnel needed to play uptempo puck possession fun-to-watch games. Kudos to them for eliminating Lemaire from their style.

Hard to say ... if only because this may be their last run at the Cup with this core group of players. If they win, it was worth it. (Saad needs to get paid, Hossa not getting any younger, Toews and Kane will cost another $8 or so combined next year. etc. etc.) If I have a problem with the Hawks moves at the trade deadline, it might be a first rounder for Vermette, who now has exactly one goal. Yeah he eats up some ice time, but this is another hornswaggled trade in my book. PS Fascinating that Kane's injury ... which trickled into the playoffs ... allowed the Hawks to add a couple players without going over the salary cap.

Haula for Cooke is one of the changes I was thinking of when I suggested the Wild should add some speed. This one is all about the matchups ... with the home coach getting a big edge. I think they split the first four games. Barring something freaky happening with the goaltenders.

Time for Mike Yeo to put some more speed in the lineup. Give me Haula, Schroeder, Ryan Carter.

I still can't believe Tampa Bay got zero goals from Stamkos and still advanced. I predict his O-fer ends tonight.

I need to start by saying I think Babcock is the best proven coach available *. As a Blackhawks fan, I realize I'm obligated to hate everything about the Winged Whell, but have to make an exception today. The guy wins wherever he goes ... and there's a reason Hockey Canada picked him for the last 2 Olympics, where he delivered 2 golds. LOLZ. Yes Harry, there's a chance. But really, he can get more money and fewer rules anywhere but NCAA. It would only be if he loves that phase of player development. Excellent point. Do you think its about more than just money? For example, Babcock wants more control over player selection and development - to be GM? I have no insight into Detroit's motives. Just puzzled about why he hasn't signed. Anaheim ... would they toss out Boudreau, who got them #1 West seed? If not NHL, I think the lure of a senior role at Hockey Canada might be calling, with the opportunity to influence a generation of players, coaches, officials. * I do think there are excellent young less-proven coaches out there. Mike Yeo is one.

And / or ... an indictment of the coaching staff ...

Places Mike Babcock might go: 1. Detroit. With a couple missing pieces and a bounce or two .... 2. Toronto. The biggest pile of money in all of hockey. 3. Edmonton. A chance to build it from scratch. 4. San Jose. Money and perfect weather. 5. through 10. NHL. 11. Hockey Canada. 12. through 40. CHL to GM and coach and perhaps own. 41. through 100. Europe. 101. Michigan.

That was an electric atmosphere at the X this afternoon. My ears are still ringing. (In fact I would recommend bringing earplugs to anyone who's going this spring. Especially for pregame. ) Nothing wrong with St Louis that getting competent goaltending won't fix. Hey it worked for the Wild. I agree with the above comments about Hitchcock ... by game 90 in a season, the coach has to have that figured out. Zach Parise is on a mission. Every shift, every game. If you want to teach the kids how to play the game right, have them watch Zach from warmups through end of game. Give Yeo credit for getting matchups he wanted all afternoon ... and getting those matchups right. It worked well. Chicago looks beatable ...

Tonight - the last 50 minutes - the Blackhawks played with desperation. We finally saw them play toward their potential. I think Minnesota v Chicago would be some really entertaining hockey.

... keep hitting the Canucks and they stop skating ...

Early in the second, Hits: Calgary 16, Vancouver 1.

Dang right. I will go for another real moment in the semi finals 2 days earlier. ESPN was doing a little insert on how "unscoronable" Ryan Miller was, just as Spiewak blasted one by him a minute into the game. Totally ruined their storyline. Totally made my day.

St Louis fans are hostile and abusive. They keep chanting "let's go Sioux".

Wild website now showing 830 CDT.

It's not a "moment" but a collection of moments .... the streak in January-March 2007 where Duncan scored 14 goals on 28 SOG. Yeah that's .500. It was called "The Duncan Spot" for good reason.

A lot of miles in those legs already. Minnesota and St Louis liking this, no doubt.

Chara is DEFINITELY a hockey player. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=764499&navid=nhl:topheads Bruins captain Chara has fracture in fibula He played the last 3 games with a broken leg.

The best advertisement for the NHL ... is the atmosphere in Winnipeg. (Gets me all nostalgic for the old Ralph back in 1978, 79, 80. A continuous cauldron of noise, punctuated by earsplitting roars.)