farce poobah

Hedman is the next Chara. Very impressive. Vermette goes from goat to hero ... after making a coverage mistake that led to Tampa's first goal, he gets the GWG. Thus improving the odds that Q puts him in the lineup for game 2. Even if it wasn't 5-4 like I expected, game 1 was very entertaining.

That's certainly an Inglorious name ...

George Gwozdecky.

The three stars of the game 7 last night - Richards, Kane and Toews - are all Conn Smythe winners.

I think the Anaheim-Chicago series shows once again that hits are overrated. In the modern game, its all about positioning, puck possession, and sustaining a territorial advantage. Time after time, Anaheim guys ran out of position to make hits, giving Chicago extended position and allowing them to gain the zones with the puck. And at other times, they came into a puck carrier with their stick parallel and nowhere near the ice ... allowing Chicago to make plays. As a result, the Ducks were chasing the puck most of the series, which is more exhuasting than being hit. At the end of the series, Anaheim forwards looked tired, and I think that was a big factor. Not sure what causes coaches to allow this to happen ... or to encourage it. Vancouver did it year after year with Vigneault as head coach and paid the price. In this series, Boudreau certainly wanted his team to hit. But ultimately Anaheim paid the price for all that hitting.

Jackass - yes. But I have yet to see the proof that Duncan Keith is human.

Very basic goaltending mistake - he failed to face the shooter square. Otherwise Crawford has been solid.

Duncan Keith played 10:31 in just the first period. He is unbefrickinglievable.

I would love to hear what Toronto was thinking ... Why it was allowed to stand.

Anaheim looked tired during the last two periods. Their top forward lines have logged a lot more ice time than Chicago.... * Getzlaf has logged 149 minutes so far, 10 more than any of Chicago's forwards. * Meanwhile, Chicago's bottom 6 forwards have taken 60 minutes more than Anaheim's bottom 6. Anaheim's hitting is way down ... Another sign of tired legs. For example in Game 6: Kane took 0 hits from Anaheim. Hossa wasn't hit. Toews took just 1. Keith 3, Seabrook 2. Bottom line, the extra day of rest may neutralize this - but it seems to me that Anaheim is showing signs of wear more than Chicago.

And if they became a hockey conference they would take UND in a heartbeat.

If I can clone one player in the NHL, I might just pick Duncan Keith.

The biggest beneficiary of matchups should be Kane ... Ducks lower two lines are vulnerable.

I gotta remember to bet on Kruger the next time the Blackhawks go into 3 overtimes. Anaheim's rink crew is going to need to replace the goalposts, which took a beating from Anaheim shots tonight er this morning. I predict the games in Chicago look nothing like what they looked like in Anaheim. Matchups are everything in this series too.

Smileys are for closers.

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.