UPDATES:

Nashville and St. Louis have concluded their first rounds. I was off by one game for the Sharks/Blues series, and I am rather sad about that. I am kinda surprised that Detroit when down as fast as they did, though... was totally expecting that to go to seven.

Penguins have fought off elimination so far, and if they keep it up they still might take this in seven games. Fleury was AMAZING last night, and hopefully that continues tomorrow. I've noticed that they who score first, lose the game so far... that is different.

And damn Canucks managed to win a game... I was hoping for a sweep. Oh well, here is hoping for a game 5 victory for the Kings.

I can't remember how many games I predicted for Nashville or St. Louis but I know I picked both of them to win.

I'm sad that Chicago won tonight.... I was hoping for another team that hasn't won the cup in a long time (or ever) to get through and take out a team that won recently.

Yeah, I was also sad about that. But there is game 6 for them. Hopefully they don't choke.

Today's big game in Philly... I am on pins and needles. Later I will literally be on needles since I am giving blood right around the same time the game starts, hopefully they will have a radio or something with the game playing.

*crosses fingers* Pens in 7!

Elara : what do you think of the Torres suspension? Too much, not enough or just right?

Yeah, I'm hoping to watch the Pens game today as well. As long as my girls let me I would LOVE to see it go to a game 7. The fact that Philly fans don't have their sweep is great but to see the Pens come back from 3-0 would be even better.

Oh, and Vancouver vs L.A. is tonight but on an early game so I don't have to stay up late to see who won. That makes me happy

I think it is appropriate. Hossa is still out, and it was such an intentional hit to the head... pair that with Torres' past history, and yeah, I totally see that. And you know this isn't bias talking because I hate Hossa.

Ok... seriously... the refs in the Pens/Flyers game should just done black and orange and get it over with. So should the NBC announcers (Ugh, Milbury). They are ignoring EVERYTHING!

Elara : while I agree to a point.... the Pens lost that series as much as the refs helped that along. Still not glad to see Philly beat the Pens but neither team deserved to win that series.

If the Pens had had their act together from Game 1 this series would have ended in their favor I think. They lost it when they played the first 3 games the way they did.

geeogree : Yeah, I have to agree with you there. We dropped the ball hard during those first three games, and today's game was more of the same. At least we put up a fight in games 4 and 5.

I just get so frustrated with the officiating in these games, not just the Pens/Flyers series... there are penalties happening literally right in front of the linesmen and refs and they are not calling them... but moments before or after a minor penalty happens and they blow the whistle. It's the playoffs, penalties go uncalled a lot... but it should be the minor stuff let go, not the blatant stuff. The Torres hit, for example... the fact that went uncalled was a disgrace. And when the coach spoke out about it, the NHL fined him. I don't care that Bettman doesn't like being questioned, when the officials screw up like that, they should be called out and fined/suspended just like the players.

Yeah, overall the officiating has been terrible. I've seen so many plays that should have been penalties that were ignored and then little tiny plays that almost seem like make-up calls.


As for the fines on coaches.... that is a JOKE. Grow a pair Bettman. If you can't take criticism of your officials then that simply points out that everyone knows there is a problem but won't actually talk about it.

geeogree : THANK YOU!

Ugh, and then here we have the NBC announcers that great every ruling with "That was the right call."

... even when moments before they said the opposite thing. Like a goal was scored and then waved off... it's "And it's in, good goal... oh, the refs wave it off, no goal. Yeah, that was the right call, for *insert reason here*"

Sycophants! And with the Pens out, I have to watch the rest of the games on NBC. That actually pisses me off more than us losing.

But, on the plus side, KINGS WIN!!!

So, my predictions for Round 2 are as follows:

Kings over Blues in 6
Coyotes over Predators in 7
Rangers over Capitals in 7
Devils over Flyers in 7

Should be a great round, regardless.

Here are round 2 predictions.

Kings over Blues in 7.
Predators over Coyotes in 5.
Capitals over Rangers in 7.
Flyers over Devils in 6.

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I am so glad the Capitals beat the Bruins in Round 1...

I am NOT a Bruins fan despite living in New England since it always interferes with baseball season.

It's a bit too late for me to post real predictions.... I'll post what I want as outcomes though.

Conference Finals:
West - Kings vs. Predators
East: Capitals vs. Devils

Mostly because I think the devils and capitals are very beatable teams for whichever western team makes it to the finals.

At this point I can see the Kings going all the way.

So can I, and that makes me happy and said at the same time. Happy because I am a fan and I want them to win, and sad because I won't be there for it. I just hope they don't riot like when the Lakers win.

Elara : can you riot in a place like L.A. with only a handful of fans out of everyone there?

Maybe L.A. is different but most of the southern teams have their hardcore fans and everyone else forgets the team plays there at all.

geeogree : For the most part you are right about LA being like the other teams in the southern regions. Unlike the other teams however, the population and compaction of the LA area alone makes even that small fanbase huge... and yes, those other teams are in large cities... but... well... LA County has a population of 9,818,605 as of the last Census (the most populous county in the US). The city alone is second only to New York in population... so if, say, 10% of the county population are Kings fans... that is still nearly a million people. And with them in the playoffs, the bandwagon fans will pile on... and we have already seen that LA likes to riot when their teams win.

Did you watch the Flyers/Devils game? I only caught the third period and OT... but yeah, Devils dropped the ball.

I didn't get to watch the Devils vs Flyers game because of unpacking. Yeah, not too happy that they lost but at least it wasn't a home loss. Still lots of hockey left for them.

As long as the Flyers don't go to the finals again I'll be okay.... although they technically qualify under the teams that haven't won in a long time category.... I'd rather see any of the Western teams win rather than Philly though...


also,

Elara : happy 3000th post.

Yay me!

So yeah, I got home from work just in time to watch the Kings SWEEP!! Oh you have no idea how good that feels!

And with Phoenix 3-1 against Nashville, it is looking likely that the West will be a battle between two Pacific teams and that is just awesome.

yayayayayayayayyayayayayayayayayayayyayayayayayayyayayayayayayay

Philly is out. So so so so happy. Now I'm not too concerned about who wins the cup as long as it's not Washington.

Yeah, I'm also not a big fan of the Capitals, but I don't want the Rangers to win it, either. I think I'd like to see them make it to the finals, because they're a fun team to watch. But I don't want to see them win it.

I do love that every team that's left (assuming that the Rangers manage to knock off the Capitals) didn't advance past the first round last year, though. I like to see that kind of variety.

Alright, Round Two is officially over.

Kings beat Blues 4-0 (yay, sweep!)
Coyotes beat Predators 4-1
Devils beat Flyers 4-1
Rangers beat Capitals 4-3

So, the Conference Finals will be Kings vs Coyotes in the West and Devils vs Rangers in the East... showdowns in the Atlantic and Pacific divisions, this amuses me.

Go Kings!!!

I'm calling Kings in 7 and Devils in 6.