The love of Pierre McGuire's life. (AP Photo)
First of all, I have some good news. I think I've settled on a reasonably decent title for these articles. First I tried "Saturday quick hits" but that sounded too much like an NFL article title. Then I went for the old "recap" but since I also do some previews, that's not quite apt. So, playoffs update it is. At the very least, it delivers what it promises. On with notes from yesterday's action.
Extremely exciting game on NBC with Philadelphia keeping themselves alive with a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh. However, the game was sullied, as all NHL on NBC games are, by the presence of Pierre McGuire. I cannot stand McGuire at all in general, but he was in rare form yesterday. He was fawning over Philly's Mike Richards so much I was expecting him to propose marriage. Did you know that if anybody in the NHL is worth their exceedingly long contract, it's Richards? Or that he is the greatest leader not only in the history of the NHL, but in all of time? You know whose responsible for every single Flyers goal, even if he's not on the ice? Richards. The sheer force of his tremendous leadership and grit powers all of his teammates. The thing that really got my goat, however, was when McGuire dusted off the old chestnut "As great of a player as he is, he's an even better human being." Ugh.
Listen, I think Richards is a very good player, and as far as I know he is indeed a solid dude. However, McGuire's overzealous praise of Richards would have been a bit much if he was working for the Flyers local telecasts. As a national announcer though? Not only is it incredibly annoying, it's unprofessional. I like to try and watch the games on NBC to support the game on American television (as quixotic as that may be) but also mostly because the CBC broadcast is always way louder than all my other channels, making flipping a hassle. Not anymore, however. Given the chance to watch the game on another channel, I will be eschewing McGuire's obnoxiousness. There was a lot of great stuff from this game I'd like to cover, but I had to spent too much time complaining about McGuire, so my apologies. Long story short, this has been the best series thus far, and I'd expect it to stay that way. Big games for Simon Gagne and Evgeni Malkin, and a beautiful goal by Jeff Carter.
St. Louis was a nice story during the regular season, but they're done now. Vancouver beat them 3-2 on three power play goals to take the dreaded 3-0 series lead. I hope for the sake of Blues fans they can win at least one game, but I wouldn't count on it. The Canucks have looked too good, even sans Mats Sundin this game. St. Louis has been giving Vancouver a fight, at least, especially Chris Mason in net. It was 2-2 after two periods, but a penalty by B.J. Crombeen after the buzzer had sounded on the second period gave Vancouver a power play to start the third period, and they capitalized. Whomever has to play the Canucks in round two, I'd be wary. They look great, and they'll be well rested. Also, I presume it's because of the way the Blues' arena is set up, but watching the game I had to frequently deal with people's heads being in my way. It was almost as annoying as Pierre McGuire. Almost.
New Jersey and Carolina haven't been able to get themselves on national TV, but that doesn't mean the series hasn't been good. Another overtime game between these two, with Travis Zajac scoring the winner for the Devils. Much like Flyers-Penguins, I expect this series to go down to the wire. Maybe then, they can get on Versus or something. Joe Corvo made a terrible play that led to one of Jersey's goals, which in the end proved costly. I truly don't know who will win this series, it seems quite up in the air.
As a Wings fan, I fear Vancouver in the second round. Fortunately, the odds of Detroit matching up with them has gotten pretty slim. San Jose is continuing their long standing tradition of choking in the playoffs, as they are now down 2-0 to Anaheim after a 3-2 loss last night. Granted, I'd say the Ducks on talent are probably the fifth best team in the Western Conference so the Sharks are a bit unfortunate to be playing them in the first round, but that's not excuse for the President's Trophy winner to lose a first round series. Jonas Hiller had to stand on his head in this one to get the W, however, making 42 saves. Why did they wait so long to give him the job over J.S. Giguere? Well, it got them a first round matchup with the Sharks, so clearly they were shrewder than I had imagined. The Ducks have the seemingly perfect mix of young players and cagey veterans. I don't exactly feel enthused about Detroit matching up with them in round two, but it beats the Canucks in my book. This was a very good game, by the way, with a rare Johnathan Cheechoo sighting. He scored an impressive goal to make it 3-2 just after the Ducks had made it 3-1, but it wasn't enough.
Just three games tonights, but they are all make or break games for one team. Boston takes their 2-0 series lead to Montreal. It'll be a whole different ball game in the CentreBell, I reckon. The Habs are at home with their ultra passionate fans with their backs against the wall. If they can't win this one, they probably can't win at all. Should be exciting.
Washington heads to New York down two games to the Rangers. They've got to try and score a victory on the road with a goalie with barely any NHL experience in net. That doesn't bode well. However, they've got Alex Ovechkin and company, so you can't count them out. It really will come down to how well Henrik Lundqvist plays, I presume. Of course, that's always the case with the Rangers. This game is on Versus, so we can all see if the Caps can keep their playoff hopes alive.
The second game on Versus is Chicago against Calgary. While I don't like the Flames' chances of winning this series, they might be able to win a game or two at home. The Blackhawks are a young team, and it's not like they've been blowing out Calgary thus far. I think in a way we will be seeing what this Chicago team is made of tonight. Having a veteran like Nikolai Khabibulin in net will certainly help, at least.
Some more exciting playoff puck tonight, as usual I am quite looking forward to it. Also, as promised I will be starting my team season reviews today. First up, the New York Islanders. Viewer discretion is advised.
Comments
I couldn't agree with you more about McGuire. At least this time he picked a decent player.
When Sean Avery returned to the Rangers, it was all McGuire could talk about. With all of the great players on the ice, McGuire was obsessed with the biggest douchebag.
Here's hoping the next TV deal sends NBC packing.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!