Martin Brodeur Returns; Scores A Goal

So Martin Brodeur has returned to the Devils from injury tonight against the Hurricanes in Raleigh. So what does he do. Just score a goal. This is the 3rd goal of his career and his first power play goal. He already has as many power play goals this year as Rick Nash and Marian Gaborik and more than Brad Richards. Fun fact about those three; they are paid more money than Brodeur and their job is to score goals. Thankfully, Brodeur saved this for Carolina instead of Tuesday against the Rangers.

The Crowning Of The Kings

The Los Angeles Kings finally finished off the New Jersey Devils last night to win the Stanley Cup. This ends one of the most remarkable playoff runs in NHL history, going 16-4, winning 10 of 11 games on the road and led each series 3-0. And this was done by an 8th seed. This once again shows that in the NHL, all that matters is that you get in the playoffs and anything can happen (though low seeds don't tend to win the Cup, this year a low seed was winning it regardless). I'll have more thoughts on this later, but for now, let's watch how the Kings were crowned.

NHL Free Agency Day 1 Wrap-Up

I needed to finish off the analysis of a few more NHL moves before I go with an NBA review for tomorrow. Let's start with Anton Volchenkov going to the Devils for 6 years/$25.5 mil. The thing I like about this is the Devils have rebuilt their blueline despite losing Paul Martin. This is the best Devils defense with the additions of Volchenkov and Tallinder since Scott Stevens was still playing. That's also the thing I hate about this, considering it's the Devils. They also signed Johan Hedberg, who I think is overrated, but he can play about 15 games, giving Marty Brodeur more rest in a year.

The other big contract was Dan Hamhius, who signed a 6 year/$27 mil deal with the Canucks. Vancouver has addressed their blueline with this signing and the Keith Ballard trade. This means Willie Mitchell is gone (someone teams should look at if healthy) but the Canucks have 7 defensemen, all of whom are good. They also picked up Manny Malhotra with a 3 year/$7.5 mil deal as a third line center. It was killed by Pierre McGuire, who thinks prospect Cody Hodgson should ask to be traded. I must say, I think the Canucks are the early favorites to win the West with the moves made and no more excuses for Roberto Luongo, not with that blueline in front.

The Oilers signed Kurtis Foster to a 2 year/$3.6 mil deal, which should spell the end of Sheldon Souray's time in Edmonton. He's been linked through trade to the Rangers, who resigned Vinny Prospal to another 1 year deal for less than Boogaard's cap hit. Seems like the Rangers really felt that if they had beat the Flyers in the shootout, they would go to the Stanley Cup Final. They have to make another move soon.

The Hawks finally signed someone, in Josh Scott. That's after trading Andrew Ladd to the Thrashers as Stan Bowman looks to win repeat titles, one in Chicago and one in Atlanta. I like how the Thrashers have made their team better since the Kovalchuk trade. It's been very impressive and they should be a playoff team. Signing Chris Mason at $3.7 mil over 2 years only makes them even better.

The last moves of note: Matt Cullen goes by the Minnesota Wild for over $3 mil a year for three years and also add Eric Nystrom for three years as well. The Blues resign Alex Steen and they have plenty of cap room. I'd make a run at Kovalchuk if I were them. Saku Koviu is staying in Anaheim, but the fact Bobby Ryan didn't sign an offer of 5 years at $5 mil per is alarming. Two former Hawks have moved on as Adam Burish tries to create the combo with Steve Ott that Sean Avery spectacularly failed at in Dallas, while Colin Fraser left for the Oilers. Finally, Dustin Boyd and Jordan Leopold don't listen to phone calls from Darryl Sutter trying to bring them back to Calgary, and sign with Montreal and Buffalo respectively.

Great NHL What Ifs of the Last 25 Years

After the raging success of my first What If columns on the NFL and my second on the Giants and Jets in particular, I felt it appropriate to tackle on the NHL. Why? Because their season starts next and it's great to have some hockey chatter at a time when there is very little to talk about. Just like before, I'm separating the Rangers into its own article because I may value a Rangers What If more than it would be if it was compared with the rest of the league. Also, moves are considered more important than games since games can be arbitrary, while moves are selective. Let's get with the list:


10. What if the Vancouver Cauncks avoided having a bunch of ugly sweaters?

The Canucks would have won a Stanley Cup, in that case. You think the hockey gods want a team wearing this, this or this carrying around the Stanley Cup? Now having a great sweater doesn't guarantee a Stanley Cup as the Blackhawks and the Maple Leafs can attest to. However, it never hurts to take care of the sweater department. Of all the Stanley Cup champions at least since the Original Six era, only the '96 and '01 Avalanche, '04 Lightning and '07 Ducks would be considered as having pedestrian uniforms and we have seen teams like the '98 Capitals and the '99 Sabres lose wearing terrible sweaters. Coincidence? I think not. Thus, if the Canucks keep these sweaters, their chances of winning a Cup only get better.

9. What if Kerry Fraser calls a high sticking penalty on Wayne Gretzky in Game 6 of the 1993 Campbell Conference Finals?

Let's set the scene, it's Game 6 of a hard fought series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and L.A. Kings. Glenn Anderson gave the Leafs a 3-2 series lead with an OT goal and Wendel Clark scored a hat trick in the sixth game to tie the game at 4. Prior to overtime, Glenn Anderson is called for a roughing penalty and it appears like the Leafs will catch the break they need. Wayne Gretzky high-sticks Doug Gilmour and cuts his chin. Back then, as evident in Game 3 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, the refs would call five-minute majors and game misconducts for high-sticking with a cut; going by now, it's always a double minor and a four-minute penalty. Unfortunately, Kerry Fraser didn't call even a two minute penalty and the Kings won the game on Gretzky's goal about a minute later, leading to Gretzky's finest performance of his career in Game 7 on the road as the Kings won the series.

So what if Fraser calls the penalty? Besides giving Down Goes Brown a whole lot less material (by the way, he deserves all the credit for posting the Leafs videos), the Leafs go to the Stanley Cup Finals. That game was going to end quickly and the Leafs had the momentum with Clark's hat trick. And not having to face Gretzky for either four or five minutes would have been enough time for the Leafs to win the series. That sets up CBC's wet dream of a Final, Toronto-Montreal, since both teams were still in opposite conferences. It's also a Final that pits Pat Burns coaching against the team left for Toronto the previous year. Now, that series could go either way, because the Leafs played better defense than the Kings did, but the run the Habs made that year is hard to ignore.


(Quick tangent here: This series loss by the Leafs is certainly up there in the toughest defeats a fan base ever experience and would easily rank toward the top of Bill Simmons Levels of Losing. If you're not a hockey fan, think of this is as the Don Denkinger Game or the Hue Hollins Game. Leafs fans have every right to bitch and moan about this game because if it happened to Rangers, I'd bitch and moan too. Hell, this blog would be called Fuck You Kerry Fraser.)



8. What if Mike Milbury never became the GM of the Islanders?

Then Rangers-Islander games would actually matter, instead of a chance for Rangers fans to fill Nassau Coliseum to chant "Kansas City". I mean seriously, the damage Mad Mike did to this once proud franchise is equal to the damage Scott Layden and Isiah Thomas did combined. These players either played for the Islanders, or were drafted by them: Roberto Luongo, Todd Bertuzzi (pre-Steve Moore), Wade Redden (when he was good), Zdeno Chara, Olli Jokinen and Bryan McCabe. That doesn't include trading the pick that would be Jason Spezza with Chara to Ottawa for Alexei Yashin. Looking at that, plus the Islanders would of drafted Marian Gaborik or Dany Heatley instead of Rick DiPietro in 2000, this team would have been among the best by 2001-02 and Milbury's tenure wouldn't have had it's high point be losing a Game 7 in Toronto during the 2002 playoffs. Yes, I know the Islanders lose money every year and the chances of another dynasty weren't going to happen, but if the Oilers can make a run to the Stanley Cup, the Islanders could too.



7. What if Ulf Samuelsson doesn't go knee-to-knee on Cam Neely during the 1991 Wales Conference Finals?

Following a disappointing loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the 1990 Cup Finals, the Bruins were poised to head back to the Finals in 1991. They won the Adams Division and had the best record for any Wales Conference team, then beat the Hartford Whalers and the Habs to reach the Conference Finals against Pittsburgh. After taking a 2-0 lead in the series, the Penguins bounced back while Ulf Samuelsson earned his reputation as a dirty player by hitting Cam Neely knee-to-knee, an injury that Neely never really recover from. He was the leading goal scorer for the Bruins and without him at 100 percent, the Bruins were finished and lost the series in six games.


So what if Samuelsson didn't hit Neely in Game 3. I believe that the Bruins win the series and win the 1991 Stanley Cup. It also changes the next five years for Boston as now instead of Neely playing a combined 22 games over two seasons, missing the 1992 playoffs in particular. There's a good chance that the Bruins would of won another Stanley Cup and Neely would have reached 500 goals and thus wouldn't be considered an iffy Hall of Famer as I'm sure some people think he shouldn't be in. Consider, Neely in 1993-94 played 49 games and scored 50 goals that year. He was still capable of scoring after Samuelsson's hit; he would been scoring if he wasn't hit.



6. What if Steve Moore doesn't take out Markus Naslund on Feb. 16th, 2004?

I know what your thinking, you might not remember this hit. However, this is was the catalyst to Todd Bertuzzi's retaliation on Moore about a month later. Steve Moore gave Naslund a concussion which Bertuzzi felt had to be returned and then some. Bertuzzi would miss the rest of the season and the Canucks would be upset in the first round against the Calgary Flames by Martin Gelinas' overtime goal (by the way, this is quite a cruel way to lose in an elimination game, since Matt Cooke tied the game at home with five seconds left, took their fans off the ledge, then lose two minutes into OT, throwing them right back on it). Neither Naslund or Bertuzzi would ever be the same, ruining the West Coast Express line of them and Brenden Morrison and allowed Canucks fans to raise in their game with Sabres fans on who's been more tortured since 1970.


So what if Moore doesn't give Naslund a concussion. Well, the Canucks had been building toward a Stanley Cup in the previous seasons. The one thing that keeps me from declaring Vancouver as the champions in 2004 with Bertuzzi is the injury that Dan Cloutier suffered in the playoffs, when he was sidelined with a knee injury in Game 3 of the Flames series. It was unknown at the time that Cloutier wouldn't play another full season in the league. However, if you give me a healthy Cloutier, there's no reason why the Canucks don't win the Stanley Cup with their offense, defense and goaltending that year. It also solves a key problem for the post-lockout Vancouver teams as they seemed to not score as much as they did pre-lockout since Naslund wasn't the same and Bertuzzi was gone in a year.

5b.What if Gary Bettman and the NHL decided against having a lockout during the 1994-95 season?

A tale of two work stoppages, both the 1994 MLB Strike and the 1994-95 NHL Lockout didn't solve anything. Fortunately for baseball, when the players threatened to strike in 2002, the owners didn't let it happen and baseball was saved. The NHL, on the other hand, allowed a season to get wiped away a decade later. But this column will only deal with the first one since its the World War I of work stoppages to 2004-05's World War II; it could have been prevented.


First of all, the NHL picked the exact wrong time to have a work stoppage. In a related story, the NHL tends to always do things either the wrong way (expansion) or at the wrong time (not having a TV contract during Gretzky's prime). After the 1993-94 season, it was the best of times for the NHL; the Rangers Stanley Cup win brought on the biggest buzz in the sports history and they were benefiting from a weakened NBA after Michael Jordan took his hiatus a year after Larry Bird and Magic Johnson retired. They had finally returned to television as Fox signed a deal to show hockey games and the Stanley Cup Finals, a first on network television in 20 years (not counting Game 6 of the 1980 Finals on CBS). The problem was, the league wanted a salary cup and obviously the players refused. Neither side was willing to end the season, so they had a poor agreement that would compound the leagues' problems for the next decade. It didn't help that the team winning that Stanley Cup would change hockey for the worst during those years between.



5a. What if the Devils failed to win the 1995 Stanley Cup following the lockout?

This was the second reason why the NHL declined during the late 90s-early 00s. The neutral zone trap, aided with larger goalie pads and overexpansion watering down the talent pool hurt the scoring ability for many teams. The symbol of the trap is the New Jersey Devils under coach Jacques Lemaire, who won the shortened Stanley Cup in 1995 (how ironic that the two most despised teams of recent memory for their mind-numbing style of play, the Devils and Spurs, won their first titles in fake seasons). Their success was copied a year later by the Florida Panthers during their run to the Stanley Cup Finals and it snowballed from there. The low point was the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals when the Devils and the Ducks played the worst Final in any sport as it was all technique, no-skill. One of the best things to happen after the lockout in 2004 was the changing of the rules to limit the ability for teams to trap and the first year after the lockout, scoring was up a full goal a game.


But what if the Devils didn't win in 1995; what if Claude Lemieux doesn't score with seconds left in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Flyers? I ask that because that was the closest the Devils were to elimination. If they lose Game 5 and the series, it becomes Detroit-Philly Stanley Cup Final two years earlier and a different series than the 1997 Final was. After the sweep by the Devils, Scotty Bowman added a more defensive element to the team and I believe jettisoned Paul Coffey and Dino Ciccarelli for those reasons. Bowman implemented a form of the trap with those Red Wings teams and to be fair, that element has always been around since the loss in 1995. If Detroit wins in 1995, I'm certain they continue to a more free-wheeling style that the Red Wings utilized in the beginning of the 90s and if they couldn't be stopped, teams would try to outscore them like the Oilers in the 80s. However, here's a third possibility; the scoring would still go down because of the changes in goaltending equipment and style of play (not too mention a lower quality of talent in the league being drafted in the 90s).



4. What if Eric Lindros didn't refuse to play for the Quebec Nordiques in the 1991 Entry Draft?

This is an interesting what if that I will tackle on from a NY Rangers perspective during their list, but here's if he plays for the Nordiques. Now, Quebec for the third year in a row held the 1st pick in the draft and the previous two picks were Mats Sundin and Owen Nolan, along with Joe Sakic as a mid 1st-rounder in 1987. Eric Lindros came into the 1991 Draft as a can't miss prospect, but refused to play in Quebec because of the language barriers, Quebec being a small-market and his mommy telling him not to. Thus, he was traded to the Flyers for a package led by Peter Forsberg. We all know that Lindros ended up not living up to the hype as The Next One, but it was for his injuries, not lack of production when on the ice.


So what if he stayed in Quebec and joined Sakic, Sundin and Nolan? Well for starters, he would have definitely played with all three since Sundin wasn't traded until after the 1993-94 season, before Forsberg started playing and would of had more time playing with Nolan since Lindros would have began play in the 1991-92 season I'm sure. I also believe that if Quebec would have moved like it eventually did, he could of have a healthier career not dealing with the punishment he receive playing Atlantic Division teams. And Lindros was more prepared for the new era in hockey because of his size and I believe would have succeeded with them, possibly win a Cup before they acquired Patrick Roy.


As for the Flyers, I believe their renaissance during the 90s was due to Lindros and trading Mark Recchi to Montreal for John LeClair and Eric Desjardins to strengthen the blue line and create the Legion of Doom (not only the best name for a line since the Sabres French Connection line in the 70s, but the last nickname in sports that didn't look for initials or shortened name). While Forsberg is certainly a talented player and Hall of Famer, I always thought of him as Joe Sakic's second banana, like Sergei Federov was Steve Yzerman's second banana in Detroit. Having said that, the Flyers would have probably needed to make another move to complement Forsberg in order to win. Meanwhile, Lindros and Sakic would have been like Crosby and Malkin now and if you include Sundin, then you have Gretzky, Messier and Kurri (which is almost an perfectly accurate comparison: Sakic=Gretzky, Lindros=Messier, Sundin=Kurri).



3. What if Mario Lemieux didn't have Hodgkins' Disease during the 1992-93 season?

Then I believe Wayne Gretzky's records for most goals in a season (92) and most points (215) would have been broken. I will argue that not only was the 1992-93 season the best NHL season since 1967, it was the best all-around sports year in history for all four majors. The NHL was perfectly at 24 teams, and was still scoring like the 80s. However, goaltending in a weird way was better that year then it was for the previous fifteen. It was in this setting that Mario Lemieux went on an all-out assault on the best scoring records in history. Now, I'm sure most everyone thinks Gretzky's records are safe, but Mario was going at it. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in January of 1993 when he was at 104 points and missed the next 24 games. After his return, he put up another 56 points in 20 games and led the Penguins to their only President's Trophy. However, in the playoffs, they were upset by the Islanders in seven games, villainizing David Volek into the Bucky Dent of Pens history and ending Pittsburgh's two-time Stanley Cup reign.


So what if Lemieux wasn't stricken with the disease? Well, if he plays all 84 games that year, he breaks both the goals and points records, but with Mario's injury history, it's probably not likely he plays every game. Thus, I believe he ends up short of both records, but still scores over 200 points. However, his 1993-94 season probably isn't as poor as it turned out and he doesn't sit the entire 1994-95 season from the effects of radiation treatment. I would also think he doesn't retire in 1997, though his hatred of the trap factored in the decision. Lemieux ends his career as the second all-time scorer behind Gretzky and I think the Penguins win another Stanley Cup during his career. Another thing effected, Mario Lemieux needs to retire in order to become the owner since rules didn't allow him to own the team as an active player, which incidently was overlooked when Lemieux came back during 2000-01. Perhaps, Mario ends up playing somewhere else if he's still playing and the owner of the team needs to get money from somewhere.




2. What if Patrick Roy doesn't get embarassed against Detroit on Dec. 2nd, 1995?

Roy was an institution in Montreal during his ten years there and had carried the Canadiens to two Stanley Cups and numerous honors for Roy, including Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophys. However, after missing the playoffs in 1994-95 and starting slow the following year, Montreal fired coach Jacques Demers and GM Serge Savard and replaced them with Mario Trembley and Rejean Houle, respectively. Roy and Trembley never got along and a powder keg was set to spark and spark it did on that faithful night in the Fourm. That game had Detroit goals and lots of them, an angry Roy, a pissed off crowd, mock cheers, mock salutes and finally, a trade demand at the end of Roy's night. Trembley didn't pull Roy until it was 9-1 and Roy proceeded to tell Habs president Ronald Corey "It's my last game in Montreal". Days later, Houle traded Roy in the most one-sided trade in hockey history, sending Roy AND Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. The result from the move is apparent, the Avs have won two Stanley Cups with Roy as the goaltender and the Canadiens have never been back to the Stanley Cup Finals.


So what if either Roy plays better against Detroit or Trembley pulls him after the first period when he allowed five goals? Well I came into thinking about how the Canadiens would of fared if Roy stayed in Montreal and I believe they go to the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals since I'm fully confident that Montreal ends up as a four or five seed and travels the path Florida travelled in that playoff season. Plus, Roy was a better goalie than anyone in the Eastern Conference that year. Also, the Canadiens probably don't fall off like they did in the beginning of the 2000s because the Habs would owe it to Roy to keep being competitive or trade him.


However, I read a blog piece by the CBC's Elliotte Friedman that the Avs and the Habs were working on a trade that would of sent Roy to Colorado for Owen Nolan and Stephane Fiset. That was when Savard was still the GM, but he was fired before the trade could be made. If this move is made, Montreal is better set for not only that season, but the few years after that. Nolan could join Pierre Turgeon, Vincent Damphousse and Mark Recchi as the main scoring threats on a team that did a good job scoring that year, and Fiset was the goaltender of a Nordiques team that had the best record in the Eastern Conference the year prior. It's quite interesting though how much the Montreal Canadiens missed on every big trade they made in the 90s, with the exception of Vincent Damphousse for Shayne Corson prior to the 1992-93 Cup season. Imagine if the Canadiens had kept Chris Chelios, John LeClair, Eric Desjardins, Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider and Patrick Roy. You could basically say that Serge Savard and Rejean Houle answer the riddle "How many GM's does it take to rival the work of Mike Milbury".



1b. What if the Oilers never traded Wayne Gretzky following their fourth Stanley Cup?

This is the biggest what if since it was the biggest trade in NHL history and one of the biggest in sports history. Big enough that it had to be split in two because the L.A. Kings weren't the only one who were actively seeking Wayne out. Now, if the Oilers decided to keep Gretzky, I'm sure Edmonton wins the Cup in 1989 and 1990 and Cup wins in 1991 and 1992 were also quite likely. 1992 would then be the end of his contract and he becomes a free agent. Now, I think the Oilers would have decided to trade Gretzky eventually, but at much less value. They probably don't get the $15 million they received for Gretzky (or what value equals that a few years later) and maybe not the five players received from the Kings. Looking in hindsight, because the Oilers won the 1990 Stanley Cup with him, it was the smart move by the team.



1a. What if the Kings weren't the team that acquired Gretzky in the summer of 1988?

This is the better question because it seemed like the Oilers were going to move him. Now along with Los Angeles, the other teams interested in Gretzky was Vancouver, Detroit and the Rangers. The Rangers were the first team out because then-GM Phil Esposito wasn't willing to pay the $15 million to get Gretzky. Wayne's father, Walter, wanted Gretzky to go to Detroit and that was Wayne's favorite team growing up since he was a huge Gordie Howe fan. Vancouver was also very interested and rumors had them offering the Oilers over $22 million for him. If Detroit acquires him (assuming the Red Wings don't trade him), they are set to start winning earlier with Gretzky and Yzerman. If Vancouver trades for him, eventually he and Pavel Bure team up and Vancouver would have won the 1994 Stanley Cup (sorry Canucks fans for repeatedly torturing you with what could have been). If the Rangers, then they probably don't pick up Mark Messier (maybe LA does).


The most important question is how does the sport of hockey evolve if Gretzky isn't in Los Angeles? I'm convinced that the NHL would have eventually tried to go back into the Sun Belt, but Gretzky playing with the Kings made the transition easier and quicker. He might not be the reason that a Dallas or a Tampa Bay is in the league, but it's his fault that there are ten Sun Belt teams, you could say. Then, real teams would have won the Stanley Cups in 2004, 2006 and 2007, instead of a pack of bandwagon fans who need to be explained what a blue line is. He is also the first in a wave of the U.S. gaining at Canada's expense. Quebec and Winnipeg both moved within ten years of the Gretzky trade and no longer could teams other than Toronto be a glamour team in free agency. I remember reading in Sports Illustrated about the health of the six Canadian teams and who would be likely to move and while Vancouver and Montreal were in better shape, only Toronto was safe from moving. If Gretzky stays in Canada with the Canucks, perhaps that keep the leagues presence in the country as is and Detroit wouldn't change the league like L.A. did.

Randomness while learning from Rajon Rando that it's okay to slap a man

- You see Charlie Murphy, Rick James was right R.I.P.

- Bill Simmons is right, this Bulls-Celtics series is on it's way to being the best first-round series since the change to a best-of-seven. From the KG subplot to start, Derrick Rose showing us the future, the new Vinnie Johnson (sorry for dated references, but I'm a sports historian) in Ben Gordon, Ray Allen proving to be as certain as death when the game ends, Paul Pierce taking the mantle from Larry Bird officially, Doc and the refs, Vinny Del Negro and his wasting timeouts and Rondo shattering his ceiling for the next 15 years. The Celtics will be a factor is one way or another once KG, Allen and Pierce move on because Rondo will lead this team through it.

- As for last night's controversies, I'm glad the refs didn't charge a flagrant on Rondo because I hate when the refs put the game in their hands, unless its absolutely necessary. As for D-Ho, he should of been thrown out last night, though they got it right with suspending Howard.

- Looks like the Heat are just about finished. I don't doubt Dwyane Wade, unless he's hurt. He was hurt against Detroit in 05, he was hurt against the Bulls in 07 and I don't think his back will help him if they need him for Game 7 on the road with Atlanta, assuming they get there.

- I could opine on the Blazers-Rockets and the Magic-Sixers, but honestly, I'm not interested, aside from Howard's elbow.

- So let's move on to the Spurs losing to Dallas, as predicted on The Cycle. I could tell in Game 1 that I was going to be right with this one when J.J. Barea ran while. The Mavs finally look good since the Jason Kidd trade. Back to the Spurs, obviously the Ginobili injury was a killer, but now Tim Duncan isn't the same player he once was. I thought last year was the last chance for the Spurs to win the title. They remind me of the late 80s, early 90s Celtics when Bird started to get injuries, McHale had been reduced after playing with a broken foot in the 87 playoffs, but had Reggie Lewis leading the team to successful seasons and still had the respect of their opponents and even pushed the Cavs to Game 7 in 1992. The Spurs could have the same thing as Parker and Ginobili will lead this team, but Duncan keeps getting old and they have drafted too low and have too many old men and flyers on the bench.

- We go from one "dynasty" who I hate to the Devils, who completely collapsed last night when Maaaaaaaaarty Brodeur gave up two goals, in the last 90 seconds to lose the series to Carolina in seven games. So after falling on my face when the Rangers lost, the Devils were the pillow I landed on. After being disgusted by John Tortorella benching Sean Avery, then fighting with the fans; the fact Colton Orr wasn't in the lineup after Donald Brasheur bumped him in practice; to the cheap shot Brasheur laid on Blair Betts not getting a major penalty or having to fight Orr; to the ridiculous letter that Glen Sather wrote embarassing me to Isiah-like levels; finally a Game 7 where once again we couldn't score and couldn't even get Lundqvist out of the net for an extra skater. All of that, and the fact that Marty choked makes it even for me, at least for the next two months when Sather continues to make Mike Milbury look good.

- So now hockey fans, and most importantly non-hockey fans, you have your marquee series. Ovechkin vs Crosby, Semin vs Malkin, Caps vs Pens. This is the series that determines the future of the NHL if it's great. Then people who don't know what a blue line is will be ready for this series if it becomes a yearly occurance, like it was back in the 90s. Add three Original Six teams (Boston, Detroit and Chicago) and Vancouver for our fans up north, we could have our best possible Stanley Cup finals for a TV standpoint. Unless of course Carolina and Anaheim win, then we're screwed, especially with Kobe vs LeBron in the NBA. Series picks: Wings in 6, Hawks in 6, B's in 5 and Pens in 6 (unfortunately).

- It's one thing to trade away draft picks for a future QB, it's a whole other thing to trade more to move to the top of the third round to draft a RB. No way to you win a draft if you have three picks, sorry Jets. As for the Giants, I have full confidence in Jerry Reese, so I'm impressed. We drafted a WR in the first round, that's good enough for me.

- Now the bullpen has had trouble for the Mets the past couple days, so my Met fan readers, start to panic. Oh wait, you've already been panicing. But seriously, can they hit after the sixth inning. And David Wright seems to finally lose the Met fan, particularly my friend Brian. Unless something gives, this team won't be a .500 team, let alone playoffs.

- As for the Yankees, I'm off the ledge thanks to Phil Hughes. I couldn't watch much of his start due to the Rangers, Devils and NBA, but he was impressive and finally could have got it and most importantly, placating me as to why he wasn't traded. The hitting is better but let's see what the Yanks do against the Angels for 4 at the new stadium.

- Finally, I want to commend the New Orleans Hornets. Obviously, they read my scathing blog about them laying down Monday and have played better. Seriously, they're giving the Nuggets a game right now and even if they lose (this will be posted before games end), they're pride will be restored. However, if I'm a Hornets fan, I'm still pissed off unless they win.

UPDATED 1:15AM- Scratch that. I rescind my commending of New Orleans. They couldn't get the game to an over for my in Streak for the Cash on ESPN, lost by 19 so nevermind Hornets, you're still in my doghouse.

Ode to Royalty

Many times through the years I have walked into the hallowed ground that is Madison Square Garden. I've been there maybe five times for Knicks games, mostly because my parents aren't basketball fans and they have always been particularly expensive. Since for nearly all of the decade the team has stayed in the bottom, there hasn't been much incentive for me to go back, though I should be back next season.

As for the Rangers, I've been to many games I can't even begin to count how many times I've been there. The first time I went was in October of 1993 when they played the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. That season, my parents bought season tickets (I don't know if they had them in years past) but we ended up sitting in the 200s and the Rangers lost. A month later, I was in our rightful seats in the Blue Seats (for readers not familiar, the 400s) against Vancouver and the Rangers won 6-3. From that time on, I was a blue-seater for life and whenever I have gone to Rangers games, all but once (the night they retired Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell's sweaters and ultimately Tom Renney's last game) I sit where the real Ranger fans sit. Because my parents had the season tickets, they ended up going to all the pivotal games at MSG that the Rangers played in the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoff, which I'm still bitter about not going to any games.

I went to my first playoff game in 1997 when the Rangers played the Devils in the 2nd round. My mother and I went and we actually sat in different sides of the same section upstairs. It was a 3-0 win as Mike Richter continued to steal the series from the Devils which also included this at the end. The year later, the Rangers started their seven year playoff drought all while my family had mini-plans for much of the time. We had them the first year after the lockout thus we had playoff tickets once again, but the series was a sweep at the hands of the hated Devils and I didn't get to go to a game. Last season, I ended up going to Game 3 of the Devils series, but I went alone because I could only get one ticket that was affordable. That ended with a loss on a fluke OT goal of Marc Staal's skate. Fortunately, they won the series however, lost to the Penguins in the second round. By this point, we had stopped getting mini-plans and I was cut back to maybe 2 or 3 games a season that I would go to.

This season, the Rangers have given all us Rangers fans plenty of attitude swings. At the beginning, we were shocked that they started 10-2-1 because we didn't expect them to play so well after losing Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery, among others. Slowly but surely, we would become more and more upset watching this team take the ice. They couldn't score, they didn't play with consistent effort night in and night out, they had no semblence of a power play to the point that we just wanted to avoid short-handed goals and we wondered if there was anyway to decline a penalty. We still looked good, until the start of the 2nd half. The Rangers started by losing 12 of its first 14 games after the All-Star break. As I wrote earlier, I was there when they lost in OT to Toronto in a maddening game which the Rangers couldn't do anything on offense, yet somehow force OT to string us along. It was pretty clear that night that the team needed to make a change. Tom Renney is a good coach, as is one of the main reasons the Rangers became good again, along with Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist. The day after, Renney was fired and the Rangers hired John Tortorella to take over.

He was inheriting a mess. Glen Sather once again showed everyone how much the game has passed him by. He let go of Jagr, Marty Straka, Sean Avery, Brenden Shanahan and signed Wade Redden, a former good offensive defenseman who either lost his talent or stopped caring after the lockout, to a six-year deal; resigned Michael Rozsival, who has been propped up by Jagr; signed Markus Naslund, a forward who's showed his age, to a two-year deal; and traded for Nik Zherdev, a gifted scored who doesn't care about playing. We signed Scott Gomez and Chris Drury the year earlier and they haven't proven worth the money and Henrik Lundqvist wasn't having a typical Lundqvist season, to the point that my father would always say they won't win with him.

However, Tortorella would prove to be important as he has made this team play closer to its potential. Before, the team seemed to always have a lull and there wouldn't be any response as they would continue to play bad. Now, the lull's aren't as abundant, though this team is still able to have a no-show any given night. The acquistions of Nik Antropov, Derek Morris and the return of Sean Avery have mostly helped the Rangers, along with the great play from Ryan Callahan, Staal and Dan Girardi, to make the playoffs as a 7th seed in a series with the Caps.

The inspiration for this article was Lundqvist. He didn't have his typical season, only having a 2.44 goals against average and a .916 save pct. Terrible stats, I know. I've been defending him all year as he has to deal with a poorous defensive, a impotent offense and the need to be perfect every night for the team to be able to win. The last week of the season, the Rangers needed two wins to make the playoffs and Lundqvist was phenomenal. After beating Montreal, he was absolutely brillant against the Flyers, the save of the game occuring in the 3rd period as Hank robbed Daniel Carcillo from the tying goal. He would carry his great play into the series with the Caps, facing the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Semin. For two games, he was a thorn in the Caps side and the Rangers took a 2-0 lead. They came home for Game 3, the Garden excited and noisy and the Rangers fall flat on their face losing 4-0, despite another impressive performance by the King who kept them that close. But Game 4 would be different.

I found tickets and was sitting in section 426 in the last row. The good part about those seats is you can stand all you want. The bad part is that you can see the clock when you do. Now watching a Rangers playoff game at the Garden is a completely different experience as the 18,200 announced attendance is the actual attendance for these games, no empty red seats which you could see against Nashville. It's always good whenever John Amirante is singing the national anthem and it gets the Garden crowd even louder.

This would turn out to be the best hockey game I witness in person, or at the very least, the most exciting. The Rangers came out banging, hitting everyone in sight and taking the action toward the rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov. Soon, a fluke goal from a Paul Mara shot off John Erskine's stick made it 1-0. It was good to see Drury, who's playing with either a broken wrist or hand, come out hitting and taking advantage of a goalie who hasn't learned to play the puck by scoring the second goal. Then, King Henrik took over, as the Caps had all the offense pressure for the rest of the game. Hank made save after save, bringing the crowd to its feet many times, yell HEN-RIK over and over. Early in the 3rd, Ovechkin scored on an absolute rocket to make it 2-1, which I must sidebar and say that Ovechkin is truly an unbelievable talent, always skating, never taking off a shift, willing to take a hit to make a play and will give one as well. He hit the post that had to of bent the iron. Later on, Avery made two dump penalties to force Hank to face more pressure. As the seconds ticked down, the Garden crowd stood for the final minute, one apprieciating the effort Lundqvist and the Rangers gave and hoping there wasn't a late goal to tie it. It would never come as Hank stopped all on net and we held on.

Leaving the Garden, it was gratifying to finally watch the Rangers win, since it has been awhile. But after a game like this, you can't help but think about it, talk with people while walking down the stairs, honking horns, waving towels and just keeping a look on your face that has happiness, exhaustion and relief rolled into one. That's what the Stanley Cup playoffs bring if your team is there. That's why I get puzzled and irritated when people don't respect hockey, at least for the playoffs.

Back to the Rangers, they are leading 3-1 against a team that if we have a lesser goalie, we are swept. Henrik Lundqvist is the reason the Rangers are leading this series, and have a chance to win Friday night in Washington. He's taking the best shots from the young guns of the caps and is still standing and is one win from being the survivor and a date with the Bruins. So this is my chance to say to Hank, when I read people criticizing him, including my dad, thanks for being the goalie I know you are, a great one. And rightfully earning the nickname King.

The Knicks might get LeBron James in 2010. If so, King James would only be the second King, number one belongs to Hank.

Stanley Cup preview extravaganza

The Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight and it's time to have the official NHL playoff preview. No teaser today as the games begin in an hour and I want to finish this before the opening games. Let's start in the West:

Western Conference

#1 San Jose vs #8 Anaheim- The worst possible matchup for the Sharks as this team who needs to get rid of the choker label in the playoffs has to play the 07 Cup champ Ducks. The Ducks still have a lot of the same guys who won and could use that experience in this series. For the Sharks, they have to have a big series from Joe Thornton, who needs to shed his label of being the A-Rod of hockey and failing to show up. One of these years, the Sharks have to win and I'm not big on Jonas Hiller. Sharks in 6.

#2 Detroit vs #7 Columbus- Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Blue Jackets, your reward, the defending champ Red Wings. However, the Jackets have the advantage at goal with rookie Steve Mason against the struggling Chris Osgood (or Ty Conklin). The Wings are better in every other way so it comes down to Mason standing on his head. That being said, I think he will and the Wings tend to lose early every few years so I have the Jackets in 6.

#3 Vancouver vs #6 St. Louis- The most surprising team in the playoffs are the Blues who are a year ahead of schedule by making this year's playoffs. John Davidson has done a great job turning around this franchise from doormat to playoffs. They get to play the Canucks who had a great second half to win their division and a lot of pressure to go far in the playoffs with the Sedin twins and Mats Sundin. I would love to take JD's team here and they will make this a long series, but I think the Blues won't have an answer for Roberto Luongo and the Canucks win in 7.

#4 Chicago vs #5 Calgary- The Hawks are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and will play a struggling Flames team. They have been hurt and lost their chance to have home-ice in the first round and now start on the road. The Flames are one of my favorite teams, Jarome Iginla is the best example of a Mark Messier in the NHL that we currently have, and that is ALWAYS a good thing. That said, the Hawks win in 5. They are playing well and the Flames aren't, plus Nikolai Khabibulin knows how to beat the Flames, going back to the 04 Cup Finals.

Now to the East:

#1 Boston vs #8 Montreal- The hatred between the Habs and B's runs deep and these two Original Six foes gave us a preview of things to come last Thursday. The Canadiens have enjoyed a 24-7 series advantage and in 2002 and 2004 have beaten the Bruins as an 8th seed and 7th seed. However, the Bruins are better in every way against the Habs and it will be the B's in 5.

#2 Washington vs #7 NY Rangers- We have come to my team, the Rangers, who played their best week of the year last week after beating the Habs and sweeping Philly to make the playoffs. They now get to play Ovie and the Caps who have Stanley Cup buzz. Like our other 2-7 matchup, the only edge the Rangers have is in net with Henrik Lundqvist. He needs to be absolutely great and hope Jose Theodore is poor in net since the Rags can't score with consistency. Anyone who thinks the Caps will win in 4 or 5 are nuts, but unfortunately I don't pick with my heart in this blog. Caps in 7 and let's move on.

#3 New Jersey vs #6 Carolina- The best goalie battle is here as MAAAAAAAAARRTY Brodeur and the Devils take on Cam Ward and the Canes. Sometimes, like with the Rangers, I have to go against my heart and pick against my team; other times, my heart and brain are in sync and I'm picking the Canes in 5. They have outplayed the Devils all year and only lost the last game to them when they sat out Ward. They have been one of the hottest teams in the East since March 1 and could be a sleeper Cup contender.

#4 Pittsburgh vs #5 Philadelphia- The rematch of last year's East finals will start in the same city as it did last year after the Flyers blew a 3-2 lead Sunday to the Rangers. Now they have to go to the Igloo to face Crosby, Malkin and the Pens. The Flyers had been my sleeper in the East all year since they can score with anyone, but they are maddening inconsistent and the Pens having Game 7 home is the difference, plus they are the other hot team in the East. Pens in 7.

Stanley Cup prediction:

The Sharks will find a way to finally get to the Stanley Cup finals and they will take on the Penguins, as much as it pains me to say. The Sharks win the Cup in 7 as Crosby must wait yet again for his championship. Now watch the Red Wings and Devils go to the finals.