Stanley Cup Finals Preview: Marian Hossa's Worst Nightmare

For the first time since 1984, and the first in any sport since 1998, the Stanley Cup Finals will have a rematch as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings will do battle once again. This matchup was the last one on people's minds back in February when they last met. Back then, the Penguins were struggling to even make the playoffs and fired coach Michel Therrien and hired Dan Bylsma. Since then, and after they traded for Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin and got Sergei Gonchar back from injury, the Pens have been arguably the hottest team in the league.

The defending champs also had an inconsistent stretch toward the end of the season as they played a bunch of games where they lost 8-0 or in that neighborhood. They still finished as a 2-seed in the Western Conference but were only going to go as far as Chris Osgood could take them, according to the experts. Well Osgood has been great in net and the Wings are on the cusp of their fifth title in thirteen years. So who wins the series between the a team that trying to learn how to win against a proud champion that's not willing to giving up the Cup. It's time that I give a complete breakdown.

Offense: When you think of offense and the Pens, obviously Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin come to mind. And with good reason, they both have 28 points to lead all scorers and almost certainly will be the first players to score 30 in a playoff season since Joe Sakic in 1996. It's more than just that their scoring, but they have been dominant almost every night. Their dominance in turn is giving guys like Guerin, Kunitz and Ruslan Fedotenko the ability to have big postseasons. As for Detroit, what can you say, when the Datsyuk is hurt, someone else always steps up. Johan Franzen is now a proven go-to-scorer, Dan Cleary and Darren Helm have been scoring out of nowhere. Add Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg and the Red Wings have the most balance scoring attack of all the playoff teams this postseason. Advantage: Detroit

Defense: In a normal situation, the Red Wings win hands down, but with Nick Lidstrom banged up, it makes the matchup closer to even. However, Detroit can still come out with Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart and Brett Lebda. Pittsburgh counters with Gonchar, Mark Eaton, Rob Scudari, Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang. Even though the Red Wings allowed more regular season goals, in the playoffs, it's not even close. Advantage: Detroit

Goaltending: Osgood has played very well during the playoffs, but Marc-Andre Fleury has as well. Both goalies basically have to play well enough and not necessarily stand on their heads to win. I have to say though that Fleury has been impressing me, particularly against two of the better offensive teams in the league in the Flyers and the Caps. Osgood should be in the Hall of Fame when his career ends, but Fleury is showing everyone why the Pens drafted him at number 1 in 2003. Advantage: Pittsburgh

Wings Power Play vs Pens Penalty Kill: One one hand, you have a PK that is above average and the other you have a PP that can be as good as Derek Jeter's batting average. There was a time the Red Wings were at a 30% clip on the power play, now they are a solid 25%. Big advantage: Detroit

Pens PP vs Wings PK: As good as the Red Wings PP is, their PK is just as bad. Only Columbus and Calgary did worse than Detroit's 74% kill. The Pens PP is at about 20%, should increase during the series. Advantage: Pittsburgh

Coaching: Mike Babcock is making his third Finals appearance and is looking for his second Cup win. Dan Bylsma has only coached in the NHL since February. Babcock even handles the press conference well; he said that everyone talks like the Pens won last year. Advantage: Detroit

Schedule: It matters this year as the first two games are tonight and tomorrow (thanks Conan) and Game 3 is on Tuesday. If either Conference Final went six, the Finals would of started Friday and the Red Wings would of had more time to rest. The fact is, Lidstrom's banged up, Datsyuk and Kris Draper are missing games and the Penguins are relatively healthy. Big advantage: Pittsburgh

Superstition: Last year both teams followed the silly superstition and didn't touch the Wales and Campbell trophies for winning their conference. Since the Pens lost, Crosby decided to switch it up and and carry the Wales trophy. Hey, carrying it didn't stop Mario Lemeiux from winning Stanley Cups. Advantage: Even

History: If you're Pittsburgh, you look back to 1984 when two emerging stars faced a venerable dynasty on its Drive for Five and won in five, which is in a way what the Penguins are attempting to do. The Red Wings are looking back at their February meeting when they dominated them at the Igloo. However, that Pittsburgh team is a lot different than they are now. Advantage: Pittsburgh

Maggie the Monkey: On of TSN's gimmicks is to have a monkey named Maggie make picks using a spinning wheel. Her pick for the Stanley Cup Finals is Pittsburgh. Maggie is 0-5 in Stanley Cup Final picks. On the bright side, she's retiring and she's due to be right. Right? Advantage: No one.

Final Prediction: A more spaced out series would help the Red Wings and if they can make it through the first four games with a split, they will be hard to beat once the extra off days take place for the sixth and seventh games. However, I think the Pens will steal one of the games at the Joe and will take a 3-1 lead in the series. Detroit will win Game 5 at home, but Pittsburgh wins the Cup at home and take this series in 6 games.

How to End a Title Drought?

The Cleveland Cavaliers were trailing 3-1 in their series with the Orlando Magic entering tonight's game in need of three straight wins. They are currently the city of Cleveland's best chance to win a championship for the first time since 1964 when the Jim Brown-led Browns won the NFL Championship, before the Super Bowl-era.


This has been probably the most heartbreaking drought with events like Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, and The Error. Two years ago, the Cavs were in the NBA Finals and were promptly swept by the Spurs, while the Indians led the Red Sox 3-1 in the ALCS and lost the last three games, including Game 7 when Kenny Lofton was held up by third base Joel Skinner when he would of scored the tying run in the 7th inning. The Red Sox went on to win 11-2 as they scored eight runs in the last two innings and the drought continued. This also includes the Indians forty years missing the playoffs in a row until 1995, the reign of terror by Ted Septien in the early 1980s almost ending the Cavs franchise, the failure of the NHL's Cleveland Barons, the last major sports team to cease operations and the 1995 Browns move to Baltimore by Art Modell.


So with all that baggage to work with, how is it possible for the years of losing to end? The fact is that years of losing create the thought of "curse" in the minds of the team/cities fans psyche. There is always the feeling that the other shoe is about to drop. You can see it anytime a nervous energy takes over a stadium/arena and the team you root for is suffocated by this. It happened to both the Mets and the Cubs last season; same goes for the Vikings in the playoffs. Unfortunately, it seems like that conventional ways to win never work, there needs to be a moment where a team is seemingly "destined" to win.


Most of the recent "curses" that have been foiled had a moment where a collective fan base no longer thinks the worst will happen. It could occur anytime in the playoffs, and usually comes at the lowest point in the season. The best example of this theory is the Boston Red Sox; they reached their low point after Game 3 in the 2004 ALCS against the N.Y. Yankees when they were down 3-0. As any Bill Simmons reader knows, the Dave Roberts steal is considered that turning point for the Red Sox, mainly because the next play, Bill Mueller knocked Roberts in with a single off Mariano Rivera. After that, and a couple of game-winners by David Ortiz, the Red Sox steamrolled their way to breaking the Curse of the Bambino.


A better example on a personal level was the 1994 N.Y. Rangers when Mark Messier guaranteed victory in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Final series with the N.J. Devils. They trailed the series 3-2 and the game 2-0 when Messier assisted on a goal, then scored a hat trick and the Rangers won 4-2. Unlike the Red Sox, the Rangers didn't steamroll their way to the Cup and actually gave Rangers plenty of reasons to believe it wasn't coming. But, they fought through a late-tying goal by the Devils in Game 7 followed by Stephane Matteau's OT winner and the great Howie Rose call put the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals. Then, the Rangers took a 3-1 series lead, lost the next two games and held off a final charge by the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup after 54 years.


Those aren't the only droughts that needed the perception of a team of destiny for it to be broken. The Chicago White Sox stole Game 2 of the ALCS against the Angels after a controversial when the umpire said Josh Paul dropped a third strike with two outs to A.J. Pierzynski when he actually just threw it back. Joe Crede would win the game on the next at-bat and the White Sox swept their way to the World Series, their first since 1917. The Phillies ended the 25 year Philadelphia championship drought and their moment of destiny was a 4-run 8th inning in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Dodgers when Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs hit two 2-run HR's that turned a 5-3 deficit to a 7-5 win. They also had a bases-loaded infield single in Game 3 of the World Series to further the team of destiny role. The Detroit Red Wings ended a 42 year Cup drought in 1997, plus being labeled chokers for recent flameouts in the playoffs. In Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, Steve Yzerman scored on a 60-ft shot and the Flyers were done in four games.


The Cavs ended up winning the game to make the series 3 games to 2 in favor of the Magic. LeBron had a part in 32 straight points but that's in my eyes isn't a turning point that makes the Cavs a team of destiny, which means something needs to happen in Game 6 that changes the fortune of this team, whether it's another game-winner from LeBron, a great block or even LeBron announcing he will stay in Cleveland tomorrow. Whatever it is, there needs to be a sign that this drought will end very soon if the Cavs are going to win this championship, or this season will be known forever in Cleveland as The Letdown (unfortunately I can't come up with a better name than that).

The Idea of the Dream Matchup.

Today was the championship match in the UEFA Champions League as the top two European club teams faced off. Manchester United, the most popular and most hated soccer club in the world, came in to this match having just won their third straight English Premier League title and as defending champions in the UEFA Cup. FC Barcelona was this year's champion in Spain's La Liga. Christiano Ronaldo of Man U won Player of the Year, while Lionel Mussi of Barca finished second in the voting.

The Detroit Red Wings just beat the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. They will meet the team the faced last year, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last year, the Red Wings beat the Pens in a harder-than-thought-but-ultimately-easy six games. The stories for this series include the leading scorer in the season and playoffs with Evgeni Malkin, co-leader in the playoffs and face of the league Sidney Crosby and their fight for playoff MVP, Marian Hossa who rejected a 7-year offer from the Pens to sign a 1-year deal with the Wings so he can win the Stanley Cup and a city in Detroit who while the economy has been disastrous, the team continues to be a symbol of pride. Basically, it's the face of the league against the glamour franchise for the past 15 years.

The subject of dream matchups has been much discussed in the NBA as everything has been focused on Kobe vs LeBron. The Cavs and the Lakers finished as the top two teams in the NBA and it seemed like an inevitability that these two would meet in the NBA Finals. So much so, that Nike and Vitamin Water have already started to prepare with their own Kobe vs LeBron ad campaigns. However, funny thing happened along the way, the Orlando Magic lead their series with Cleveland 3-1 and are a win away from ruining the dream matchup. Meanwhile, the Lakers just finished a hard earned victory tonight over the Denver Nuggets and they now lead 3-2 in that series, that should end up going seven.

So there in lies the issue, how beneficial is the dream matchup and more importantly, if it doesn't come about, is the real matchup good enough? Let's take a look back through all sports for the past decade to see how they have faired in getting their dream matchup.

The NBA should be first as it seems most people think the league will stop at nothing to get their series. Last season, they had the biggest rivalry in league history resume with the Lakers-Celtics series and it still wasn't the highest rated series even on ABC; that honor belongs to the final Shaq and Kobe Lakers in 2004 when they lost to Detroit. Of course, no one ever moved the meter in ratings like Michael Jordan, who was able to make Chicago-Utah in 1998 the all-time high for the NBA in ratings. However, with the San Antonio Spurs being the dominant team in the decade, along with a particularly weak Eastern Conference turning the NBA Finals into formality, ABC has still been unable to do will with ratings. The best ratings tend to occur in years an East team win, since it's not expected.

The NHL has had more trouble finding their dream scenario. The best ratings the NHL has received this decade was the Devils-Stars series in 2000 which averaged a 3.7. Detroit and Pittsburgh is currently the dream matchup because of the players on the Pens and the history of the Red Wings. It also doesn't hurt to have two markets that will do ratings in the 30's for the Cup finals. The NHL has been too often stuck with the Anaheims and the Carolina's in their finals. They have, however, had three years of a Canadian team in the Cup finals helping their CBC ratings. Still, no series has come close to getting the one game rating Game 7 in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals had when the Rangers beat Vancouver. While not a dream matchup, since Detroit was the West's number 1 seed that year and Toronto made the Western Finals, that game ended up being the highest rated NHL game in North America and hasn't been topped yet.

Since the Super Bowl never fails in the ratings and I would assume 200 million people will watch the Champions League final regardless who's there, the World Series is the last one that has to worry about dream matchup. Baseball back even twenty-five years ago would get ratings between 23 and 32 on average and Game 7 of the 1986 Mets-Red Sox series got a 38.9, very Super Bowl-like. Even more Super Bowl-like is that Philadelphia and Kansas City in 1980 is the highest rated World Series.

But now, the World Series now has to worry about outdrawing the NBA Finals. They need the dream matchup more than anyone, but can never get it. The closest they came was in 2003 when the Yankees faced the Red Sox in the ALCS and the Cubs faced the Florida Marlins in the NLCS. If the Cubs would of held their lead, a series with the Yankees would have been tremendous because of the Cubs title drought and their position as a national team, like the Yanks and Sox. The best series matchup in the 2000's has to be the 2004 World Series between the Red Sox and the Cardinals, but that ended way to early. The only other dream matchups since the strike were both series between the Braves and the Yankees.

It's obvious that this decade in sports have been unsuccessful in creating the matchups the causal sports fans want to see and it appears that they simply won't tune in and get to know new stars. Does this mean that if the NBA Finals is Denver and Orlando, no one will tune in for Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard? I don't know, but I do know the NBA doesn't want to find out, even if they can only keep one of them in. Because as we learned today from the Champions League final, if the two best teams and the two best players are involved, the world will stop and watch.

My Enemy's Enemy is My Friend Weekend

Once again its that time for interleague play and as always for every Royals-Cardinals series, we have a Diamondbacks-A's. That's the biggest problem with interleague play; way too many series that have absolutely no cache in order to fight through and get a Cubs-White Sox or a Mets-Yankees. However, this isn't one of those weekends here in New York.


At Yankee Stadium this weekend, the Yankees invite the World Champion Phillies into town, while the Mets are headed up to Fenway to take on the Red Sox. That's right, it's a bizarro rivalry weekend. Both matchups have history; the Whiz Kid Phillies were swept by the Yankees in the 1950 World Series and the Choke in '64 prevented another Phillies-Yankees matchup. Meanwhile, every baseball fan knows about the 1986 World Series, a story that's rarely told as a Mets victory, but as a Red Sox loss. Everyone seems to forget that the Mets won 108 games that year and were the prohibitive favorites to win the World Series due to the lofty record.


The point of this article wasn't to give a history lesson, but to point out the irony of Mets and Yanks fans rooting for the crosstown teams. I, as a Yankee fan, have no problem rooting for the Mets to beat the Red Sox. However, my father, as a Yankee fan, is pulling for the Red Sox because he can't stomach the thought about rooting for the Mets. This is a man who rooted for the Red Sox in the '86 Series and took the Boston fan approach after the Buckner play in Game 6, he walked out on a wedding party.


Meanwhile, it would seem easy for Mets fans to root for the Yankees because the Phillies are the Phillies. But, according to Gary Cohen, his view of the Yankees-Phillies series is that it doesn't matter who wins. My best friend Rocky falls in that category, going so far as say "I hope a plane crashes into the Stadium." Well then. Still, Subway Squawker Met fan Jon wrote, "Now this bad week is about to get even worse. This weekend, I will find myself rooting for the Yankees and against the Red Sox" in his post explaining why to root for the Yankees this weekend.


It's also a chance for Yanks and Mets fans a chance to do things they wouldn't normally do. When this post is finished, Johan Santana has finished pitching tonight, giving Yankee fans a chance to root for the man that should be wearing pinstripes, marvel without guilt in his brillance and to feel bad when the Mets make it harder on him to succeed, instead of showing amusement. Mets fans get a chance to see A-Rod from the Yankees perspective...well, I guess they can watch Derek Jeter and see how a shortstop is supposed to carry himself on the field. Of course, you can be like me and give both series a quick glimpse and focus on the NBA and NHL playoffs this weekend.


But for those of you who feel they must watch all powerful and almighty baseball, then don't worry about violating NY baseball law and root for both home teams.

McMahon vs Kroenke in a Steel Cage Match

Now usually I don't put up multiple posts on a given day, but this is the best story that's not part of my randomness post. The Denver Nuggets double-booked the Pepsi Center for Memorial Day as they have WWE Raw taking place there on the same night as supposedly Game 4 of the Lakers-Nuggets series. Vince McMahon isn't ready to give away the Raw event without a fight:




Wow, this is amazing video, especially if you're aware that Jonathan Coachman worked with the WWE for almost decade. Honestly, Stan Kroenke is at fault with this as the NBA has the playoffs scheduled basically years in advance, particularly during the last two rounds and they always have the conference final series that airs on ESPN/ABC play Memorial Day and every other year, it's the Western Finals on ESPN. Kroenke essentially made his bed by agreeing to the date in August and not giving an out clause in the contract should the Nuggets needed the court. Vince McMahon has every right to show up there on Monday and the most important thing for him is that Raw is live and the WWE can't lose face here. Any other day (aside from a PPV) and McMahon, I'm sure, goes away quietly. Kroenke's a lightweight here, so the real question is in what way does David Stern gets involved.

Randomness while laughing at James Harrison's reasoning for not seeing Obama

- I could write a whole column based on this story basically going over things that you can say "as far as I'm concerned" and say facts like James Harrison did. His full quote is here. I could say: As far as I'm concerned, the Magic played better than the Celtics last night. Or as far as I'm concerned, a player should be credited with a home run if they hit in fair out the the field of play.

- Does anyone else change the channel when ESPN has a "story" about Brett Favre, or is it just me. Fortunately, there is good news; ESPN will for a few days follow around the release of Michael Vick and make that the biggest news in the history of sports and give us a break from Favre.

- As I write this, 24 is recording on my DVR and I won't find out until about midnight, but it seems to me based on last week's episode and the "next week on 24" scenes, there is some sort of cliffhanger ending that might go right into Season 8. However, after watching Bill Buchanan die this season, I still haven't gotten over the fact Jack Bauer was exposed to a pathogen that will kill him. Or will it? Remember Jack Bauer is in the same league as Chuck Norris, Joel Quennville's mustache and Bill Cowher's chin; no longer mere mortal, but in fact larger than life in a Paul Bunyan sense.

- Speaking of Cowher, Pittsburgh fans should immediately disown him if he chooses the Hurricanes over the Penguins. If he only coached the Steelers, then I wouldn't mind if he roots for Carolina, but he's born and raised in Western Pennsylvania and despite living in NC, he should be rooting for the Pens. So, Bill, you can no longer "sound the warning siren" at least for this series or you can no longer show up in the city that made you famous, or at least get cheered. Besides, Mike Tomlin's a better coach anyway.

- I am tired of these former players who are analysts continuously say that a team is never better without a star player. The obvious example is whenever I hear someone say that the Rockets aren't a better team without Tracy McGrady, even though they performed better this year then any other year they had T-Mac. I won't say that the Rockets are better without Yao Ming, some matchups are better than others. But Tracy McGrady has been the most overrated NBA player this decade. His value was higher back in the early 00s when the iso offense's was everywhere, but his skills have decreased along with his durability. Add all his postseason failures, the success the Rockets had this season and the fact that the he still gets treated as if he's one of the ten best players in the league, which he never was during his career, and you have the most overrated player in the NBA.

- It might sound blasphemous, but I'm tired about hearing baseball talk in April and May. Everyone overrates everything in baseball during the first two months, especially when you live in a baseball-centric city like New York. That's the real tragedy of the Knicks terrible decade and the Rangers free-spending lunacy, that us New Yorkers are forced to follow baseball or do what I do and actually still follow the sports that my teams fail at when they get eliminated. I never remember baseball being as front-and-center back in the 90s because the Knicks always played well into May, either ending around this date in May or a few weeks later and the same for the Rangers during the first Messier era.

- I must give credit to Brett Gardner though, for his inside-the-park home run after visiting a sick girl, putting himself in the elite company of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Paul O'Neill. Well, almost.

- I just watched the end of the 1993 Cowboys-Giants game on NFL Network made famous by Emmitt Smith playing through a separated shoulder to win in OT. As a staunch Giant fan and thus Cowboy-hater, I must say, that was the most impressive, gutsy and clutch performance I ever saw in my life watching football.

- I haven't weighed in on the Phoenix Coyotes situation and I actually plan on devoting a full blog post on items like the NHL in the Sun Belt once all the playoffs end, but I happen to agree with Gary Bettman on one thing, if the Yotes move, they should go to Winnipeg and go back to being the Jets. I disagree with him about trying to keep the team in Phoenix or that Jim Balsallie shouldn't own a team in Hamilton. Once again, I will elaborate more about it once sports settles down.

- Now that I wined and dined you with the randomness, it's time that I give out my Conference Finals predictions. Now the NHL CF's have already started and I used The Cycle's Twitter page to make my picks. I have the Red Wings over the Blackhawks in six games and the Penguins winning in five. My reasons: unfortunately, I have to use the experience argument against the Hawks, which I hate and I generally believe is overrated. But the Wings are too good to just show up in your first playoff appearance in 5 years and beat them. They make you play their game. If the Hawks could possibly force the RedWings to play Chicago hockey, then they have a shot, but I think it's Detroit to win. As for the Penguins, I think Crosby is on a role and now they play Game 1 and the Hurricanes played a much more competitive game than they did in the previous series. That I think will benefit Pittsburgh, because they might not take them for granted. Add the fact that Marc-Andre Fleury is as good as Cam Ward, and you have a series the Penguins should win.

- Which leaves me with my NBA picks. Starting with Cleveland-Orlando, I don't see how the Magic win the series. They have no answer for LeBron and they have no go-to-guy at the end of games. Now they will have some success in this series as they beat the Cavs twice in Orlando and when they are hitting their three's, just like in Boston Sunday night, they are tough to beat. My pick is the Cavs in six games that will be a little tougher than most people I assume believe.

- As for the West, the Nuggets-Lakers series will be a very good one, depending on how the Lakers play. They should have never gone seven with the Rockets and if they played every night, it's over in five. The Nuggets have played the best of every team in the playoffs, including the LeBrons mainly because we expected the Cavs to get to the East Finals rather easy, while some people, including me, picked the Hornets to beat Denver. As for the matchup, Derek Fisher won't have to worry about running around like he did against Aaron Brooks, but Chauncey Billups will go more physical with him. The key to this series though is that the bigs on Denver (Nene, K-Mart) are tougher than the ones on the Lakers (Pau, Bynum) and the Denver bench is better. So while, the NBA, Nike and Vitamin Water are clamoring for Kobe vs LeBron (and if the refs get in the way, then this pick is moot), I believe it will be the Nuggets winning in six games and we get LeBron vs Melo, which if you remember back in 2003, that was the matchup that the NBA envisioned would occur to be like Magic vs Bird.

Series-clinching Thursday Live Blog

Huge night in sports as the NBA had must-wins for the Magic and the Rockets in their Game 6's. Meanwhile, the NHL had dueling Game 7's with the Red Wings hosting the Anaheim Ducks and the Hurricanes faced the Bruins. Thus, I decided to use my Twitter page to do a running diary.

7:02- We are live in the headquarters of The Cycle where I've cracked open my first Bud Light choosing drinkability for the night. Stay thirsty, my friends.

7:10- Pregame picks: Both Bostons, Lakers and Red Wings win tonight.

7:17- Osgood matching Marc-Andre Fleury from last night with a great save early in tonight's Game 7, Ducks on the power play.

7:20- Wow, 5 on 3 Ducks for a minute, doesn't the NHL want their glamour teams winning? The NHL, "Where meaningless teams get to win happens."

7:23- Wings survive the Ducks push early, Ducks look much better to start, while the WIngs look a little like the Caps last night. Wings power play.

7:25- WHOA... How dare Mike Tricio steal Gus Johnson's "Rise and Fire" line for a Lewis jumper. Soon he'll be saying "I'm Al Harrington and I get buckets."

7:28- Another stick save by Osgood, still holding the fort. Celtics by 3.

7:30- Both games on commercial, a chance to watch CC get out of the 1st with a good catch by Damon. When he carries this team, their in trouble.

7:36- Three's by Scalbrine (the benefactor of the KG injury), Pietrus then a House jumper to end the 1st. 25-22 C's. Nothing special yet.

7:38- This is the wrong series for Pavel Datsyuk to play in. The Ducks are just too physical for him to create.

7:40- The Red Wings are always in the right spot, Franzen shot, deflected by Hudler, 1-0 Detroit.

7:42- Worst part of the tonight's Game 7's, that I have to watch B's-Canes with Jack Edwards. The best part, I get to listen to Andy Brickley.

7:48- End of the 1st Period, Wings 1 Ducks 0. More importantly, no continuation fights from Tuesday.

7:57- Mike Tricio seems to say something and the opposite happens. Tirico: "Celtics offense has hit a rut." "Turkoglu hasn't hit a shot...until now", now if only he could say Keith can't find work?

8:01- This night of sports is helped by The Sports Guy's chat. Well done Simmons.

8:04- Now that I'm watching the C's-Magic for a while, it's clear Orlando has checked out of this series, aside from Mickael Pietreus. Even the Caps had Ovechkin be the only player showing up last night.

8:06- Now's its time to real showcase my remote skills as B's-Canes is underway. O/U goals I miss in person: 2.5. I have to take the under.

8:08- Also clear, the Magic are better and if they play better and SVG puts the right guys in, they should dominate.

8:16- Well I wish I had taken the over, Darren Helm scores, just saw the replay. 2-0 Wings.

8:19- Halftime in Orlando, 46-45 C's. Magic go on 11-2 run then two Pierce FTs and one by Alston.

8:23- Another Red Wings power play, Ducks can't stop using the stick on players. Wings close to taking full control.

8:24- Another goal missed. Bruins 1-0, not even a replay. Excuse me while I stick my head in the toilet.

8:28- BYRON BITZ!!!! He scores the goal? That's like if Colton Orr scored for the Rangers in Game 7 of the Caps series.

8:35- Great job by Datsyuk to kill the 5 on 3 and the less than sellout in Detroit is very loud right now.

8:38- About time I saw a goal for myself, Teemu Selanne after taking a crushing hit, with the nifty move to make it 2-1. My thumbs are safe for another minute.

8:39- Wings answer after Datsyuk took a HUGE hit on the boards but somehow threw it back to Mikael Samuelsson to make it 3-1.

8:42- And naturally I miss the Canes equalizer. Dennis Seidenberg makes me wrong with my O/U.

8:43-Corey Perry scores for Anaheim to make it 3-2 Wings.

8:45- OMG!!! Chris Osgood is playing the game of his life. Making save after save. Coming from a man who's won 3 Stanley Cups, I'm impressed.

8:46- End of 2, Wings 3-2. Meanwhile, it's 1-1 in Boston, time to watch the Magic-Celtics.

8:50- Remember when J.J. Redick went to Duke and we all hated and feared him. Now with Orlando, I no longer hate him nor fear him. I miss it.

8:55- I wish I could do a better job writing the Celtics-Magic, but this game is pretty boring. Plus, the hockey games are more on my mind.

8:59- I flip back on the Celtics game, their 9-point lead is cut to five.

9:01- If Dwight Howard is supposed to be the best big man in the league, you don't let Rondo get 14 boards before the 4th quarter.

9:03- Now Tirico steals "Helter Skelter" from Doc Emrick. But avoids using Bill Raftery's "And a Kiss" when Skip to my Lou kisses the ref's head.

9:05- Now if only the Magic can keep running the alley oop play with Howard all night.

9:07- All of a sudden, Starbury is beginning to play well. BTW, gotta keep writing my book in the 2000s Knicks. It will be called Truck Parties and Lawsuits, the Fall of the Knicks.

9:12- WHAT!!! The Wings whistle the "Potvin Sucks" chant. How dare they? Its bad enough the Devils do it and change the target, but Detroit? I'm pissed.

9:16- Ducks tie it. Bobby Ryan makes it 3-3. Versus biggest nightmare is OT and no one can watch the Canes-B's game, unless they paid the $79 on NHL Center Ice, like Bill Simmons did.

9:18- Finally saw a goal in the Bruins game. Sergei Samsonov makes it 2-1 Carolina.

9:22- Rajon Rondo bringing back the Magic Johnson act: 17 points, 16 boards, 6 dimes. OMG, how can all 3 be on commercial now?

9:30- Hard work leads to glory, Dan Cleary scores with 3 min left to give Detroit a 4-3 lead.

9:33- Ducks have trouble getting out of their end, now its in the Wings zone and Hiller leaves for an extra skater. 30 seconds left.

9:38- After a great stop by Osgood, the Red Wings win it 4-3. Chicago-Detroit West Final. Bettman pisses himself in joy. At the same time, the second period ends in Boston with the Canes still up 2-1.

9:40- Turkoglu hits a three to make it Magic by 6. Is there a comeback left in the Celtics?

9:44- This looks about done. And the Celtics can only look at themselves in the mirror as they gave a team who was ready to quit some life. 22 turnovers is inexcuseable. Also, Dwight Howard played his best game of the series.

9:46- Game over, series tied at 3 as the Magic win 83-75. Almost time for LA-Hou and the Bruins-Canes 3rd Period.

9:49- Save of the year by Aaron Ward as he puts a stick on the puck before it goes in the net. And no, he doesn't play goalie for the Bruins. Bruins are still alive.

10:00- Good start by the Rockets, however, they started well on Tuesday.

10:04- Milan Lucic ties it up in Boston. Great goal for the poor man's Cam Neely.

10:06- Lakers look like they showed up the same way as they did in Game 4. Hence, they trail 17-1. Bruins are buzzing right now.

10:11- Tonight's Game 7's have gone much better for the NHL. All they need is the Bruins winning and they will have a TV-friendly Finals matchup.

10:17- I feel tense watching the Bruins-Canes game and I don't care about either team. I don't even have the typical Boston hate with the Bruins to have me root against them.

10:23- Tim Thomas with the header, taking the wrister off the mask, then makes another save. The fact is the hockey goalie is the toughest position in sports, more pressure than any other.

10:27- OT in Boston, Kobe's 3-11 to start with six points, not a great sign for the Lakers. 33-21 Rockets.

10:34- Nervously awaiting OT and this Laker game isn't helping. I'll be back when the OT starts.

10:46- The puck is dropped!!!

10:49- Another great save by Thomas. Certainly, he should win the Vezina this year.

10:51- Bruins-Canes now gets the DVR treatment, now I won't miss the goal if I wander away. It's like giving a two-year old a playpen.

10:55- Aaron Ward first saves the game, then crushes Tuumo Ruutu. Why couldn't he play like this when he wore a Rangers sweater.

10:58- Rockets by 16 at halftime, hopefully the hockey game ends before the 2nd half begins, so I can focus.

11:00- WE WANT IT has to be the lamest chant you can say at a sporting event. Come'on, think of something clever. If not, stick with "Let's go Bruins".

11:07- Even Simmons has slowed down with his chat, and he's a professional writer.

11:10- There is nothing as pulse-pounding in all of sports as a Stanley Cup Playoff Game 7 in OT. Nothing!!!

11:17- Scott Walker seals himself as the ultimate Boston villian, first the sucker punch on Ward, now scores the winner as the Canes take the series.

11:23- Back to Houston, where it's all of a sudden 54-45?

11:28- Now it's 54-50, 14-2 Laker run. What the hell happened to the Rockets? Once again, the Lakers turn it on and off, their trademark.

11:33- Huge sequence: Kobe gives the ball away to Battier, leads to Landry 3 pt play. Kobe responds with a jumper.

11:37- Aaron Brooks hits 3, Rockets back up by 8.

11:51- Rockets keep their heads above water, and lead by 9 after 3. Kobe to start the 4th on the bench

11:59- Timeout on the floor, the Lakers without Kobe haven't sunk the team, Kobe has the chance to win this series.

12:03- David Stern roots for the officials. Everyone who reads this should come up with a comment about this. Especially if you follow the NBA like I do.

12:05- Carl Landry has been huge in this game, Kobe's waiting to go in, and the Rockets are starting to open it up midway thru the 4th.

12:11- Looking at the statline, if this score holds up, it's because of Scola and Landry scoring and nothing outside Kobe and Pau for the Lakers.

12:13- Something new for everyone to emulate, Kobe biting his jersey when going for the ball. Don't know what I think of this.

12:17- Aaron Brooks is rightfully proving me wrong for not including him with Scola and Landry. He's been amazing in the last two home games.

12:22- I guess it's about time to prepare for two Game 7s in the NBA on Sunday. No way I do another live tweet/blog this soon. Too much work and not enough words.

12:27- Show of hands, who thought there would be a Game 7 in this series once Yao went down? I know I didn't.

12:30- Wow, Mark Jackson took Kenny "The Jet" Smith to task for wearing a red Rockets blazer and bow tie on Inside the NBA. Even used "fellow New Yorker" to put him in further shame. As a native New Yorker like the two of them, I have to go with Mark Jackson.

12:34- Final in Houston, 95-80 Rockets. Sunday at 3 will be Game 1 of Hawks-Wings, 3:30 Rockets-Lakers Game 7, then the deciding game between the Magic and Celtics. Goodnight everybody.