Tonight was a heck of a finish to the first round of the playoffs.
2 very exciting game 7's.
Before I go into my 2nd round picks, which hopefully will go better than my 1st round in which I beat only a Monkey for correct predictions, let’s put out a few "Congrats + Shame" for the first round.
Congrats to the Hurricanes for a HELL of a game 7. WOW
Shame on Brodeur for the GWG, he should of had it, I'm not sure if it hit someone but Brodeur looked to comfortable during the final 5 minutes.
Congrats for the HELL of a series by the Hurricanes and Devils. Best 1st round series.
Congrats to the Capitals for rallying from a 3-1 deficit to oust the NY Rangers.
Shame on Donald Brashear for just a gutless hit on Betts.
Congrats to the Vancouver Canucks, for outlasting the Blues in OT of Game 4.
Shame on everyone who keeps saying Avery has no business in the NHL. He was the best Ranger tonight, and honestly who wouldn't have liked to see Avery vs. Crosby for 4-7 games? A whole blog on the "Pros" of Sean Avery is coming this summer.
Congrats to the Boston Bruins for absolutely dominating the helpless Canadiens.
Shame on San Jose fans for immediately calling for Joe Thornton's head. Joe didn't lose the series alone.
Congrats to the Vancouver Canucks for stopping the semi-surging Blues to a complete halt.
Shame on Colin Campbell and his lousy job during the first-round.
Shame on San Jose for being bested by the 8th seed. The Ducks were great, but the Sharks should have been better.
Congrats the Chicago Blackhawks for ousting the Calgary Flames. The Young guns showed they're for real.
Shame on Calgary for failing in the 1st round again. Why they don't shake the hell out of the roster is beyond me.
Congrats to the Chris Osgood for silencing his critics, for now.
Shame on the gutless Montreal fans for taunting Carey Price, and treating their future star-goalie like crap. You wonder why a lot of French-Canadian players don't want to play in Montreal. That’s why.
Double-Shame to the media who hounded Carey Price for the Roy-esque reaction to their sarcastic cheer.
And shame on Carey Price for apologizing for doing the taunt. He had no reason to be sorry.
I know that was hard to read, but that format is easier for everyone than lengthy paragraphs of each.
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Well I beat Maggie the Monkey with my first round predictions, but I still didn't fair to well in the 1st round, so let’s see if I can redeem myself.
Western Conference
(2) Detroit vs. (8) Anaheim - Anaheim in 6
Why?: The Ducks looked great in the 1st round, Hiller was amazing and the entire roster was chipping-in.
The Red-Wings are hugely-talented, and are the favourites, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Red-Wings aren't going to be prepared for the Ducks, just like San Jose wasn't.
Can Osgood keep up the amazing saves with Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne, Pronger, Whitney and Neids shooting on him?
(3) Vancouver vs. (4) Chicago - Chicago in 7
Why?: I love the Hawks, they're phenomenal to watch and proved against the Flames that they won't be pushed around and that they can score as often as they did during the regular season.
Vancouver has a lot of solid players like Kesler, Burrows, Raymond to lean-on. However when push comes to shove, I believe the Hawks are going to out-skate the Canucks and eventually wear down Bobby-Lou.
Vancouver has dominated these Hawks before but can the Canucks out-score the Hawks in this series?
Eastern Conference
(1) Boston vs. (6) Carolina - Carolina in 7
Why?: It goes against everything I've said all-year, but I'm picking Carolina. Like Boston they are a very hard-working squad and Cam Ward is looking great in net.
My gut says Boston will dominate but after watching this Carolina/New Jersey series, I think Carolina is in the right mindset for the playoffs.
Like Detroit, I think Boston may suffer because on an easy 1st round, and Carolina did a great job frustrating the Devils.
It isn't going to be a short series and it may go the other way, but I just love what I'm seeing from Carolina right now.
(2) Washington vs. (4) Pittsburgh - Washington in 6
Why?: The Caps have has the Pens number all season and absolutely surging right now.
It doesn't take a genius to know AO and crew will have to be better this round, but luckily the Caps will have a slightly less-talented goalie to beat in Marc-Andre Fluery.
The Caps will likely have a less stressful time against the Pens, as Pittsburgh doesn't have the agitators that New York had.
Crosby and Malkin are going to be animals in this series and the NHL finally gets to match up its poster boys against each other.
Like the first-round I'm expecting a ton of hate-mail, but as always I welcome your differing opinions.
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So what’s the news in Ottawa?...........
Rumour has it that Swedish d-man Erik Karlsson is going to sign with the Sens shortly after June 30th and will be in Ottawa for training camp.
This great news for Sens fans, as we all are excited to see what this kid can do.
Now oddly enough people are predicting Karlsson will sign with Ottawa, then return to Sweden for the season? If Karlsson signs with Ottawa, he's going to either play AHL or NHL, it's counter-productive for Ottawa to allow him or send him back to Sweden or to the Major-Juniors.
The Sens won't sign Erik this summer only to send him back to Sweden; there just isn't any logic to that.
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Chris Neil's agent has come out and said Neil isn't looking for $2.5 from Ottawa. He 'reportedly' wants a figure well-below that, but wants a long-term extension.
Well I can assure you when Murray and Neil were talking back in March; 2.5 million was the asking price.
So why the public price drop? Murray doesn't want Neil back anymore, not for 2 million a season and not for 3+ seasons.
Chris Neil isn't and shouldn't be in the Sens future plans. We have Ruutu to agitate and Bass can fight and score in Neil's place.
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It didn't take as long as we all expected, but Spezza rumours are back on the airwaves. Phoenix and Edmonton are the rumoured destinations.
For once I'm not going to comment on this rumour. We all know Phoenix's situation and we already know Edmonton wants Spezza.
So it really isn't new to anyone following the Sens.
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Will the Sens trade-up on draft day?
There isn't any rumour out there suggesting Murray will, however we had no clue he was going to trade up last year.
It's very hard to get anything out Ottawa when they aren't really meeting. Murray hasn't had any face-to-faces since everyone cleaned out their lockers, so we will likely be sitting in the dark for another few weeks.
My personal guess is Murray is more likely to trade for another 1st rounder than to trade his up.
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Anton Volchenkov has apparently broken his leg during the Worlds, courtesy of a Christoph Shubert slapshot.
There isn't any video or clear-report of this yet, but from all information gathered, says A-train blocked a German defenseman's point shot and had to be helped off?
Hopefully it isn't a very serious leg-break and hopefully he'll be good to go in September.
I'll be driving to Alberta starting tomorrow, so I won't be able to respond to your e-mails as quick as usual but still feel free to send them as I truly enjoy reading your thoughts, rants and other various E-mails.
Mark Christopher
[email protected] 
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