By Wally

It’s roughly  four hours until the face off of tonight’s game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks.   For what it’s worth, in all my years of watching sports, it’s quite hard to surpass an NHL Stanley Cup Game 7 in terms of drama and excitement … so I’m stoked about watching the game!

It’s hard to imagine that anyone has more pressure on them than Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo.   (The “LeBron James of the Cup Finals”).   Everyone is wondering which Roberto will show up.   Will it be “Good Roberto at home”  where he has posted a 3-0 record with 2 goals allowed  and save % of   .979 ??   Or will it be “Bad Roberto in Boston” where he has an 0-3 record, 15 goals allowed and a .772 save %??   On one hand, he’s back home tonight at his friendly confines.  On the other hand, his most recent game experience had him giving up three goals in 90 seconds.   I suppose we’ll see more of the good Roberto tonight … goalies are like relief pitchers … they must have very short memories or otherwise go completely nuts.

On the flip side, the Bruins have got to be wondering if they can put the biscuit in the basket at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.    I think they’re gonna need at least 3 goals tonight to pull out a win … and I’m not real confident they can notch those.     The Bruins will need to stay out of the penalty box if they hope to hoist the Cup tonight.

I see a pretty close-to-the-vest, low scoring Game 7 tonight.   Although I’m rooting heavily for the Bruins to win it (I’m a sucker for the Bobby Orr-Phil Esposito-Derek Sanderson nostalgia from the early ’70s … my second favorite team growing up) … I just have a feeling that the ‘Nucks will somehow pull out a 3-2 win in OT.   I’m really hoping for a great game and the Bruins to win, but I just see Good Roberto showing up and an opportunistic Canuck offense barely squeeking by … AGAIN, at home.

Regardless of the outcome, I’m sure Luongo won’t remind us how great his non-sporting life is compared to us small people, like LeBron did 

Pinesters … what do you see happening??   Will you be watching??

by Wally

I know it’s still Tuesday, but I couldn’t find anything catchy that contains “Wally” and “Tuesday”, okay?

Man, it kinda sucked going without a playoff game in either hockey or hoops last night.    But, no worries, we’re back at it tonight with the Oklahoma City Thunder opening the Western Conference Finals in Dallas versus the Mavwrecks. So what do YOU think we’ll see in this series???   Personally, I gotta go with Dallas.   I think Dirk & Co will win a hard-fought series … it’ll take 6 or 7 games.   And it’s a good thing they have home court advantage.

For some reason, I have trouble taking the OKC Thunder seriously.   Maybe it’s because they just seem like they were created as part of a comic strip or something.   Flash of lightning is their logo … then why aren’t they called the Lightning?   Or the T-bolts?   Feels like we’re in the middle of a Shazam! episode (remember that one?)   I suppose if we changed their name back to the Seattle SuperSonics, I might even pick ‘em to win the series.   But seriously … they’re just a little wet behind the ears to win this series right now.  Next year … yes.  This time, Dallas gets it done and goes to the Finals.   Dirk has never been better, they have seasoned vets, they have Tyson Chandler being somewhat of a force in the paint.

Heat vs Bulls: starts up again with Game 2 tomorrow night, then they wait til Sunday for Game 3.   This is driving me nuts!   C’mon, David Stern … there should NEVER be 3 days between games!!!   Two off days already feels stretchy.    Anyway, Bulls are up 1-0 after playing REALLY well for the last 17 minutes of Game 1  to pull away convincingly for a 21 point win.   Certainly not shocked by a Bulls win, but a little surprised they blew the doors of the Heat down the stretch.  Miami had been playing very well in the 4th quarter of their games vs Boston.   Okay, it’s only one game.    I will be shocked (pleasantly), though, if the Bulls do it again Wednesday.   As of now, I’m sticking with the Heat to win the series (brain talking here) … and they’ll have to win a game in Chicago to make that a reality.     But I obviously hope the Bulls sweep in 4 (heart talking here), but that won’t happen.

Don’t believe the fibby, bench Mike Bibby!    Mario Chalmers should be playing A LOT more than Bibby … I cannot believe Spoolstra can’t figure this out.   But i’m glad.   How is it that Eric Spoolstra is the head coach of an NBA team??   How is that possible??

Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins: Simple as this … I’m rooting for the Buins to go all the way … Stanley Cup and all.   So they simply MUST win tonight since they’re already down 1-0.   No small task … the Lightning are the hottest team in all of pro sports.    They’ve won their last 8 games … 8 PLAYOFF games.    Holy crap!

San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Cashmucks: Okay … it’s obvious … I’m rooting for the Sharks.   Why?    It’s Roberto Luongo … something creepy and unlikable about him.   The Sedin twins … ANNOYING!   City of Vancouver just has this nose-in-the-air feel about it … and the team has never had a good logo … NEVER!

What’s with that rectangle with a hockey stick in it???   Then there’s the Flying Skate Era.   Now, it’s a whale shaped like a “C”.    Puh … lease!    They might as well have a lightning bolt as their logo.   But, dangit … the Cashmucks are already up 1-0 cuz San Jose just has trouble holding leads.     Sharks win in 7 games … just a gut feel.

Pinesters … let us know what YOU see going on in the playoff games coming up!

There is often nothing funnier than capturing a facial expression or occurrence at the right time, or, should we say, the most inopportune time.

I challenge you, loyal readers, to view the picture below and provide a captivating caption that will cause “the shores a-crowding” with “people all exulting.” Should you provide the wittiest of captions, for you the flag will be flung and the bugles will trill.

This week we’ll actually revisit the NHL, a bit of a rarity here at Pickin’ Splinters. During the Blues/Ducks game earlier this week, B.J. Crombeen and Maxim Lapierre engaged in a bit of a scuffle – certainly no rarity to the National Hockey League. But the means to separating that fight by a few referees captured in the picture below seems quite humorous. Check out the end result:

Two officials attempt to break up a fight between St. Louis' B.J. Crombeen and Anaheim's Maxim Lapierre while a third official takes in the scuffle from above. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

You’ve got the context, now make like the father of free verse and create the best caption you can in the comments below.

There is often nothing funnier than capturing a facial expression or occurrence at the right time, or, should we say, the most inopportune time.

I challenge you, loyal readers, to view the picture below and provide a captivating caption that will cause “the shores a-crowding” with “people all exulting.” Should you provide the wittiest of captions, for you the flag will be flung and the bugles will trill.

This week, we have NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins got the best of Ovechkin’s Capitals in Washington this past Thursday 3-2 in a shootout (This was their first meeting since the Caps went 4-0 against the Pens last regular season). The game was a prelude to this season’s 2011 Winter Classic to be played at Heinz Field on New Year’s Day between the Pens and Caps. Sidney Crosby extended his points streak to 23 games with a goal and an assist, the most since Mats Sundin’s 30 game streak in 1992-1993.

Crosby seems to have the individual and team accolades to prove his superiority against the talented Ovechkin, which makes this picture from one of last year’s meetings all the more humorous:

The Washington Times - Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, runs into Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010, in Washington. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

You’ve got the context, now make like the father of free verse and create the best caption you can in the comments below.

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

By Wally

OK … we’re at the Final Four stage for the NBA and NHL playoffs.  Let’s get some predictions from the Pine on how the playoffs will unravel for each sport.   I’ll start:

NBA: Lakers over the Suns in 6.   This just isn’t a good size/position match-up for Phoenix;  LA’s size and length plus skill at the paint positions will be the difference.

Magic over the Celtics in 7.    Close match-up!   I think Orlando’s youth and home court advantage will be the slight difference.

NHL: Blackhawks over the Sharks in 7.   Okay … this is my heart making this call, but the Hawks haven’t had this good a team in a looooooooong time, so this is the year!   Plus, they’re playing exceptionally well on the road in these playoffs.

Canadiens over the Flyers in 7.   And why not???   At this point, it’s certainly not an upset.   Halak the Rock!!!   Soft spot for Anchorage’s favorite son … Scotty Gomez of Les Habs.

Those of you on the Bench … please share your thoughts!

I’ve been pretty good this year … okay, maybe just a bit better than average … so I have a pretty modest wish list for you.   The great thing about this list is that you don’t have to rush the elves to GET ‘ER DONE by 12/25.    Nope, this list can be accomplished over several weeks … even months, if not years.   Okay … coming clean here … some of the items are nearly miracles, so you might want to get some help from YOU KNOW WHO.     So this is what I want, in no particular order, but the most important stuff is definitely at the end:

I want Brian Kelly and Notre Dame football to be consistently in the Top 10 conversation during his tenure, recognizing of course that 2010 will be a challenging transition year.   Top 10  … I think that’s “reasonable” … it’s not like I’m asking for two or three national titles or anything.   Your other customers, like Crossword Pete, will be demanding titles … so beware.   Don’t get me wrong … I am in favor of titles … but of course ya gotta crawl before walking.

“#1 Moses” on the campus of Notre Dame

While I’m on the subject of ND sports, I’d like a new basketball coach.  Mike Pray, er uh  Brey, just doesn’t seem to have what it takes to have the Irish even consistently in the Top 25.    He’s had about 10 years to prove his worth, not to mention the last 3-4 years with one of the all-time great ND players and and All-American, Luke Harangody.  Time for a change … Pray’s teams are way too soft on the defensive end … just like Charlie UnWeis’s teams.   If Gonzaga and Butler can get there, so can the Irish.

Okay … speaking of soft and cushy … Lovie Smith and his entire coaching staff must be replaced on the Chicago Bears.   Nope … changed my mind … I’d like for the Bears to be sold to another owner.   The McCaskeys have totally wiffed on personnel and management decisions since letting Jerry Vainisi (the GM with Ditka) go back in the 80′s.   They are cheaper than cheap and oh for the last two decades.   Time for new blood … and a winning tradition.

Speaking of cheap SKATES (hah!), I’d like a Stanley Cup Championship for the Chicago Blackhawks, thereby ending one of the longest championship droughts in pro sports (1963).   Actually, the Hawks have turned the corner and are reallyy investing in the team for a change … and the Hawks are playing great … they’re on top of their division and showing lots of promise.   A title could actually happen this season or next.

Effective with the 2010 season, I want an 8 team college football playoff!!!   There is no (good) reason why this cannot be implemented quicky right into the existing bowl system.   It’s about time that New Year’s Day meant something again.   Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see 4 games on that day that actually counted???   And then 3 more after that.    Wow … a no brainer!

IN the meantime, I want to see the so-called national title game be tied at 3-3 and go into 6 or more over times without anyone scoring.   Okay … someone will eventually win, but Texas and Bama will be found sooooo incompetent that the AP will rightly award their championship votes to the winner of the TCU vs Boise State game.

I’d like the Indy Colts to go undefeated for the entire season and win the Super Bowl.   I want to see them do what the NE Patriots and even those ’72 Dolphins failed to do.   A perfect 19-0 title run.   What a fitting prize that would be for one of the greatest QB’s we’ve ever seen.    If not this for the Colts, a Saints title will do … that town deserves a break.

I want the Chicago Bulls to blow it up and start over.  It’s just embarrassing since MJ left.   Nuff said.

I want NASCAR to disband.    Let’s save all that effort, money and fuel and give it to the needy, the hungry, the homeless.    How anyone can waste hours watching cars on steroids make repeated left turns and get into little fender benders is just beyond me.   Get rid of it, move on.

I want Phil Mickelson to steal Tiger’s caddy while he’s on “sabbatical”.   Phil and his new infidel caddy will be on top of the PGA tour when Tiger returns in … who knows … 3-4 months.    Let’s see how Woods likes it.   (We all know that it’s Tiger’s caddy that’s the real key to his golfing success anyway … who do you think reads all those putts???).

I want to see Kentucky win the Final Four and Nat’l Championship this season … and not be put on probation or found to have committed violations of some type.   So you’ll have to turn Calipari into an angel.   I know … a near miracle.

I want at least one of them – the Cubs or the White Sox – to battle EVERY YEAR in their division and at least contend for the playoffs into September.  Is that asking too much???   It’s two teams in a huge market … it should not be that difficult.

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Last but certainly  not least …

I’d like all of our troops overseas and in the middle east to return safely.

I’d like the hungry to be fed and the sick to be cured.

I sincerely hope all of our brothers and sisters on the pickin’ splinters bench … and their friends and families … have a wonderful holiday season plus a healthy and happy New Year!

Thanks, Santa!

Wally

p.s. — a rush on that “ND football transformation” would be cool 

'The Rocket' and Beliveau

By Paul Casey Gotham

Without so much as a whimper the Montreal Canadiens bowed from this year’s National Hockey League playoffs.

Boston’s first round sweep of Les Habitants caused barely a blip on the radar screen of North American professional sports.  After all the Bruins advancing to the second round of the playoffs might beg the great philosophical question: if  a number one seed sweeps an eight, does anyone notice?

But with the Habs went one of the greatest, if not longest, streaks on the continent.

Since first drinking from the Cup in 1916, the Canadiens have hoisted Lord Stanley’s trophy at least once every ten years.  For nine decades the Habs earned the right to be called the league’s best – a streak unparalleled by any team in the NBA, NFL, MLB, or NHL.

Those under the age of 30 might find it difficult to comprehend the one-time dominance of the Montreal Canadiens.

During the ’76-77 campaign Montreal amassed a record of 60-8-12.  Yes, you read that right.  Only eight times did the Canadiens falter during that entire season.  And to think they accomplished that feat with such mortals as Ken Dryden, Larry Robinson, and Guy Lafleur. Unlike the Chicago Bulls who needed the other-worldly escapades of Michael Jordan to finish with a mere 10 losses a decade later. One can only imagine how many losses the Bulls could have avoided by earning ties.

Montreal’s Cup victory that season would be their second of four consecutive – in a decade which they would win six overall.

Like their MLB counterpart, New York Yankees, the Canadiens produced a tradition of winning.  One generation passing on the habit to the next.

While the Yankees took five World Series from ’49-’50, the Canadiens finished the decade winning the Cup from ’56-60. Toe Blake deployed greats such as Maurice ‘The Rocket’ Richard, Bernie ‘Boom Boom’ Geoffrion, Dickie Moore, Doug Harvey, and Jacques Plante.

Cournoyer

Those greats passed on the custom to Jean Beliveau, Dick Duff, Yvan Cournoyer, and Gump Worsley who led the Canadiens to four Cups in five years during the 60s.

Cournoyer hung around long enough to pass the winning attitude on in the 70s.

It was as if there was something in that sweater – that majestic C blazoned across the front, that deemed the wearer to be better than others.

By the end of the 1970′s four teams divided sports fans like no other: the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Steelers, Boston Celtics, and yes, the Montreal Canadiens.

When the Steelers hosted the ’78 AFC Title, who did I root for?  Well of course, the Houston Oilers!  I cheered lustily when Vernon Perry returned a first-quarter interception for a touchdown.

’77 & ’78 World Series?  If the Sox couldn’t advance, you bet I was pulling for the Dodgers.

Remember game 5 of the 1975 NBA finals? The triple overtime epic in the in the Boston Garden?  I was on my knees clapping for the Phoenix Suns when Gar Heard dropped that 16 footer.

And when the Rangers knocked out my Islanders in ’79 to face the Canadiens?  Yeah, you got it.  I pulled for the Broadway Blues.

Despite all my efforts the Canadiens dispatched the Rangers 4-3 to win a fourth consecutive Cup – their 22nd all-time.

The Habs climbed the NHL ladder only twice more in the next fourteen years.  With their  last championship in ’93 (24th overall) Montreal stood above all other professional franchises in North America.

A couple of labor disputes later and a restructuring of the NHL’s finances have since relegated the once-dominant Montreal Canadiens to a place in history.

At one time the Canadiens greatness provided a gauge for other’s to compare themselves.  Now they have become a hurdle to pass on the way to greatness.

As Casey, my parents and I were watching Manny and Co pull one out against the Rangers Saturday night, the score of Game 6 of the Bruins/Canadiens game flashed periodically at the bottom. 1-0…1-1… 2-1…..2-2…3-2….3-3….4-3…4-4… At one point, it seemed like they were flashing a new score every 30 seconds. The result: possibly one of the best 3rd periods in NHL playoff history.. and we missed it!! Partly because yours truly didn’t know what channel the game was on. But NHL playoff hockey has the ability to create moments/memories that can leave you weak in the knees and calling for an oxygen machine…. and a IV drip of caffeine. Memories such a Brett Hull’s questionable in the crease goal against the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 of the 1999 Stanley Cup. As Casey mentioned before – Pat LaFontaine’s 3 a.m. goal in the 4 OT of the Capitals/Islanders series in 1987. Bobby Orr flying through the air. Or Edmonton Oilers fans singing “O’ Canada’ without any help and leaving even people at home with chills. So many moments, but how much has been lost to no one seeing it?

Granted the NHL will never be as big as MLB, NBA or the NFL, but that doesn’t mean it can’t appeal to fans. It has everything to appease the average American fan – speed, agility, athleticism, and of course, violence. But yet, it struggles. Is that because the average or casual NHL fan can’t relate? Growing up in the Northeast, skating was almost a given. Winter came, ponds froze up and there was hours of endless skating. Toss in some cones, a hockey puck and hockey sticks – and you were good to go. As Bill Simmons pointed out in a recent article, that maybe the NHL by expanding has done itself a disservice. That people can’t equate hockey with cities like Anaheim, Nashville, Carolina and Tampa Bay. Maybe it turns fans off?

Other sports seem to have their rivalries.. Yankees/Red Sox, San Antonio Spurs/Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Cowboys/Washington Redskins to name few. But if you didn’t know anything about NHL history, would you know what the rivalries were between NHL teams? Have moving teams from Quebec ruined some of those rivalries?

So I am asking you… I am putting this to an open forum. How does the NHL save itself? How does the NHL insure that people see games like Game 5 of the Bruins/Canadiens series? How does the NHL get fans to watch the powerhouse in the making Pittsburgh Penguins? Can we help Gary Bettman? I hope so….