Livin the Dream

I just got back from Las Vegas this past weekend after a Wednesday to Saturday late night stay. There is something about this city that just gets me every time and will go over a few things that might’ve happened to me or that I saw.

The European pool at Caesars Palace. When 3 of my buddies decided to schedule an 11:30 am tee time for Thursday morning me and one other male compadre decided that we should experience this. After ordering a $58 six-pack of beer we were waiting to see the best set of hooters we’ve ever seen. The first lady to take the top off was a 45 year old wrinkled lady whose skin looked like a King Cobra and had saggy little B-cups. This was a terrible decision by us even after seeing fake D-cups from an upper 20’s looking girl who quite easily could’ve been a stripper.

Card players playing Texas hold’em. You are not a professional and quit acting like every professional player you’ve seen win a tournament on TV. Honestly, do you need sunglasses and/or head phones while playing at the tables? The best player is the guy who just puts his glasses and/or phones in when he’s in a big hand. Like me not seeing your eyes is going to make me fold or call your huge bet. Be your person, your own player and make up at least one line that we haven’t heard on TV or from a movie.

Toby Keith’s Bar. This is the closest thing you’ll come to going to your local college bar in Vegas. You get waitresses wearing soft leather vests that are zippered up ¼ of the way and their chests hanging right in your face when you’re trying to order a damn burger and fries. Music is cranked with every country hit you can think of so everybody and anybody who is in the bar is dancing and taking shots of some ridiculous shot you haven’t smelt in 6 years. The best part is the lady who walks on top of the circular bar and makes her rounds blowing into a referee whistle as loud as possible. While doing so, she forces margarita mix down anybody’s throat that is within 25 feet of the bar. If you’re there and looking for your everyday college bar, take a jaunt down Vegas Blvd. to this classic hangout.

M.I.L.F’s. There are more 30-45 year old females there that dress and look like they are in their mid 20’s. They are usually in groups of 4-6 and looking for any decent looking man with money or any male under the age of 30. The best part is that you don’t even know if they’re married because all of them will take off their rings if they are actually married. I bet the rate of them who are married hovers around 50% and I’d say 45% of them commit adultery while in the city that never sleeps.

The “red eye” flight back to Minnesota. My flight left at 12:50 AM PST so yes we didn’t get to enjoy the nightlife on a Saturday night. But I went to the Vegas airport and there was no line to get checked in and no line to go through the security. Of course it took 15 minutes for the guy to bring into the private section of security only to find two empty chew cans but whatever. It can usually take an entire day to get checked into the Vegas airport so that was a blessing in the sky. I got home at 7:30 AM so I had all day to be one big pile of shit and still feel at 50% on Monday at work. The other thing is that you’d be crazy to think I wasn’t ready to leave after having 37 beers per night Wednesday-Friday and then getting shit-faced Saturday afternoon by the pool while some dipshits bought us two rounds of shots before noon.

Overall it was just another trip to Vegas but it amazes me that I see new things every single trip out there. I have another trip planned in July for my brother’s bachelor party so I will be reporting on the new bizarre things that I see. The goal of this trip and I guess every trip to Vegas is to come back alive. Here’s to staying alive at the 2nd go around for a bachelor party to the city that will take you for a ride.

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Picture of the Day

Picture of the day comments and upcoming TKOT schedule.

Fuzz: Synchronized Swimming is an interesting event or sport. Whatever the hell you want to call it, it’s just plain strange. It usually involves about 8-10 women in unflattering one- pieces doing crazy leg & arm poses in water. Yet, it looks ridiculously hard. It looks like you have to be coordinated, strong and have the ability to hold your breath for a long period of time. It’s one of those things that the majority of people make fun of, but if they would ever try it, they’d fail miserably. I made a joke a long time ago about it in front of my mother and she told me she did it in high school. Ummm, what?!?!? was my response. They had it as a sport back then? Sure did, she said. Anyways, it was one of those times that you learn something about your parents you’d never guess in a thousand years. I’m sure all of you have these types of stories...

Dogg: I assume this is some sort of synchronized swimming team but could be completely wrong. Anyways, I don’t understand how somebody or a team gets good at this. Don’t you all get hurt when practicing before you know exactly how to perfect the routine? It’s like bikers and skateboarders going up and down the ramps. How do you begin practicing for stunts like that? I have to imagine that a lot of these athletes get seriously injured before perfecting these sports. Whatever it may be, they are talented and would love to attend an synchronized swimming competition. I’m going to push TK on Toast members to attend one in the future.

Q: Fuzz and the rest of his Sartell swimming buddies get together for a nice reunion...

Upcoming TKOT schedule:

Friday: Dogg's Vegas article. Dogg recently went to Vegas--should be good.
Monday: T-Wolves Review/Preview article. Fuzz will be doing the review of the season and Q will be doing the preview of what's to come. Will be posted this weekend for readers that want a headstart.
Tuesday: Picture of the Day.
Wednesday: Lost Rountable. The hit TV show Lost returns next Thursday after a five week layoff. We'll be doing this with a loyal reader that is a Lost fan.
Thursday: Picture of the Day.
Friday: "Voices from a Stranger" from "The Bag." That's right, another first round NFL mock draft article. Draft is next Saturday already!

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Picture of the Day

Dogg: It looks like that photo is from the Avalanche/Wild game and they are saying bring back the mullet? Don’t a lot of hockey players have a modified version of mullets? Why are some fans so stupid?

Q: You know, some sports' fans get unfairly pigeonholed into a certain stereotype. Most of the time they are outdated, if not flat out incorrect. But then you find idiots like these two, who show the rest of the country that this is how their sport should be judged. Nice move geniuses.

Fuzz: Ladies & Gentleman, my roommates and co-writers of TKOT--Q & Dogg! Don't believe a word they are saying above, these two goons are Mr. Cue and Dogg!

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Twins Roundtable

We love the Twins, especially the Twins gals at the games. Has to be the best crop of women at a pro sporting event in the area, right? Anyways, below are roundtable thoughts on the first two weeks of the season, the love for Carlos Gomez, Morneau's expectations and the injury controversy involving former Twin Matt Garza.

Q: We are roughly two weeks into the 2008 Twins season, so it seems like a good time to get some expert thoughts and opinions on this year's squad so far.

First question: Obviously we have to talk about Carlos Gomez. This kid might be the most exciting player the Twins have ever had. What are your thoughts about him so far and what can we expect from him as the season progresses?

Fuzz: You know what? This Gomez kid has a good shot in this league. I went to the game two Friday’s ago vs. the Royals and Gomez was soooooo entertaining to watch. Like we've all heard, he's going to have his ups & downs, but his ups are awesome! He bunted for a single in his first AB (a common theme, it seems like), stole second and scored on a Mauer single. Badda boom--Badda bing! Just like that, we're on the board. If he gets on base a healthy amount this year, he's stealing 60 bags. Also, the lowkey-out of the spotlight Minnesota market might do a kid like Gomez a lot of good. New York is a different animal and some thrive in that atmosphere. Gomez, when called up last year didn't thrive so well. He's a confident young man that could have been pushing too much to prove he was right. Here in this great state, the pressure isn't nearly has heavy. He could be our leadoff hitter for the next 15 years.


Marx: I mentioned this the other day. He might some day steal 100 bases in a season if he can stay healthy and get on base enough. Its almost guaranteed he will be standing on second base if he somehow reaches first. I think his defense has also been pretty fair. Secondly, is Delmon Young the next Torii Hunter? Have you watched him bat yet? He swings at every slider low and away and tries to pull it. Every opposing pitcher knows this and they have been pitching him appropriately. Scott Baker has looked mediocre in his starts and its pretty obvious he is a back end of the rotation pitcher. So is Boof Bonser. Livian Hernandez and Nick Blackburn have looked very good so far, but can they keep it up? It also sounds like Slowey's injury could be fairly serious and he could be out for awhile.

Q: I know it's early in the season (and in his career--the kid's only 22), but has there been a more disappointing player than Young? You're right about the swinging at terrible pitches thing, and on top of that he's not driving the ball at all. It seems like every single hit he's had this year was to the opposite field and looked more like a mistake than a solid hit. I hope our hitting coach Joe Vavra is working with him for hours every day, because things don't look great with him right now.

Not only is our staff full of 3, 4, and 5 starters, but they all seem to get hurt. Liriano looked like he was struggling to find his control in his first start of the year on Sunday, trying to come back from TJ surgery. Not that this is anything new; he was not very impressive in two minor league starts, or in Spring Training for that matter. Plus, Slowey's hurt, Perkins is coming off an injury (which is why he's in AAA and not getting a rotation spot), Bonser could pull his gut muscle any day now and be out, and Livan is older than dirt. I knew the staff was going to be an issue this year, but this is a bit worse than I imagined. At least we have Nick Blackburn. That kid is legit.

What do you guys think of some of the other new Twins? Lamb looks like he might finally be finding his stroke, Harris has been very solid at the plate, Monroe straight up sucks, and Everett is hitting .095. Yikes.

Fuzz: Like I've been telling people, this is a rebuilding year. Everyone has hope at this time of year, but you have to look at these guys with an outside eye. Besides Mauer, Morneau and Nathan, this team is full of question marks. Those three guys are our most established ballplayers on this squad. Besides that? Nothing until they either get experience, find their talents, or they could never be good.

The Gomez kid should be alright to possibly very good, Young will come around (and did you see Garza is on the DL? Uh-Oh), Cuddy is Cuddy, Lamb & Everett are decent players that are merely stop gaps until we find someone else, Harris is young enough to stay at 2-bag for a while and our staff is going to take it's hits. Literally. Die-hard fans don't like hearing these kind of things, they like to hear what they want to hear. I'm not saying the season is over and we should pack it in, but I'm forecasting on what I think is going to happen with this roster this year. This is a learning year. Period.

If we can find a couple talented pitchers and maybe a few talented outfielders out of this crop through this process, all things are good for me. I'll take a year or two hit to build it back up. And, even though I truly believe what I just said, I really hope I'm wrong being a big-time Twins fan myself. Anyways, what can we expect from Liriano this season?

Q: Liriano: I was really hoping they wouldn't rush him back just because the guys we have up right now are either terrible or injured. He needs time to figure everything out, and control is usually the last thing to come back when you have TJ surgery. Now that he is back, though, they may as well keep him in the rotation and not send him back and forth between Minnesota and Rochester. People need to understand that he'll be a little shaky to begin with, though this will cause fans to worry that he'll never return to form and people like Barriero to tell everyone that his career is finished. By August he'll be back to dominating the opposition (though not at the level from '06 because that was a ridiculous debut that wouldn't have been repeated even if he didn't have surgery) and he'll be the staff ace. After that, it's Opening Day starts for the rest of his time in a Twins uniform.


Fuzz: Since I'm on the books that this is a learning/re-building year; I wish they had waited a little longer to bring F-Bomb up. Naturally, he didn’t look that great in his first start. In my opinion he should have stayed down for a couple extra weeks until he was 100% ready. Plus, it keeps a Slowey or Blackburn in the rotation longer. It works out now since Slowey is on the DL but what happens when he comes back? Any experience those guys can get is beneficial. Looking forward to the future, the F-bomb NEEDS to be our ace. Let's play hypothetical for a second: What if Liriano never truly comes back to anything more than a 4th or 5th starter? That has to be a little concerning, doesn't it? Because this team doesn't have a pitcher with ace stuff on it's roster. And, I don't think the minors are full of major league ready aces either. That could be a problem this year, the next, etc...

Q: That has to be the biggest concern for the Twins right now. With losing Radke, Santana, and Garza, there isn't a number 1 on this team or in the farm system right now if Franchise isn't that guy. I don't know if it's the pessimist in me talking or what, but the more I analyze this team, the further away from contending I think we might be. There are major holes at third and short (maybe second too, but Harris has looked pretty good for now), to go along with the lack of a #1 in the rotation. Am I being too negative here?

Fuzz: What's the deal with Morneau? He's been slumping since the last part of last year and this year, too.

Marx: It looks to me like Morneau is trying to pull everything and even jerk it out of the yard everytime. He needs to hit or our lineup becomes pretty anemic. I also think that the Michael Cuddyer injury was probably the best thing that could have happened. Its not a serious injury, but it opened up a spot for Jason Kubel to play everyday and he seems to be responding pretty nicely. Hopefully when Cuddyer gets back Gardenhire leaves Kubel in the lineup and gives Craig Monroe bench duty.

By the way, if Cuddyer played basketball or football, he would have missed maybe one play. The trainer would have yanked his finger back into place and put some tape on it and he would have gone right back in. Only in baseball...

Q: He's only hitting .225 but has 3 HR's and 9 RBI so far for a team that is scoring just over 2 runs a game (not counting that 12 run out-of-nowhere burst the other day). I think the biggest problem for Justin last year was expectations. Coming off of an MVP season, he really wanted to prove it wasn't a fluke and he ended up pressing quite a bit. I suppose the same could be said for the early part of this season, since he wants to validate that monster contract extention he got.

Nevertheless, the bigger problem (both for the team and Morneau's numbers) is that Joe Mauer has been brutal this season. Sure, he's knocking Gomez around a bit, but if you actually watch the games, he hasn't been a threat at all. He's got to have about 25 ground outs to second and has yet to come up with a clutch hit or, god forbid, drive the ball to the gap. If he starts hitting, everything will fall into place. Of course, it would help if Delmon started hitting too. Right now, opposing pitchers have no problem pitching around Morneau because they have no fear that the guy behind him (Young) will do anything. Man, we really have some offensive issues...

Fuzz: Great call on the expectations thing Q. He did start out really slow and he's picking it up a little but nothing to what is expected. You're right though---big contract, four hitter equals huge expectations. That middle of the lineup for two weeks hasn't really done anything. It probably won't last but I'm analyzing the situation right now and they aren't hitting. The 2-5 hitters we were told would be our glue this year. So far, not so good. That is why we're 6-7. Our staff has actually held up pretty well, which is a surprise to me. Livan especially. I ridiculed this signing hard and it's blowing up in my face. Do you guys think Livan is going to keep this up and what's realistic to expect from him this year?

Marx: I think Livian will finish something like 14-12 with 200 innings thrown, similar to a Brad Radke year.

Q: I'd say that's the ceiling for the L Train. I seem to remember a diminutive new pitcher who raced off to a great start for us last year, only to come crashing back to earth. Does Ramon "Lil Papi" Ortiz ring a bell? We should just be thankful that Livan has done this well so far, though I will give him a ton of credit for his amazingly low ground ball rate. I'd guess he finishes the year with a 10-12 record, 5.11 ERA, and a spot on the DL come August/September.

Fuzz: I hope Livan keeps going and my opinion that it was a horrible signing was wrong. I would love for the chubby lovable ace to pull a season out of his ass. Anyways, what should we expect this week from the Twins? 2-gamer against Detroit, 2 gamer against Tampa Bay and 3-gamer against Cleveland.


Q: I'm very worried about this week. I know it's only April, but this could be a huge week one way or the other for the Twins. There is a potential that they get absolutely crushed by Detroit (thus breaking them out of their early season funk and sending the wrath of the rest of the Central on us), owned by an upstart Tampa club, and get dominated by Cleveland. If that happens, any hopes of competing this season might be done. On the other hand, if they take advantage of the Tigers slump, beat up the Rays pitching like they should, and play competitively against the Indians, that could build a ton of confidence that the team could use throughout the rest of the season. Absolutely a huge week. If I had to guess, I'd say the Twins basically play .500 ball this week; 3-4 or 4-3 at best.

Marx: Here's an interesting question...Do you think TR/Bill Smith knew that Matt Garza might have arm troubles in the future or is his injury just a fluke?

Fuzz: Just a fluke. However, it's a little weird that they protected Garza from trades so much for 2-3 years and then unleashed him without second thoughts this offseason. I chalked it up to the new sheriff in town running the show a little differently. But, you never know. Garza pitched fine during spring training for them and didn't complain. Now he brings this up when he gets hurt? That's a little fishy...

Q: I'm going to say that the Twins brass didn't know much about any possible injury that Garza may have had. While I don't doubt that he may have had those arm/hand issues when he was here, I also don't think he told the trainers or coaching staff about it. He seems like that "tough guy" type who thinks injuries are a sign of weakness and doesn't fully disclose how he's really doing. It's unfortunate for Tampa that he's out, but on the bright side, at least Delmon has been terrible so far this year. So the trade could probably be considered a wash at this point—kind of like this season is shaking up to be.

I guarantee you that every time we write about the Twins this year it will be about something different. Right now it’s the lack of hitting, especially from the middle of the order. In a week, it will be the bullpen. Two weeks later, we’ll be bitching about the starting rotation. Splash in a bit of unfounded optimism after we win a few games in a row, and you have my crystal ball prediction of this season. Buckle up boys, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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10 Masters Thoughts

10) All golfers have hot wives. It never fails. If you make it on the PGA tour then good-looking women are sent to you. Some sort of golf god sends a box of women that you get to pick from. Like a box of 64 crayons with women in it. You just pick the color you like.

9) I thought Tiger looked off all week, yet he still finishes in 2nd place. His driver failed him most of the week and his putter failed him on Sunday. Woods seems like he’s always right in it every major though. I know he’s had a few lower finishes and one missed cut, but he’s almost a guarantee for a top 15 finish nowadays in a major tournament. It’s pretty impressive. However, I didn’t like how he opened his mouth about the Grand Slam. He needs to keep those thoughts bottled up and just play dominant golf.


8) Phil Mickelson is almost back. I knew once he blew that U.S. Open a couple years ago by doubling the last hole that good ole man boobies was going take a hit. It was going to be a big mental hurdle to get over. He’s almost there friends. This is the best I’ve seen him look since that tournament. He has the swagger back. He blew a good opportunity this week by shooting a 75 on Saturday, but he’ll win a major either this year or next.

7) Augusta has never looked better. It’s a little gay to say stuff like that, so I’ll leave it at that. But, it looked great this week. I think I’d pay a grand to play that course.


6) This is a year late, but can someone tell me what the hell happened last year in the Masters? I thought the -8 winning score made it seem like it was playing easier because of Zach Johnson’s winning score of +1 last year. Well, I had to check out the Masters history to see if I was right. I was way off. I only went back until 1990 and the highest score to win it besides the +1 last year was -7 in 2003. And a lot of years it’s -10+. Again, wtf happened last year? Were the players in a giant round robin cups or beer pong tourney every night?

5) Only four fellas went under par on Sunday. Shows you how hard the course was playing in the final day. Miguel Angel Jimenez who is 44 years old somehow shoots a -4. This is the guy that has the exact hair as Joakim Noah. I literally have no idea how he shot a 68 yesterday when everyone else was in the mid-70's. Good thing for Miguel, because that bumped up his pay by $175,000.

4) South Africa rules! Gary Player, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini. That group has 15 majors and counting. Rory has zero and I hate the guy but he's probably going to win one. He's a pretty damn good golfer. Either way, that's a good group of names from a country not named the United States.

3) Brandt Snedeker is a funny looking guy. And once he addresses the ball he just goes. Love that. Also, I don't know if we'll ever hear about Steve Flesch rocket again in a major. I hope you enjoyed your run SteveO.


2) Keeping up with the tradition theme, the Masters gives away a whole bunch of gifts to the players for certain accomplishments. This I even didn't know. The runner-up receives a Sliver Medal and a Sterling Silver Salvar. Not really sure what the Salvar is, but I'm sure Tiger chucked it in the dumpster on his way out. On any day of the tournament if you shoot the lowest score in the field you recieve a Crystal Vase. And for every eagle that you get, you get a pair of Crystal Goblets.

1) Trevor Immelman will win a major again. This isn’t like Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton, or Shaun Micheel. Maybe not even like a Zach Johnson or Mike Weir. Immelman has the swing, confidence and demeanor to win more of these and will. However, Trevor needs to work on his celebration. Easily the weakest double fist pump in history and then the wrestling bicep flex to the crowd was an interesting move also.

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Picture of the Day

Q: And here we see members of the Boston Red Sox, the team with the most annoying fan base in the world. At first they were the loveable losers who couldn't win a title for 86 years. Then they won, acted like jerks, spent as much money as the Yankees on payroll, and won another title. Now no one can stand them and they've managed to become the most hated fans in baseball. Good work Boston.

Dogg: This photo shows just how good teams like the Red Sox are. They give Big Papi a day off and Mike Lowell is on the DL right now but their infield still consists of Kevin Youkilis (3B), Julio Lugo (SS), Dustin Pedroia (2B) and Sean Casey (1B). It just reminds me that teams like the Twins have no shot against teams like this even if they were to somehow sneak into the postseason.

Fuzz: Okay, well, uh... candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let's get two! Go get 'em.

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Voices from a Stranger

We're back with another long awaited "Voices from a Stranger" piece. It's been a while, but one of our most loyal readers stepped up. This one is especially great because it talks about something we don't ever talk about---the NHL! I know this is a couple days late, but you'll be reading a fantastic breakdown of the NHL playoffs. For all of you greasy haired, playoff bearded, a little on the crazy side hockey fans, this is definitely for you!

NHL Playoff Preview

March Madness is now over. Everybody feels like they've lost their best friend. However the Stanley Cup playoffs are now at our door step. Major League Baseball can still wait as our beloved Minnesota Wild are back in the playoffs set to make a possible deep run into the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. But, lets take an in-depth look of all the playoff matchups. The NHL has been so widespread with talent this season that anyone can win it all. Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are the hottest team entering the playoffs after clinching the Southeast Division on the last weekend of regular season action. The Detroit Red Wings appear to be the front runner as they took the Presidents Cup Trophy for best regular season record. Pittsburgh also looks strong with Marc Andre Fluery in net with Sid The Kid Crosby and Evgeni Malkin running the show on the offensive front.

Western Conference Matchups

#1 Detroit VS #8 Nashville
Detroit has played excellent hockey all throughout the season, we've heard this story before. It seems every year Detroit dominates the NHL but then completely shuts down once the playoffs start. I don't believe so this year. Nashville has had their ups and downs and are a tough team to beat when they're on top of their game. However, Detroit's leadership from the veterans especially netminder Dominik Hasek will be too tough to overcome. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterburg have carried this team to pure dominance. Look for the Red Wings to rise to the occasion and march on to the 2nd round by taking this series 4 games to 1.


#2 San Jose VS #7 Calgary
This is an intriguing matchup. Calgary played in the toughest division in all of hockey, the Northwest Division. A few points here and there and the Flames would be sitting atop as a 3 seed. Jarome Iginla is the commander-in-chief for the Flames and if Mikka Kiprosoff is hot in the nets the Flames might steal this series away. But don't hold anything away from the Sharks. They have arguably the best goalie in the NHL in Evgeni Nabokov and one of the best play-makers in the NHL in Joe Thornton. If San Jose wants to win this series they must match the toughness of Calgary's. I see Calgary pulling off the upset (if you want to call it that) and take this series in 7games.

Joe Thornton

#3 Minnesota VS #6 Colorado
A flip flop of the seeds rematch from 2002-2003. This was the year the young Minnesota Wild went on their stunning Western Conference Finals run. But it's a different year, there's no Patrick Roy in net for the Avs, and no Dwayne Roloson/Manny Fernandez goaltender by committee for the Wild this season. The Wild have been hurt by the injury bug late in the season, losing key blue-liner Kurtis Foster to a broken leg in San Jose, and now by Nick Schultz due to an appendectomy. This is key because the Wild now have to rely on aging and slow Sean Hill and a streaky Petteri Nummelin. If the Wild can maintain Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, and Paul Stastny, Minnesota should be able to win this series. Minnesota has been pretty up and down lately but held on enough to take the Northwest Division Title. Keep a close eye on this one because one more injury for the Wild, they're Stanley Cup run could end in a hurry. Wild in 6.


#4 Anaheim VS #5 Dallas
The defending Stanley Cup Champs road starts against the Dallas Stars. Anaheim has played well at times, but have shown signs that this isn't the same team as last year. Being that it is the playoffs, everyone steps it up a few notches and maybe Anaheim will establish their dominance like they did last season. The key in this series are the goaltenders. Marty Turco for Dallas and Jean Sebastian Giguere for the Ducks. The advantage here has to be the Ducks, especially with Ryan Getzlaf who's had a career season racking up 82 points in just his 3rd season. They also have one of the best power plays in the NHL so Dallas definitely cannot afford giving up silly penalties otherwise Anaheim will take full advantage and roll through this series. Anaheim in 6.


Eastern Conference Playoffs

#1 Montreal VS #8 Boston
This series just brings back memories of the old school rivalry between these two teams. The rivalry only thickens here as this won't be a series Montreal will run straight through. The Habs are led by Alexei Kovalev who's had his best season since he played with the Penguins in 2001-2002. Experience is the key in this series and who can handle the playoff pressure. Boston doesn't skate up and down the ice but they play with poise. If they can balance Montreal's speed attack and force turnovers Boston may be able to take this series away from Montreal. Tim Thomas needs to be on top of his game and avoid giving up rebounds to the Habs. However, I think Montreal is just too fast and will take this series in 5.

Alexei Kovalev

#2 Pittsburgh VS #7 Ottawa
Pittsburgh has been the most flashiest team we've seen in a while. Had Sidney Crosby not gone down with a broken foot earlier in the season the Pens may have grabbed the Presidents Cup Trophy. But they're still in great shape. Ottawa doesn't have the man power to keep up with the quickness of the Pens forwards. Pittsburgh had 5 players with 50+ points (Malkin, Crosby, Sergei Gonchar, Peter Sykora, and Minnesota native Ryan Malone). Ottawa has some scorers as well, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatly combined for 263 points. The defense is the key to this series. All-Star defenseman Wade Redden will have his hands full. I believe the Penguins will take this series in 5 games.


#3 Washington VS #6 Philadelphia
The Washington Capitals are hot, Alex Ovechkin has been an absolute machine all season long taking on a Left Wing record 65 goals. However, Philadelphia has a solid team themselves. Mike Richards has been a stud throughout this season tacking on 75 points and take nothing away from Daniel Briere with 72 points of his own. You can't stop Ovechkin but you can contain him. Forechecking is the key in this series, if Philadelphia delivers a solid forecheck they can take the Capitals out with ease, but it won't be that easy. Washington added Sergei Fedorov at the deadline and he's known to bring out his best during the playoffs. Capitals in 7.

MVP favorite, Alex Ovechkin

#4 New Jersey VS #5 New York Rangers
This is a rematch from the classic 1993-1994 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals. New Jersey's goaltender is still the same with Martin Brodeur but the New York Rangers don't have Mike Richter to save the Rangers this time. However, they do have Henrik Lundqvist who's had a great season posting a 37-24 record with a 2.23 GAA. They also have Jaromir Jagr but he just isn't the same player he was when he was with the Penguins. Elbows will be flying in this series but New Jersey just has too much balance with Zach Parise and Patrick Elias on the wings. Minnesotan Paul Martin has also been a key component to the Devils success but it all leads back to Martin Brodeur. As long as Martin Brodeur is in his playoff mode the Devils can make a deep run into the playoffs. Devils in 4.

One of us...Paul Martin

There you have it, the NHL playoffs are underway, and after writing this the Wild have lost Mark Parrish to a head injury, hopefully it's nothing too serious but if it is, might have to write the Wild off from winning their series against the Colorado Avalanche. While the Penguins looked strong on Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators and the Calgary Flames knocked off San Jose, this is going to be one hell of a Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Out,
Pup Money

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