<p>Cardinal, as someone who has known him his entire life, I can assure you that he is, indeed, a great kid and a generous and kind human being, in addition to being an amazingly talented hockey player. I don’t get why people hate him. Jealous, I can understand. Competitive rivalry, I can understand, but hatred I don’t get but then I don’t hate anyone, let alone some professional athlete that I don’t even know. :)</p>
<p>Bravo to the Bruins!</p>
<p>I think Cardinal was kidding. To me it seems the Versus announcers don’t know much about hockey, especially the teams in the West, and the farther west, the less they know. But they need to say something, so they tend to talk about Crosby. It’d be like the Warriors playing the Sacramento Kings and all the announcers could talk about was Kobe. Really, Mr. Crosby is not playing here, I’m thinking we can leave him out of the conversation. They also like to talk about Ovechkin. Still. I’m pretty sure he’s on a golf course somewhere by now, but they can’t let him go.</p>
<p>Right. I was watching the Canucks destroy the Hawks. Why was Sidney Crosby involved in the conversation? Couldn’t we maybe, just for once, hear about some player who plays in the Western Conference? </p>
<p>Who was it who won the scoring race? What, it wasn’t Sidney Crosby? Do we see enormous long profiles of the Sedins? Of the terrific Chicago kids? A story about how Detroit manages to find good players and field good teams year after year after year? Why no, it’s just Crosby, Crosby, Crosby, with a side of Ovechkin (who, as UCD mentions, is currently worrying about tee times). I swear, you can’t go for five minutes on Versus or NBC without hearing Crosby’s name or seeing his picture. </p>
<p>If you want to bring Sharks fans and Detroit fans together, just mention Sidney Crosby. Retching sounds all around.</p>
<p>Canucks really put it to my 'Hawks. Earlier in the day I had heard it was going to be on our local station, but no, only Versus. I hope for a better outcome in game 2, but we’ll see. Those Sedin brothers are really good!</p>
<p>I’m expecting a much better effort from the Hawks in Game 2. Those kids have got to be embarrassed by that game, especially in their own barn in front of their own fans.</p>
<p>Two more goals, three more points for “Little Joe” Pavelski. We really need to lose that nickname.</p>
<p>The Big Pavelski. He is the awesome.</p>
<p>CF, I’m inclined to agree with you. Impressive team as a whole. H reminded me that it wasn’t over until it was over and I told him … I think it’s over.</p>
<p>What’s really impressive about Pavelski is that he was drafted in the 7th round. Most sports drafts are total crapshoots but the NHL draft is among players who have played on national teams in big tournaments, who’ve likely played against the other top players, etc. So the Penguins are stocked with top of the draft players - Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Staal - all being 1 or 2 overall.</p>
<p>That series has several impact players who weren’t high draft picks. Datsyuk was drafted very late-- apparently the Red Wings’ canny scouts were the only ones who had seen him play. Zetterberg was drafted 210th. And Dan Boyle wasn’t drafted at all.</p>
<p>Thornton and Marleau, on the other hand, went #1 and #2 in the same draft year, 1997.</p>
<p>I peeked over at the Detroit Free Press fan opinion page, and Wings fans like Versus just as much as we do. Game 3 in Detroit we can all go back to our home town favorites for viewing. Makes me wonder how bad Versus’ viewership will drop.</p>
<p>The reason Datsyuk and Zetterburg were drafted late is that the Wings then were ahead of the curve scouting and signing foreign players. It was more normal to sign established players who were more known quantities. That advantage has disappeared. In fact, a top Swedish prospect went to Dallas last year rather than the Wings - and had a number of teams courting him - because he thought he could advance more quickly.</p>
<p>Whew! 'Hawks tie the series. Last minutes were wild.</p>
<p>We unfortunately can’t link to YouTube here, but just in case I’m not the last one on the planet to see them, use Google to search for Bruins Hockey Rules to see a calm, measured response to unforgivable hockey fan crimes. A very funny hockey ad campaign. I recommend “Date,” “Tuck In,” “Hang Up,” and the alltime best, “Escalator.”</p>
<p>3-0! Whoo hoo!</p>
<p>Wow, what a disappointment to Wings’ fans. Blowing a 3-1 lead? Not good.</p>
<p>Woot! Woot! Sharks!</p>
<p>Whoo hoo! Sharks kick Detroit to the curb, go to Western Conference Finals!</p>
<p>This is the first time the wings have been eliminated in 10 years that I DIDN’T cry. I stopped watching this season within the first couple months because we played so terribly (also a first), and was thoroughly convinced it would be a scandal if we even made it to the playoffs. Sooo this was far too expected to be that disappointing. It is sad though, given that rumors are flying about this potentially being Lidstrom’s last year. Hopefully we’ll be better next year.</p>
<p>Keeping my fingers crossed, CF, that the 'Hawks will be their opponents after today’s game.</p>