Last night was Hockey Night in Bitchlandia in my house as we caught two Game 2s in the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup – Habs v. Flyers and Hawks v. Sharks.
The Habs v. Flyers series is a battle of the unexpecteds, so it seems as if anything is possible…but this bitch assumed Montreal would come out blasting after shitting the bed in a 6-0 loss in game one. But nooooo…twasn’t in the stars! The Flyers were in control and the Habs looked bewitched, bothered and bewildered as the Flyers skated to a 3-0 shut-out win.
The Flyers lead the series 2-0 and this bitch suspects Montreal is praying that there’s no place like home for Game 3.
The Hawks are looking like a team that learned something last year…big time. The Shark Tank is usually an intimidating place to enter as the visiting team, but the Hawks were focused in Game 1 and stayed focused for Game 2. Even though they started both games slow, the Hawks battled hard for wins…and the Sharks are now down 2-0 in the series as they head to Chi-Town.
Hockey drama = hockey bliss!
7 comments:
(...calm blue ocean....calm blue ocean...calm blue ocean...)
Although I am pulling for a 'Hawks/Habs Final, it will be easier on my US/Canadian halfbreed ass if the Flyers win. There are few teams I loathe nearly as much as the Broad Street Bullies.
This is quite a run. Come on, Blackhawks - keep the pedal on the floor!
Unfortunately, being on the Left Coast and having a day job means I miss the first two periods of the Eastern Conference games. I'm really hoping Montreal can turn things around and that Halak returns to his Superhuman form. The only team I detest more than Philly is the Rangers and I still taste bile when I so much as think of the Bruins blowing TWO 3-0 leads.
A few things about the Sharks/Hawks series so far:
1) Niemi is stealing shots off of the Sharks' sticks and Nabby isn't. The Sharks succeed when Nabby steals a game or two for them. As good as he can be, when he is off, even a little bit, he lets in a soft goal or two and the team starts trying to compensate for it. No es bueno.
2) Look at what's happening in front of each net: The Hawks are clearing the front of the net so Niemi can see shots and, on the rare occasion he allows a rebound, their d-men are their to clear it. At the other end of the ice, the Hawks forwards are all up in Nabby's grill and the Sharks are not doing a good job of keeping the front of the net clear. Still...Chicago is scoring some goals that Nabby could/should be making the save on.
2) Todd McClellan really needed to call a time out after Chicago's 2nd goal last night. I really thought he would, just to calm the Sharks down. They remained disorganized for several more minutes until Marleau got that goal.
3) The Sharks MUST slow the game down. They just can't sustain a run-and-gun kind of game.
4) I am impressed with the Blackhawks TCB attitude. They really did learn their lesson from last year. They're playing smart, effective hockey.
What can I say? Even though the Bruins broke my heart badly this time, I still love Stanley Cup Playoff hockey!
Let's hope that Shark-fu is finding these playoffs exciting enough to more than make up for the fact that her national team had a tournament to forget at the World Championships...
I'd might as well cheer for the Habs as I'm Canadian.
Rob F...
Ain't that the damn truth - I had to turn away from the Worlds 'cause it was too ugly to watch.
Wince.
But yes, these playoffs have been exciting as hell! I can't wait for tonight!
I grew up in southern New Jersey, and as an eight-year-old, I attended some of the games of the last Stanley Cup victory of the Flyers. I loathe the Rangers and Islanders. (I rooted for the Soviets when they played the NY teams in the 1970s.)
I went to college in Cambridge and saw a Bruins game at the Boston Garden, and I watched a few games when I moved to Cape Cod. However, I never took to the Bruins wholeheartedly.
The other NHL team I'll root for is the Sharks since I was in N. California when they came into existence. That's also how I came to despise the Red Wings.
Now that I'm in Iowa--and without cable, my only exposure to the NHL playoffs is through YouTube. It's still exciting.
College in Cambridge, huh?
The House of Bitchitude is forever loyal to Harvard Hockey (alas, a bitch had to out-source my college hockey fandom because Brandeis didn't have a team).
But my NHL heart has always been with the Blues...couldn't get down with the Bruins no matter how cool that old Garden was.
Sigh.
I went to another school in Cambridge--one close to the Kendall Square T stop. I think one of our graduation requirements was to not show any affinity for Harvard. :-) However, I did enjoy roaming around Harvard Square with friends.
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