The Chicago Blackhawks of today have been compared to the Oilers of the 80's. Just a bunch of young guns going out there and having fun with no deficit being too big. This group just keeps coming at you and coming at you and coming at you and they just about stole Game 1 of their 2nd round series against Vancouver.
The Hawks looked a little tentative in Game 1 against the Canucks and they went into the 3rd down 3-0. Jim Hughson reminded everyone that Calgary had a three goal lead on Chicago during one of the games in the first round and that the Hawks roared back. I don't know if he knew something or if he said it in hopes of keeping people tuned in, but the Hawks did roar back. An early Patrick Kane goal gave some momentum, another Kane goal midway through the period gave them hope and a Dave Bolland goal with five minutes left gave them a new life. Vancouver survived the rally to win it as Sami Salo rapped home a rebound on a 3 on 1 break with just over a minute to play. An empty netter made it 5-3 as the Canucks escape with one. I know in a seven game series you can hardly take a Game 1 incident and say it turned the tide but had Chicago won this one, I say they win the series and they win it going away. No matter what, they got a lot of confidence from that final 20 minutes and that means we should have one helluva matchup between these two teams. Chicago is not going to win the Cup this year(at least I don't think they will) but if they can keep their core group together, they will win one very soon---maybe as soon as next year.
By the way, it once again has happened. Now that Vancouver is the lone Canadian team left, they are being referred to as Canada's team thus everyone is being told to adopt the Canucks as their team. You have no idea how much I hate this. The Blackhawks have more Canadians on their roster than the Canucks have. If I am going to cheer openly for a team I will cheer for the team that has the most Canadians on it. Actually I will continue to watch and I won't openly cheer for any squad because the squad I cheer for each winter is done. The whole "Canada's team" thing just makes me want to puke. If your team is out and you want to root for the Canucks that is fine. If your team is out and you want to root for Chicago or Detroit or Anaheim that is fine as well but don't tell me that I have to cheer for a Canadian team because I don't. I will cheer for Canada but I won't cheer for a team just because they are located in a Canadian city.
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WHL teams have stacked their rosters as the bantam draft has come to an end. The Pats taking 11 players--seven of them from Saskatchewan and seven of them being defencemen. Not all will play for the big club but the team has had a lot of success over the past few years so get ready to possibly hear names like Chandler Stephenson, Taylor Balog, Garrett Lockridge and Darren Robinson in future years. Saskatchewan proved to be a popular place in the first two rounds of the draft as 12 of the first 44 players taken come from here including three of the first 10. That tells you there are a lot of people out there doing their job in helping these kids develop.
Still with the Pats, they made a minor deal with Tri-Cities. Neal Prokop--who came here in the trade that sent Jeff Bosch to Moose Jaw--goes to the Americans for 17 year forward Jason Gardiner. He split his time between Tri-Cities and Selkirk of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Just a reminder the league final begins tonight as Calgary looks for its 13th straight win of the playoffs when they take on the Kelowna Rockets. The winner heads to the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec where they will join the host Oceanic. Windsor and Brampton are playing in the Ontario League final while Shawnigan is playing Drummondville in the Quebec final.
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Dave Dickenson will officially retire today and join the Stampeders as an assistant coach. There have been many great quarterbacks in the history of the CFL and Dickenson has to rank right up there as far as I'm concerned. He has to rank up there with guys like Dunigan, Brock and yes Kent Austin.
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It looks like the NFL is really going to stretch out its draft because of its massive popularity. Word is the league will now stretch the draft out over three days with the first two coming in prime-time. Round 1 would go Thursday, round 2 and 3 would happen Friday with the final four rounds happening Saturday. After two rounds my interest in the NFL draft starts to wane somewhat. I look to see who the Seahawks take and then I move on. I think the league is making a mistake with this move but NFL fans clamour for this stuff. I'm interested to see what type of numbers the CFL draft will get on TSN this weekend. Its the first time the league has televised its draft. It won't have the glitz and glamour of the NFL draft but if its anything like last year's webcast, it will be a good production.
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Jose Canseco used his muscles to take pitchers deep and trade blows with Danny Bonaduce.
Now the former MVP will step onto the mat and try MMA.
In his latest attempt to cash in on his flagging post-baseball career, Canseco is set to make his mixed martial arts debut on May 26 in Japan. The former Oakland A's slugger and tell-all author is fighting South Korean Hong Man Choi on the Dream 9 card in Yokohama Arena.
Choi is a 7-foot-2, 330-pound super heavyweight and has a 1-2 record in MMA.
"I have no idea if I can do it," Canseco said Thursday night. "It's a tough sport."
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I've maybe seen a collective 10-15 minutes of the first six games but I may have to watch Game 7 of the NBA first round matchup between the defending champion Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls. The first six games have all been classics and the 6th game went to triple overtime before being decided Thursday night with the Bulls staying alive.
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It must be spring!!! I went to Douglas Park to watch my daughter play softball and it didn't take long for the allergies to kick in. I have been sneezing all night with the runny nose and you know the rest. GRRRRRREAT!!!!!!!
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Has Brett Favre signed with the Vikings yet? He put out a release saying " At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football." That's right Brett, at this time you have no interest but around July 1 that itch will return right? Right! Get ready for it.
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Why is it just about every channel in the 500 channel universe that we have can give us The Simpsons, Family Guy, Friends, Seinfeld etc. etc. etc but no one will put on Night Court! I loved that show. Dan Fielding is one of the best characters to ever grace a TV screen. Having WKRP in Cincinnati on every night would be great as well.
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2 comments:
What I like most about Chicago is the Western flavour to them. Seabrook, Barker, Versteeg..etc. etc. I guess you can throw Toews into that mix too even though he didn't play in the Dub.
I'm pissed off over the fact Hockey Canada named Josh Harding as a goalie for the Worlds and once St. Louis got bounced they brought Mason over and relegated him to 3rd string meaning he won't see a second of action. When is someone going to give this guy a chance??
Terry
C'mon Mitch, we'll make room on the bandwagon for a crusty old Oiler fan like you. Go Canucks!
KC
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