[More Cowbell]

Well, the first round of the NHL playoffs are wrapping up, and I just wanted to check and see if anyone else on BGR felt like discussing some hockey. I know CE is a big Preds fan, but I don't know if anyone else on here is following the playoffs.

Anyway, my Avs just finished off a series win over Minnesota the other night, and now move on to the second round. Jose Theodore has been brilliant the last several games, hopefully he stays hot and Colorado rides him all the way to the Stanley Cup.

[ComfortEagle]

Unfortunately my NHL-watching is over until the championship game. I despise the Dead Things (Red Wings) and Nashville just had bad luck.

There were a couple calls that cost them game 1 in Detroit (a blown offside call that allowed Detroit to score the winning goal). And then, in game 5 we had two of our key players out, Legwand and Arnott. Then in game 6, Legwand was playing on a bad foot, and Arnott, one of our captains, was out with a concussion. We just couldn't get any offense.

I was really impressed with Dan Ellis, who was playing in the minors last year and had never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game. In the six games, Ellis stopped 225 out of 240 shots, with a .938 save %

But for a team that was never supposed to make the playoffs to actually give Detroit a run was amazing. This year alone the Predators:

Were almost sold and moved to a guy in Canada
In an effort to save money, the previous owner sold off all of the 'talent' by getting rid of Tomas Vokoun and Paul Kariya
Had to re-stock with young players
The only remaining "star" on the team, Steve Sullivan, was out for the whole season after having back surgery
The team changed hands and new ownership took over, luckily securing Nashville staying
Had several injuries to key players during the season and in the playoffs


But surprisingly, a team that was paid the league minimum salary gave a bunch of old overpaid geezers a run. Detroit will either win this thing or half their team will get Alzheimer's.

[More Cowbell]

Unfortunately my NHL-watching is over until the championship game. I despise the Dead Things (Red Wings) and Nashville just had bad luck.

I was really impressed with Dan Ellis, who was playing in the minors last year and had never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game. In the six games, Ellis stopped 225 out of 240 shots, with a .938 save %

I wholeheartedly agree with that part about the Red Wings! As a die-hard Avalanche fan from the day they moved to Denver, it is my solemn duty to hate everything about the Wings, from Steve Yzerman right down to the last octopus. Kinda funny that they dug up Chris Osgood from obscurity, maybe we could get Patrick Roy to come back if we end up playing Detroit this year, just so he can go out and beat up Osgood on center ice again.

As for your Preds, sorry about what happened, I was really pulling for them. I agree, Dan Ellis was very impressive, but it seems that his teammates let him down. He had what, 56 saves in game 5 and still lost? That's a shame, and he deserved a better fate that that.

Oh well. If you don't mind seeing an old geezer named Joe Sakic try for another Stanley Cup, we'd be more than happy to take you on as a temporary Avs fan this year...

[ComfortEagle]

I wholeheartedly agree with that part about the Red Wings! As a die-hard Avalanche fan from the day they moved to Denver, it is my solemn duty to hate everything about the Wings, from Steve Yzerman right down to the last octopus. Kinda funny that they dug up Chris Osgood from obscurity, maybe we could get Patrick Roy to come back if we end up playing Detroit this year, just so he can go out and beat up Osgood on center ice again.

As for your Preds, sorry about what happened, I was really pulling for them. I agree, Dan Ellis was very impressive, but it seems that his teammates let him down. He had what, 56 saves in game 5 and still lost? That's a shame, and he deserved a better fate that that.

Oh well. If you don't mind seeing an old geezer named Joe Sakic try for another Stanley Cup, we'd be more than happy to take you on as a temporary Avs fan this year...

Yeah, I just saw where they're keeping Osgood in net for the 2nd round too.

Ellis did really good, but I don't know where to place the blame. I don't know if it should be on our defense for allowing so many shots on goal, or if it should be on our offense for not helping him out and scoring some goals.

Personally I think our defense played well, figured out Detroit early in the series, but as in game 6, we just didn't have any offense. Our top scorer was out with a concussion, and Legwand wasn't 100%. In game 4 (I think) we won, but our defensemen were the only ones who scored for us. Last year we had two guys who could make things happen on offense, Sullivan and Kariya could make things happen, but this year we had to out-defend and hope that we could score.

I'm happy that Colorado won, Minnesota was bought halfway through the season by.........Nashville's old owner who tried ditching us to a guy in Canada. It was funny to see him run to a team that would "be more profitable" and still not get any further.