ECSF Game 3: Penguins - 5, Rangers - 3

The Eastern Conference Finals are just one win away! Skill and discipline, that's what makes an awesome team and that's what the Penguins showed tonight. The Rangers had tons of chances tonight but were unable to convert. The Penguins, on the other hand, made the most of their chances, scoring 5 goals on 17 shots. Fleury was once again amazing, making 36 saves. Malkin was absolutely deadly! The stars of the night however were the Penguins penalty killers. Their PK is incredible! When would you ever think a Penguins' penalty kill could be called that? Every single one of them, playing together as a team, playing smart, sacrificing the body. They once again shut down the Rangers powerplay, including two 5-on-3s. The Penguins have put a stranglehold on this series and can close it out on Thursday. Let's do it boys! We have the final four in our sights!

7 wins down, 9 to go!

ECSF Game 2: Penguins - 2, Rangers - 0

The rust is officially off! Great performance by the boys in black! The Penguins showed their offensive might in Game 1, proving that no lead is safe against them. In Game 2, their displayed their defensive power. Fleury was back in form, getting his second shutout of the playoffs. He also showed he wasn't going to be like Brodeur and take any crap from Avery, giving him a good chop in the crotch with his stick at the end of the game. It looks like the Penguins are getting to Avery, not the other way around. The Staal line was the best line all night. For a defensive unit, their forecheck was something to be seen. This game should not have been as close as it was. the Penguins were obviously the better team. It just happens that Lundqvist is a fantastic goaltender. If not for him, the Pens would have had a lot more goals. We keep bumping into their great golies. First Gerber, now this. But we're the Penguins, no goalie is too good to stop us. Tuesday, we head into Broadway, where we've had some trouble in the past. Game 3 is huge. If we get the win there, the series is pretty much over. Let's go, boys! Let's put the Rangers out of their misery!

6 wins down, 10 to go!

ECSF Game 1: Penguins - 5, Rangers - 4

BLACK IS BACK!!!

This game was a story of two halves and two colors. The Penguins held a "white-out" today to rally their fans. I didn't seem right though. The Penguins wear black. The Rangers wear white. It looked like the fans were for the Rangers. But the Penguins wanted a "white-out" so I wore my white jersey. The first half of the game was ugly. This did not look like the team that decimated Ottawa at all. The 9-day layoff showed. They couldn't skate and just looked lazy out there. When they went down 0-3, I said "Screw it!", threw off my white jersey, and put on my black. Penguins wear black! And just like that, the game changed. The Penguins woke up. The Penguins sent out Ruutu, Talbot, and Laraque to stir up some emotion. They did more than that with Ruutu scoring and changing momentum of the game. Another quick goal followed from Dupuis and just like that, we had ourselves a game! The momentum continued into the 3rd with Hossa and Sykora giving them Pens the lead. Gomez would tie it up but in the end, Crosby and Malkin took it upon themselves to end the game with little over a minute left. This game was amazing! What a comeback win! Fleury was off his game tonight. Hopefully, it was just rust and he'll be back to form in Game 2. The Penguins showed a lot of character tonight, able to fight off rust and adversity. They made a statement. We are the Penguins and we can take over any game!

5 wins down, 11 to go!

Incredible Mermaid Picture!

Annie Leibovitz has released a new picture in her "Disney Dream Portrait Series" with celebrities as Disney icons. Pardon any bias, but this is the best one yet. It's Ariel!!! Here, Julianne Moore plays Ariel with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps as a merman. It's amazing!

Bring On The Rangers!

*yawn* What? Is it time for Round 2 yet?

Oh wow, the Penguins haven't seen hockey for a week. It took long enough but we now know our opponent, the New York Rangers. Sigh, I really didn't want to see them this soon. This series will be ugly. The Rangers are a very good team. They have an excellent goaltender in Lundqvist and a solid group of veteran leaders in Jagr, Shanahan, Drury, and Gomez. The Penguins will also have to deal with "super pain in the rear" Avery. This will be a tough series. But you know what? The Penguins are still the better team and as difficult as it will be, they should expect to win this series. They can match and outdo whatever the Rangers can throw at them. We have a superior offense, a better defense, and comparable goaltending. And if Avery thinks he can pull off the kind of garbage he did to the Devils, he'll have to answer to Roberts, Laraque, Ruutu, and Malone. I just hope the week-long layoff didn't kill any momentum we had. Game 1, we gotta come out flying on all cylinders, just like against Ottawa.

ECQF Game 4: Penguins - 3, Senators - 1

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on their first playoff series win in seven years!!! The last time they won a series, they boasted a lineup that included Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Kovalev, Martin Straka, Robert Lang, Darius Kaparaitis, and Johan Hedberg. The Penguins just totally decimated the Senators in this series. They looked like the superior team throughout each minute of this series. It was amazing. It begs you to ask the question though. Are the Senators really that bad? Or are the Penguins really that good? Perhaps, it's a little of both. The Penguins usually beat teams with their skill, not by sheer domination on every aspect of the game like that. This series win, especially against the opponent that knocked them out of the playoffs last year, will give them a lot of confidence as they move on in their quest for Lord Stanley's Cup. They'll have plenty of rest for the second round. Hopefully, it's not too much. We don't want them to lose any momentum. On to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals!

4 wins down, 12 to go!

ECQF Game 3: Penguins - 4, Senators - 1

This is how a great team performs on the road. The Senators, with the return of their captain and the crowd behind them, came out of the gates desperate and flying. They even scored the first goal. But the Penguins withstood their initial barrage. And then they took the game back into their hands and played the way they wanted to play. The game just shifted from a relentless Ottawa attack to the Penguins crushing them and suffocating any hope they had. The Ottawa crowd is just silenced in the third. It was great to see Staal and Hossa finally score. Hossa was probably the best player on the ice tonight. I hate to say something like this but this series is over. The Senators have had the life and will sucked out of them. It's time to break out the brooms.

3 wins down, 13 to go!

ECQF Game 2: Penguins - 5, Senators - 3

The Penguins were so dominant in this game, they almost beat themselves! 54 shots on goal! 54! That is absurd! How terrible are the Senators to let up 54 shots? The Pens rarely ever outshoot their opponents. The Penguins took an easy 3-0 lead and then lost their focus, letting the Senators tie the game on 3 sloppy plays. That sudden loss of focus is a concern. But once the heat was back on, the Pens displayed their might again. The Malkin line is just incredible! Crosby was great with 4 assists. Sykora... what a sniper! I'm starting to wonder if you can consider Hossa a sniper. He doesn't seem to be one in the mode of Sykora. He's a lot more patient with the puck, almost too patient. Gerber was amazing for the Senators. The Penguins could have had 10 goals if not for him. He is very difficult to beat. The Pens could only score on him through screens and making him go east-west. For the most part, it was a good performance by the Pens but they need to keep their focus for the full 60-minutes. Let this be a lesson to them.

2 wins down, 14 to go!

"it's a small world"

A Disney post for you! Here's the entire "it's a small world ride." I recorded this about a month ago but never got time to upload it. But now here it is! Enjoy! Also, I made it a point to zoom in on the funny suggestive parts. Hehe!

ECQF Game 1: Penguins - 4, Senators - 0

Now that, ladies and gentleman, is what we call a dominating performance! This was the complete opposite of last year's game 1, where the Penguins looked like a deer in a headlights in their first postseason appearance. From the moment the puck dropped, the Penguins dictated the play and had the Senators caught watching. The Penguins dominating every aspect of the game. Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Goaltending, everything... well, except faceoffs. Fleury was magnificent, earning his first playoff shutout. OMG, Gary Roberts is a playoff warrior!!! He was the best player on the ice today, scoring goals, smashing the opposition, and in the end challenging the entire Senators team. Malkin looked like an MVP. Crosby and Hossa were deadly, combining for 11 shots on goal. If not for some amazing saves by Martin Gerber in the 2nd period, this game would have been a huge blowout. And how about that penalty kill, completely shutting the Senators down, including two 5-on-3 advantages. Heatley and Spezza seemed invisible for the most part. And what was the deal with Ryan Whitney destroying Wade Redden? Whitney? Ryan Whitney? Wha??? This was a statement game to the rest of the NHL. This time, the Penguins are ready!

1 win down, 15 to go!

The Quest Begins

In 1893, Lord Frederick Stanley, Governor General of Canada, presented a silver cup to the Montreal AAA, the country's top amateur hockey team. And from there, the legend began. For over a century, Lord Stanley's Cup has been battled for and defended as hockey's ultimate prize. The Cup has been passed down from generation to generation. It bears the names of greats like Richard, Béliveau, LaFleur, Howe, Gretzky, Messier, and Lemieux. To raise the sacred grail is the dream of anyone who has ever picked up a hockey stick. Boys leave their homes and families to chase it. Men sacrifice their bodies to touch it. They cry when they win it and cry when they lose it. They do it all for a mere shot at what it gives its champion, immortality.

And now the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup begins again.

My Predictions (Which are always useless)

Conference Quarterfinals

East:

8 Boston Bruins vs 1 Montreal Canadiens -> Montreal Canadiens
7 Ottawa Senators vs 2 Pittsburgh Penguins -> Pittsburgh Penguins
6 Philadelphia Flyers vs 3 Washington Capitals -> Washington Capitals
5 New York Rangers vs 4 New Jersey Devils -> New York Rangers

West:

8 Nashville Predators vs 1 Detroit Red Wings -> Detroit Red Wings
7 Calgary Flames vs 2 San Jose Sharks - > San Jose Sharks
6 Colorado Avalanche vs 3 Minnesota Wild -> Colorado Avalanche
5 Dallas Stars vs 4 Anaheim Ducks -> Anaheim Ducks


Conference Semifinals

East:
5 New York Rangers vs 1 Montreal Canadiens -> Montreal Canadiens
3 Washington Capitals vs 2 Pittsburgh Penguins -> Pittsburgh Penguins

West:
6 Colorado Avalanche vs 1 Detroit Red Wings -> Detroit Red Wings
4 Anaheim Ducks vs 2 San Jose Sharks -> Anaheim Ducks


Conference Finals

East:
2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs 1 Montreal Canadiens -> Pittsburgh Penguins

West:
4 Anaheim Ducks vs 1 Detroit Red Wings -> Detroit Red Wings


Stanley Cup Finals

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit Red Wings -> Pittsburgh Penguins!!!



Who else did you think I would pick?

Cutest Team Photo EVER!

The Penguins put this year's official team photo on their site. There are actually two versions. The first is the standard "Everyone stand together" photo.



The second is absolutely adorable! You would never think you could use the word "adorable" to describe a hockey team, but this picture screams it. See for yourself.



I love this photo! It just shows how close-knit this team is and how much of a goofball everyone is. Funny observations from the picture. Hal Gill is HUGE! He looks twice as big as anyone else. Where is Petr Sykora sticking his head? Marian Hossa looks uncomfortable. Holy crap, it's Mark Eaton!

Flyers - 2, Penguins - 0

Today, the Penguins were faced with a choice. Be brave or be smart. I think a lot of fans wanted the Penguins to be smart but we couldn't expect them not to try their hardest. Luckily for us, we were wrong. In the last game of the year, the Penguins were faced with two choices... win and face the nasty Flyers in the first round or lose and face a struggling Senators team. The Penguins chose to be smart. From a fan's perspective, a Penguins-Flyers series would be amazing. But to the respective teams, it would be a nightmare. That series would be a war and causalities would be expected. We've seen the hatred between them during the season. In the playoffs, the intensity would reach a level few could even comprehend. Whoever would make it out of that series would not be in good shape. The Penguins and Flyers did NOT want to face each other. So the Penguins did not try to win this game. They decided to sit out Sidney Crosby, a very obvious sign that they did not care to win. The Penguins' concerns in this game were keeping everyone healthy and letting the returning Roberts, Hall, and Beech more playing time. They succeeded in that and now are rewarded with a series against the Ottawa Senators. This is the rematch the Penguins have been waiting for. And you know what, Ottawa? It's payback time!

Penguins - 4, Flyers - 2

GAME OF THE YEAR!!! I am so proud of these guys! They were amazing. This was playoff hockey. This was a playoff team. This was a war! The Flyers came into this hoping to play their game, trying to bully the Penguins around with their goon tactics. They hoped to take the superior talented Penguins off their game. But you know what? They failed! The Penguins stood united and said, "If you want a fight, we'll give you a fight. Whatever you dish, we'll dish back. And then we'll make you pay for it!" That's exactly what they did! The Flyers threw everything at the Penguins in the first period but they withstood it and in the second, they fired back. This was a team fighting together. Everyone pitched in. Everyone threw hits. Everyone stood up for each other. Orpik, Ruutu, Laraque, Whitney, Letang, Kennedy, they all gave the Flyers a taste of their old medicine. And OMG... Sergei Gonchar, you are ONE BADASS MOTHER #^$%@&! One of the greatest things I've ever seen in a Penguins game, Gonchar busting open Scott Hartnell's face! They hit back and made the Flyers pay for their stupid actions, scoring 4, count em 4, powerplay goals. Hartnell thought he would make a name for himself but in the end, he was a laughing stock to the Penguins. Crosby and Malkin played awesome! Fleury was phenomenal! This is how you win playoff games! Everyone contributes and your stars step up!

For the first time in a decade...

THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS ARE THE ATLANTIC DIVISION CHAMPIONS!!!

Congratulation, guys! This was well deserved. We have one more game left. With it, we can take the No. 1 seed in the East and end the Flyer's miserable season. Let's Go Penguins!

Rangers - 2, Penguins - 1 (OT)

Yeah, this is really late. I didn't get to see this game so I can't much about it. But with two games left, the Pens are now 1 point away from the Atlantic crown. Word is Adam Hall and Gary Roberts are close to returning. Let's take those Flyers out of the playoffs entirely!