NHL 3rd round pics, and Roughnecks are NLL champions

NHL playoffs
2- Detroit vs
4. Chicago
this is really tough to pick. Im going to go with Detroit, as I feel like they will win, but i really want them to lose (ala i win my bet and because they won last year). Detroit plays a solid team game. Chicago can beat them though, they play well together and seem to be the young guys. youth vs experience. it will be interesting, I hope chicago can continue to score goals and Khabibulin plays well. Osgood seems to be a playoff goaltender, so they will have to get through detroit and beat him. this isn' the canucks.
Detroit in 7.

east final:
4. Pittsburg - vs
6. Carolina
should be a close series, Carolina seems to find a way to win this year and Pittsburg may let them hang around too long in this series. Cam Ward will have to continue to be solid in the net, I could see him playing for Team Canada very soon. Carolina seems to get it done with grit and effort. and thier crowd is electric. the atmosphere in Carolina vs the atmosphere in Pittsburg hasn't been close (on tv at least). they really make it an event down in Carolina, also Carolina has a place in my heart after they beat the Oilers in the final in '06.
Carolina in 7

I went to the NLL final last night with two of my friends (Nick and Justin) and watched the Calgary Roughnecks defeat the New York Titans to win the Champions cup. It was an awesome game, the Roughnecks won 12-10, getting two empty netters in the last minute before New York got a late goal. the crowd was great (not sold out though) and it was more fun then the final in 04. the Roughnecks won thier 2nd Champions cup, after posting a 14-4 record this season, the best in the league.

The Stampeders also signed Nik Lewis to contract extension, Lewis broke several records last year with the Stamps, in his 5th season, and wants to retire a Stampeder someday.

nhl season ends, Roughnecks clinch first in NLL, Hitmen to play Brandon in east conference final...stamps still champs

well last night the Flames finished the season with a solid 4-1 win over the Oilers. McElhinney got his first NHL win and Cammalleri got 2 goals. the Flames lost the division to the Canucks by 2 points, after losing to Edmonton on friday. the Flames were hit hard by injuries, and couldn't get fully back on track since losing Giordano and Bourque in late February. they seem to have been playing better but snakebitten in the past 2 weeks, they will get some much needed rest/repair time before the playoffs start.
finish (predicted team for that position, where they finished) - thoughts (deviation)


1. San Jose (Detroit,2) well I was close, goaltending let them down (1)
2. Detroit (Dallas, 12) no catching san jose, i was way off. goaltending and injuries (10)
3. vancouver (Calgary,5) really, 2 points off. Calgary should have won the division. stupid nucks (2)
4. Chicago (Edmonton, 11) haha, guess i listened to hard to the oil fans/media that said they would win the division, gladly wrong! (7)
5. Calgary (San Jose, 1) underestimated them clearly (4)
6. St. Louis (Anaheim, 8) almost got 6th, 2 points short (2)
7. Columbus (Chicago, 4) young guys impressed, khabibulin back in form unfortunatly (3)
8. Anaheim (Vancouver, 3) stupid division winners, got hot february/march (5)
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9. Minnesota (Columbus, 7) yay columbus, Mason came out of nowhere, first playoff appearance (2)
10. Nashville (...Nashville!, 10) i got this one right! (0)
11. Edmonton(Pheonix, 13) next year should be better for 'yotes (2)
12. Dallas (Minnesota, 9) i underestimated minnesota, meh. (3)
13. Pheonix (Colorado, 15) drive for Tavares, sakic injury put this team out midway (2)
14. Los Angeles (Los Angeles, 14!) i got this one right too (0)
15. Colorado (St. Louis,6) seriously impressed and suprised by st louis, 8-1-1 run to get 6th (9)
in the west, i was 52 off, an average of just about 3 and a half spots off.
EAST:
1. Boston (Montreal, 8) dissapointing season for centennial Canadiens (7)
2. Washington (Pittsburg, 4) coaching troubles had them out of it, got back in (2)
3. New Jersey (Washington, 2) ovy, green, semin and co played well (1)
4. Pittsburg (Philidelphia, 5) wrong because of a tiebreaker...young guys getting better (1)
5. Philidelphia (New York, 7) close, were in danger of missing (2)
6. Carolina (Ottawa, 11) fell apart, out by midseason (5)
7. New York (Tampa Bay, 14) didnt think loss of richards would impact them so much, stamkos needs more time (7)
8. Montreal (New Jersey, 3) even with injuries, NJ keeps getting it done (5)
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9. Florida (Buffalo, 10) i was close. (1)
10. Buffalo (Carolina, 6) getting eric Cole back was huge. and Cam Ward in the net(4)
11. Ottawa (Boston, 1) savard and tim thomas, did not expect this. scary team. (10)
12. Toronto (Florida, 9) good to see florida getting closer, lost bouwmeester though
13. Atlanta (Atlanta, 13) I was right. Kovalchuck is happy just scoring goals. (0)
14. Tampa Bay (Toronto, 12) did better than i thought, but not by much (2)
15. NYI (NYI, 15) no suprise here, still rebuilding (0)
in the west, i was 47 off, an average of just about 3 spots off.

well i didnt too too bad, on my predictions, got 4 right.
all that matters for flames fans is we are in the playoffs again.
the Flames will face off against Chicago on thursday to start round 1 of the 2009 stanley cup playoffs.
matchups:
San Jose vs Anahiem (San Jose in 7)
Detroit vs Columbus (Columbus in 6)
Vancouver vs St Louis (Vancouver in 6)
Chicago vs Calgary (Calgary in 7)

Boston vs Montreal (Boston in 6)
Washington vs New York (Washington in 5)
New Jersey vs Carolina (Carolina in 5)
Pittsburg vs Philidelphia (Pittsburg in 6)

Go Flames go

the Hitmen now await the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL east final, but will wait until the west conference series are done. Calgary and Brandon are both 8-0 in the postseason.

the Roughnecks lost to Portland on Friday night in a tight game, but rebouned to beat Edmonton last night ( the same night flames beat oilers) and clinch both the division and first in the league.
they have one game left vs Portland then the playoffs begin in early May.

Flames, hitmen and Roughnecks

well the Flames have had a rough ride since the trade deadline. the Flames played out a tough roadtrip, and have played better since coming home, but are only 2-2 in the past 4 games. they ahve been playing better though, thats for sure. The Vancouver Canucks have crept to within 3 points of the division lead playing .800 hockey the past 2 months. it will be a close finish with less than 10 games left. the Flames lost tonight to Pittsburg, who are red hot lately, 2-0. Vancouver plays St. Louis tomorrow and the Flames play Columbus.
interesting comment i heard on the post game show, everyone is upset over these simple losses because they are tired of the stupid divison race and want the playoffs to start. the sooner we clinch, the sooner these reg season games are so worrisome. it doesn't really matter if the Flames win the division (it would def help thier chances of getting Stanley's mug tho), it matters if they win in the playoffs.
enough of the regular season, i want playoffs!!!!
speaking of the Playoffs, the Hitmen won again tonight and swept the Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round of WHL playoffs. Go Hitmen. the second round opponent has yet to be decided

the Roughnecks have been playing well lately as well, playing to a 8-2 record, they play the Toronto Rock on friday at the dome