Hockey, Eh?

Hi all,

Well, the conference finals start tonight. Dallas and Detroit play at 7:30, and Philly plays Pittsburgh tomorrow night. I'm pretty excited for the battle of Pennsylvania--I really like both of those teams, and it'd be cool to see either one of them take the cup. I'm not, however, a fan of Dallas, and I loathe Detroit. So basically, I hope Dallas bumps Detroit off, then goes on to get slaughtered in the cup finals by either Eastern Conference squad.

Do you know what else I'm not a fan of? The fact that most of these games are being televised exclusively on VS.. Here in the Buckeye State, you have to have Time Warner cable to get said channel. I do not have Time Warner, so I don't get to watch the bulk of the games. I have to watch Sports Center after work and sit through reports on baseball, basketball, golf, and a bunch of other stuff I don't care about. Then they bring Barry Melrose on for a good two minutes to discuss highlights. On top of that is the fact that I work at night, so I'd miss most games anyway. If I got that channel, though, I could just tape the games (or 'DVR' them, I guess) and watch them all in the morning. I guess I'm glad that they at least show weekend games on NBC--everyone who has a TV gets that channel. That and I usually get Sundays off, so I can just kick back and enjoy an uninterrupted game without having to worry about getting ready for work later.

Last Sunday was great--the Pens played the Rangers and Hossa scored the big OT goal, sending Pittsburgh to face the Flyers, and the much-hated blueshirts back home. I've never liked the New York Rangers, and I especially do not like them now that they have Jaromir Jagr playing for them. I have always despised that guy as a hockey player. Even when he played for Pittsburgh with Mario Lemieux, who is one of my all-time favorite players. I don't know how to explain it, but that guy has always just rubbed me the wrong way. As mean as it sounds, it felt good to hear the home crowd at Mellon Arena boo him relentlessly each and every time he had possession of the puck. I think it was getting to him, too, because he didn't do all that much. Of course, that's also probably due to the fact that the Pens have been playing brilliant hockey this post-season. I mean, they swept the first round against the Senators, and only lost once to the NYR. Crosby and Malkin have been a good matchup, too, and Fleury's goaltending has been remarkable. I can't wait to see him matched up against Marty Biron. This is going to be one hell of a series for sure.