The Teams Are Set

With the Philadelphia Flyers beating the Montreal Canadiens last night the teams for the Stanley Cup Finals are set. This is an interesting match-up. There are two cities that love hockey in the finals. The buildings will be rocking. It's going to be fun. Unfortunately the series doesn't start until Saturday but when it gets going, you better buckle up your chin straps.

I think the Chicago Blackhawks are going to win. I don't think it will be easy and the series will be long but they have so much young talent. Their skill and youth will serve them well. They will be able to recover quicker from a gruelling game and they were the first team to dispose of their opponents in the Conference Championships.

This is not saying the Flyers will not play well. They eliminated the pesky Habs who managed to beat the President's Trophy winners and the defending Stanley Cup champs. That is no easy feat and they should be commended but they are done. We have to look to the future.

I was surprised the Sharks did not win a game in the Conference Championships. They have the talent to win but they never seem to quite do as well as they should. This is also in the past and we must look to the future.

On Saturday, you better be ready because when they get going it will be a war. This is going to be a series to remember.

Those Pesky Habs Just Won't Go Away

The Montreal Canadiens just played Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers. They were not supposed to get out of the 1st round. They have gone to seven games in both of the 1st two series. They have looked really bad in some of their games including tonight. Despite all of that, they have knocked out the President Trophy winning Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

No matter how you look at it, they have been on a ride. On paper they should be the easiest team the Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge would face in the playoffs but, on paper they should have not even been playing by now.

Even before Game 7 of the last series it seemed very possible for the Habs to win. They stunk up the joint tonight but you know they are going to make some waves before this series is done. If you consider their playoff record is now 8 and 7, really they are not playing all that better than the regular season, they just have to make sure they win 4 before they lose 4 in each series they can keep going at this less than stellar pace, but a good enough pace to make it to the conference finals.

When it all shakes out, those pesky Habs just won't go away.

I'm Not a Habs Fan But This Is Getting Really Interesting

The Montreal Canadiens just beat the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins to tie the series at 2 games each. This team that no-one picked to do anything and most said they would be lucky to win two games, just won't go away. It's interesting and becoming the most compelling team in the playoffs. I don't know if they are going to win it all, but they are doing some interesting things.

They took the President's Cup winning Washington Capitals to seven games and beat them in the end.

They are tied with the defending champs.

They have been riding their goaltender's play.

It has been suggested that the Habs don't have a chance in their current series as the Penguins know how to win. I think the Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge are learning how to win very quickly. They came from behind and won tonight. At times they are handling their opponents well, however at times they are being handled quite easily too. The biggest thing is they won't go away.

I'm not a fan of the Montreal Canadiens but they are definitely making things very interesting.