Prongs...again

Pronger suspended for game 4.


And all I can say is great.


The thing i just looove about this is that Colin Campbell, NHL's disciplinarian didn't really want to suspend Pronger, but the league has to send a message on hits to the head. Fine by me. Just make sure you email Chris Neil not to take McDonald's head off in game 4 like he almost did in game 3. People think that's not cool.

C'mon, are you kidding me?

They have to send a message?

In the finals?

And in the end Pronger gets suspended because Dean McAmmond can't take a man's hit, while Neil can play because McDonald can.

Oh, and by they way, when Ducks GM Brian Burke asked Campbell why Neil didn't get suspended, Campbell replied: "The player (McDonald) wasn't injured, so mind your own business"

Ridiculous...I just hope that the 2007 Stanley cup finals won't be remember by inconsistent, bias and just overall terrible officiating and doubtful suspensions. It seems like we're heading in that direction though.

Bob Cole: "...and they're back in the series!" "I told you, don't count them out!"

I was watching game 3 on CBC because I like Bob Cole. Well, I used to like Bob Cole. But c'mon he was just talking trash yesterday. "THE SENS ARE BACK! I TOLD YOU SO! DON'T COUNT THEM OUT!"...

Are you kidding me?!

Sens still have a loooong way to go if they wanna be back in the series.

Yeah I know, Cole's Canadian and he's gonna support his team, but still, he just sounded stupid last night.

Ok, enough about Cole, let's talk about the game. Or the referees I should say. They sucked...big time. No, I'm not talking about the Alfredsson "kick", I'm talking about the penalties. I'm talking about Emery's dive and the penalty on Getzlaf late in the third period. I don't exactly have a problem with the penalty Getz got, it just bothers me that Sens should get 3 penalties in the 15 seconds leading to his penalty. Inconsistent officiating throughout the game and especially in the third period.

Maybe Garry "I'm destroying the NHL, but I'm just doing what's in the best interest of the team owners" Bettman had a meeting with the refs before the game and told them: "Look, Sens should win tonight, because our tv ratings are at an all-time low and we should somehow stretch this series to at least 6 games."

Next, the Pronger elbow. Should he be suspended?

First of all Pronger's 6'6" and that's why his elbows are gonna hit heads and necks all the time. I'm not saying it was a clean hit per se, he should have gotten a penalty, but it looked much more dramatic then it really was.

And I had enough of Heatley complaining over the refs. Maybe he should consider playing soccer? At least there he could whine about the refs all the time and he wouldn't stand out as much. Hockey isn't for pussies Danny.


After all is said and done Sens won game 3 and it doesn't matter if they deserved it or not. And may Bob Cole suffer a heart-attack from all the joy so we can have another announcer next time. Maybe I'll even consider switching to Versus.

Remember Ken Dryden?

The Senators not only have to change the way they're playing in these finals, the also have to defy history. So far only one team came back from being down 0:2 in the finals. The Blackhawks did it in '71 on the wings of a rookie goalie Ken Dryden.

So what, you say?


Well, Ken claims that the series isn't over yet. He said that "Not everything went wrong in these first two games".

I believe I heard EXACTLY the same stuff from Ottawa fans after game 1. And what happened in game 2? They got DESTROYED by the Ducks's checking line again.

Ottawa has tho change A LOT of things if they wanna win game 3. Yes, they'll be playing at home, but so what? Do you really think that'll make a difference?

Face it, Sens came into the finals because of the Spezza line. And that line has been DEAD so far. They have 1 point so far, an assist from Spezza in game 1, a combined -6 rating and remember, both winning goals were scored with that line on the ice.

And the thing that should worry the Sens fans the most is Bryan Murray's claim that they played game 2 much better than game 1.

And the Conn Smythe trophy goes to...

Ok, so we're two games into the Stanley cup finals and people are already bold in their predictions for the Conn Smythe trophy. A LOT of people are claiming that the trophy should go to Daniel Alfredsson even if the Senators lose the series. I had a had a loooong conversation with a guy from Sweden a few hours ago on who should win it...and here's what i think:

Ok, so let's go through this step by step. Has Alfredsson been the best Sens player up to the finals? You could say that, but on the other hand the whole Spezza line has been awesome. Heatley is the playoff leader in points and assists, Alfredsson has the most goals and Spezza is second in goals and points...BUT...what has the Spezza line shown us in the finals? Pretty much nothing, except that they simply can't play against Ducks' checking line. And Conn Smythe usually goes to the player that plays great for the whole playoffs, not just the first three series. On the other hand Ray Emery has been awesome in my opinion these playoffs. If it wasn't for him the Sens would lose both games in the series by 3 goals at least. So if anyone is getting overlooked here it's Ray. Give the guy some credit for crying out loud.


What about the Ducks? Giguere? Prongs? Scott Niedermayer? Getzlaf? Pahlsson even?
Yeah, all of those guys could get it, after all there are at least two games left in the series. Pronger is tied for the lead in points for the Ducks, he's the leader in assists with 11 and has the best +/- rating of all the players in the finals with +8. Scott Niedermayer? I dunno to be honest. If he gets a few points as the series progresses then maybe. Getzlaf maybe, Pahlsson probably not. Everyone who says that one of these guys should get it has a legitimate point and can back it up with stats. But there's one guy whose stats don't speak for themselves. J.S. Giguere. Sure, he's been constantly good, just had a shutout last night, has a solid goals against avg., but the thing that stands out with Giguere is that he wasn't that great during the regular season, wasn't even a starter when the playoffs started, didn't have his mind on hockey because his son had an eye surgery and a lot of people expected Bryzgalov to be the starting goalie for these playoffs. If that happened, we would probably be watching a Detroit-Ottawa finals right now. If it wasn't for Giguere the Ducks wouldn't beat Detroit, maybe not even Vancouver. He had a great playoff run, and if the Ducks win the Cup then he gets the Conn Smythe.


Anyway, you see what you got me doing damn Swedes? Predicting the Conn Smythe trophy winner two games into the finals. :)