It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...

That's right! The NHL Playoffs start TONIGHT!!!!!!!!

I've been looking forward to this for nearly two whole years. Ever since the last playoffs ended with Tampa Bay winning the Cup. Mind you, I thought that it would be back a lot sooner than this, but don't get me started on that whole lockout garbage.

I love how my beloved Senators are favored to win Lord Stanley's Mug but nearly all the analysts. I know this really doesn't mean much, but I like how they are all on the bandwagon.

The puck drops in a little under 2 hours for Game 1 between Ottawa and Tampa. Realistically, Ottawa *should* dominate the Lightning, and defeat them handily. I'm not counting Tampa, but I still figure the Sens will take the series in 4 or 5 games.

The best part is that we've got all the troop back and ready to go for the game (except for Hasek, but don't get me started on that either). We are led by our Captain and the rest of the "Burn Unit", while the Twin Towers on defence will be smashing people around all night. And of course between the pipes we've got the Upstart Emery.





As for the rest of the playoffs, these are my predictions:

Montreal over Carolina in 7 games: The Hurricanes have struggled a little down the stretch, enough to relinquish 1st place in the Eastern Conference to Ottawa. While the 'Canes will no doubt be better in the playoffs, they must still beat the Habs new phenom in goal pads, Christobel Huet, who has been so good he chased Jose Theodore out of town.

New Jersey Over New York in 6 games: With Martin Brodeur in the net and the stifling defence that can choke out the most potent offences, even Jagr doesn't stand a chance.

Buffalo over Philedelphia in 7 games: REALLY close series. Buffalo is solid all the way around and has a quick little team that should give the hulking (and slow) defence of Philly fits. Also, I doubt that Forsberg can stay healthy for that long. Plus I HATE the Flyers!

Edmonton over Detroit in 7 games: Yes, I do hate Detroit too, but this goes beyond that. I'm still not convinced that Detroit is as amazing as the seem on paper. They played 24 division games against the 3 of the worst teams in the league.had they lost even one-third of these game which you'd think they would if they were in any other division, that would knock 16 points off their total, making them finish second in their conference. Edmonton has a knack for bringing down the giant, and are certainly capable of doing it again. The animal is always most dangerous when backed into a corner. Detroit: Beware of Animals!

Dallas over Colorodo in 6 games: Dallas is a very good, well-rounded hockey club. Colorodo is a shell of their former selves, having lost Forsberg, Foote, and others. While Burnaby Joe still has the passion and the drive to go all the way, he can't do it by himself. Turco is solid in the net, while Theodore is a big question-mark after a dismal season and a heel injury.

Anaheim over Calgary in 7 games: This one is going all the way to the bitter end. And at the end these two teams will be bitter enemies. For starters, this series pits the two goalies who backstopped the last two cinderella teams to the Finals. Calgary is much deeper on defence, and the Ducks are more offensively talented. While it is true that defence wins Championships, it is still necessary to score at least a little bit to win those games. Calgary's offence has been dismal all year.

San Jose over Nashville in 5 games: Poor Nashville is the victim of bad luck on this one. Tomas Vokoun went down with a blood clot that will force him to miss the rest of the season, leaving them with a rookie in net who's barely played all season. And then they match up aginst one of the hottest teams in the league over the last month. And on this team there is the Art Ross trophie winner, the Rocket Richard trophie winner, and a Hart trophie candidate; and then there is Patrick Marleau on the second line. Sorry Silly (Mike Sillinger), this won't be the year either.

Well, that's the first round as I see it. But what do I know, I'll probably be outguessed by that damn TSN monkey. Hee hee hee, monkey....

This is the End...

Well, it's the end of an era here in Ottawa. The Renegades have officially packed it in for this season, and more than likely for the foreseeable future. What a shame, I thoroughly enjoyed attending their games (though admittedly out of the 15-20 games I went to I paid to attend but one contest). Without them here this season, I will be forced to come up with something else to occupy my time this summer.

Perhaps the saddest new of this whole turn of events is that I will no longer be able to see my beloved Green 'Riders come to town. Those were always my favorite games to go to, although for some reason the completely inept Renegades usually managed to somehow come up with the win in these contest, much to my dismay. Maybe I'll try and catch them in Toronto this summer.

With the doomed Renegades now out of their misery, attention can now turn to tomorrow's dispersal draft, where the few decent players from the 'Gades squad can be picked up by other teams. I have great concern that my Roughriders will go out and trade a good player from their roster for the first pick so that they can get Kerry Joseph, an over-rated and grossly overpaid glorified ballboy, to take snaps for them this coming season. The problem I see with this is that Joseph is not even as talented as the two quarterbacks currently in camp, let alone completely unqualified to be by far the highest paid player on the team.

The biggest need that the 'Riders can address in the draft would be to their receiving corp. I won't lie, losing our best receiver in the off-season hurts, and the fact it was to Calgary is like a knife in the back. This deficiency can be addressed nicely in the dispersal draft though as there are a pair of talented receivers available in Jason Armstead and Pat Woodcock. Armstead was one of the few bright spots for Ottawa last year with a ton of return yards and a decent year from the line of scrimmage. To me, the better option would be Pat Woodcock. Only one season removed from winning the League's Most Outstanding Canadian Award, Woodcock had the capability of putting up some crazy good numbers. He was hampered last year by a few injuries and inconsistency, but on that Ottawa team being inconsistent means that he was actually good for a little bit. One downside to him is that he is fairly high paid, but he could potentially lead all 'Riders receivers this season.

The only other glaring need for the 'Riders is at the kicker position, but there is no way in hell they would try and fill that from Ottawa. Anyone who even remotely follows the CFL must know that the kicking game in Ottawa has been a joke since they returned to the league three years ago. I think in that time Ottawa has averaged seven kickers per year, none of which have been any good.

Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed....