Kevin's Watch

gk! NBC and FOX covereage are both crap! I know I sound like a maple-syrup-sucking-hockey-loving-Canuck when i say this, but no one beats CBC coverage. No unnecessary zips and swoshes of graphics going across the screen and with commentators that know how to commentate without bias...

ok, a little bias... [/i]

Uh oh ... Senators have the lead in the series, beating the Sabres 5-2, and pretty decisively too! Wow, they made the Sabres look pretty normal.
Ok, now cue a Sabre comeback....

wow what an exciting series. Put aside that the Sabres are down 2-0 in the series, the action has been amazing!

whew!
Hey null, have you managed to catch a game or two? I notice they are posting some of the games on YouTube...

i have seen a couple of the last series on nbc (boo nbc!)
but not of the current depressing series. Sabres to pull it out tonight.

........




1-0 senators....



......


I did not get a chnace to see all the game, but what I did see was the Sens running all over the SAbres. The Sabres being totally saved by amazing goaltending from Miller, and could not make a decent outlet pass to save their lives!

This is not the Ottawa beating Buffalo so much as Buffalo beating themselves. I wanted a really good game 3 and we got crap.

C'mon Sabres! Get your hands out of your @ss! Play some hockey!

Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2

OTTAWA (AP) -- Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres withstood a late Ottawa Senators rally and stayed alive in the Eastern Conference finals.
Miller was remarkable in stopping 15 shots in the third period, and Chris Drury and Derek Roy each had a goal and assist in a 3-2 win over Ottawa in Game 4 on Wednesday night. The Sabres nearly squandered a three-goal lead but staved off elimination, cutting the Senators' best-of-seven series lead to 3-1 and making Game 5 necessary in Buffalo on Saturday. It wasn't easy for the Sabres, who ended a three-game skid and won for the third time in eight games. The Senators put a big scare into the Sabres, rallying for two goals in a 1:46 span, cutting Buffalo's lead to 3-2 with 3:19 left in the second period. Miller, however, stopped 31 shots -- the same number he stopped in a 1-0 loss on Monday.
Ottawa enjoyed back-to-back power plays in the third period but failed to get a puck past Miller, despite getting 10 shots on net during a 4:30 stretch. Miller made a key save when he waved his glove and batted down Joe Corvo's snap shot from the slot. Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden also had a shot from the slot sail just wide of an open left side.
Peter Schaefer and Dean McAmmond scored for the Senators, who had a six-game winning streak snapped and lost for only the second time in seven home games. Maxim Afinogenov also scored for Buffalo, the Presidents' Trophy winner in the regular season. One victory short of reaching the Stanley Cup finals for the first time, the Senators appeared ready to rally for the second time this series. They overcame a 2-0 Buffalo lead in a 4-3 double-overtime win in Game 2 on Saturday. the Sabres took control early when Roy scored 9 seconds in, quickly silencing a crowd that was still cheering the opening faceoff. The goal was set up by a turnover when Andrej Meszaros' clearing pass ticked off Roy's skate, directly to Drury just inside the Ottawa blue line. Drury immediately fed a pass to Roy who, standing to the right of the net, redirected the puck over Ray Emery. The goal was the fastest in Sabres playoff history, breaking the mark set last year when Henrik Tallinder scored 33 seconds in against Ottawa on May 13, 2006. It was still 3 seconds shy of the NHL playoff record, set by Los Angeles' Don Kozak on April 17, 1977. The Sabres scored three goals on their first 10 shots, capped when Drury threaded a snapper from the right circle that sneaked in through Emery. Afinogenov's goal came during a two-man advantage early in the second period, Buffalo's first power-play goal in 19 chances this series, and its third in 33 opportunities over seven games. But back came the Senators. McAmmond's goal came on a broken play after Meszaros' initial shot was blocked, but dribbled into the right circle. That's where McAmmond snapped the puck in the short side. Mike Comrie set up the next goal. His backhand pass ticked off defender Brian Campbell's stick and into the slot, where Schaefer swept it in with 3:19 left in the second.

The Senators won game 5, right? I'm pretty sure the Sabres are out now.

yep, Sabres out on Alfredsens's OT goal. The man was a goat in years past (especially in 4 years of getting ousted by the Leafs), but now the man is showing why he wears the "C".

Now it looks as if the Wings are on the brink of getting booted too! Those pesky Ducks found a way to win... 40 seconds left and score a fluky one and then a defensive end givaway on the stick of Selane ... it's all over.

Wow, I bet Betman and the American Networks are flipping at the prospect of the Ducks getting in, never mind the Duck with a Canadian team... !!!

well that sucked. all season long they were great and then this? it is a conspiracy.

Ok .


ok


...

So we have it... Ducks vs. Senators in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yep, according to the US TV gods, the world is coming to an end...


Seriously, though, as much as a despise a franchise named "The Ducks", nevermind that it is based upon a Disney movie! ... give the team credit, they showed a lot of guts and played pretty darn well.

Now, I hope the Sens absolutely crush the little b@stards....

Whoa, an ONtario billionair has put in a bid to buy the Nashville Predators!!! Wow!
Could this mean a new Canadian team?

Well, a team in Nashville was doomed for failure... C'mon! What genius thought you could fill seats for hockey in Nashville?... And they DID have a pretty decent, exciting team too!
As usual, Bettman and the NHL board looked at the huge sum up front to put a team there and didn't look to the long-term.
Move the team to, say, Kitchener, or some other S. Ontario location and you will have a full house (like the Leafs) every night! However, TV revenue won't be as high as moving the team to another US lcation for another 5 years before it dies ...
C'Mon Bettman! Think long term!!!!


OK, as usual I have rambled on with little focus ...
sorry.
letting off steam amongst potential excitement.

Oh, and to PROVE that the US networks actually hate hockey, what is it with the major network (NBC, who holds the US rights) choosing NOT TO AIR THE STANLEY CUP FINAL GAMES UNTIL THE THIRD GAME??!!!!
That's right. Like last year, fans will not be able to see the first 2 games of the biggest hockey series until it is potentially half over.

sheesh!
sorry, null and any other hockey fans in the US, your country still places hockey in 4th place of sports, and it hurts the sport in general as Bettman and US networks place restrictions on the games themselves. (did you know that before Bettman took over that you didn't have to wait an agonizing 5, 6 days, or week to start the next series if the previous finished early... ther would be two days then off you go... talk about momentum crusher....)

OK, I'm shutting up now... passionate hockey guy is annoying now...
go back to your regularily scheduled programs....

whew. Well I was hsitant to post anything, as my poor Sens were getting beaten by .. (gak) ducks.
However, they have come through and I can shun my embarraassment a little as say what a great team they are. Put aside for a moment that the Ducks line-up has more playoff veterans and that there are more Canadians on that team than the Ottawa team, they put in a complete effort on Saturday, taking the body adn playing smart.
And, dang! that silly Chris Pronger throwing a deliberate elbow to a Sen's players throat! And only a one game suspension! That's the second time this playoffs! First he drives the head of a Wing's player in to the boards (knocking him out) then this.
One game? <shrug> it pays to be a name player I guess.

Game 4 tonight. With Pronger out of the lineup, the Sens 'should' capture this game and even things up. If they don't, .... I wash my hands...

(hey, gimme a break, it has taken a lot for a LEafs fan to root for the Sens....!)

Ducks win 3-2 despite the loss of Pronger (which tells you what a great line-up they have) and take a crushing 3-1 lead in the series.

Sorry Us. I hate Pronger and would love to see the Sens win.

Don Cherry was on NBC at the break and flat-out said "NBC and the NHL are blowing it by trying to get fighting out of the game." He said this on NBC, and called out Dick Ebersol (chairman) for doing it!! It's ok to have stuff that's way more violent, like Ultimate Fighting (or half the shows on-air), but let's not offend families and kids w/ fighting in hockey. Brett Hull was all too happy to agree

LOL... It must have been quite a shock to hear ol' Don give his rant on (pure) NBC... heheheh
sorry I missed it.

haven't seen anything of the finals. Ducks up 3-1 I read?

ITS BACK!!!!!!

Season opener in London England. Hockey Night in Canada at Noon.

Coooool.

Just starting...Its too bad that its LA against Anaheim....there should have been at least one Canadian team playing.


Ottawa will take t this year, right?

I might switch from the Avalance to Pengies this year-Go Crosby!!!