On Hockey:

I remember reading a novel by Bertrand Russell for the first time. It was so simple, so eloquent, so 'the way writing was meant to be.' Russell's strength is in not overcomplicating things, so that the reader gets the point immediately. I will try to do that today.

I've watched several games in the last few days, despite the fact that Easter celebrations took me to mass five times in four days. Being Catholic didn't obstruct my view of what's happened so far. 7 series continued, and there have been a few winners.

First, let's talk about Washington and New York.

Washington won the first two games, meaning that they had a 70% chance of winning the series. That proved to be true as they won 2 of the next 3 games, and knocked the Rangers out of the post-season. I'm glad, in a sense, because the Rangers were so clearly the inferior team. Sure, their defense and goaltending was impressive this season, but overall they lacked the quality that Washington has. I'm convinced that had Carolina won their final game and taken the 8th seed, they would have been a far better test for Washington and made this series more exciting. With Washington's newfound defensive system, it's not as fun to watch the Capitals anymore. Regardless, they're into the semi-finals now, and you'd have to look at them as a favourite to go all the way if their goaltending holds up.

This is probably a perfect time for me to tell you that I predicted Washington would win the series. I gave it 6 games, though. The Caps were a perfect 3-0 on home ice, which I mentioned would be important.

Philadelphia and Buffalo is another series that nobody is really sure about. Buffalo has performed to expectations, especially with how hot they were down the stretch. Having said that, I have never seen a series with so many penalties, so many open-net misses, so many goaltending changes by a 'contending' team. Philadelphia has literally tied this series and stayed in it by playing with fire. I don't know if they are as good as everyone once thought they were. Who is their starting goaltender? A question that should be answered sooner, rather than later. Why are they taking so many penalties? The Flyers are allowing themselves to be taken in by Buffalo's grinders and pests.

With that series going to a 7th game, you'd have to look to Philly to be the winners. However, Buffalo has won two games in Philly, and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of home-ice advantage. I'm going to stick with Philly as my pick to win the series, but I think that Buffalo has every chance of making it through. Nothing less than a Ryan Miller masterclass will see them past the Flyers. Remember, Philly won game 2, so they have a 70% chance of winning this series.

My original pick was Flyers in Six games. I picked Pronger as their talisman (if healthy) and said that the Flyers would be more motivated. We'll see what holds true when this one ends. Does anyone else get the feeling that Buffalo had their chance in game six to eliminate the Flyers, and now that chance is just about gone?

Now on to Boston and Montreal. This is a funny old series, because home ice advantage has counted for naught this far. The visiting team won all four games in the series, and with Boston winning game five on home ice, you'd have to think that momentum would be the Bruins friend going into this game 6.

Is this a good time to mention that I picked the Bruins to win in 6?

What about Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay?

I didn't expect the Penguins to jump out to a 3-1 series lead, albeit they did so by clutch goalscoring and overtime victories. The Penguins have stayed faithful with their systems, but at this point in the series with things going to a deciding 7th game, you're looking at a total loss of momentum for the Pens, and too much hanging in the balance for them. Tampa Bay has won the last two games by a combined score of 12-4, and Pittsburgh is now 0-2 in elimination games in the series. Let's see what happens.

I picked the Penguins to win in seven, because I figured that Tampa's offense would be tough to handle. It didn't hold true in the first 4 games, but they've lit it up on all lines in the past two.

In the Western Conference, it's too hard to tell what's going to happen between Vancouver and Chicago.

Chicago has been irresistible in the past three games, and they are absolutely motivated and on fire. Vancouver has been playing well, and their puck possession and distribution from defense to offense has been terrific. At times, you wonder how Chicago managed to stay in the series.

Regardless of that, Luongo's goaltending has been an issue once again. His nemeses' happen to be these very same Blackhawks, and its starting not to be very fun for him. He was terrific in the first two games, but the rest of this series he has been ordinary and managed a 1-3 record in the last four games. So far, we're looking at a wounded Canucks team who have had their confidence handed back to them for retooling.
I picked Vancouver to win in 6 games, and I still think it's more likely that they win this series, but obviously home-ice advantage doesn't count for very much.

Now for San Jose and Los Angeles. I remember looking at some blogrolls and seeing pundits had chosen this to be the only sweep of the first round. I wasn't too sure about that, but I did pick San Jose as the overwhelming winner. Los Angeles just doesn't have the depth and balance and that the Sharks have.

Give credit to the Kings, they made it a series. Regardless, the Sharks ended this in six games. I predicted it would end in five, although I did pick the Sharks to win it.

Detroit and Phoenix managed to make it a short series, with Detroit turning it on in the end, and Phoenix totally unable to cope with a more experienced and better quality side. I picked Wings in seven, and while that turned out to be far fetched, it's still the correct winner. Another feather in my cap.

The final series in the West was Anaheim and Nashville. I picked Anaheim to win in six games, and I'll admit I was wrong. Anaheim's offense was far too mercurial and they didn't manage to pull it together for more than one game in a row.

So, I have correctly picked the three winners of the series that are over. I have a few going to 7th games, so I could be 7/8, or I could be 3 for 8. Ouch. Tough!

Tomorrow, I'll post on the award nominees and what's happened with the 7th games.