Round 3! Pens and Canes

Well, surprise, surprise! The Canes are still the predicted losers of yet another round of playoff hockey!

I, myself will call shenanigans on them all. And of course I would, I'm a Canes fan. But here are my points.

1. Our forwards solved Martin Brodeur of the 3rd seeded Devils, and the probable 2009 Vezina-winner Tim Thomas. Do you really think that Fleury is the same calibre of goaltender as Marty or Timmy? Fleury is 8-5 with a 2.72 GAA and .901 SV% in the post-season. Those numbers are NOT good enough. At the same time, Cam Ward has a 2.22 GAA and .927 SV% along with 2 shutouts this post-season. Goaltenders win playoff series. Who have the Pens faced? Biron? Varlamov?
   
2. Our "no-name," "bucket list," "non-scoring" Defense has somehow managed to hem in both #3 New Jersey and the number 1 seeded, 2nd-in-the-League-by-1-point-in-the-regular-season Boston Bruins. But somehow, Crosby and Malkin are going to score 7 goals each on them.
   
3. Look at the competition. Pittsburgh has had to play Philadelphia and Washington. Against Philly, they played against a crumbling team in front of a very shaky goaltender (yes, I know I picked Philly to go to the Finals. That was based on gut-feelings, not facts). They then played against the Washington Capitals, who they only had to keep up in score with. The Caps really had no defense(similar to the Pens), and their rookie goaltender turned out to be fluky. It was a matchup to see who could score 4 or 5 goals the fastest. The Canes on the other hand had to best arguably the greatest goaltender there's ever been along with a New Jersey team that is historically defensively-minded(although not as much so recently). The Canes then had to further beat the heavily favored Boston Bruins, the team that everyone had basically handed the Cup to already. Boston was supposedly the perfect team. They had scoring, they had massive shut-down D-men, they had a Vezina Candidate in goal. Yet, the Canes prevailed.
   
4. Lastly, the Hockey Gods are on our side. Yes, the Hockey Gods. The Hockey Gods are fair, they are balanced, they look down upon meddling Refferee's and officials. They do not turn a blind eye to fans who turn their zealotry into putrid vile toward others. They smite those who are not believers of truth, balance, and fairness.
   
   FACT: The Buffalo Sabres have never won the Stanley Cup.
   HOCKEY GOD INTERVENTION: Sabres fans are loud, obtuse, and remind one of the hooligans in England. The Hockey Gods have Smote them.
   
   FACT: The 2002 Stanley Cup Finals were determined by the Refs and NHL Officials, rewarding Detroit with the Stanley Cup.
   HOCKEY GOD INTERVENTION: In 2006 the Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Red Wing in round 1. Then, the team with less Stanley Cups, won the Cup that year (balance).
   
   FACT: The NHL did everything in its power to keep Carolina out of the 3rd round. The refs swallowed their whistles while looking at Chara and Ward abuse our forwards, disallowed a (ultimately meaningless) goal, and called phantom penalties on the regular season's least penalized team.
   HOCKEY GOD INTERVENTION: They influenced Colin Cambell's decision not to suspend Scott Walker for having Aaron Ward's face lose a game of chicken to Scotty's fist. Then, gave the series winning, OT goal to said Scotty.
   
   FACT: Brooks Orpik (Orprick?) viciously broke Erik Cole's cervical (that's neck folks) vertebrae (yes, that's spine folks) on March 4th, 2006. He was about 1 Newton of force close to killing, or permanently paralyzing Erik Cole. He was given a 3-day suspension. Not once did he call Erik Cole to apologize. Not once did he send flowers to Erik while he was in the hospital. Not once has he spoken to the man whom he almost killed, while playing on the same ice.
   HOCKEY GOD INTERVENTION: None.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Yet.
   

Gut-Check Time

Damn, and I was really hoping we wouldn't have to check our guts for this series. But, Boston went ahead and made a series out of this one and came back from being down 3-1 to force Game 7.

Crap. Crappity Crap.

But hey, we're going into Game 7 against the Bruins, how many people really thought that was going to happen at the beginning of this series? At the same time however, how many people thought we would go up 3-1 on them. At that very same time as well, how many people thought we would then blow that 3-1 lead and have to play a Game 7, in Boston.

After playing with very little heart and determination in the last 2 games, will the Canes finally step it up and give a solid 60 minute effort? Will Cam Ward return back to his Round 1 form? It's almost best not to ask or even attempt to answer questions before a Game 7. Just play you game. Play your best game.

And I'll finish following suit to another blogger:

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li