It's Almost Here!

Well, lookie there! It's no longer the Offseason. It is now officially the PRE-Season. And it couldn't have come fast enough.

Canes fans have very good reason to be excited about the upcoming season. In the '08-'09 season, we sat through half of a mediocre season and watched as a coaching change mid-way through the season turned the team into a dominant force that carried into the Eastern Conference Finals.

With the summer came a few changes, mainly filling the glaring hole exposed in the playoffs of team toughness. The Canes were pushed around quite a bit in the playoffs by bigger teams, but still managed to find a way to win the series.

Tomorrow night the Canes take on the Nashville Predators in a Pre-Season exhibition game. Finally, hockey is back, just as the weather starts to cool back down from scorching to warm. Unfortunately, I'll be away up to the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts for a conference this weekend and will miss the first chance to see the Canes in action. The jitters will be unbearable.

This past weekend, I bottled the Milk Chocolate Stout (Porter). It shall be known from henceforth as the Milk Chocolate Porter. It is simply to light to be called a Stout, and will more than likely have a roasted character that is closer to a Brown Porter style, rather than a Stout(which means less roasty). Overall, I'm pretty disappointed in how this has turned out. I haven't tasted it yet, but the coloring of the beer makes me wonder if there is a way I can improve my technique.

Since the coloring and most of the flavors come from my steeping grains, this is the area I will focus on. I am beginning to think that my grain bags may be too big to allow proper "steeping." I normally put about a pound in each bag, and they get pretty big and round. This may prevent the grains deep on the inside of the bag from getting their sugars rinsed by the water. So they may not be contributing to the wort at all. The next beer that I brew that requires a large amount of steeping grains, I will probably put less grains in each bag. If it means I use 10 bags, so be it.

I want my beers to come out the way I expect them to.

Welp...

So the Canes didn't put up much of a fight against Pittsburgh. They were swept. Ouch. Apparently, I was wrong on all of my reasons for why they would win in the 3rd round. Mainly on reason 2. I was absolutely dead wrong on our defense.

Apparently, our defense just did not feel like playing. Either that, or they were so beat up from playing 14 previous games against bigger teams that they were just beat up physically and couldn't compete.

No matter what the excuse is, Pittsburgh dominated us in just about every aspect. Their defense was better than ours, their offense made our team, and goalie, look like swiss cheese, and we vastly improved Fleury's stats going into the Stanley Cup Finals.

All in all, it was an absolutely great run up until the Eastern Conference Finals. Honestly, I would never have believed it that the Canes would have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, let alone the playoffs, if you had told me back in February of this year. There was just no way we were playing well enough. But after a great March, and April, we turned into a team that really believed in itself and took it to other great teams.

However, now that the offseason is upon us, the questions can start coming. Who will we try to resign, who do we not want, who will we try to go after? I'll try to come up with my answers to those this weekend, after I have a bit more time to digest this post-season.

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

Meh, We Ain't Skeered

So the Bruins won last night, 4-0. No big deal. No one thought it was going to be easy any ways. This just allows us to use the excuses the Bruins' fans have been saying for the past week and change.

"We didn't play our best game. We lost the game, it's not that they won it."

This however, isn't that far off. The Bruins did play better, but only slightly. They didn't show any increase in playing level until they (Corvo) scored their first goal.

The Canes on the other hand, didn't seem all that interested in playing. They were not quick to get to the puck. They didn't step in front of shots to block them. One can only assume that they simply wanted to clinch the series at home in front of their own crowd. They never seem to do that against their 1st round opponent, but for this second round, it must be what their planning. I mean, it's not like the Bruins could beat us unless we wanted them to.

Let's just hope Scott Walker gets some leniency from the league.

Whirlwind Trips

So I had to make and emergency stop in Las Vegas this week. Yeah, what? Well, my SWMBO has family out there, so we had some stuff that needed to be taken care of.

Hockey update: The Canes win Games 7 of the Devils' series in Hollywood fashion. I missed the game completely (Traveste'!) but to score twice in the last 1:30 is pretty damn awesome. We're now on to playing the top team in the NHL, the Boston Bruins.

This was the matchup that I dreaded. I wanted New York to beat Washington, just so we didn't have to face the Bruins. I don't get warm fuzzies about this series. We lost last night by a margin of 4-1. We didn't look flat like we did against New Jersey in the first game when we lost 4-1, it's just that the 4 mistakes we made in the game, Boston capitalized on. You have to play perfect to beat Boston right now. They're that good.

Currently, I'm down at the beach trying to catch up on sleep and get a little bit of relaxing done after being out in the desert for all of the past week. Expect plenty of pictures of sunsets and waves coming later.

Brew update! I only spent about 8 hours at home in between trips but here's what's happened since my last post. The IPA started fermenting, and I believe I was able to keep it at a fairly good temperature. That being said, I couldn't do much while out in Vegas. However, for some reason, 4 days after it started fermenting, when I came back to it, it had stopped showing activity in the airlock; but had a massive krausen on it. What? So maybe there's a leak in my fermenter that's allowing the CO2 to escape somewhere other than the airlock. Plus, the krausen should have fallen by now. Not that I'm on any needed schedule for it right now. It's going to be in the primary for a while, but it still seemed strange that there was a big krausen on there 6 days after pitching. It can happen, I just figured it'd be with a heavier brew.

Welp, on to more relaxin down here at the beach!

Whoah

I'm not sure whether I should be concerned we blew a 3-0 lead or amazed that the Canes won the game with .2 seconds left in Regulation. Either way, it was a game for the ages.

Hockey and Brew

For now, I'm way too excited and nervous to post much on the Canes as they play against New Jersey in the first round. One minute they look great, the next they give the game away. It's too stressing to write about.

Brewing beer however, is not! You can't possibly stress too much about a process that takes weeks, can you? Well yeah, you definitely can, but thankfully I'm not right now. As of yesterday, The Schitz! Barleywine has reached it's Final Gravity of 1.022, and will just sit in the Primary for another week to clean up a bit. It may even drop another thousandth of a point of two. Then it's off to the Secondary for about 6 weeks. That all means that I will have an empty primary in a week. Well now I can't have that!

Jennifer's Cherry Wheat to the rescue! My wife (SWMBO) loves Sam Adams' Cherry Wheat, so I'm going to try to the best of my ability, plus some creative leeway, to clone it for her. This would normally fall under the American Wheat style of beer, but since it will have cherries in it, it's technically a fruit beer.

The recipe is as follows.

• 3.3 lbs of Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
• 3.3 lbs of Extra Pale Dry Malt Extract
• 3 lbs of pureed cherries
• .5 oz. Centennial hops at 60 min
• .25 oz Centennial at 20 min
• .25 oz. Centennial at 7 min
• 1 package of Wyeast 1010 American Wheat Yeast.

Calculating the Starting Gravity, as well as the final Alcohol content will be hard because of the added sugars from the cherries. The color would normally be very light, but with the addition of cherries, it may add some red, along with some darkening to the beer. Plus, as an added bonus, SWMBO will be out of town this weekend, so she won't even have to smell the brew as it's cooked. Yay for her!

Playoff Picks

The 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs start tonight, and thankfully, after 2 years of not participating, the Canes are back in the post-season. With my super hockey knowledge and foresight I will give you who I believe will win the playoffs. Not just the 1st round, but the whole thing! Yeah, I'm good like that.

Round 1, Fight!

Eastern Conference

1 Bruins vs. 8 Habs: The Habs are beat up and haven't played consistent hockey in months. There's not way that they're going to be able to pull off this upset. The bruins pull through in 5.

2 Washington vs. 7 New York Rangers: These are two teams that look very different. Washington is a balls to the wall offensive team, with very little shut-down defense and a shaky goaltender. New York is a more balanced team with less offensive power and a better goaltender. The Caps' hopes are pinned on if they can score more than Theodore can let in. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to watch Avery try to pester AO. Caps win in 6.

3 Devils vs. 6 Canes: One of the more even matchups in the playoffs. This one could really go either way. The Canes are riding a hot streak that has lasted for more than a month, while the Devils have played .500 hockey for most of the past month. Brodeur hasn't looked Brodeur-esque lately, while Cam Ward has. The Canes have had Jersey's number this season taking the season series 3-1. However, the playoffs are always a different story. This one goes to 7 with the Canes coming out on top.

4 Pens vs. 5 Flyers: Another overly even matchup. This is going to be another series going to 7 games. This one however will be about who makes the most mistakes and who gets beat up the most. This series will wear down on both teams, but I see Philly coming out on top. Their defense is going to find a way to shut down Crosby, Malkin, and Staal. Flyers in 7.

Western Conference

1 San Jose vs. 8 Anaheim: Anaheim made a late season push to get into the playoffs, but they're not the team that won the cup a couple years ago. San Jose has been on a mission this year and can't be denied getting past the first round. Sharks in 5.

2 Detroit vs. 7 Columbus: I would love to see Columbus take this series, and I believe that they could. However, Detroit always finds that extra gear in the playoffs. They always seem to be able to stay focused and motivated. Even if they play to an empty arena, Detroit wins this one in 6.

3 Vancouver vs. 6 St. Louis: Another Cinderella team in St. Louis. The Blues haven't been in the playoffs in what seems like forever, especially after having a streak of twenty some years straight in the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Blues, this is the year that Bobby Lu asserts himself in the playoffs. The Nucks win in 6.

4 Chicago vs. 5 Calgary: The even matchup out west that isn't. Calgary won't have enough firepower to keep up with Chicago in this series, and Kipper won't be able to keep them in the game. Hawks in 5.


Round 2, Fight!

Eastern Conference

1 Bruins vs. 6 Canes: Ouch. I hate pitting my Canes against the Bruins like this. They were kicked around all season by the Bruins. That being said, they played all their games against the Bruins before they turned it on in late February. They will make a series out of it. As much as it pains me to say it though, I don't think they can get past the Bruins. They needed someone else to do it, and I don't see how the Habs or the Rangers could have done it (assuming the Rangers beat the Caps). Bruins in 6, they're just too big.

2 Caps vs. 5 Philly: The Caps will face a real test in the second round. The NHL won't get what it wanted in a Crosby vs. Ovechkin series. In this round I see Biron somehow getting hot, and Theodore will choke. Varlamov will come in for Washington, but it won't be enough, and the Flyers will take this one in 6.

Western Conference

1 San Jose vs. 4 Chicago: Ah, the Sharks and the 2nd round of the playoffs, mortal enemies. This series will be a battle to see who can score more. Goaltending won't be showcased in this series. Neither will perform poorly, but look for at least 5 goals to be scored in most of the games. In this series, I see San Jose actually making it past the second round in 6 games.

2 Detroit vs. 3 Vancouver: And here is where Detroit's goaltender's go downhill. Neither Osgood, nor Conklin will be able to do much. Not that Vancouver will throw an onslaught of offensive power at them, they will just falter. Vancouver in 5.

Round 3, Fight!

Eastern Conference

1 Boston vs. 5 Philly: Ok, the third round is so far away, and so much can happen between now and then, that it's a bit too hard to write a true review for them. Tim Thomas will show that he's not quite superman, and Boston will get thrown around a bit more in this series. The Flyer's forwards will find a way to forecheck against the Boston D, and that will make the difference. Philly in 7.

Western Conference

1 San Jose vs. 3 Vancouver: This will be the battle of goaltenders. Both Nabokov and Luongo will be great for their clubs. We'll see a couple shutouts and low scoring games. Both goalies will exit this round with Save Percentage's above .930, but only Luongo will come away smiling. Canucks in 6.


Stanley Cup Finals!

3 Vancouver vs. 5 Philly: Ah, time for all of Canada to jump on the "Canada's Team!" Bandwagon. In this matchup, I see Philly doing everything they can to get past Luongo, but not having the success that they had against Boston. However, their defense will come up big against the Sedins and Sundin, as Biron cools off a bit.
That being said, Luongo will be clutch in this series, where 3 games will go into overtime. This series goes to 6 games and the Canucks bring the Cup to Canada, Sundin makes half of Toronto hate him even more (and all of Montreal) and gets his ring, and Canada can keep saying how hockey is their sport and revel in the fact that it only took 16 years for it to happen.


There you go. Put your money on it. But no more than 10 bucks. I don't have a crystal ball or anything.

Come June we'll find out how (un?)awesome I am when predicting hockey.

Buffablow vs. Canes 4-8-09

Ah, it's nice to be sitting pretty as the slugs cling on for dear life with their 2.1% chance of making the playoffs. It truly is a thing of beauty that we may eliminate them tonight, assuming NY doesn't beat Philly first.

What will also be nice about tonight's game is that the team we play against will at least have something to play for. Unlike Tuesday's joke of a game against the Islanders the Slugs will at least have some fire. Tonight should be much closer of a match than the Islanders game.

Not much of a preview for today, but here's some pics of Buffalo that helps further explain why it sucks.

What is this freakin Communist Russia?

Good Luck Canes. Take away any hopes of Playoffs the Slug fans have. Give them one more season in which to whine about.