Hockey Heartache & Bracket Breakdowns

Crazy Canes Games

The Canes v Bruins game was rough to watch at the RBC Center, especially considering we had 3 Bruins guys sitting right in front of us. Long story short, the Bruins won one of the crucial games we had left (as if they all weren’t points-wise). Their 5-2 win stole 2 badly needed points, which essentially set us back 4 in the playoff run. My friends and I stayed after despite the loss and got to meet 2 of the Finns, which was awesome. Jamie McBain, who had an assist in what was his first NHL game, walked past, but we didn’t realize till it was too late.

Two days later, the boys took on an Ovechkin-less Caps team. It was another intense game that ended in overtime, but we got the 4-3 win thanks to Ray Whitney’s goal. Corvo, a former Cane, scored on us twice, which was a little hard to watch for those of us still getting used to the switch. Congrats to LaRose for his 100^th career goal!

Saturday’s 3-2 win over Pittsburgh was amazing. Joni had a great game defensively despite all the criticizing that’s been going on with people saying he’s been lazy. He had a lot of time on the ice, creating some great saves and scoring to tie the game in the 3^rd period. The best part came with .9 of a second to spare in overtime (again!) when McBain saved the game sending the puck to the back of the net from near the blue line.

Back-to-back games are always rough, so when the Slugs came to Raleigh for Sunday’s game, there was some skepticism about how the game would go. It was definitely a faster-paced game than I’d seen in a while. With Legace getting hurt in the Pens game, Peters was in again and didn’t get off to a great start when Buffalo went up 4-0 early. Legace’s injury apparently wasn’t that bad, as he was put in in the 2^nd period, but when the Canes got on the board shortly after the switch, Buffalo soon answered. The Canes made a great push at the end playing really aggressively and getting 2 goals in the 3^rd, but it wasn’t enough. This loss paired with the Bruins beating the Rangers earlier today made Boston a little more secure in their playoff spot and our hopes a little less possible.

On to the brackets…

If I thought agonizing over one team was bad, it was nothing compared to adding brackets and 64 teams to stress about. March Madness was in full swing early when 3 of the first round games went into overtime. One—my Gators v BYU—went into double OT. My boys lost (as I had picked), but there were plenty of upsets that no one saw coming. Well, maybe the hopeful students and alumni...

Georgetown’s young team went out in round 1 to Ohio 97-83. Murray State beat Vandy by 1 point. Villanova was nearly knocked off by Robert Morris, but managed the W in one of those first round OTs, only to get bumped in round 2  by Saint Mary’s (another surprise lingerer) 75-68. Wisconsin, my pick to face Syracuse for the championship game, was taken out by Cornell (hello Ivy League?) in the 2^nd round by a surprising 87-69. The most shocking of all was Kansas losing to Northern Iowa 69-67 after struggling through the game then nearly making a comeback, but not quite enough.

My theory is the seeding was off, which ironically caused better matchups than expected. That and some random teams just hit a hot streak and were taken for granted by the more well-known teams. Of course, this is only going to add to the argument for expanding the field. I still say that wouldn’t solve anything, but if it makes more money, I’m sure it will happen. Next up: Sweet Sixteen!

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Selection Sunday Surprises & Snubs (and a shifting side note)

Surprise—My Gators are in!! To be honest, I had written off the chance of that happening (short of winning the SEC title) after, well, losing the Georgia game. Totally didn’t see this coming. Especially after Mississippi State beat us, then made an impressive run through the SEC Tournament. Which brings me to…

Snub #1- Mississippi State. Yeah, they weren’t that good all season, but neither were we, really. They looked good at the end, and though it could have just been a good streak from a determined team, I guess the committee looked at quality of wins more or something. Thank you Noles and Michigan State for getting us in :)

Snubs #2 & 3- Virginia Tech and Illinois. VT looked convincingly better than Wake Forest, if you ask me. Hell, they beat Wake this season, which should count for something. Or at least one would think. Greenburg seems to be handling the whole thing really well with the media, but the potential changes for him are concerning for VT. Illinois was right there with my Gators through the whole bubble drama, but didn’t make it. I’m not as familiar with their season, but from what I saw, they looked fine.

I’m not a believer in conference champions getting an automatic bid. It probably spills over from football, but there are some conferences full of tough teams, and some I’ve never heard of and for good reason. I don’t agree with it and think the system needs revamped, cause there were definitely some quality teams that didn’t make it and should have.

PATs:

-LT has gone to the Jets. Delhomme is now a Brown (interesting…). Brady Quinn got shifted to the Broncos. This should be an interesting season. Can’t wait to see what happens in the draft!

-Alex Ovechkin shoved—literally—Brian Campbell into the boards, breaking his clavicle and ribs. Dude’s gonna miss the rest of the season most likely, and Alex got a game misconduct, but is awaiting further punishment (from what I hear) since this wasn’t the first time. From the released statements I’ve heard, Alex seems completely fine with what he did, saying “It was not a hard hit. I just wanted to push him.” Yeah, push him into the boards, shoulder-first.

I know Ruutu hits hard and even got suspended earlier this season for a check on Darcy Tucker that resulted in a concussion, but at least Ruutu apologized to him and you could tell he didn’t mean to hurt him. Tucker had his head down when he shouldn’t have and just got hit the wrong way at the wrong time. Alex is just being cocky and thinks he’s invincible. Not a fan (in case you couldn’t tell). I hope my boy gets him in a totally legit check on the 25^th.

-Not talking about the Canes v Coyotes game, but looking forward to being at the RBC Center for the Canes v Bruins tomorrow night, face tats & all!

-The Magic ended their 9 game streak losing to the Bobcats :( Meh, it was a good run and we’re still fine. Can’t complain.

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Cardiac Canes & Conference Championships

Like all other true Caniacs, I’ve nearly had a coronary several times and held my breath for at least 5 total minutes during the past 2 games. With every game holding crucial point-getting opportunities, my heart sank when the Caps went up 2-0 in the 1^st period Wednesday night. Dwyer quickly got us on the board after that 2^nd score, making it a slightly less stressful 2-1.  My favorite Finn tied the game in the 2^nd period, but before it was over, each team got a power play goal-- Ovechkin involved for the Caps and one for the original Finn trio for the Canes—making it 3-3 and sending the game into OT. All the Caniacs at the Ale House for this game’s Cool Bar were convinced we could pull off the win, then our hopes were shot down when Fleischmann scored for the Caps a little over 3 minutes in. We at least picked up 1 of those crucial points…

The game the next day against the Pens was no easier to watch. It was déjà vu at first, hearing the Pens go up 2-0 on the radio on my way home. Whitney scored on a power play as I was walking in the door, and just over a minute later, Boychuk scored his 2^nd goal this season to tie the game. He definitely has some serious potential. Eric Staal answered his brother’s goal in the 2^nd period, but the Penguins tied it up shortly after. A scoreless 3^rd period sent the game to overtime… again. (Between this stress and the bracket drama, I’ll be lucky if I survive to see the Sox play!) The intensity of OT was kept to a minimum this time when Pothier, recently acquired from the Caps in some last minute trade moves, scored the winning goal just 23 seconds in. 3 out of 4 possible points against the league leader and defending Stanley Cup Champions isn’t too bad… :)

In a slightly less dramatic fight for a playoff spot, my Gators survived the Auburn game to snap the 3 game losing streak winning 78-69, but it wasn’t as clear of a win as it should have been. Auburn was just above the other Tigers of the SEC in the West standings, and LSU looked like crap all season, so that’s not saying much. We should have looked much better against them, especially since we’re fighting for our bracket spot.

The quarterfinals of the SEC tournament v Miss. St. started off horribly with the less evil of the 2 SEC Bulldogs leading 11-2 early from several failed shots by the Gators. (Side note: Can someone please tell me how the SEC allowed 2 Tiger mascots and 2 Bulldog mascots in the same conference? This has bugged me for years. Apparently that chunk of the south isn’t creative enough to come up with an original fierce animal?) The Gators got back in it before deciding to fall behind again due to a slew of turnovers this time. Miss. St. definitely set the pace for the 1^st half, causing the Gators to rush and take shots that weren’t there. You’d think I’d have learned by now that we only like to play in the 2^nd half… the boys came out much more energized, cut the lead to under 10, and fought a bit harder. It just wasn’t enough in the end. Boynton and Walker kept the boys from total despair, but we got bumped from the SEC tournament, losing 75-69.

PATs:

--The Magic beat the Bulls yesterday 111-82 for their 7^th win in a row. The Cavs beat the 76ers tonight 100-95, and San Antonio by just 2 points earlier this week following a loss to the Bucks. The semi-slump may have been due to LeBron being out with a busted ankle & Shaq still out. With LeBron back in the lineup tonight, the Cavs did a little better, but once the recovery is set, things could look a bit differently.

--In ACC Tournament news, the evil Thug U beat VT in a really close game, which was highly upsetting. I hate them. I’m just sayin. Duke won, of course, and Georgia Tech knocked UNC out in the first round followed by an upset over Maryland today 69-64. FSU fell to NC State 58-52. All sorts of crazy lower ranked teams with upsets in the ACC…

--Who’s on and off the bubble is changing every 5 seconds at this point with it being conference championship week, so I’m not even gonna make an attempt at an update. Thank God this weekend is Selection Sunday!

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Hopeful, but Realistic

The Canes managed to continue the win streak following the Olympic break, beating Toronto 5-1 and Ottawa 4-1. There were a ton of roster changes right at the trade deadline, but Pothier, picked up from the Caps, has been fitting in well so far. We got him, Osala (Finn #4) and a 2^nd round draft pick for Corvo. Walker went to the Caps, too, and seems to be doing well with them so far. Hopefully they get a chance at the Stanley Cup so it was worth the switch. The Canes’ win streak ended at 7 games last night against the Panthers, but tonight they shut out Atlanta 4-0. I almost felt bad for Atlanta, cause there were a ton of empty seats and what fans were there were mostly wearing Hawks or Braves gear. Guess I kinda took Caniac fandom for granted.

Billy D’s Gator boys had the last 3 games of the regular season to prove themselves worthy of one of the 65 spots, and though they had some great comebacks, they blew all 3 of them. Especially in the Vandy and Kentucky games, they let some serious double digit deficits build up before deciding to actually play in the second half each game. Both times, they came within 2-3 points then let the run end in defeat anyway. Now there’s even more pressure to get as far as possible in the SEC Tournament if they want to end the NIT streak.

 

PATs:

--Duke beat UNC 82-50 in an embarrassing attempt at a game last night to sweep the series. I get that UNC just won the championship last year and had key seniors leave, but to be unranked for a while, near the bottom of the ACC and swept by Duke is a crazy change from last season.

-- The Magic have continued to win their last few games pretty decisively and pulled off a close win over the Lakers tonight. The Cavs survived 4 of the last 5 games without Shaq, beating the Pistons 99-92 on Snuggie Night, then losing to Milwaukee 85-92.  If Orlando can keep up the win streak and the Cavs struggle for a few more games, they could pull ahead in the East.

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Oh, Canada...

The USA v Canada game was everything a gold medal game should be. It was intense the whole way through, with a crazy last second goal by Parise to send it into overtime. Crosby’s shot in OT got Canada the gold, which was kind of disappointing after the US team looked ridiculously (and unexpectedly) good through all their games, but they got it without question. I felt so bad for Miller, who had an amazing run, but the man can only do so much. At least he got MVP if he had to settle for a silver medal.

Though it may not have been the way I preferred, all 4 of the Canes in the Olympics came home with a medal. Finland beat Slovakia 5-3 for the bronze in a game that had me on edge for a good chunk of it. Forced by my friend to choose one team to root for instead of being pro any team with a Cane on it, I chose Finland cause my favorite player, Tuomo Ruutu, was playing for them, and they were kind of the forgotten team with everybody getting all crazy over the US and Canada. Leaving with bronze after a fairly tough set of games isn’t bad at all. The Canes guys did well for the most part, though Joni making the intense hit to get himself  suspended for a game wasn’t so great.

The Gators lost a close game to UGA this weekend to make the chance for getting back to the brackets that much harder. All we have to do is win our last 2 games… against Vandy and Kentucky. No problem… Though Tennessee did beat Kentucky, and we beat the Vols pretty decisively. Things get way too crazy this close to Selection Sunday.

I only caught the 2^nd half of FSU v Clemson, and it looked pretty close. FSU came back from behind and got a small lead, but Clemson killed it toward the end. Their bracket hope is still up in the air, too. Should be interesting to see who all makes it from the ACC this year.

Tebow kicked ass at the cones and vertical and ran a 4.72 40, though that may not matter much with so much concern over his throwing motion, revamped version yet to be revealed. With Colt, Sam, and Claussen not throwing at the Combine either, the top QBs are waiting till Pro Day to throw, if they can by then with various injuries. I haven’t gotten to watch much of the Combine, but a friend told me about this guy who’s all up in it and has some serious draft stuff on his site: http://draftheadquarters.com/current-season/NFL_Combine_Live_Blog.htm  It’s pretty cool. If you’re at all interested in the draft, I recommend checking it out.

Last but not least for the NBA, the Magic have been doing well lately beating the Heat this weekend and the 76ers today. With Shaq out for 2 months following thumb surgery, my boys might win the East if LeBron can’t carry the Cavs…

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