The playoffs keep rolling along...

A quick look at the NHL Stanley Cup results clearly shows that I'm not fairing very well in terms of my predictions, or as I prefer to call them, my picks.

So my picks, well... They've been more than just a little off. Why?

Well, let's have a look-see.


Washington - Tampa

The call: Washington in 6

The result: Tampa Bay in 4

Now you see what I mean by a little off with some picks.

I fell into the "It took Tampa 7 games to knock off the Crosby and Malkin-less Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington pretty much just ran over the Rangers" trap.

The Caps just simply had too many passengers and if I were Alexander Ovechkin, I'd be one ticked off hockey player. Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom just didn't seem to be into playing hockey this spring.

And given that Ovechkin was performing night after night at his world class level best, he's got to be deeply disappointed by the effort provided by some of his teammates.

You have to really want to win a Stanley Cup.

It's not the kind of thing that you can attain on skill alone. Especially against a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Martin St-Louis and Vincent Lecavalier have been outstanding. How would you like to have to skate up and down the ice all night against either one of those guys? That's what's called veteran leadership. Stanley Cups and gold medals, they know how to win. Sure they have unbelievable talent, but they are also working their tails off.

And until the Washington Capitals learn those lessons, the only Stanley Cup banners they'll ever see are when they are on the road, because it's not with efforts like the stinker of a series that they threw up in terms of will and dedication to winning against the Lightning, well, "it's just not gonna happen boys"...

Coach Bruce Boudreau will probably be relieved of his duties, but you could certainly understand him for saying "I'm outta here. It's been a slice and now I'll take a year off, get a part time gig as a panelist on one of the hundreds of T.V and radio shows out there."

He deserved a better effort from his players. You shouldn't have to worry about getting players to compete at this stage of the hockey season.

So to Guy Boucher, Dwayne Roloson, and the rest of the cast and crew of the Tampa Bay Lightning we must say "Well done, boys, well done". Enjoy the days off and see you in the Stanley Cup semi-finals.

I promise to give you more respect in the third round picks.



Photo: Vincent Lecavalier, with the only trophy that really matters.




Philadelphia - Boston

The call: Philadelphia in 6

The result (so far): Boston is up 3-Zip.

Continuing on with the under-performing picks trend, as you can tell.

Remember how players such as Milan Lucic and David Krejci seemed to be struggling to find their respective games against the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round?

Well, they're not struggling now. It was as if the Bruins were finally able to show us what kind of team they really are. Clearly this is a better club than they showed us against Montreal.

I also remember thinking before the series began that the Flyers may even actually sweep the Bruins. Yes, the Bruins were that ugly coming into this round. But they've clearly turned it around.

Sure there are some key injuries on the Flyers roster, but their goaltending, Flyers' goaltending again, has really collapsed.

Why Keith Allen and Bobby Clarke are not on everybody's behind in that organization to straighten out the goaltending is incomprehensible to me.

Shouldn't that question have been near or at the top of all hockey considerations over the past few years?

"Find a goalie." Stamp that all over the office. "Find a goalie."

Scout, draft, trade for, develop, sign as a free agent, whatever, but for the love of Bernie Parent, boys, get some goaltending.

So anyway, the Bruins are up 3-nothing and are just raring to sweep those hated Flyers. Remember that last year the Bruins were up 3-0 and lost in 7 to the Flyers.



Photo: Hall of Fame goaltender Bernie Parent poses with the Conn Smythe and Vezina trophies.

San Jose - Detroit

The call: Detroit in 6

The result (so far): San Jose 3-0

It doesn't get better with the picks, does it?

In the words of TSN's Chris Cuthbert "The Sharks have a 3-nothing strangehold on this series."

The thinking when I went with the Wings was that their top forwards matched up well with San Jose's and that Dan Boyle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic performed well below the level that we have come to expect from them in the first round.

But the first round was the first round.

Sure the Sharks are Joe Thorton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau up front. But they are also Logan Couture, Devin Setoguchi, Ryan Clowe and Joe Pavelski.

Depth is also a key ingredient in order to win championships. The San Jose Sharks have depth.

It might be time for GM Ken Holland, considered by most in the know to be one of hockey's ablest executives, to seriously begin retooling the Winged Wheel.



Photo: San Jose's Joe Pavelski celebrates a goal.


Vancouver - Nashville

The call: Vancouver in 6

The result (so far): 2-1 Vancouver

Finally... A pick that might actually still work out.


As expected the goaltending in this one has been stellar. Consider the save percentages. Luongo for Vancouver, .958. Nashville's Pekka Rinne .955.

Rinne has been quite a revelation for those of us who haven't really watched him play much in the past, the Nashville Predators being one of those teams that falls well below the television watching radar. At least they are in these parts...

To call him spectacular seems a true understatement. Part contortionist,part acrobat, Rinne has certainly shown us all why he's considered one of the game's best netminders.

Another Nashville Predator whom we've gotten to know a little better is North York native, Joel Ward.

After a four year career with the Owen Sound Platers, Ward played four more with the UPEI Panthers. He played another 3 full seasons in the American Hockey League before finally cracking the Nashville lineup in 2008. He's got a goal and an assist and is +2 so far in the series. A good old Canadian professional hockey player.

Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo, on the other hand, has got to be wondering if the Canucks will ever find their scoring touch. The Sedins have a grand total of 1 assist between them in this series and have not looked anything like the 2009-10 and 2010-11 NHL scoring champs.

But the call for Vancouver in six still looks good.

Thank goodness...



Photo: Nashville's Pekka Rinne stops a Henrik Sedin shot.

So there you have it.

Not exactly picks to write home about, but then again, and I know I'm repeating myself, Toe Blake said that predictions were for gypsies.

You might add that a big part of the attraction of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the inherent unpredictability of the game.

That's one of the reasons we watch.

Somewhere Pat Burns is smiling.

Game 7 of the QMJHL semi-final series which featured the Quebec Remparts and the Gatineau Olympiques was held last night in front of over 11,000 frenzied Quebec Colisée fans.

It was only a few short days ago that the Remparts appeared to have Gatineau on the ropes, Patrick Roy's boys having a 3-1 series lead.

But a 5-3 win in Game 5 on Colisée ice served as notice to all that the 'Piques were not going to go gentle into that good night, but rather were intent on winning this series. A 4-0 domination by the Olympiques on their home ice, The Robert Guertin arena, - The Bob, as it's referred to by some fans - set the stage for tonight's winner-take-all tilt.

For the first period and a half, Gatineau kept the Remparts at bay with their stifling defence and spirited play. Taking advantage of their chances, they were up 2-0, when they started to show the first signs of developing chinks in their defensive armour.

Around the midway point of the second period the rink seemed to get bigger, and the Remparts started to find skating lanes into, ans space within, the Gatineau end and buzzed the Olympiques net, sending the teams to the dressing rooms tied 2-2 after two.

The Remparts seemed poised to continue their assault on the Gatineau net, while the Olympiques appeared at a loss to find the defensive formula which had served them so well over the course of the past two and a half games.

Whatever adjustments were made, whatever tactics were reviewed in the room, coach Benoit Groulx and his staff seemed to get things back on track because the Olympiques controlled the puck for much of the final period and clogged up the ice the few times the Remparts created some rushes.

Particularly impressive was the play of Nicolas Deslauriers, a third round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2009 NHL draft, who set the pace of the game from his position on the Gatineau blueline. He lead the way with timely bodychecks, steady stickhandling and sharp, accurate, outlet passes.

Jimmy Appleby, called in relief of Louis Domingue in the Remparts net in the first period after the second Gatineau goal, surrendered two goals in the final frame.

Philip-Michael Devos capped off the win with the empty net with three seconds left on the clock. 5-2 final score...

On to the final

And with this, Gatineau moves onto the President's Cup Final series where they will meet the regular season champs the St-John Sea Dogs.

The end of series handshake was particularly emotional as the Nicolas Deslauriers and Mikael Tam, the Remparts captain, led their teams through one of sports' few remaining displays of true sportsmanship.

After the Gatineau Olympiques headed off to the dressing room, the Remparts took one last skate around the Colisée ice to salute the fans.

Pat Burns.

As the fans streamed out of the building, into the rainy, cold Quebec City night, I couldn't help but think about Pat Burns, the former NHL coach with the Habs, Leafs, Bruins and Stanley Cup winner with the Devils.

It all started in Gatineau for Pat. He had impressed as a Midget coach while earning a living as a cop. After being offered the head coaching position with the then Hull Olympiques in 1984, Burns took a leave of absence from his job and took up coaching full time.

He would never look back.

In his three seasons with the Olympiques where he coached players such as Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille, high-scoring Guy Rouleau, longtime NHLer Stéphane Matteau, and Pat Brisson, Burns enjoyed his fair share of success.

In his second season at the helm, Burns led the 'Piques to their first QMJHL President's Cup and came within one win of the Memorial Cup, falling in the final to the OHL champion Guelph Platers, coached by present-day Hab bench boss Jacques Martin, by the score of 6-2.

Montreal calling.

In the summer of 1987, Serge Savard, General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens came calling and offered Burns the head coaching job with the Sherbrooke Canadiens, the Habs American Hockey League farm club, and the rest can be found in the pages of hockey history books.

In all the Hull/Gatineau Olympiques have played in 10 President's Cup Finals and have won a record seven trophies. They head into the 2011 Finals as definite underdogs. But as many teams over the years have learned, the St-John Sea Dogs had better not take the Olympiques too lightly.

Because this is a team that never quits. Pat Burns wouldn't have it.


Photo: Pat Burns waves to fans as they prepare to raise a banner in his honour at the Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau (Hull).
In 2007, he was elected to the QMJHL Hall of Fame.

Flyers' goaltending, Olympiques, The Babe, GSP, McDowell

- This past Friday I had the opportunity to make an appearance on CBC Radio's Breakaway and talk hockey with the show's producer, Peter Black. It marked the first time I'd been on the air since 2002 when I hosted Rock On Ice in Iqaluit on CFRT-FM. We talked about the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and I made some predictions in advance of the second round.

During the course of our conversation I made the point that much has been said about the Philadelphia Flyers goaltending situation, and that given the fact that they made it all the way to the Finals last season and were able to beat the Sabres in the first round this year, their goalie situation may not be as bad as most believe it to be.

So how do the Flyers answer my confidence in their goaltending? They go out and get blasted 7-3 in their series opener against the Boston Bruins.

So much for predictions...

- Tonight at the Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau, the Olympiques will host the Quebec Remparts in game 6 of the QMJHL semi-final series. The Olympiques have built an enviable reputation as one of the league's most consistently competitive franchises. The Benoit Groulx coached 'Piques can force a game 7 back in Quebec City with a win tonight.

- Today marks the 81st anniversary of the first homerun hit by Babe Ruth as a member of the New York Yankees. He would go on to hit 658 more as a member of the Bronx Bombers.

- Yet another sign that people in MLB are out of touch with reality. Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell, he of strained relations with fans and press, has just been suspended for two weeks for a confrontation with San Francisco fans at AT&T Park.

McDowell responded to fans who were asking the Braves bullpen to throw balls up in the stands by going on a homophobic rant, making masturbation gestures with a bat, threatening to hit a fan with a bat, and when told to tone down his act and his language because there were kids in the stands, he responded that kids don't belong at a baseball game.

Classy...

- I just finished reading "Best of the Best: Ranking the Greatest Players of All Time" by Scott Morrison. It's a truly great read and a good discussion starter for those interested in hockey history.

- I'm not a fan of mixed martial arts, but you have to be impressed by Georges St-Pierre win last night at UFC 129 at Toronto's Rogers Centre. It is St-Pierre sixth consecutive welterweight crown defence.