Round 1 Continues: Monday, April 20

Washington 3 : New York 0

New York leads series 2-1
By far this is the oddest thing in the playoffs so far – the Rangers and their fans showed up to play/cheer as if they were still in the regular season…9 minutes into the game they were going to lose. Was there anyone, Ranger or Ranger fan, who realized this was a playoff game? Yup. Sean Avery. 5 bucks Avery was more frustrated with his team than the Caps. 5 bucks Ranger fans (or majority of) think it’s beneath them to wear a colored t-shirt and swing from the rafters for their team. Avery’s acting out was understandable however being the tuning fork of the team takes away from his ability at times, this was one of those times. My hope is that he’s developed an off switch by now before he does something to mess up his career in a more permanent way. Overall, this is the kind of adversity I wrote about in an earlier blog post, and after seeing Ranger’s coach John Tortorella’s post game interview, advantage goes to Washington for the next game. Coach Tortorella…your team entered the playoffs seated 7th, up against 2nd seated team and beat them on their turf in the first two games therefore it was a little much that you were publically hostile towards your players. 2 minutes for uncoachmanlike conduct.

Boston 4 : Montreal 2

Boston leads series 3-0
Montreal accomplished two things this game – they scored first to give them their first lead in the series and even though the Habs lost, this time around they made Boston earn the win. Time to call this series for Boston, although I hope the Habs win on Wednesday for their fans and to tucker out Boston a bit for the next round. Both Boston and Detroit have had it a little too easy.

Chicago 2 : Calgary 4

Chicago leads series 2-1
The tug-of-war is alive and well between these two teams and with each game it intensifies. No doubt this will be a fight to the finish series, a lot more hockey equipment will be dropped to the ice. After watching this game, I’m going to go with Chicago for the series because their response to losing (while they are playing) errr how do I translate this…Calgary’s win didn’t seem like a win that would contribute to them coming back to take the series, it seemed like a bump in the road to Chicago moving ahead to round 2. Chicago’s drive is strong and their demeanor is sober, I’d be very surprised if they did not go far in the run for the Cup.