From the steppes...

Peace from Russia.

Well I suppose it's time for some Rocket fueled comments as the NHL playoffs get underway. Here's the first one: with due respect to the Edmonton Oilers and their storied history, it's shameful that I can't get the Ottawa-Tampa Bay match-up on ANY of the CBC channels I can access on ExpressVu. I don't know whether to blame the Corporation or Ma Bell, but someone should pay. I'm sure there's a Yakov Smirnov, "In Russia..." joke in there somewhere - Beeg I call on you to find it. Look there are really only two Canadian teams with Cup aspirations and Edmonton isn't one of them. *Frustrated*

Onto thoughts about the playoffs, starting with the teams from our beloved native land. Moscow Dynamo will not with the Stanley Cup. However, as noted, two Canadian teams have a legitimate shot.

Anyone who saw the Ottawa Senators play in the first half of the season knows this team can go both ways at a very high level. Of course, if you saw them play in the last week or ten days of the season, you know: a) they looked like a mess, especially in their own zone, b) that isn't the Dominator between the pipes, c) they weren't able to just outscore everyone. I hold out hope for my hometown heroes, but the calendar has flipped to April and we know what that means, so I'm skeptical.

The Calgary Flames are the other team that could carry the banner for Canada in this wilderness of Stars, Avalanche, and Predators. The Flames are a bit underwhelming, aren't they? But they've been playing playoff hockey for 82 games now. It's tight, defensive, fast and cautious. If Kipper is ON like he was in 2004, well this team has been playing 2-1 games since December, so what's the difference?

I think every team in the playoffs is basically flawed on some level. This guy says that goaltending will determine things (or close to it). Let's start there.

Brodeur is the only healthy, Stanley Cup champion goalie, and New Jersey is on fire - a key factor.

Carolina is actually very good, but I have my doubts. Maybe it's because I can't imagine pinning my hopes on a Swiss goalie. Or a French (from France) one, sorry Montreal.

I can't trust rookies (or pseudo-rookies) or chokers, so that bumps off Rangers, Philly, Dallas, Ottawa (sad), and Nashville. Buffalo's goalies aren't rookies, but they've never sniffed the playoffs (have they?).

Who've I got left? Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Detroit, Edmonton, and San Jose. Tampa's goalies might fit into this final group, except they're not very good. Also, I've written off Edmonton, this isn't 1997.

Huh...I've left myself with pretty much only Western Conference teams. Well, I think I'll go with the team with the best goalie, the two teams with the best records (and the two best teams), and the other hottest team.

Western Conference Final: Detroit v San Jose
Eastern Conference Final: Ottawa v New Jersey

(Bonues: Another good ESPN article. Where did Andy MacDonald emerge from anyway?)