Seriously?

Reports indicate that the Toronto Maple Leafs have agreed to a five-year deal with defenceman Bryan McCabe. The deal is reported to be worth between $5.5 million US and $6 million per year.

Am I the only person who thinks this is insane money for a guy who is nothing but a defensive liability? If he gets between $5.5 million US and $6 million per year, what will Redden and Chara get once they enter the free agent market?

In any case, this means that we can enjoy more of this from McCabe:

The Legend of The Playoff Beard

There are all kinds of sightings and sayings to indicate that spring has arrived. For me, the true sign is when playoff beards start sprouting.

The playoff beard, a superstitious practice, largely restricted to National Hockey League (NHL) players where a player does not shave during a run for the ultimate prize - the Stanley Cup - is now a right of passage in the NHL. Almost all players stop shaving when their team enters the playoffs and does not shave until said team is eliminated or wins the Stanley Cup. It is believed that the tradition was started in the 80's by the New York Islanders with Butch Goring, Billy Smith and the boys.

The Stanley Cup Finals are set to begin on Monday and it is time to examine the best beards of 2006.

Total Hair Award

The team award goes to the Edmonton Oilers, hands down. Pisani, Torres, Smith, Smyth, etc look like they are ready to head to a Toby Keith concert with a couple of Jack and Cokes.

Final Four

Western Conference Glory

Anaheim Ducks and the best Salt and Pepper.





Oilers Shaggy Duo - A beard and a musty




Eastern Conference Scruff

Carolina Hurricanes and the Best Greg DeVries Impersonation


Buffalo Sabre or Woolly Mammoth

Game 7

What can you say about the Buffalo Sabres? They have to be, along with the Oilers, one of the toughest and scrappiest teams in recent memory.

They do have more skill and speed that Edmonton, but they are missing 3 of their 4 top defensemen. To think that they are within one win of making it to the Cup final boggles the mind. As the teams stand now, on paper, Carolina should have sent them home long ago, but they keep fighting back.

The Hurricanes are no slouches though. They are a great team and have shown that they are quite resilient. They will not go down on Thursday without a fight. It will be one hell of a game 7. This is what the playoffs are all about.

Question of the day: If the Sabres win and face the Oilers in the Stanley Cup final, will any pucks actually make it to the goalies or will the players block them all?

In the Old Days...

...this was an Oiler Stanley Cup Celebration.

Love the "Mall Hair" and the sleevless Metalica shirt. Both never get old!!

Cats De-clawed

So, I get one wrong once in a while. I'm not perfect.

Now that I've had a few days to digest the Memorial Cup final, I feel I can comment on the game. A game in which the Moncton Wildcats were beaten by the Quebec Remparts in game that ended up being a showcase for Canada's best junior player.

The Remparts, who won 6 - 2, were led by young Russian phenom Alexander Radulov who had 2 goals and 3 assists in the game. On his second goal, he literally went end-to-end and scored by banking the puck off an opposing defenseman's skate. He was electrifying all night, not to mention all season (61 goals, 93 assists in 62 games in the regular season). The Predator fans will enjoy this young man next season.

What was most impressive was how the Remparts took control of the game in the first two periods. At one point, they were up 4 - 0 on the #1 ranked team in Canada, who were playing at home. Quebec was no slouch (ranked #2 in Canada), but that's still no easy feat.

The Moncton Wildcats had a great tournament and made the city proud. Unlike the offensively charged Remparts, the Wildcats are led by their goalie and their defence. Nobody on defence played horribly and Josh Tordjman was decent in the nets. None of them, however, played exceptionally well. It didn't help that one of the CHL's best defensemen, future Vancouver Canuck Luc Bourdon, was playing on one leg.

No excuses though. The Remparts were great and were the best team on that day. Kudos to Patrick Roy for teaching the new generation how to win. Not many are better at it than he is. Plus, if ever his goalie is having a horrible game, he'll surely pull him out before 9 goals are scored.

Common sense on the North Saskatchewan

During the second round of the 2004 playoffs, the Red Mile was yet but an emerging phenominon where fans joined together in an exuberant yet restrained celebration. Everyone was having fun and there were very few problems, even though the crowd size was exceding 20,000 or more on game nights.

This isn't to say that there weren't dipshits in the crowd. I do recall a guy trying to start something by throwing raw eggs into the air, and another tossing full water bottles at random. In both of these cases, the majority of the crowd booed these morons into submission, and very little of these incidents occurred throughout the rest of the playoffs, even during the end when things could have been much worse.

Which begs the question, why aren't Grease fans acting in the same manner to put their E-tard peers in their place?

It is refreshing that instead of touting for increased police presence on today's Whyte Avenue, the Edmonton Sun editors page is calling for some "good, old fashioned peer pressure" to "keep the losers in line". This is a long overdue sentiment made by community leaders which should be taken heed by the youth of Shiv City.

I don't know if this attitude will be taken up by the celebrants of the Stanley Oil run of 2006 but, if nothing else, it does allow me to express some pride that my fellow Red Milers of 2004 did not have to be told to put idiots in their place long before the damage to Calgary's image had been done.

Pond Scum

Well, I hate to say I told you so, but...I did predict that the Ducks would be roasted by the Oilers in this round. Since the Buffalo - Carolina series is tighter than Condoleeza Rice, I can at least say that I'm batting .500 already. Maybe, now, I can start being intersted in the Eastern Conference final (is it just me?).

Many will say that Edmonton was lucky to win this series in 5 games because they seemed to have been outplayed by the Ducks for some fairly long stretches. Early in the series, pundits were saying that the Oilers couldn't continue playing the way they were and expecting to win when they only dominated for 10 - 12 minutes per game.

Those people may be right, but I've always felt that too much emphasis is put on the offensive domination and not enough on the more well-rounded approach.

The Oilers were very tight defensively throughout the series and they had the best goaltending by far. Add to that phenomenal penalty killing and some very opportunistic offense and you have a recipe for success.

The Oilers now get a well deserved break to help their players get over the flu and the various upper and lower-body injuries that need tending to. Whoever faces the Oilers next will have to be ready for a team that will be hungry to bring the Stanley Cup to Canada after a 13 year absence.

Some random notes from the game:

Bob Cole and Harry Neale are horrible (FYI: Jason Smith and Ryan Smyth are not the same person), but they do have some good lines once in a while. Such as...

Cole: Is that a beard or is Niedermayer eating a muskrat.

Neale: The Ducks PP is only working at 8.3%. I had two beers last night that were stronger than 8.3%.

Finally, Who was the screamer in the crowd at the Arrowhead Pond? Every time the Ducks got close to the Oilers’ net, she shrieks. WTF was that about?

Bring on Buffolina!

Coaching Duel

As I had predicted (sort of), the Moncton Wildcats learned a hard lesson by losing a chance to earn a bye straight the the Memorial Cup final and won a hard-fought game against the Vancouver Giants last night to make it to the final game.

The Moncton - Vancouver game was a great one until a few idiots on the Giants' team decided to embarass their team and their coach by gooning it up in the last seconds. I understand how emotional players get in these situations, that was a disgraceful display of sportsmanship from the Giants.

But, I digress. On to the final game...

The Moncton Wildcats and the Quebec Remparts have already gone head-to-head in the QMJHL final and it was a great series. Both teams are evenly matched, both in skill and in their hatred for each other. This will make for an intense game.

On paper, the Remparts seem to have more skill. They do have, after all, the CHL player of the year in Alexander Radulov. He and Mathieu Melanson, the son of 3-time Stanley cup goalie and current goalie coach for the Habs Roland Melanson, have been tearing it up in the post-season.

The key to Moncton's game is balance, goaltending and coaching. The first two are important, but the latter may well be what gives the Wildcats the edge.

Much has been written about the two high profile coaches that will be behind the benches in this final, but I believe Ted Nolan has the edge over rookie coach Patrick Roy. Regardless of Roy's outbursts and antics, he still is a very "green" coach and I think Nolan will have his team better prepared.

When Roy said, earlier in the tournament, that Moncton was bound to finally lose at home that that their Goalie, Josh Tordjman was due to play a bad game, he was right. Problem is, the Wildcats had their bad game and are now, once again, firing on all cylinders. Roy may have gotten what he wanted earlier, but he may regret that by tomorrow.

In the end, I am nothing but a "homer" and somewhat of a bandwagon jumper, but I make no excuses for it.

Go Cats Go!

Hull no Oates

At least we still have Bert and Ernie. Brett Hull is finally emerging from Adam Oates' shadow and tying the knot.

The wedding is slated for July in Cabo San Lucas. Funny, my reservation must have got misplaced during the move.

Cross posted at Moldy.

'Topes Lose!, 'Topes Lose!

After being unbeaten in their last 12 home games, the Moncton Wildcats ended up on the losing end of their final round-robin game at the 2006 Memorial Cup.

The much-hyped matchup between the country top 2 junior teams, who battled fiercely in the QMJHL final, was a tense affaire after the coaches went at it in the media. Patrick Roy got under Ted Nolan's skin when the former superstar goaltender said that the Wildcats goaltender, Josh Tordjman, was "playing over his head" and that he was due to have a bad game.

Nolan took Roy to task with this reply: "He's the one who put his arms up in the air and walked out of Montreal," said Nolan. "For him to say something against a teenager, it's classless. We're going to go out (tonight) and play our game. We're not too concerned about what Patrick Roy is saying."

Even with the unconditional support of their coach, the Wildcats were still not able to beat the Remparts and, as a result, they will have to play a semi-final game against either Peterborough or Vancouver before they get another crack at Roy and his Remparts in Sunday's final.

In the past, it was almost guaranteed that the team getting the bye straight to the final would end up winning the Cup. This year, tournament organizers have added an extra day between the semi-final and the final.

This is a significant change that, hopefully, will help the Wildcats.

Sad day for Lubelly

Our good friend and honorary team member, Lubelly (honorary because he begged to be added to the roster, but he won't post), will be sad to read that his favourite player of all-time, Chris Chelios, will not make a triumphant return to the Habs line-up.

The veteran defenseman, and two-time Norris trophy winner, will lace them up for a 22nd season in the NHL and he will do so in a Detroit Red Wings uniform.

Lubelly can rejoice, however, as Chelios' contract is only for one year. As he is not human, he will surely play for another 7 or 8 years.

There is still hope.

Ducks Down for the Count

OK, so everyone agrees that was an ugly win. I know we'll hear all about how the Ducks outplayed the Oilers and that they "deserved" to win that one. Unfortunately, for Anaheim, the only factor that separates winners and losers is the final score.

Once again, Roloson played great and made key saves. He, like the rest of his teammates, ran out of gas in the middle of the 3rd period and let the Ducks back into the game. For Anaheim, however, it was too little too late.

The Ducks did themselves with poor special teams play. They had a number of power play chances in the 1st and 2nd periods and only scored once. In the 3rd, they took some really stupid penalties and the Oilers took advantage of it. That was the key to the game.

At the risk of repeating myself, how good has Peca been? He's looks like he's faster than he was when he was a lad and he's sniping top corners like a young Mike Bossy. And what about my boy Fernando? Scores the winner again and he has the best name in hockey.

Bottom line, the Oilers are winning dirty. They were outplayed tonight, but each player stuck to the system (as boring as it may be) and they capitalized and the few good chances they had.

Looks to me like a winning recipe.

----------
* Yes, the beaten man in the picture is none other than Ricardo Montalban. ¿Quien es mas macho?

Give me a home where CBC roams

As a typical Canadian I am allowed to complain about services in Canada without appreciation of how good "we" have it. Anyone who frequently travels will know that Air Canada is actually a good airline and wins international awards. This might be a function of the poor competition, however, even the bad have to beat someone.

The NHL playoffs are no exception to this rule. The hockey coverage in the United States is AWFUL. We do not know how good CBC coverage is. You need to pay a guide to find hockey games on a cable package.

I have been in two major US centers in the past two weeks and have managed to catch exactly 1 game on television - to be fair NBC apparently had a game on a Saturday morning sandwiched between re-runs of Pee Wee's Playhouse and a Bowflex infomercial.

Now, back to my rant. The Ottawa and Buffalo series finale was the only game that I could track down. The coverage was from the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), and it was, to be kind to backpackers, fly fisherman and Babe Winkelman, terrible. The camera work was junk. This network has no business trying to carry hockey. The professionals stopped playing hockey outdoors the same year the "puck" was invented, many of the the OLN cameras - and most of their technology - were purchased. There were so many times when I was craving CBC coverage - even with Neale, Whitman and Millen. Desperate times call for drastic measures. What is even worse, is that very few cable providers have that channel on their package. There hasn't been a hotel that I visited that carries it.

The league has an exciting and improved product. It now needs a major league television deal. Please get back on ESPN. Beg the network to take you back and sandwich your game between 5 pin bowling and a spelling bee. Ask to be shown at half-time on the WNBA. Negotiate for a slot next to Stump the Schwab. I don't care. Get on a network with a sporting background.

Happy to see the Oil win again and hoping to catch game 3 at the ESPN Sports Zone in Vegas and maybe lay a few "dead presidents" on the lads for Redmonton.

Cross-posted at Moldy.

Can You Hear The Drums Fernando?

Is there a team in the 2006 NHL playoffs that has shown more grit and team cohesion than the Oilers? I haven't seen any.

The Oilers won again tonight and leave Anaheim with what now looks like a huge 2 - 0 lead in games. When you consider that most of the Edmonton fans would have been ecstatic at the thought of the Oilers simply earning a split a stealing the home ice advantage from the Ducks.

A few observations from the game:

1. Roloson was simply awesome. He seems to be deeply ensconced in what is commonly referred to as "the zone". Unlike Huck, I think he's for real (at least for this year's playoffs).

2. Peca has been just as awesome. He has 4 goals in his last 6 games; all of them were quite impressive. For over a week now, I've been asking myself who number 37 is and what did he do with the regular season Mike Peca.

3. Bob Neale and/or Harry Cole are just awful. I can't even tell them apart anymore. How nay professional sports commentator cannot learn the names of the players on the only Canadian team still in the playoffs is beyond me. He, they or whoever was on tonight kept getting Peca and Pisani mixed up and referred to any of the Edmonton defensemen as, well, the Edmonton defenseman.

This is for number 34:

There was something in the air that night
The stars were bright Fernando
They were shining there for you and me
For liberty Fernando
Though we never thought that we could lose
There's no regret
If I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando
If I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando

Around the (Hockey) World in 800 Words

There’s an amazing amount of hockey to be watched on the weekend. I, unfortunately, can’t watch every minute or even every game, so here are some early impressions of the coverage I have seen.

Oilers – Ducks (Game 1): Missed the game, but saw the highlights and read the live coverage on mc79hockey. I’ve just discovered the blog and I thank the author for the compliments on Puck This!:

“There's a well written blog called Puck This! that I've been looking at lately.”

Like most of us, the author got a kick out of the “battle” between Huck and Sacamano from the Battle of Alberta blog. He does reference the quality of the writing twice and, in the second reference, he writes:

“I'm almost certain from the quality of the writing on the site that these guys are well educated and well beyond their undergraduate days.”

I’d like to feel proud and take some credit for that comment, but I’m fairly sure that he’s referring to Rob’s writing. Actually, I’m certain of it.

Oh yeah, about the game…

I wasn’t surprised by the outcome. I have, after all, picked the Oilers to move on to the Stanley Cup final. I also didn’t buy any of the “will the Oilers be tired” business. None of the teams get tired at this point. If so, they have no business being in the Conference finals.

As for Anaheim being “rusty”, well, that may have been the case. It’s a far better explanation than “fatigue” had the Oilers lost. In any case, as I’ve previously mentioned, I don’t think the Ducks can match Edmonton’s intense, physical, style of play.

Canada – Sweden (WHC Semi-Final game): This one hurt to watch. Canada has played so well in this tournament and to lose at this point and in such a way, is tough. Canada, in my view, outplayed the Swedes for most of the game (except, maybe, for the 2nd period), but they got some real bad bounces.

Canada was down 5 – 2 at the end of the 2nd and they rallied back to 5 – 4, but they were unable to make up the huge deficit.

Sweden, to their credit, played well defensively. They were great at cutting down the passing lanes and, essentially, contained Sidney Crosby for the first two periods (if you consider a two-handed cross-check to the face as “containing”).

Let’s hope Canada will be able to find the energy (and the interest) to take the Bronze from the Finns.

* I also watched a good chunk of the Finland – Czech Republic game and I still am amazed of well the Czechs play in international tournaments. They never seem to have the best team on paper, but the systems they have put in place, and the unconditional buy-in from all the players are quite impressive. Just as impressive was the play of Tomas Plekanec. He’s going to have big year for the Habs in 2006-2007.

Hurricanes – Sabres (Game 1): I was also not able to catch much of this game, but from what I did see, it was a very high-tempo game, but both team were very cautious defensively.

Surprisingly, it seemed that Carolina had trouble with the Sabres’ speed (I may be the only one who was surprised by that). The Sabres are fast, but so are the Canes. From the looks of it, this series will live up to the hype. I just hope they actually have night games so I can watch them after my son goes to bed.

Moncton – Vancouver (Memorial Cup): The Wildcats took their first game of the tourney in front of a very boisterous home crowd. It was great to see that the game is alive and well in my homeland.

Moncton had a very tentative first period. They directed only 3 shots on the Vancouver net. They were down 1 – 0 after the first, but came out strong in the second with two goals to take over the lead. The teams exchanged goals in the third and Moncton won 3 – 2.

I was a little worried with the slow start, but if the Wildcats play like they did in the last half of the game, they have a great shot at the Cup. I’m confident Ted Nolan will make sure the jitters aren’t there in game 2.

* I also caught some of the Peterborough – Québec game and the Remparts impressed me. They were actually robbed by Shantz, the Petes’ goalie. Regardless, I was not really rooting for Quebec as I don’t relly like Patrick Roy. He is, arguably, the best goalie to ever play the game, but he just comes off as the most arrogant SOB ever. Too full of himself for me.

I need to write thirteen more words to reach my goal of 800.

Moncton is (Memorial) Cup Crazy

The 2006 Memorial Cup started tonight and, this year, it will be hosted by the City of Moncton in the great province of New Brunswick.

I grew up 20 minutes from Moncton and I lived in the city for years while I pretended to be a serious student.

Moncton will be a great host and they went to great lengths to make sure that they would ice a competitive team. At the end of the regular season, they were the #1 team in the country and they just won the QMJHL championship.

The Irving family, who owns the Wildcats, have spared no expense and made sure that, first and foremost, their young team would be led by a great coach. Ted Nolan was hired and has done a great job.

Here’s to hoping that the trend of the home team winning the cup continues and that Moncton becomes the first team based in the Maritimes to win the Memorial Cup.

Third Round Hunches

Well, I was pretty much the opposite of Huck in the second round. I batted 0.250, which is still a better average than Barry Bonds. I was not only off in my picks, but alos in the length of the series.

Following my second round hunches, Freak-o-nomics commented on how most analysts and fans tend to predict longer series in the second round than in the first. His comments were bang-on (a must-read, really) and I seem to have fallen right into this trap. Here's where I went wrong (mostly):

Anaheim v. Colorado:

My pick: Ducks in 7
Winner: Ducks in 4

San Jose v. Edmonton:

My pick: Sharks in 7
Winner: Oil in 6

Carolina v. New Jersey:

My pick: Devils in 6
Winner: Canes in 5

Ottawa v. Buffalo:

My pick: Sens in 7
Winner: Sabres in 5

Predictions for 3rd Round:

Now, I have to say that, after watching more games in the second round, I got to know the western teams better (who know Shawn Horcoff was lightning fast?). Despite my bad predictions, the teams that make up the final four are all well-balanced and hungry to win. Also, all of them are fast, really fast, which will make for great hockey (unless the officials start letting "the players decide the outcome").

Finally, all of the four teams have stellar goaltending. It's unbelievable that three of the four goalies are rookies.

That being said, here's what my gut tells me...

Carolina v. Buffalo:

I've not only copied Huck's template for predictions, but I'll actually steal his first line: "This will be the best series in the 2006 playoffs, hands down." I will pay more interest to the Oilers - Sharks series, but this one will be filled with an unmatched level of skill. So far the Sabres have yet to meet a team that could match their speed and intensity. The Canes will not only be up to the task, but they'll bring in more than Buffalo can handle.

Canes in 6

Anaheim v. Edmonton:

I don't think I saw Anaheim play a single game in the regular season, but I've watched many of their games in the playoffs. They are quite impressive, especially when it comes to team defense. The whole squad has committed to the "defense first" philosophy.

I don't think, however, that they have yet to play a team who plays with the desire and intensity of the Oilers. Edmonton will not only bring skill, but a physical style of play that the Ducks are not accustomed to.

This will be the tipping point (also, I'm officially on the bandwagon...sorry Huck).

Oilers in 7

Where I went right, where I went wrong

I batted 1.000 in the second round of the NHL though with some reservation. In retrospect, I should have been more bold in my predictions, because anyone could suggest a series go to seven games if one is less confident as to the differences of each team. I won't make that mistake again.

Anaheim v. Colorado:

My pick: Ducks in 7
Winner: Ducks in 4

I thought the Ducks were good but I didn't think they were that good. Bryzgalov was brilliant between the pipes and Anaheim's star players turned up to score at key moments. However, it was the timely contribution of the youngsters which impressed more than the others, in particular, the incredible 4-goal-game by Joffrey Lupul. The main difference, however, was the coaching. The Avs didn't play bad per se, but it was as if they felt they were playing above their heads. Ducks coach Randy Carlyle had his team believing that they were exactly where they should be. That was the difference.

San Jose v. Edmonton:

My pick: Oil in 6
Winner: Oil in 6

During the Stanley Cup playoffs, it is a well-known axiom that your top players must be your best players, and that was the case here. Pronger is clearly in MVP form. It was his composure during the grease monkeys' first two losses which allowed them to regroup and steal the next few games, even though they had to come from behind in three of them.

Joe Thornton, on the other hand, turned out to be a huge waste of space. Yes, there was a stifling shadow on him at all times and, yes, he drew coverage away from Marleau's line, opening up the ice for his teammates. However, that didn't stop Lemieux, Gretzky, Iginla, Richards, Lafleur, Trottier and a whole host of others take their team right to the very end. Hell, even Eric Lindros led his team to the final once. That should say it all.

Carolina v. New Jersey:

My pick: Canes in 7
Winner: Canes in 5

The best time to go on a 15-game winning streak is during the third game of round one, not 11 games left in the regular season. The Devils, who hit their stride by playing dominant hockey against slumping teams, met their match at the hands of an overwhelming Hurricanes roster. Cam Ward outplayed the great Marty Brodeur in goal, though the latter should not be blamed for the near-sweep. The dust demons themselves were completely outplayed in every important aspect and it was evident that once they were blown out in game one by the Hurricane juggernaut, they lost their swagger.

Ottawa v. Buffalo:

My pick: Sabres in 6
Winner: Sabres in 5

As I figured, the Sens were out-desired by the fast and ferocious fellas from 'falo. Ray Emery between the pipes was shit and Ryan Miller responded with MVP-like goaltending. Lindy Ruff, having beaten both Bryan Murray and Ken Hitchcock, is finally earning the paycheques he received over the past few years of futility and has shown his place amongst the best in the game.

If Ottawa fans can take any solace, it's that GM John Muckler doesn't have to think twice about signing Zdeno Chara for $7 million. See ya later, freak.

Predictions:

As usually happens during the playoffs, coaching and goaltending were the primary differences between the winners and losers. I'm predicting that for the conference finals, this will not change.


Carolina v.Buffalo:

This will be the best series in the 2006 playoffs, hands down. We have two fast, cocky clubs riding on the backs of confident rookie 'tenders and being propelled by nifty playmakers -- specifically, Briere and Staal -- and a hard-hitting forecheck. Both teams have a no-nonsense no-name defense corps who are good enough to give their scorers a chance to win the game. Peter Laviolette is a terrific coach but I can't see him outcoaching Lindy Ruff. However, the intangible will be, once-again, Rod Brind'Amour. He is the heart and soul of the Hurricanes and has proved he can elevate his game when his team has needed it most.

Gaddamn, this will be freakin' awesome.

Canes in 7

Anaheim v. Edmonton:

The Oilers have beaten tremendous odds against them so far by knocking off supposedly far more talented rosters with apparent ease. However, if one looks at either San Jose or Detroit closely, one could see the lack of heart and determination by their star players as the series wound down, a trait which was not emulated in the dressing rooms of their opponents.

A lack of killer instinct is one luxury which will not be provided by the Ducks. Their long layoff might appear to hinder this organization which has re-written the Calgary Flames textbook on stifling defensive play. This is a team which is having fun while being miserly, and especially enjoys ripping the hearts out of their opponents if given the opportunity.

If the Shiv City Lube Jobs can topple the Mickey Mouse Quackers, then all the credit to them. But just as I don't think E-town could have beaten Calgary in a seven-game series, there is even less of a chance of them upsetting Anaheim.

Ducks in 5

Class of the NHL

The classy fans of Edmonton continue to show the world how much of a "first-rate sports town" it can be:

Within two hours of the Oilers' series-clinching 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks, chaos was erupting on the Whyte Avenue strip.

Thousands of jubilant fans poured into Old Strathcona and even as scores of police - including the riot squad - tried to keep a lid on things, mayhem took over.

At 105 Street and 82 Avenue, the centre of the maelstrom, two young women flashed their breasts while standing in a shopping cart. The women continued their antics as the cart was lifted by the crowd and began floating over the revellers.

Nearby, fireworks exploded into the air. One blast veered sideways and shot directly into the cart. The explosion wrecked the cart and sent the women plummeting into the crowd. At press time, their condition was not known.

Two blocks away at 107 Avenue, another man was reportedly severely injured when he was hit in the face by a flying bottle.

In fact, bottles were flying through the air all over Old Strathcona. By 11 p.m., shattered glass was all over the streets.

Up above the crowd, people stood on rooftops, while others climbed trees and lighting poles.

And everywhere was the heady scent of marijuana.

Riot squads? Beer bottle missiles? Fireworks on the streets? Drug-fueled streetlight scrambling? You're right, Sacamano. This does totally suck.

Questions

• With the absence of lousy goaltending, scoring support and rib injuries, what will be Joe Thornton's excuse this time?
• Which Swedish-born captain should be putting his home up for sale in the Ottawa-Gatineau real estate market?
  
• Who, aside from Sydney Crosby, will be selected in the Pittsburg Penguins dispersal draft?
  
• Why is Glen Sather, who has coached, but never built, a championship team, sitting in the Hall of Fame while Pierre Lacroix resigned because of a second-round loss?
• How many people will be stabbed tonight on the Blue Whyte Ave Mile?
• Who will be the last former Flames defenseman standing: Commodore or Lydman?
• Which coach, due to his regular season prowess, will be considered the biggest choke artist since Billy Reay: Pat Quinn or Bryan Murray?
• Is Bryzgalov as good as Kiprusoff?
• Is Kipper as good as we thought?
• Who is going to win the Cup, and who is going to win the Conn Smythe?