I'm Terrible, I Know

I haven't updated in a while - mainly because life's been busy, I committed myself to a metric ton of work on my movie blog and Cat & Jen usually do a much better job than me of holding down the blogging fort so to speak.

We beat San Jose. Whoooo, that 4 OT game was exhausting but exhilarating, wasn't it?

Then the aftermath came. We found out Roenick wasn't going to retire (...sigh), we were reminded of what a jerkface Ron Wilson is and we discovered that yes, the Stars were on a roll.

And then tonight hit in Detroit and I just felt like all the air got sucked out of me.

Did the Stars need the win? Yeah, I think a good solid win in Joe Louis would've helped them out a lot, but I don't think it's something where they can't come back from it. The main problem is controlling the puck. Detroit does that very well and there were so many flubs on turnovers and attempting to regain the puck that I stopped counting.

Am I positive for the rest of the series? Yes - especially considering what the Stars have battled back from previously. Do I think Detroit's beatable? Absolutely - there are some definite weaknesses there that you can exploit, but bottom line is it really might actually come down to Turco versus Osgood, Lidstrom versus Zubov. (Russian always wins in my book, personally.)

Detroit's a very good team, but so is Dallas.

I know it's going to be a tight series but tonight...tonight I just need to wallow a bit and feel a little sad. Tonight was disappointing all the way around.

On a lighter note, here's some Russian-ness to make us all feel a little better:



"PC Load...what does that means?" It never gets old! Never!



And of course, the one, the only - Breezy. Does it get any better than this? Forget Giguere, fast forward to the 1:00 mark. Talking about Scrooge McDuck being rich, "it just duck" and "Darkwing Duck...he's a hero!" never fails to cheer me up.

I feel better already.

Stars Win!

How nice was that? They were jittery in the first, but came back to look much better in the second and third. I have hope, that's for damn sure.

It was a nice way to finish what was an inordinately stressful personal weekend, so I damn near cried at the sight of Sergei Zubov being his crazy, Russian self. I think that insane spin-o-rama lifted my spirits...a lot.

Well played, guys -- and a lot of the youngsters came through again. Two goal night for Hagman.

And how about that Brad Richards, huh?

RUSSIAN

IS BACK TONIGHT! WOO!

A Letter to Robi

Dear Monsieur Robidas,

Bless you, broken nose and all; I don't care how many people say you've done an "adequate" job on the blueline with Russian being out. You did a stellar job before and you're doing stupendously now. I feel like I should even have some of those crackheaded scratch and sniff "You're A-MAZ-ING!" type stickers your teachers used to stick on moderately well-done schoolwork.

Robi, this made humiliating myself that one day totally worth it.

You've been extraordinarily kind to the fans, great to the team and an all around solid player.

It's nice to have you here. I'm sorry that weirdo Chris Simpson insulted you on national TV, but we like ya, Robi, and we know what you're made of.

Thanks a million,

Caitlin

___________________________

It's such a nice feeling to be out of the first round.

If the Sharks beat Calgary, it'll be a Stars/Sharks second round series. Groan, groan, groan. Operation: Ignore Jeremy Roenick has been going so well, too.

Stupid Roenick.

Notes And Thoughts Before Game 4 (On The Stars And...Everyone Else)

I'm seriously not upset about losing to Anaheim in Game 3.

I promise.

It's not the loss that leaves something unpleasant niggling at the back of my mind. It's periods 1 and 2 of that game from the Stars' perspective that bother me. I don't know what it is that caused them to play that way, but I'm going for optimism here and saying that it was a mistake, but one they're going to correct.

I didn't post my predictions here for how many games it would take for each team to win their respective series, but I thought it would take 7 games for the Stars to pull it out. I haven't revised that estimate.

I think the Stars can do it. I think they're just as sick of playing the Ducks as I am watching the Ducks, so there you go.

...But, if I were running a wishlist for Game 4, it would look a little something like this:

• Bench B.J. Crombeen. I like B.J., and I like the player he's going to be in a season, but seriously, dude needs to go back down to Iowa. Let someone else play. If you're going to scratch Miettinen, I've totally resigned myself to fate and I'm okay with that. Crombeen knows how to give a hit, but has yet to learn when to hit. I'm psyched to see what he can do after another season, but it's seriously not working out right now.
• Play Mark Fistric. If anyone has 100% deserved a shot at the playoffs, it is Fistric. He's extremely solid and a good defenseman. Give him the chance, at least.

• Someone Give Matty Norstrom A Gold Star. He at least gets an apology from me. While his play hasn't been absolutely top-notch, it's been so much better than his regular season play, shockingly enough. He's been good enough to make me take back bad things I've said about him. Better played, Norstrom!

In other news, let's take a look at my preferred teams for the playoffs:

Detroit Red Wings vs. Nashville Predators

So far, that crazy Russian Radulov and Co. seem to be doing their very bestest to win the Great Caitlin Playoff Derby Whositwhatsit. Seriously, Nashville just tied up the series.

2-2

San Jose Sharks vs. Calgary Flames

I feel a little dirty cheering for the Flames, but ah, what can a girl do? This series is kinda putting me to sleep.

2-2

Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche (I lose either way, here.)

Look, I don't like the Avs, so by default I'll run to the Wild, but ... I haven't watched much of this series to tell you the truth.

2-2

Montréal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins

Woo, Habs!

3-1, in favor of Habs.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators

The Pens SWEPT the Sens. Good job, team with more Russians!

4-0, in favor of the Pens.

Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Come on Russian-loaded team of the NHL. You're Russia's OFFICIAL team. Let's not let the Motherland down, shall we?

2-1, in favor of the Flyers.

New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers

The Devils, apparently, failed to hop on board with my Playoff Plans. Damn it, Devils.

3-1, in favor of the Rangers.

___________________________


So far, I correctly predicted the Penguins to win it, and hopefully other teams will follow suit.

I have to refavor for Round 2, so that should be exciting.

I Still Have A Few Words In Me

Just in bullet point format about Game 3 against the Ducks.

• The Stars should have played all three periods against the Ducks like they did the third period. I felt like some of 'em started punching their time-cards to play halfway through the second.
• There's nothing worse, I think, than feeling a totally energized arena where 18,000 fans are excited for an awesome playoff game deflate like someone just let all the air out of a balloon. Seriously.
  
• There was one guy that summed up the mood of the evening. The Jumbotron camera operators zoomed in on a guy with glass seats who was sitting with his girlfriend. Poor guy had his head in his hands and Jen thought he might have been crying. His dutiful girlfriend was rubbing his back like, "There, there, honey."
• I never want to sit behind a Ducks fan cheering, "TOOOOODDDDD BERTUUUUZZZZIIII!! GOOO TODD!" ever again.
• The Stars were slow, passive at times and just...lost. They looked like they needed to get a road map to get back on track.
• Losing didn't make me sad. The fact that the guys looked like they made a complete 180 from the last game against the Ducks made me sad.
  
• Brenden Morrow is awesome.
• I heart Joel Lundqvist.
• God bless drunk men staggering out of the arena and saying, "Whasss up, lay-deez", all alky-like. Those guys made us laugh more in five minutes than we did in two hours. Thanks, drunk dudes.
  

Around The Playoffs

Jen over at The Shootout does a far better, much more coherent job of keeping track of the playoff numbers than I do; no, I haven't been hitting the NyQuil especially hard recently, why do you ask?

I'm watching the Caps pretty much blow chunks right now, which is always...not fun. They beat the Flyers last night but with little over half of the second period left in this game, they just look...bad.

Montreal beat the Bruins last night in overtime. Due to my little guidelines, I'm rooting for the Habs, so that's exciting. Not as exciting as this picture, though:


Okay, I really have no effing clue what Hamrlik and that...other Habs dude are doing, but that Habs fan in the upper right? Classic! Awesome! Dude, it's like he's flying out of his seat.

Given the level of Habs mania up in Montreal, I wonder what the dude had to do to get glass seats up there.


A closer look? It's like Prince William on Habs-crack, y'all. I seriously have no idea why this made me laugh so hard, but it did. (Perhaps, also, the fact that he's rockin' a dress shirt under his Habs shirt. Hee.)

In other news, the Sharks and Flames are tied up, 1-1 in the series.

Wild/Avs are tied up, 1-1.

Rangers lead the Devils series, 2-0.

Detroit, unfortunately, leads the series against Nashville, 2-0.

Devils/Rangers and Sharks/Flames are on TV tonight, so tune in for some...exciting hockey?

Also, the magnificent Jen landed us tickets for Game 3, because she's a badass, so we'll be at the game on Tuesday, wearin' black. You know.

And now, your moment of Sven: Ilya Bryzgalov, making Caitlin happy:



CAN YOU IMAGINE? WHY YOU HEFF BE MAD?

Never fails to make me smile. Thanks, Ilya. Somehow, someway, even though you've played for Anaheim and Phoenix, I still like ya.