“I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” is a feature that used to be posted every Saturday here at the View From My Seats. There are plenty of things going on in the hockey world (and even the sports world); and you know everyone has an opinion. This is a place for some quick hits on stories that are currently making waves. With snark.
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I might just be a hockey fan in California, but:
- Can you imagine how high-strung Vancouver would be if they DIDN’T have the highest number of pot smokers per capita this side of Humboldt?
- There are plenty of reasons to root for (or against) each of the final eight teams, but few are better than Shea Weber’s beard. I’m rooting for Nashville to keep winning simply because his beard has the potential to be the 3rd member of ZZ Top. Dude had more hair going on than a 1970’s porno.
- If I’ve learned anything in this year’s playoffs, it’s not to make fun of Danny Briere’s divorce. Who knew mere words could transform him from a man who looks like Wynona Ryder into a Gretzkyesque scoring machine?
- About two weeks ago, the two favorites to come out of the West were the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks. Predictably, both managed to earn first round victories—but somehow I don’t think Roberto LOLongo, nor Antti Niemi are striking fear into anyone right now. Well, except for the people who bet on Vancouver or San Jose to come out of the West.
- Speaking of goaltending, Nashville has to like where they’re standing right now. They eliminated the Ducks who were one of the hottest teams coming into the playoffs without their all-world goaltender playing on top of his game. If Pekka Rinne plays like he did in Game 1 against the Ducks, the Predators can beat anyone on any given night. They’ll need him to if they want to compete against the Canucks.
- It only took us 8 years to find out that Nathan Horton is a clutch playoff player. It would have been like if Chris Drury played on the Atlanta Thrashers for the first decade of his career. Thanks, Florida Panthers.
- A new development in this year’s playoffs is Peter Laviolette’s Wheel of Goaltenders. I understand with VS increasing their coverage and with HBO’s incredible 24/7 series, people are all about getting a behind-the-scenes look at hockey. Can we please get a camera in Laviolette’s office when he spins the wheel to find out who his goaltender will be for the next game? If for no other reason, I’d just like to see the look on his face when it lands on Roman Cechmanek.
- If Bettman was truly the orchestrator of conspiracies, then Matt Cooke, Chris Pronger, and Sean Avery would all be on the same team so everyone would have a team to hate. Hey, it worked for the NBA and the Miami Heat, right?
- Before the playoffs, I pegged the Boston Bruins to be the type of team that could either lose in the first round or win the Stanley Cup. After 7 games in the first round, nothing has changed. I still have NO clue what to expect from this team. Part of me thinks they could win the first 3 games of their series. Then again, another part of me thinks they could lose 4 straight. Nah, that could never happen—no one blows a series when they’re up 3-0… What? Too soon?
- That Dwayne Roloson pick-up in the middle of the season’s looking pretty good, isn’t it? Marginally better than the Dustin Penner acquisition.
- If Andrew Ference drops the bird on fans in Philadephia, I have 20 bucks that says he’d catch a shank in the eye before the night is over. That or a cheesesteak wit.
- The good news for Habs fans is that Michael Cammalleri has shown to be one of the best playoff scorers over the last few years. His 10 points in the first round lead the league and was a great follow-up to his 13 goal, 19 point performance last season. The bad news: I doubt he’ll be adding to his playoff totals this season.
- Am I the only one who thought the Predators “out-Ducked” the Ducks? How’d they win? They used superior defense and goaltending to beat a team with a flashy offense. Kind of sounds like the same formula the Ducks used to win the Stanley Cup in 2007, doesn’t it?
- I can’t wait for the rest of the hockey world to see the Caps and Lightning go at it on a (more) national stage. Even though most people are oblivious to it, the rivals have developed a healthy hatred while battling most of the season for the Southeast Division crown. Mix in a long series and this one could get nasty. I mean “chippy.” Yeah, like I said, nasty.
- I guess we can amend Matt Cooke’s suspension to: “Suspended for 6 months.”
- The Flyers have been stacked for awhile with their embarrassment of riches at forward, but it’s amazing that two of their youngest players have stepped up and become their best players. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are nice—but Claude Giroux and James Van Riemsdyk have been the guys who have stepped up. It’s so unfair, they should have to play without their best defenseman or without a goalie.
- First and foremost, I’m a hockey fan. I don’t want Teemu Selanne to retire.
- I hope the Blackhawks learned their lesson last year and saved enough money to re-sign Corey Crawford. If not, they better make sure they have $5 lying around to keep Marty Turco.
- The Hart Trophy is supposed to go to the player deemed “most valuable to his team.” By no means am I marginalizing Daniel Sedin’s accomplishments this season, but without Corey Perry the Ducks don’t make the playoffs. Without Martin St. Louis the Lightning would have struggled to make the playoffs and Steven Stamkos wouldn’t haven been in the Hart conversation at the beginning of the year. But without Daniel Sedin, the Canucks are still the best team in the West. He enjoys a ton of inherit advantages by playing on a team loaded with talent—but this isn’t one of them.
- Eulogies on Puck Daddy are quickly becoming one of my favorite playoff traditions.
- Overtime playoff games are one of the best things in the world. On a related note, watching YOUR TEAM play in a playoff overtime game is one of the worst things in the world.
- Gary Bettman is a pompous little person that needs to be fired for the good of the game.
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Click here for our archive of past editions of our “I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” feature.
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. When he’s not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he’s usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It’s a never-ending job.
