2010 NHL Playoffs: Round 2

To be fair I'm writing this after watching the final game of the first round which was incredibly dramatic. The adrenaline is still coursing through my veins so I should not write now....but the second round begins tomorrow so I need to.

Before we get to my picks for this round I should review how I did in the past round. However two friends Matt and Randy both made picks in the first round after reading my blog, so I feel as if the gauntlet was thrown down. Let's see how we all did.

I loved the East and wrote a ton about it....but screwed the picks up. Lots of upsets. Over-all I went 4-3-1 (I didn't pick one of the games)
Matt did much better than me He went 6-2
Randy also went 4-3-1 (he also didn't pick the Detroit/Phoenix series)

Round 1 was some of the best hockey I've seen in the first round in years! Buffalo lost and I'm pretty sad by that. However I was able to finally shave my playoff scruff. Matt's team was also ousted in Round 1. Both of us picked our teams to win...So without further delay...my round 2 picks.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
The top 3 seeded teams all lost in the east. That leaves some interesting teams left. All of the remaining teams are pretty gritty.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens
This is a really interesting matchup. On one hand, by the numbers Pittsburgh should have it easy. In the regular season the Pens took the series 3-1. Sidney Crosby was a beast in the first round with 14 points. I was a little worried by Fleury's play in the first round. He looked a little shaky at times. Not a good time of the year for your goalie to be shaky. On the other side of the ice is the surprise Montreal Canadiens. I didn't think they'd get by Washington. There are two reasons why they did. 1) Jaroslav Halak 2) Their entire team played defense and limited the powerful forwards of Washington. How much do they have left in their tank after going 7 games with Washington? Can Halak continue to stand on his head? Is Pittsburgh rested or rusty? Can Sid still be a ball of fire? Lots of tough tough questions in this series. I think Pittsburgh is better defensively than Washington was. I think Pittsburgh has 3 good lines where Washington really has two. This series won't be won easily. I'm just gonna go with my heart and not my head.
Aaron's pick: Pittsburgh in 6 or 7

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Is it possible for both of these teams to lose? Boston knocked off my Sabres and I can't stand the Flyers. I think that Boston is the better team here. They have better forwards and their D stepped up tremendously in the Buffalo series. They're going to be getting a top winger in Savard back from injury which will help up front. Rask was stellar against the Sabres. I still hold the opinion that Boucher for Phili isn't going to last. He showed some major signs of weakness in Round 1. I think that Boston will crack him open. I don't think the Flyers forwards are really that great. They did eliminate New Jersey, but they've owned New Jersey all year long.
Aaron's pick: Boston in 6


WESTERN CONFERENCE

San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings
Good matchup. Neither of these teams really impressed me in the first round. I think they both showed some weaknesses and holes in their play....particularly for supposedly elite teams. Can San Jose get over their playoff jinx? Is Detroit tired after going 7 games with Phoenix...some of those guys aren't so young anymore. Can Nabokov keep the puck out of his net when shot on by his own team........yeah that happened......
Aaron's pick: Detroit in 6

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks
Now this one has a bit of history to go with it. These two met last year and it was not a love fest. Chicago ran Luongo every chance they could. Neither of these two teams rocked my world either in the first round. I think Niemi played OK. I think Luongo played OK. Both showed greatness and weakness. I still think Chicago is a tough team in the west if their firing on all cylinders. Can they shut down the Sedin's though? They might be able to "out physical" Vancouver but can they put enough pucks by Lu? If I were going to not pick a series it would be this one.....but I feel by this point in the playoffs that's a cop out. This is a flip of the coin here.....
Aaron's pick: Chicago in 6


So let's see what Randy and Matt say....we'll check back in at the beginning of the next round.

5 years old and parenting

Corban loves presents. I know everyone does....but he is like over the top. So starting.....probably back in December he started asking how long until his birthday. Seriously. He also doesn't like surprises. He kind of gets freaked out when things are sprung on him. So we've talked to him about his birthday.

I tell you that to tell you this: He decided about a year ago that he didn't like tomatoes. We asked why and he didn't really have a reason, he just decided he didn't like them.

I tell you both of those things to tell you this: We kind of have been telling Corban that when he turns 5 he'll like tomatoes. Like we would say that and he would acknowledge it as common knowledge that of course he'd like tomatoes again when he turned 5.

There's this part of me that questions if that's using my parenting privileges for evil or not. I'll say this....it hasn't kept me up at night. I'll leave you with two pictures. The first is Corban blowing out candles for his 5th birthday. The second is us at Tim Horton's this past week...and him eating a sandwich.

Hey Guys

Easter pictures

Just so you know....Corban is attempting to jump up and get the plastic egg that I dangled from the clothes line in this next picture..

2010 NHL Playoffs: Round 1

So it's that time of year again. Hockey playoffs.....the second season. The first round of playoffs were set yesterday as the Flyers won a skills competition with the Rangers (that's me being a little cynical about the shootout...thanks Mr. Bettman...that's worked out perfectly...ugh)

Last year I made predictions for each round of the playoffs. I thought I would do the same again this year. Feel free to chip in your thoughts on each round. Even if you don't care one hoot about hockey, I"m still going to do this. I'll pick a winner for each series....or at least most of them...some I just don't know or care who wins.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
To be fair and honest I know way more about the East than I do the West...mainly because I'm in the East and most of the teams I follow are here. Most of the games I've watched are with East teams.

Washington Capitals vs. Montreal Canadiens
This is an interesting match-up. The Capitals have been the best team in the NHL all year. They have a lot of fire power. I've said all year that I'm skeptical of their goaltending. It's been adequate, but I'm not sure their goalies are good enough to win the Cup. Montreal has been up and down. Their goalie Halak has been hot as of late, which we all know can take an OK team and make them great in the playoffs. They also have some scorers on that team. They've battled injury most of the year. This could be more of a match-up than a lot of people are giving credit.
Aaron's pick: Washington in 6

New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers
This one is going to be a dog fight plain and simple. The proximity of these two teams and the style of play of both will make this one a brawl...and I expect a couple real brawls along the way. Philadelphia has been playing for their playoff lives for a couple weeks now. I think that they are probably pretty tired and beat up. They barely made it this far. Brian Boucher their goalie is the 6th goalie they've had in net this season....and is far from a superstar. The Devils are the Devils. They haven't changed how they play in the last 15 years. They have one of the best goalies in the world between the pipes and a very defensive minded hockey team. The addition of Ilya Kovalchuk makes them more of a threat up front as well. I don't think the Devils should have much trouble in this round. Aaron's pick: Devils in 5....maybe

Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins
To be fair I'm a Sabres homer. This is a good match-up. Both teams have pretty good goaltending...it could come down to who is hotter, Miller or Rask. I think the Sabres are the healthier team. I think even with some of the younger call-ups recently they've proven they can still win. I think that Boston has too many questions right now. I think that Tyler Myers is a stud and is already at 20 better than Chara at the other end of the ice. Aaron's pick: Sabres in 5 or 6

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators
I like Pittsburgh in this series. I don't like Pittsburgh the way I've liked them the last two years to make the finals. I think that other than the beginning of the year, they've played just OK. I don't think Fleury has played as well as he did last year. I don't think Malkin is firing on all cylinders. That being said, I think Ottawa is not solid enough yet. I like what Ellis is doing in net, but they don't have the whole package this year either. Aaron's pick: Pittsburgh in 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE
This should tell you how out of it I am with the west....I didn't have to look at anything to write the above matchups....I'm not sure about the west...I need to look.

San Jose Sharks vs. Colorado Avalanche
To be honest I don't really care about this one. I think San Jose will win. They have an amazing team....but they're also known as chokers in the playoffs. I think that Colorado doesn't have enough firepower to get by the Sharks though. Aaron's pick: San Jose in 4...maybe 5

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators
There was a point earlier in the season where I thought Chicago would win the west. I think they have an amazing team that is still somewhat under the radar. Their goaltending has been questioned by every NHL analyst all year. Niemi has silenced most of them down the stretch. If everyone gets rolling, Chicago could be in the finals easily. Nashville has had a good season...I don't want to undersell them...I just don't think they can hang with the big dogs this year. Aaron's pick: Chicago in 4 or 5

Vancouver Canucks vs. Los Angeles Kings
LA surprised everyone this season and played really well. However in the last month they dropped off significantly. Vancouver has one of the best goalies in the world (who won the gold for Canada) and a pair of Swedish twins who are goal scoring machines. There's no way LA pulls this one out. Aaron's pick: Vancouver in 4

Detroit Red Wings vs. Phoenix Coyotes
In years past this matchup would seem like the cause for some good jokes. Not this year. These are not the same Phoenix Coyotes that we've seen at the bottom of the league in the past. They have played well all year (they better since Gary Bettman currently owns the team!) Also the Red Wings have come on strong the second half of the year, but I don't think they're the same Wings that went toe to two with Pittsburgh the last two years. I don't think Detroit or Pittsburgh will make it to the finals this year. Detroit has a rookie goalie in Jimmie Howard but he's played well. Bryzgolov for Phoenix has been stellar. I could see this one going either way. So I'm going to cop out on this one and obstain from picking one or the other.... Aaron's pick: Someone in 6


So there are my picks. I'll review how I did at the beginning of every round. You can play along with the home version....basically just commenting with your picks.

Imagine

I have a folder in my Bookmarks that is titled "blog this". There is tons of stuff in there. Some of which I have already blogged, some of which I just haven't. I am cleaning it out.

I don't think I blogged this. I can't find it, if I did. I've been holding onto it for a long time. I think Marjorie found it....or Andrea....or....it's an ad for CatholicVote.org.....but it's still good.

Single Ladies and Fatherhood

Last night I found a funny video. Then at the end of the video I was like....hey I know that guy! So I started poking around the internet. Back in January my friend Kent posted a video on his ministry blog. This worship guy Carlos Whitaker was shooting a video and a homeless guy comes over and starts busting some reggie vibes along with him. It's a super wild God moment. Check that video out RIGHT HERE.

But that's not what I was writing about. Carlos is driving in the car when Beyonce's song Single Ladies comes on. Then AWESOME ensues. The video could stand alone, but Carlos's (is that proper grammer) words are so good. Here's a complete repost of his BLOG post.

In fatherhood there are wins…and there are losses…
This my friends falls right in the middle.
It is a win because my 3 year old son now knows the devastating effects of singing Beyonce in front of his father.
It is a loss because with 6 words, I accidentally crushed his little heart!
He apparently loves the song Single Ladies by Beyonce.
Little did I know how much he loves that song.
I was simply making a point that he, in fact, is not a single lady.
And check out my daughters faces. One is pissed and one is devastated at what just transpired…



UPDATE: Now that I poked back over to his blog it looks like they were on the CBS early morning show today. He's really focusing the attention away from themselves and on the idea of adoption. AWESOME.

Things I Don't Understand Again

If you missed the first installment of Things I Don't Understand, you can find it HERE

-Why do some older ladies not have any sense of smell anymore? They must shower in perfume. Their scent lingers minutes after they've passed you like Haley's comets tail or something.

-If wood glue makes things strong that wood itself....why don't they just make things out of wood glue? It seems logical. Please note that this is not the same argument that some people use to say "just make the whole plane out of the little black box" You can't do that because the material is extremely heavy and expensive. Completely impractical. But with wood glue you could easy pour it and shape it. Can you drive a nail into a wood glue board?

-Other than jacks....what is the point of jackballs? I yell at Corban if he plays with it in the house because he'll break something.....but he'll lose it outside. What's the point exactly?

-Why is it called Deodorant? It doesn't really take the smell away, it really only covers it up. Maybe it should be called Stink Mask. It was pointed out to me that no one would buy something called StinkMask. However if from the beginning of the deodorant era, if we had called it StinkMask instead of Deodorant, we would think it normal. We would think the idea of calling it Deodorant is silly since it doesn't perform that function. I'm just saying think about it....Stink Mask for Men.

-I do our laundry. It's been winter. We use 3 times more dark clothes in winter than we do in summer. Is it a mood thing? Is it the dreariness of winter? Is it the warmth of dark clothes? Are manufacturers making warm clothes dark?

-Where did peanut allergies come from? Growing up I never met one person with a peanut allergy. Not once did I hear any problems with me taking PB&J to school. Not once was I told to wash my hands after eating said PB&J...other than to get the stickiness off. I never remember a special table in the cafeteria that was Peanut Butter free. I didn't have any friends who had to carry around an Epipen in case they accidentally ate nuts. So how did peanut allergies all of a sudden appear?

-While I appreciate restaurants and public buildings having urinals for little boys to use....I don't understand why the don't install sinks for little boys to use AFTER they've gone. So he does his business, and yet I still have to pick him up and dangle him over the sink to wash his hands before I wash my hands all the while telling him not to touch anything.

-In the early 1900's or even the 1700's or the 500's for that matter.....did people with Sleep Apnea just not get any sleep before they were told to wear a oxygen mask to bed?

-While my dad and my friend J, swear by it (as well as countless hippies) I don't understand the Neti Pot. So I take a tea kettle and dump water in my one nostril, and snot and water come out my other nostril, and I fell better? Really?

-Tight pants. Is this the 80's again? How do you get your feet into these super tight jeans when the ankle is tight to your ankle? Why would you want to?