The Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres drew a 2.6 rating and 5 share on NBC on New Year’s Day, the highest TV rating for a regular season game since 1996. In the stands, more that 71,000 fans braved the sleet, snow, and cold at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo to watch the Pens best the Sabres 2-1 in a shootout.

Meanwhile, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is still drawing up expansion plans to add hockey franchises in Puerto Rico, Cancun and the Bahamas. He is also considering rule changes to get rid of that pesky ice surface so the league can stage additional outdoor hockey events during the summer months.

Last night Buffalo was able to squeak out a win against the Rangers. The Rangers outplayed the Sabres for most of the game but as good teams do the Sabres were able to score when needed. The interesting thing about this series is how much attention Sean Avery is getting! Seriously, it’s the most attention he’s had since dating Elisha Cuthbert.
In the other series last night the Vancouver Canucks were able to win in double overtime. The Canucks seemed to out work the Ducks for most of the game but were able to overcome the same fate as the Rangers. The game winning goal was scored by Jeff Cowan, which, you may remember as the guy who scored a goal and had bras thrown onto the ice. Now all we can do is hope that he scores at home and we’ll see some bra throwing!

To celebrate Cowan scoring the game winning goal and the Rangers playing good. Here’s a picture of Elisha Cuthbert.

So with the first round of the playoffs over, we finally get to the good stuff. And you know what else is good stuff? Beer. And equating things to beer is even better stuff, so put on your beer goggles and take a peek at what to expect in the semifinals of the Stanley Cup race.

In the Eastern Conference we have the Sabres matched with the Rangers and Ottawa taking on the Devils. Both these series pit different flavored teams against one another, with lightning offense taking on stout defense. Kind of like a Black and Tan. And just like in a well-poured Black and Tan, I expect the heavy, Guinness-like defense of New York and New Jersey to sink to the bottom against the scoring power of Buffalo and the Sens. It’ll take some time though, so stock that fridge for plenty of overtime games and a big fat Game 7 at the end.

Out in the West the Red Wings will attempt to make it to the conference finals for the first time since 2002 when they take on the Sharks. Now the team from Detroit is kind of like Budweiser in that it’s so big and dominant that it’s hard to think anyone can beat it, yet it doesn’t taste very good. San Jose, on the other hand, is more of an acquired taste, like a fruity microbrew with boysenberries. I don’t understand boysenberry beer or why anyone would drink it, but I really don’t like Bud, so my money is on the Sharks to steal this one in six.

The other Western match-up pits Vancouver against the Ducks of Anaheim. If Detroit is the Budweiser of the NHL, the Canucks are more like the Molsen of the league: Big and well-known, but so often overlooked (in the US, that is) that it might as well be a specialty brew. The Ducks, meanwhile, are like one of those trendy brands that brewers try to sell to people who don’t really like beer, like Michelob Ultra or Zima. Yeah, I’ll take Molsen over Zima any time.

So me, you, and everyone else were thinking the Islanders were finished, right? They’re playing the top-ranked Sabres, they looked like crap in Game 1, it was just a matter of time. But no, the team from Long Island has proven us all wrong. Last night the Isles came out swinging and took a 2-0 lead over mighty Buffalo in the first period before Toni Lydman managed to stop the bleeding. But it was Rick DiPietro who gave New York a chance to win by stopping 24 shots on goal.

We all may have also been thinking that the Penguins were going to go down quickly after they got smoked by Ottawa in Game 1, but low and behold Pittsburgh too surprised everyone yesterday. Looking like a totally different team, the Pens jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Ryan Whitney goal in the first, and then needing some scoring in the final period they really stepped on the gas. Old man Gary Roberts scored a power play goal to knot the game 2-2, then the young buck Jordan Staal tied the game again with help from Roberts and Michel Ouellet. But in the end who scored the game winner? Who else but Sid the Kid; Crosby scored an amazing goal with an assist from Evgeni Malkin and Mark Recchi.

Yeah, you can’t tell me you weren’t stung by hockey fever yesterday, so don’t even try to deny it. Luckily we’ve got more great action today as the Flames try to turn it around against Detroit, the Pens and Sens take their show to The Igloo, and Vancouver and the Stars get their Game 3 on in Dallas.

The games that I was able to catch had one trend. The winning team (except the Rangers) were owned like the girl in this basketball dunk video

Anyway, to recap

• Calgary Flames looked terrible
• Buffalo made the Islanders look like, well, Islanders.
• Devils took it to the Lightning …

I’m glad it’s Friday today so when the Vancouver Canucks / Dallas Stars go to a quadruple overtime I don’t have to get up early. Although, it’s much more likely i’ll be passed out in a chair….

Her picks this year are the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Atlanta Thrashers and Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks.

SO are you smarter then a monkey?   or know more about hockey then a monkey?    Then make your first round picks and see who does better.       Or just sit back and watch how the ‘experts’ lose to the monkey.

The chase for the Cup gets underway on Wednesday when the Penguins of Pittsburgh face off against the Ottawa Senators. The Pens, of course, have that young phenom Sidney Crosby, who led the league with 120 points, including 36 goals. The Sens, meanwhile, have a bunch of players not named Sidney Crosby, but they do have Dany Heatley and goalie Ray Emery. Still, they don’t have anyone named Crosby or Jordan Staal or Evgeni Malkin, so I’m pretty sure Ottawa is going down in the first round (sorry Canada), but this could be the best series of the whole post-season.

Also on Wednesday, the Dallas Stars get their series underway against Vancouver. Now you might be thinking you heard once that Dallas is pretty good, but that was in 1999 when they won the Cup; this Stars team is the one that sorta just gets into the playoffs and then gets booted in the first round. The Canucks, with the Sedin twins and goalie Roberto Luongo will be tough to beat this year.

You’ve also got the Minnesota Wild kicking off their series against Anaheim. This should be a pretty good series, too, since this is Minnesota’s first trip to the playoffs since the first Bush was president and they had a team called the North Stars, so those fans in Minneapolis should be plenty fired up. It might even be enough for them to steal this one away from The Team Formerly Known as The Mighty Ducks.

Lastly, the San Jose Sharks take on the Nashville Predators. The Preds look pretty good on paper, but they play in a division with Chicago, Columbus, and St. Louis, so looks can be deceiving. Still, I’m picking Music City over Silicon Valley because Sharks fans cursed themselves last year by booing the Canadian national anthem.

On to Thursday night and more Eastern Conference action, the Buffalo Sabres start their run for the Cup with a little practice time against the Islanders, while the New Jersey Devils go through the motions against Tampa Bay. The Isles have no hope of making it past the first round, but it’s nice to see them back in the hunt, I guess. The only hope for Tampa is . . . well, there really is no hope for them either.

The last series in the East is the Rangers vs. the Thrashers. The who? That’s right, the Atlanta Thrashers are not only in the playoffs but they are in as a division champion. Of course, saying Atlanta had the best team in the Southeast is like saying you’re the smartest one on the short bus. Still, the mighty NY Rangers aren’t much better and will probably get booted in the first round.

That leaves us with Calgary and Detroit. Yes, Detroit is one of the best in the league and the top seed in the West, but how can you possibly root for the Red Wings? That’s like rooting for the Yankees, yawn. Plus, they’re owned by a pizza empire, a bad pizza empire at that. No, everyone out there should be rooting on the plucky Flames to score an upset here, and they just might, though it’ll mean they have to win at least one on the road, which they haven’t been able to do often this year. But this is the playoffs and everything changes now.

So America, are you ready for some hockey?

The Eastern Conference is a much tighter race near the bottom of the with basically seven teams going for one spot. The Islanders, Rangers, Carolina, Toronto, Montreal, Boston and Florida. Currently the Islanders have 76 points while three teams are tied with 73 points.

So without further ado my quick list

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Let’s summarize where the significant players went and what for. By significant players I mean players that we’ve all heard of. If I did every player that got traded you wouldn’t read this post as I wouldn’t type it.
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