Nightwing

I thought Colorado's offense would show up, but injuries is killing them. Wolski I can accept as a bad break. But no offense should hinge of Forsberg at this point in his career; you have to accept he's going to get injured at some point or another, and a good series against perennial jobbers shouldn't change your mind. Sakic hasn't been injured, but he isn't enough to penetrate a Detroit defense that is (arguably) the best and deepest in the playoffs right now. Along with a Chris Osgood that is playing solid, and this result shouldn't be too surprising. I'm not even convinced adding Hannan to their defense would be stopping the scoring of the Wings much, either. They are just playing too damn good right now. Theodore is bad, but I feel like Budaj isn't going to be that much better: the Red Wings definitely weren't pressing him nearly as much as Theodore, and I'm not convinced that he is going to hold up any better if he takes the ice first.

4 Games, two comebacks, two OTs, all hard-fought, and all settled by a single goal. A very nice start to the second round.

Outside of 1968, has the Democratic Party ever completely botched an issue like the whole Michigan/Florida situation?

I thought the highlight was Stan doing the whole "In-Character Bit". It was hilarious, clever, and definitely unexpected. I also liked the "Wendy, look away" line he said just before he did it.

Amazingly enough, Death of the New Gods ties in perfectly with Countdown #2. I was just not expecting that. Oh, and pick up Death of the New Gods; it's a bit jumbled, but the cosmic fight between the Source and Darkseid truly reestablishes him as the villain of the Universe. He's even better than Thanos, as he Jim Starlin = The Man for that. No one writes a high-level cosmic epic like he does. Kirby would be proud.

Pulling someone over isn't probable cause. Looking into their car and seeing what looks to be an open liquor container is. It seems as though this would mean that if it wasn't a liquor container but the top to a bottle of Aquafina... but I found a few pounds of crack, everything would be alright because even though my justification was proven wrong, I didn't violate the Constitution.

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers: Montreal in 6. The Flyers aren't that tough, but the Canadiens are apparently not that good, either. They need to show a bit more heart to have a chance of getting to the Cup. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) New York Rangers: Rangers in 7. I think I'm going to end up regretting that pick, but I feel like the Rangers have the advantage in playoff experience and are just a stronger team. Their defense is tough and their goalie is more clutch than Fleury. (1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Colorado Avalanche: Detroit in 6. That's my conservative estimate. Nashville (And the Central in general) gave the Wings a lot more trouble than other teams did. The Wings will win, likely dominate a bit, but the Avs are good enough to take one or two. (2) San Jose Sharks vs. (5) Dallas Stars: San Jose in 6. Probably the best series of the first round, or at least could be the most entertaining one. Dallas showed life, but that was against an Anaheim team that couldn't buy a goal. I don't think Turco is going to hold up well against a deeper San Jose team, though Dallas has been showing a lot of life.

Ask and ye shall receive. Wow.

Oh, and I don't think it's mentioned, but fuck the NHL for threatening to fine Al Sobokta if he swings an Octopus around. Apparently Nashville's front-office complained, and they've decided to clap down on it, which is fucking stupid.

Crosby's still alive, and so are the Rangers, so they might still pay it a little attention. Yeah, but it seems like Ovechkin is their "Lebron Analogue" for the NHL. It pisses me off, because that's all they are doing; looking for a superstar to rally around so they can act like they really pay attention. While hockey can definitely have dominant stars, this isn't the fucking NBA where "Kobe vs. Lebron!" is the immediate indicator to who will win (The exception being the Spurs and the Pistons when they feel like it), as is apparent with the Capitals/Flyers series.

Isn't it a little early to know this? I'm seeing less than 50% of precincts reporting. It is. How many points does she need to win by to have a so-called "Convincing Victory"? She seems to be hovering at 8-10 points right now and it's about 55% in.

And everyone at ESPN will now go back to ignoring the NHL, as per usual.

They need to make Dion Phaneuf some sort of trophy to win, because he really does deserve recognition for his great play but he has the bad luck to be in Lidstrom's shadow.

Hopefully this isn't posted somewhere else, because it isn't in this thread. But here is Hitler reacting to the Canucks missing the playoffs.

Thanks!

Is anyone here getting the Philly/Caps game? I'm watching the Habs/Bruins game and while I know the score, can someone tell me if it's really close, or if one team really has the momentum.

You know, this playoff season is going to have a lot of great match-ups in good markets. Colorado, Detroit, and Dallas already in the West, and New York and Pittsburgh in the East. Along with that, put in Montreal, San Jose, Boston, Philadelphia, and two lesser ones in Calgary and Washington. Not only that, but just about all the teams here are entertaining to watch (The Rangers are probably the dullest of those currently in the second round). The NHL has to be really happy how everything is turning out.

Dunno. They are announcing a different trophy each day this week, and the Adams trophy will be announced when they feel like it. I guess they want to build up the EXCITEMENT~!

Go go Lundqvist!

It's always easier to catch-up than to stay with it, as you're waiting a week between the chapters. For example, the Sakura-Sasori fight is a lot more interesting in retrospect simply because I'm not waiting a week for the next part. But even on a re-read, I just find the entire concept redundant. It just feels like a rehash of the Soul Society Rescue. But I have to say, the best part of that arc is learning Grimmjow's background. I really like his motivations as a character.

Wow, no talking after a huge night? Dallas defeats Anaheim, which was only really surprising because Dallas managed to turn it on. Hockey News needs to be slapped for ranking Burke as the #1 GM this year: He overpaid for Bertuzzi, did well with Schneider, but he definitely didn't push Niedermeyer or Selanne hard enough to get a definitive answer on their status. I feel they would have been a helluva lot better team early on if they had known one way or the other on both of these guys, though I don't think they would have gotten much further than the first or second round. The whole thing was a mess that the team should not have had to deal with in January. Not only that, but at the very least he should have traded Bryzgalov for picks and prospects instead of releasing him. I have no clue how that worked. I'm interested in seeing what happens in Anaheim in the offseason, as I'm not sure Selanne and Niedermeyer are all on board to come back. Bertuzzi is signed on for another year and he won't be able to be traded any time soon unless Burke is really going to sweeten the deal (Which he could with those Edmonton Draft Picks). They need to keep some space for Perry, which also limits their chances on the Free Agent market. I really don't think Burke is going to leave any time soon, despite the Canadian media constantly talking about him. This team could really change in the offseason. I'm torn on who to root for in the Calgary/San Jose series. If San Jose wins, they could be tougher is they actually decide to wake up and play hard, which seems to be a nightly decision. But that'd give the Wings Colorado, which they've been damn solid against all year. If Calgary wins, they'll probably be a tougher Second-Round series, though I still think the Wings would win it in the end. But if the Wings managed to get past them (Which, again, is risky, as they are a team that can turn it on like Nashville, but with more talent), they'd face Dallas or Colorado in the Conference Finals. I already talked about Colorado, and we've had Dallas' number for a while. Montreal/Boston: You shouldn't have jinxed them, redbaron. After you taunted us, Boston started opening up on you. I think Montreal can pull it out (And I really hope they do), but man does it look grim there. Cheers to Boston, which looks like it could be a real threat next year when probably won't be as injury-laden. Washington/Flyers: I don't really care much for the Flyers, but I'd really like to see a Caps/Pens Semi or Conference Finals matchup. I think the rest of the world would, too.

Well, Wings get out of the first round in an impressive game. After watching such a dominating performance from every aspect of Detroit, I'm feeling good about the second round.

You know, personally I'd kinda like to see a Smash Bros- or Jump Superstars-style for DC Heroes. I dunno why, but it feels like that system work the best for the whole thing. *Shrugs* At any rate, I'll be excited to see what they do with the Green Lanterns.

Eh, I agree, though I can see why they ruled it the way they did. Better camera resolution would have helped that immensely. And I agree that it looks like they'll take this game, too. Giguere seems to be on tonight.

Wow. Some nice goaltending on both sides of this Anaheim/Dallas game.