CanadianChris

Sportscentre is saying Paul Maurice is the frontrunner for the job. He's currently the coach of the AHL Toronto Marlies.

Sweet, Appleby's in the lead. If I couldn't have Vijay, I knew Stuey would probably be a good guy to have in Houston. Darren Clarke withdrew following a 68 to be with his wife.

Heh. Not as long as I'm living in Ottawa.

I saw that. The Spezza goal still blows my mind.

Have they announced anything about game 1? I was actually expecting them to start Aebischer from the get-go.

If he goes to Boston, you guys have my sympathies. Quinn was the main reason I stopped being a Leafs fan. He's a whiner and a goon, and his preferred style of play is awful. JFJ should be next out the door, but from everything I've heard, he's going to get a year's grace to "prove himself."

Not surprising in the least, really. The writing was on the wall after getting slammed by Montreal in that two-game series last month. Now the fun part...who replaces him?

I'm tired of waiting already, and there's still almost 36 hours before the pucks drop. I'll be at Game 2 of Sens/Bolts on Sunday night. Hopefully I can break my streak of never attending a home playoff win.

You must really hate this entire season then. They've had more needle-in-a-haystack challenges this season than in the first three seasons combined.

What the heck is your avatar, CG?

And that's why Philly is getting bounced in the first round. Their goalies aren't good enough to raise their game to a point where they can overcome the kinds of defensive lapses that the Flyers have had. Against a similar type goalie, they could probably score enough to win a series, but Ryan Miller isn't going to give them the goals they're going to need.

The "experts" opver at ESPN.com are picking Tampa in seven.

My picks: Ottawa in 5 Carolina in 5 New Jersey in 6 Buffalo in 7 Detroit in 5 Colorado in 6 Calgary in 6 San Jose in 6

OK, let's try that one more time...matchups are now correct. EAST (1) Ottawa vs. (8) Tampa Bay (2) Carolina vs. (7) Montreal (3) New Jersey vs. (6) N.Y. Rangers (4) Buffalo vs. (5) Philadelphia WEST (1) Detroit vs. (8) Edmonton (2) Dallas vs. (7) Colorado (3) Calgary vs. (6) Anaheim (4) Nashville vs. (5) San Jose

The Rangers would play the Flyers if this game goes to overtime, regardless of the outcome. EDIT: Or if Jersey wins in regulation, which is what's about to happen. I've switched the matchups above.

Wouldn't you know, I posted those matchups and Jersey immediately scores twice. Hold the phone...

All right, predictions here for these first round matchups: EAST (1) Ottawa vs. (8) Tampa Bay (2) Carolina vs. (7) Montreal (3) New Jersey vs. (6) N.Y. Rangers (4) Buffalo vs. (5) Philadelphia WEST (1) Detroit vs. (8) Edmonton (2) Dallas vs. (7) Colorado (3) Calgary vs. (6) Anaheim (4) Nashville vs. (5) San Jose

And Heatley gets his 50th. Nice job. Looks like we'll be getting the Lightning, which is the matchup I was hoping for all along.

That's the second one of those I've seen in a Sens game this SEASON.

With the 61st pick, the Denver Broncos select: Rodrique Wright, DT, Texas

If it's going to be 6-8 hours, I'm still in. Pick coming this evening.

That's it. Montreal and Tampa Bay are in the playoffs. Tomorrow will just be about positioning.

6-4 Capitals now.

So far it's pretty much exclusively on the doping allegations. Coyle probably assumed that anyone interested in the cancer stuff would read Armstrong's autobiography. It looks like he got a lot of info from Dr. Michele Ferrari (who's been accused of distributing illegal substances to other athletes), but he stated up front that he interviewed Ferrari on the condition that he not bring up anything about the illegal substances.

Washington just took the lead on Atlanta with 10 minutes left...if they hold on, Atlanta's out. I didn't think Atlanta would just skate over the Capitals. They're a team that matches up very well against the Thrashers.