And I know how much some of you love them.......
Anyway, we've now got Western finalists; and I'd personally love to see the Ducks whack the Hawks.
Obviously, the Flames just didn't have the horses to overcome Anaheim, and the Wild (to my way of thinking) were really no threat to beat Chicago. Everyone loves the Hawks, but I don't like Crawford anymore now than I like Andersen or Gibson. It's clear neither Winnipeg or (especially) Calgary could pressure the Anaheim goaltenders enough to put them under any kind of disadvantage.
As for the East, I"m still pulling for Tampa all the way.....though I still have no confidence at all in Bishop. Fortunately, Price has not been the all-Universe goaltender everyone expected throughout the series, but he's more than capable of putting up 45 saves tomorrow night and winning 2-1. Tampa is typically pretty good at home, but they obviously haven't proven it in this series.
As for the Craps and Rangers, I still don't want either team to win. There remains little more painful to me in hockey than seeing Washington win; but I'm really growing to dislike pretty much everything about the Rangers. Guess I'm therefore still pulling marginally for Washington; but they're not having anymore luck getting the lead versus the Rangers lately than the Pens did. I guess it'd help if Ovechkin decided to get back in the series.
While the Western champ will be solidly favored in the Finals, I just realized how advantaged the NYR and Montreal would be in goal (and I think a strong case can be made that Holtby is much better than anyone playing for either Chicago or Anaheim). Finally, I've been surprised as to how comparatively disinteresting the 2015 playoffs have been thus far. I admit losing the Pens so early shotgunned much of my personal interest; but all these low-scoring, goaltender-dominated, and spottily-officiated games have not, IMO, served the League well at all.
Anyway, we've now got Western finalists; and I'd personally love to see the Ducks whack the Hawks.
Obviously, the Flames just didn't have the horses to overcome Anaheim, and the Wild (to my way of thinking) were really no threat to beat Chicago. Everyone loves the Hawks, but I don't like Crawford anymore now than I like Andersen or Gibson. It's clear neither Winnipeg or (especially) Calgary could pressure the Anaheim goaltenders enough to put them under any kind of disadvantage.
As for the East, I"m still pulling for Tampa all the way.....though I still have no confidence at all in Bishop. Fortunately, Price has not been the all-Universe goaltender everyone expected throughout the series, but he's more than capable of putting up 45 saves tomorrow night and winning 2-1. Tampa is typically pretty good at home, but they obviously haven't proven it in this series.
As for the Craps and Rangers, I still don't want either team to win. There remains little more painful to me in hockey than seeing Washington win; but I'm really growing to dislike pretty much everything about the Rangers. Guess I'm therefore still pulling marginally for Washington; but they're not having anymore luck getting the lead versus the Rangers lately than the Pens did. I guess it'd help if Ovechkin decided to get back in the series.
While the Western champ will be solidly favored in the Finals, I just realized how advantaged the NYR and Montreal would be in goal (and I think a strong case can be made that Holtby is much better than anyone playing for either Chicago or Anaheim). Finally, I've been surprised as to how comparatively disinteresting the 2015 playoffs have been thus far. I admit losing the Pens so early shotgunned much of my personal interest; but all these low-scoring, goaltender-dominated, and spottily-officiated games have not, IMO, served the League well at all.