Mayweather vs Pacquiao is upon us (THIS IS NOT A DRILL)

  

A fight six years in the making, boxing fans around the world FINALLY get their wish tonight (if they’re willing to pay up.)  Floyd finally has to face his biggest fear in life, the man he has been ducking for a half-decade now.  This fight is the closest the sports world can come to good vs evil. Mayweather might be the worst person in all of sports, maybe the world in general. Everyone seems to forget he is a serial convicted assaulted of women, and on top of that acts like everything in the world is his birthright, calling himself the best fighter of all time, while he goes about picking inferior opponents. Yes he’s 47-0, but he’s never fought anyone at Pacquiao’s level. If there’s any justice in this world, in a few hours it’ll read 47-1 (I have no confidence in this and expect Floyd to win, but a boy can dream.)

#TeamPacMan 

Stanley Cup Playoffs 4/21 rewind

In my opinion, we are in the most enjoyable part of the entire NHL season. The first round is approaching the midway point, and every night there are multiple games coming down to the wire of the utmost importance. Last night was no different.

Detroit 3 Tampa Bay 0

Detroit leads 2-1

  

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Petr Mrazek show. After struggling and getting pulled in a game 2 shellacking, Mrazek bounced back, making all 22 saves in the shutout of the Lightning. Datsyuk gave the Wings an early 1-0 lead, and that proved to be enough for Mrazek and company. Two third period goals, including an empty netter, provided the rest of the scoring and made the win seem easier than it appeared. After a great offensive showing in Tampa, the Bolts came out cold in this one, and have that to thank for trailing 2-1. Game 4 will be critical. If the Lightning can take it back home tied 2-2, they will reclaim command of the series.

Washington 4 New York Islanders 3

Series tied 2-2

For the second game in a row in front of a racous Long Island crowd, the Isles and Caps played to a stalemate through the first three periods. The great 8, Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring, but Casey Cizikas answered six minutes later, and after one the score was knotted 1-1. It remained there the rest of regulation thanks to strong efforts by the goaltenders, and once again we got free hockey. However, unlike game 3, this one lasted longer than 15 seconds, and ultimately it went in the other direction. Nicklas Backstrom snuck one by Halak 

Or, as ESPN put it, “hit the game winning goal”

 Edit  

at 11:09 of overtime to give Washington a massive win, having been outplayed much of the game. For the Islanders, they’d like to have this one back, failing to capitalize on chances, including four power plays, falling to 0-10 in the series. This series has lived up to the hype and then some. Anything less than a game 7 thriller would be disappointing.

  

 

Calgary 4 Vancouver 1

Calgary leads 3-1

Of all the first round series, perhaps the most surprising is happening in the great Northwest. Calgary, a team no one has expected to be here, has just run wild on Vancouver, the team expected to make a deep run. The Flames got out to a hot start, thanks to the first playoff goal of Johnny Hockey’s young career. Many many more to come from him. Vancouver tied it up, but goals from Hudler and Sam Bennett staked the Flames to a 3-1 lead, and Vancouver turtled. Calgary now has three chances to advance to the second round for the first time in a decade, while Vancouver looks doomed to another first round exit.

  

Chicago 3 Nashville 2 (3OT)

Chicago leads 3-1

The playoffs doesn’t truly start until we have our first triple overtime game. Well, the playoffs have now started. For the second time in 4 games, the Preds and Hawks went to at least two OTs, and this one went even longer. Pekka Rinne was once again awesome, the only reason this game wasn’t decided in regulation. As if over 100 minutes of hockey wasn’t enough, at one point the puck became lodged in Rinne’s padding, and it took three minutes to find. Playoff hockey, nothing like it. Immediately into the 3rd OT, Brent Seabrook, a man with a penchant for scoring the big goal, struck again and gave Chicago a stranglehold on the series. Nashville responded well from a heartbreaker in game 1, now they must do it again. Two losses of this magnitude might be too much, I think they’re done.

  

On tap tonight:

NYR @ Pittsburgh, 7:00 NBCSN

NYR leads 2-1

Montreal @ Ottawa, 7:00 USA

Montreal leads 3-0

STL @ Minnesota, 9:30 NBCSN

Minnesota leads 2-1

Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 9:30 USA

Anaheim leads 3-0

Edmonton Oilers win the draft lottery

 

 For the fourth time in six years, the Edmonton Oilers will be selecting first overall in the 2015 NHL draft, essentially winning the Connor McDavid sweepstakes. Here’s McDavid looking THRILLED to be an Oiler.

  

Edmonton will now have Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, and Connor McDavid all on the same team, but that’s no guarantee for any success. Probably the most pathetic organization in all of sports still can’t figure it out, getting four top draft picks is evidence of that. Connor McDavid has been sentenced to the worst punishment a man can get in professional hockey. Getting sent to Edmonton is the NHL equivalent of Siberia. Edmonton makes Buffalo look like a tropical paradise, and the Sabres like the Blackhawks by comparison. Speaking of Buffalo, they dropped a slot, but that doesn’t really matter. They’ve wanted Jack Eichel since the beginning, and now they’re getting him. Arizona and Toronto round out the top 4, and the Bruins remain in the 14 slot, despite the fact that I convinced myself over the past week that they would be cashing in on their 1% chance of landing the top pick. Check back a year from now when I’ll be able to copy and paste the same blog and Edmonton will be making their fifth top pick in seven years.

#PrayForMcDavid

Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 3 rewind

Another thrilling night of hockey saw three teams bounce back in big ways to even their series. While home teams went 1-3 on day 1, they rebounded to a flawless 4-0 mark last night. We had one overtime game, so that’s where we’ll start.

Montreal 3 Ottawa 2 (OT)

  

For the second night in a row, the Ottawa Senators jumped out to an early lead in enemy territory. Clarke MacArthur let go a heavy wrist shot that snuck by Carey Price’s glove and under the bar in the waning minutes of the first period, and the Sens once again entered the first intermission up 1-0. However, much the same story as game 1, the Canadiens bounced back in the second. Max Pacioretty struck on the power play to tie the game at 1. Later, PK Subban unleashed his trademark clap bomb, and Hammond had no shot. In the third period, resilient Ottawa refused to go away. A tying goal by Patrick Wiercioch sent the game into overtime, and the Sens had a chance to steal one before heading back to Ottawa. But it was not meant to be, thanks to a brutal giveaway in the defensive zone. Alex Galchenyuk slid one through the five hole of Hammond, one the hamburglar would definitely like to have back. The Senators are down 2-0, but the good news is they have been competitive in both games in Montreal. If they can hold serve in Ottawa, we’ll have a whole new series on our hands.

Washington 4 New York Islanders 3

  

After a pathetic game 1 performance in front of their home fans, game 2 was looking like more of the same. Braden Holtby was out with a mysterious illness, replaced by rookie Philipp Grubauer, making his second ever NHL appearance. And a rookie he played like early on. Goals from Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Strome gave the Isles a 2-0 lead early in the second period, with a chance to take a 2 game series lead on the road. Karl Alzner struck halfway through the second to give the Caps life, but Kyle Okposo answered minutes later to up the lead to 3-1. Alex Ovechkin finally made his presence felt with a massive goal to cut the lead to 3-2 after two. Playing their most important period of the season, the Caps answered in a big way. Nicklaus Backstrom and Jason Chimera each put a biscuit in the basket to help Washington salvage a split at home. They need to bring this energy to the Island if they want to continue to compete. The return of Holtby wouldn’t hurt either.

Nashville 6 Chicago 2

  

The big news going into game two was the sudden goalie controversy at the hands of Blackhawks coach Joel Quennville. After yanking Corey Crawford in game 1, replacement Scott Darling was 42/42 on save opportunities, willing the Hawks back to a huge victory. However, Q decided to go back to the starting goalie all year, Crawford. To say this decision backfired is an understatement. Crawford proved once again why his glove hand is the biggest Achilles heel on the entire Hawks roster, beaten to that side most of the night. The Hawks were down all night, but actually tied it at 2-2 thanks to a goal from Patrick Kane. However, Nashville exploded in the third and never looked back. An absolutely massive response from a team that suffered a heartbreaker two nights earlier. With the series going back to Chicago, Quennville’s job only gets harder, with more and more people calling for Darling.

Vancouver 4 Calgary 1

  

Vancouver dominated from start to finish, helped by goals from Daniel Sedin, Chris Higgins, Ronalds Kenins and an empty netter from Radim Vrbata. This broke a home playoff losing streak going all the way back to game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup final against your very own Boston Bruins. But the score was not the talk of this game. Instead, it was the chippiness throughout, including a brawl late in the third once the outcome was no longer in doubt. Even Johnny Hockey got in on the action. An absolute must win for Vancouver, who now must travel into Calgary, which has suddenly turned into one of the toughest places to play.

As always, another full night of action on tap today and tonight. If you miss it, Beard will have you all caught up tomorrow.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 1 rewind

Throughout the playoffs, Beard and I will be recapping the past night’s action. Last night was day one, and with four games on the schedule, it did not disappoint.

Montreal 4 Ottawa 3

A matchup of two of the hottest teams in the league with locked in goalies got off to a disastrous start for the home Canadiens. A puck bounced off defenseman Andrei Markov and past Carey Price to silence the raucous Belle Centre crowd. However, goals by Torrey Mitchell and Tomas Plekanec 15 seconds apart gave Montreal a 2-1 lead. These goals were part of a wild second period flurry that saw five goals scored in a matter of few minutes to leave the score at 3-3. Late in the second period, the unlikeliest of heroes emerged. Brian Flynn, not a noted goal scorer, slid one past the hamburglar to put Montreal on top 4-3, a lead they never relinquished on their way to a game 1 win. However, the most talked about play had nothing to do with any of the seven goals scored. The Habs’ PK Subban decided to treat Mark Stone’s wrist like it was a hanging curveball, taking a baseball swing at the rookie in front of the net. This earned Subban a 5 minute major as well as a game misconduct, but not a suspension. Just the latest incident for a guy among the dirtiest and least accountable in all the NHL. You know if the roles were reversed, Habs fans would be calling 911 on Stone, and that’s not even a slight exaggeration. I can’t wait to see retaliation from Ottawa over what I hope to be a long series. Sure to be a bloodbath.

  

New York Islanders 4 Washington 1

What seemed like one of the most interesting series going in got off to a pretty horrendous start, by far the least entertaining of the four games last night. For the Capitals, a team playing their first playoff game in two years, the energy was nowhere near the level it should’ve been, and the same goes for their fans. The arena sounded like a morgue. The Islanders got off to a hot start, with Brock Nelson scoring 6 minutes in, but the Capitals answered in the final minute to send the game to the first intermission at 1-1. However, the Islanders took firm control of the game in the second, with goals from Ryan Strome and Josh Bailey. Jaroslav Halak shut the door the rest of the way, and Nelson added an empty netter to cap off the scoring. If the Caps don’t bring a higher compete level tomorrow night, this series will be history. But you can never count any team out with #8. Last I checked he likes to score every now and then.

  

Chicago 4 Nashville 3 (2OT)

This series might be over just as soon as it started. There’s just no way you can come back from such a devastating loss on home ice the way Nashville suffered last night. The game got off to a perfect start for the Preds, as goals from Colin Wilson(x2) and Viktor Stalberg gave Nashville a 3-0 lead after one. It was here that Hawks coach Joel Quennville decided to yank the white Drake, Corey Crawford, in favor of Scott Darling. 

  

The former UMaine Blackbear made all the difference in this game. Chicago roared back for 3 in the second to tie the game 3-3. Both the third period and first overtime were scoreless, and it was not until Duncan Kieth’s blast halfway through the second OT that the game was finally resolved. Darling was the undisputed first star of this game, stopping all 42 shots he faced In relief of Crawford, creating a healthy goalie controversy. As far as Nashville goes, if this was a heavyweight bout, they’d be on the ground at a bout a 5 count. Devastating loss, no other way to word it.

Calgary 2 Vancouver 1

Overshadowed by the game in Nashville, another great battle was going on on the Canadian west coast. Calgary, a team no one expected to be here, stuck with Vancouver the entire way, and was trailing only 1-0 entering the third. As they have done all seas one, the Flames roared back in the third, tying it on a David Jones goal with 12 minutes left. With 30 seconds left, it looked like we were once again heading to overtime, until a Kris Russell blast managed to slip by Eddie Lack. The Rogers Arena crowd was stunned, and Calgary pulled off the opening round shocker. For Vancouver, more of the same in the playoffs.

  

The playoffs are always like Christmas morning for me, and last night didn’t disappoint. Three games were up in the air until the final whistle, and home teams went only 1-3. If the next two months are anything like last night, we’re in for a wild ride.