Last night I went out and watched the Blackhawks knock off the Flamers of cow-town, it was great to watch. I love playoff hockey I really do but when the Oilers aren't in it, it's just not as much fun. I usually find myself cheering against teams rather than for anyone. And then once all the teams I dislike are eliminated I find it barely worth even watching. Though every time I see the Stanley Cup awarded, regardless of the winner, I always find myself getting a little teary eyed. With the exception of the Hurricanes in '06. After they potted the empty netter I grabbed my slightly warm pint glass and walked out to the patio. I still to this day haven't seen the rest of that game after the empty netter.
Anyway back to the playoffs. At the start of the season I obviously hoped for a better outcome for the Oilers and to have them at least in the playoffs. However, I took the
Blackhawks as my darkhorse team, meaning if I had to take a team other than the Oilers who would it be? Yes I took the Hawks. I didn't enjoy loosing to them 3 out of 4 times this year including a good shellacking in one of our losses, but once the Oilers were out and the Hawks were in well, what can I say, I'm riding the Blackhawks through the playoffs this year. It didn't hurt having them line up with the Flamers in the first round, that's win-win for me. I would have been cheering against the Flamers either way, but if the Blackhawks can do the deed? Well I'm ok with that, and they did! And now the Hawks have another great win-win for me. Their next challenge will be the Canucks, another team I love to see loose. I think it will be a tough series for both. Both are riding hot goalies, but Vancouver has been sitting for 2 weeks and I think they'll be rusty. Chicago is young and ready to rock. I haven't made my official prediction yet, but I think I'm leaning towards the Hawks in 6. Other teams I've been following are the Capitals simply because they are an entertaining team to watch, and I want to see what Ovechkin can do past round 1. And as luck would have it, they've just beaten the Rags in a thrilling game 7 coming back from being down 3 games to 1! I also enjoy seeing the Rangers loose, except in '94, that was cool! I don't care too much about any of the other teams in the East. I would rather New Jersey win over the Canes, (still a little bitter I guess), I don't like the Bruins so I will likely be cheering against them in round 2 and the Penguins are whatever to me. I guess that makes the Caps my East team. Hmm, a Capitals vs Blackhawks final? Could happen, lot's of work to be done first though.Back to some Oilers. Hmm, I haven't really been thinking Oilers much since the MacT firing. I'm still waiting to hear from MacT publicly, I guess he isn't obligated to speak to the media, but knowing his track record I'm sure he will eventually. Maybe once he knows what he will do next he'll speak.
There are a few Oilers playing at the worlds, Horcoff, Roloson, Hemsky, Kotalik, O'Sullivan, Grebeshkov, and prospect Omark. I will probably try to watch a few games later in the tournament, but for now, ho-hum. I have taken some time to reflect on the Oilers season but I'm still not ready to put my thought to this blog yet. I've also been working on a series of posts that I will post over the summer. It's more of a story of my history as an Oilers fan. All of us who grew up in Edmonton in the 80's have stories, and great ones at that. I look forward to posting them during the off season.
For now though, back to the Oilerless playoffs.
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