Just a few things that caught my eye:
- I thought I knew Sidney Crosby's ceiling; now I know he doesn't have one. Unbelievable.
- Square peg in a round hole. Ilya Kovalchuk has never had to play in a team system. And it shows. I don't care that he has five points in his last two games -- he just doesn't fit.
- I'd take Martin Brodeur on my team any day -- best twine-tending performance so far. Bar none.
- I can't take credit for this one but I love it. Steve Simmons (love him or hate him) of the Toronto Sun: "Watching the speed of the Phoenix-Detroit playoff series makes me wonder: Do the Leafs actually play in the same league?"
- David Bolland is one of the most underrated players in the NHL. He'll deliver large this postseason if the Hawks can escape the Tennessean trap.
- I guess that good for the goose, good for the gander thing is a load of crap. The Orcas lost Saturday's game on a questionable too-many-men penalty yet Niklas Lidstrom can play the puck before leaving the bench on Sunday and get away Scott-free. Alain Vigneault must be spitting tacks.
- I don't think Antti Niemi is better than I thought. The Nashville Etch-A-Sketch offense is just worse than I imagined.
- Petr Prucha, Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal -- Czech-mate. Now if the 'Yotes can only get Ilya Bryzgalov to stop cheating off the post.
- Dany Heatley has a hang nail. At least the Sharks will have something to blame.