The Last Few Playoff Games and MacT

Well it looks like I was kind of right with the MacTavish thing. MacT was gone by the end of that week although he did not resign. If he would have done that then no buy-out package and no money for the rest of the contract. By "parting ways" with the Oilers, MacTavish still gets some money yet still gets to make the franchise look like they are taking steps to improve the team and everybody says thank you and shakes hands and all parties are happy.

So that is that. The Oilers begin what sounds like yet another rebuilding process and the fans get to have something to look forward to. A new coach, new players to come, old players to leave. I heard on 1260 that the only 2 guys safe in the "new Oilers" will be Gagner and Hemsky. Everyone else is subject for review and they better look in the mirror and see if they are the ones that were part of the terrible end of the season for the Oil. Nobody will take Horcoff's contract but anyone else I think can be moved. Even Penner. I heard that the Ducks may still want Penner and would agree to pick him up for 1/2 the salary if the Oilers put him on waivers. We'll see. A lot of deals come and go without the public ever hearing about it.

Meanwhile there is still some good hockey being played out there. For those of you who turn the TV off as soon as the Oilers are out should tune in just to see what good hockey looks like. The Boston-Montreal series is fantastic. The teams hate each other and Boston is playing some unbelievable hockey right now. Their checking game is good, their puck pursuit and puck possession is quite flawless and their goaltending (Tim Thomas) has been solid. Boston is by far my favorite in the East. What talent too! I wish the Oilers had even half what they have.

In other games it looks like I was wrong about Washington having control of New York and winning that series. The Rangers have found a way to contain Ovechkin and the Caps have had some bad calls against them and bad goaltending. The Flyers have evened up their series against the Penguins and I still think they will be the best team in the end of that one.

In the West it looks like Calgary is in trouble as I suspected, Vancouver is going to win their series, and the Blue Jackets never had a chance against Detroit. I am not sure what is going on with San Jose - they did not look good in the first game. Hopefully they bounce back tonight. Joe Thorton needs to step it up and become a factor in the games.

So far I am going to stick with San Jose to win the cup still only based on their regular season play and they have only played the one game. That said, Detroit is looking better than they did last year and I had no idea Boston was so good. The other team to watch is Chicago. They will be a factor in the next round and could go all the way as well. It will be fun to watch so we will see how the Sharks do tonight and if Calgary does not win at home on Monday they are done. I will be sad. I also like the winter.