Just a Little Hockey...

I’d like to point out the fact that it’s not “All Wings, all the time” where hockey is concerned at El Casa Móvil De Pennington, just in case you get that impression. Not that it wouldn’t be easy for you to feel that way, Gentle Reader, as all available evidence points in that direction. But no, that’s not the case. At all. I’ve been watching nearly every game during these play-offs. Part of it is because there’s such a dearth of hockey here in rural New Mexico during the regular season, but that’s a small part. The biggest part is because while I’m a Red Wings fan, first and foremost, I’m also a hockey fan.

All that was an intro to discussing last night’s Sabres – Senators game, the second in the Eastern Conference Finals. A great, great game…with a dramatic, double-overtime ending that broke a lot of hearts in Western New York. The Sabres, who were up 2-0 at one point in the game, lost 4-3. What’s worse is Buffalo, the Number One seed in the East and the President’s Trophy winner (in a tie-breaker with the Wings), lost two straight at home and are now down 2-0 in the series, which moves to Ottawa tomorrow night.

But…back to last night. You want drama? How about Buffalo forcing the OT by tying the game with 5.8 seconds left in regulation? It doesn’t get anymore dramatic than that. And it’s the second time during these play-offs the Sabres have accomplished that particular feat, what with winning Game Five in their series with the Rangers in similar fashion…but with seven-point-something seconds left in regulation (I watched that game, too, btw.). So…we go to overtime. The first OT comes and goes, with the Senators generally dominating the period but unable to beat Sabres goalie Ryan Miller…who was every bit as good as he was last year when it looked like Buffalo would go all the way to the Finals. Well, almost that good. Until 4:58 of the second OT when Ottawa’s defenseman Joe Corvo beat Miller cleanly after Jason Spezza won a face-off in Buffalo’s zone. The puck went right to Corvo…who one-timed it toward the net and… that was that. Game Over. The series moves to Ottawa and Buffalo finds themselves in a deep, deep hole. No one is writing off the Sabres just yet, but they sure have their work cut out for them.

So. Excellent game. It doesn’t get a lot better than that. Unless the Wings are involved. (Insert smiley-face here.)

Here’s a tidbit from Kukla’s Korner:

An interesting note from the HNIC (ed: that would be Hockey Night In Canada) folks last night.
If the year ends in ‘7’, only a Canadian team or the Wings have won the Cup.

Hmmm. The way the East is going, it looks like the Sens have a much better than even shot, eh? Or can it be The Fates have spoken and it’s Detroit’s year, again?

By the way: I took this morning’s coffee out of this cup…one of two Stanley Cup Commemorative mugs I have, the other being from the 1998 win. I don’t have a 2002 cup, but I’ll buy a 2007 one later on this year. Ya, I’m that confident. Really.

So…in other news. I’m keeping an eye on the evolving weather picture for next week’s trip to points north and west. It’s a jaundiced eye at this point, because it’s beginning to look like I’ll be doing a bit of riding in the rain. SN1 and I are going to meet in the Fort Collins, CO area next Saturday. The ten-day forecast for P-Town shows showers and T-storms in our future next Thursday and Friday…and the extended week forecast currently running on The WX Channel shows those storms extending north into Colorado. “Extended” forecasts, being what they are, may or may not represent reality. Still…I’m not too comfortable with the possibility, however slight. I hate riding in the rain. It can get ugly and cold, not to mention dangerous. But…it is what it is.

Why go to Colorado, you ask, Gentle Reader? Well…it’s a long story, but I’ll give you the Readers Digest version. SN1 originally proposed Fort Collins as the approximate geographic mid-point between SN1, SN2, and I. SN1 was also trying to float the idea of Sam riding out to Fort Collins and meeting us there…and we’d all go riding, something we’ve never done as a family. Plus there was the extra-added-attraction of SN3 being potentially available, as well, since he lives with Mom in that part of the world. Alas, SN3 will be otherwise occupied on a camping trip to the Black Hills. And, as it turns out, it looks like Sam won’t make it, either, as he may have to go to Dee See to brief some Very Important Stuff to a Very Important General in the Pentagon. It’s still up in the air for Sam, but…life does have a habit of intruding on even the best-laid plans, nu?

At any rate, Buck and I decided we would meet in Colorado, anyway. SN3 will be back from the Black Hills on Sunday, and we just might be able to spend a few hours with him before we leave for SLC on Monday. Unless TSMP reads that Mother’s Day post below. (That was a joke. A bad one, true, but a joke, none the less.)