Best time of the year...for some

By Scott Antoszewski

The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, the temperatures are rising, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs have begun!

The last series of the first round starts tonight as the Nashville Predators head to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks. The story of the playoffs so far, granted it’s only been 3 days, has been the lack of home ice advantage. The home team has lost four out of the seven games played so far. Phoenix, Vancouver, and Buffalo are the only home teams to win. I loved seeing the whiteout in the desert. I find it interesting how people make such a big deal out of getting home ice for the playoffs, and every year it ends up meaning crap. The Capitals lost games one and two on home ice against the Rangers during last year’s first round. Carolina spanked Boston on home ice twice during last year’s second round. I don’t think it matters where the game is played; the better team is usually going to end up winning. I’ll have more playoff comments next week, after the series are a little bit further along.

In other news, the Tampa Bay Lightning have fired head coach Rick Tocchet and all his staff, as well as General Manager Brian Lawton. The new ownership in Tampa wants a fresh start for next year. They will be picking sixth in the draft, so they should be able to get another quality prospect, possibly an NHL ready player.

The New York Rangers have agreed to extend HC John Tortorella contract for one more season. The Rangers missed the playoffs by a single point this year. It’s going to be tough for them to make a lot of moves in the off season due to the overpaid and undervalued vets that are on the team. It will be interesting to see what they do for next year.

The Edmonton Oilers won the NHL draft lottery this week. They finished with the worst record in the league AND won the lottery so they will be picking first. The Boston Bruins got Toronto’s first round pick for Phil Kessel earlier in the year, and their number came up second. The Florida Panthers pick third, followed by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

There are playoff games basically every night for the next week, so enjoy the games!