May 29th, 2010 (2)

Puck drop is soon arriving for the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. Doesn't that have an ring to it? I just picture this deep voice unnecessarily announcing it. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but it makes sense in my head...

I am quite interested in seeing how this goes. Philadelphia I feel in over their head in roster ways, so in that sense, I think 4 days was too long for the wheeling team, they needed to continue to roll. But then I think about the injuries and rest that this team needed. So that leaves you at the "hmm" stage. Either way I feel Chicago will come out and win this game.

You're not supposed to have sides as someone in the journalism world, so thankfully I'm just trying to get into it, not quite there. I am actually quietly cheering for the Flyers. They do have 3 players I can't stand (Pronger, Carcillo and Hartnell) but then they have the players I love (Giroux, Gagne, Briere.) Plus they beat out my Habs, and it's much better to say your team got knocked out by the Cup champs that year. Lastly, some people that I'm close to are from around there, and may as well cheer with them after cheering hard against them.

Around and hour to go. Yes.

All my Best; Enjoy Life
Ryan Francis

May 29th, 2010

A few weeks ago, I sat down and made the ultimate Montreal Canadiens 2011 roster. Making teams is something I have never been able shake from my childhood. I took all the players hailing from Quebec and tried to make the best team going. This is what it looks like:

Simon Gagne/ Daniel Briere/ Patrice Bergeron
David Perron/ Vincent Lecavalier/ Martin St. Louis
Alex Burrows/ Mike Ribeiro/ Jason Pominville
Claude Giroux/ Maxim Lapierre/ Ian Laperriere
Mathieu Darche/ Antoine Vermette/ Steve Bernier

Kris Letang/ Stephane Robidas
Francois Beauchemin/ Marc-Andre Bergeron
Marc-Edouard Vlasic/ Alex Picard
Bruno Gervais

Roberto Luongo
Marc-Andre Fleury
Martin Brodeur

Lots to pick from for forwards, and 3 no brainer goaltender choices. Defenceman though? Not so much. The only player to be snipped from the D, was Mathieu Roy.

May 26th, 2010

The 2010 Stanley Cup finals are set, the Philadelphia Flyers will play the Chicago Blackhawks. To think that the Flyers made it into the playoffs in the last game of the regular season in the shootout is crazy. As hard it was to see them knock out my Habs, it is kind of a neat story. Michael Leighton was spectacular in the Montreal series, and his interview after the game really showed how much it meant to him. Now you've got the Chicago Blackhawks, and hopefully you have seen the Blackhawks TV segment with them playing Mario Kart on the Wii. I laughed through the whole thing just because you see these young men taking a little kid-ish game so serious. Take the time to go to their website and watching those videos make you feel like you know that team a little better.

I can't see Philly hoisting the Cup this year, Chicago is just playing scary hockey right now. I'm saying Chicago in 6. Jonathan Towes playing hero throughout the entire series. Remember the Olympics?

Today, I had the honour to meet Mike Danton. I had written to him at the beginning of the year for support and I had left my email address in it. It only took saying my name for him to remember me, which was pretty neat. It turns out that he had tried to email me back but it had bounced back to him. We were both leaving but he is coming back and said to make sure to hear him talk. I hear people said he was really inspirational, so I am so glad he is going out and speaking about his past. It's a great step in the right direction.

All my Best; Enjoy Life
Ryan Francis

May 7th, 2010

Time to sit down and blog about hockey?! No way, I haven't been able to that since, well April 23rd. Last time I posted only one team was packing up after a short playoff season, the New Jersey Devils. With all 1st round series' done, I finished at a questionable 50% for my predictions. 1 for 4 in the East (ouch) and 3 for 4 in the West. It was spectacular to watch Jaroslav Halak steal the show, and start history for the Habs 2010 season. All I can hope for now, is that he and the team can finish in a very memorable way. When predicting the Buffalo/Boston series, it was really the biggest crapshoot. The injury to Tomas Vanek really didn't help much for the Sabres. At least it has made for an entertaining 2nd round series vs. the Boston Bruins. Ottawa made things interesting but ultimately lost out. People mention the injuries to Michalek and Kovalev, but remember Filip Kuba was also out with an injury. He is a consistent d-man, that the Sens really could have used.

So onto the 2nd round, half of which is done. To be quite honest, I haven't caught as much hockey as I'd like to this series. I caught a nasty flu, and just general mayhem has insued. It's good though, it's life. There is not much point in predicting, so let's just sit back and enjoy the games. The Montreal/Pittsburgh series os tied at 2, who would have known. Detroit refuses to quit, although they really need to start in game 1, rather than the verge of elimination. Philadelphia just scored in first OT, the goal coming from Simon Gagne. That has forced a game 5. Now I just need to get to the remote an switch to CBC to see the Vancouver/Chicago game...

All my Best; Enjoy Life
Ryan Francis