http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/The Ultimate Fantasy Sports BlogCopywrite Rotowire.com 2009

• Maxime Talbot got both his wishes tonight -- he got to hoist the Cup and whisper "you picked the wrong team" while shaking Marian Hossa's hand.
  

• Sucks to be Ty Conklin, eh?

]]>http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DStanley%2DCup%2DGame%2D7-BBD1128.htmhttp://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DStanley%2DCup%2DGame%2D7-BBD1128.htmFri, 12 Jun 2009 09:00 PM 0000"That Kid just ain't right."

Earlier this series, the Pittsburgh faithful put out an APB for Sidney Crosby's favorite stick. But now, it seems there's a lot more to worry about.
]]>http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Whats%2Dup%2Dwith%2DSidney%2DCrosby-BBD1124.htmhttp://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Whats%2Dup%2Dwith%2DSidney%2DCrosby-BBD1124.htmThu, 11 Jun 2009 51:00 PM 0000

• Who's the better goalie -- Marc-Andre Fleury or Rob Scuderi? Kick save of the season.
  

• Whatever you do, DO NOT listen to the Penguins' radio broadcast team. If I hear another over-wrought, wildly tangential play call, I'm gonna drive to Pennsylvania myself with mp3s of real broadcasters. The volunteers who do junior games on cable up here are way better. WTF does "they have the turkey on the table" actually mean, any way?

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• The music guy in Joe Louis Arena should have been playing U2's With or Without You. All of a sudden, Pavel Datsyuk and the Hart trophy don't seem like such strange bedfellows any more.
  

• Marian Hossa is gripping his stick harder than the guy at the urinal who's just had someone speak to him. Stage fright is a terrible thing.

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• Is it me or are the Wings slowing down? The tank looks low after three in four and four in six. Henrik Zetterberg looks exhausted.

• Evgeni Malkin -- 23 points in his last 11 games. I'm telling you -- powered by borscht. I can't wait to see how good this guy can be. 

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• I was ready to award the Cup to the Wings after that second period. Sort of like a cat with a mouse. Or a dominatrix with the diapered guy she keeps in the barn. Ooops, sorry -- talking about my neighbour again. Got all mixed up there.
  

• And to think the metric system here in Canada gets criticized -- what about Pittsburgh math? I know how I count to five; I can fit them all on one hand AND the ice at the same time.

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• The Wings are to the Pens as synthetic oil is to conventional. Discuss.

• Scott Walker had his automatic one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of a game dropped to a measly $2,500 fine. What will Evgeni Malkin's be reduced to? I'm beginning to think the NHL rule book has pop-up pages you find in kids' books.
  

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• Henrik Zetterberg has a big butt. How else did the ref miss Zett's hand closing on the puck on Chris Osgood's back? Maybe he was staring like ol' Sir Mix-A-Lot. Blown call.
  

• Marc-Andre Fleury pulled the old 'how I lost the World Junior Championships for Team Canada' trick in the third, skating out to play the puck and almost flipping it straight into the oncoming Red Wing. At least he didn't trip leading his team onto the ice this year.

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• Cristobal Huet channelled both the Amazing Kreskin and Rubberboy with that on-his-belly, mind-over-matter leg save on Marian Hossa in the dying seconds of the third. He saved the game... at least for a few moments.
  

• Not that long ago, a shot off the backboards was considered a complete duffer. Now, it's good strategy. I have to tell my beer league buddies that -- we'd look mighty fine under those rules.

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• Beard comparison -- Eric Cole has more facial hair than Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and about half of the state of Pennsylvania. And those are the women.
  

• When was the last time you saw a team captain touch -- let alone pick up -- the conference trophy? I was stunned. They usually treat that thing like it's contagious.
  

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• Super Gino strikes again -- two goals and a helper this time. Evgeni Malkin credits his recent outstanding play to his parents' arrival from Russia and specifically his mother's homemade soup. You read that right. Gino is powered by borscht. He's full of beef, beets, beans, cabbage and potatoes. No wonder no one wants to go near him.
  

• And here Eric Staal thought finding a cab in Pittsburgh was tough. Try finding the net. Three games, no goals, one helper, minus-6 and 12 shots. Maybe Mrs. Malkin can help him, too.

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• It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's Super Gino! Evgeni Malkin was un-freaking-believable. That one-bull, pseudo wrap-around,  backhand shelf, solo goal for number three was absolutely stunning.
  

• It's hard to believe that it took Chris Kunitz 15 post-season games to pot his first goal. Ya, he's contributing in other ways but I expected more. You can't get a much better centerman than the one he has.

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• Ever notice how the cream always rises to the top? Jonathan Toews rebounded after a sub-par effort in Game 1. And he's only 20 years old. I'm telling you -- he's either channelling Steve Yzerman or Joe Sakic; take your pick. Either one carried his team like a sherpa.

• Weird stat. The Red Wings have allowed a power-play goal in in a franchise-record 11 straight playoff games. It's the league's longest streak during a single post-season in a couple of decades. Something like this could catch up to them at a really bad time.
  

]]>http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DTuesday%2DNight-BBD1051.htmhttp://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DTuesday%2DNight-BBD1051.htmTue, 19 May 2009 55:00 PM 0000

• A concussion led to a Carolina loss. Hear me out. Matt Cullen pulled up as a hit arrived and pitched the puck over the glass instead of out of the zone. Man advantage Pittsburgh and a 3-1 lead. He heard footsteps and flinched -- he needed to take the hit and get the puck out safely.
  

• Marc-Andre Fleury should have been sentenced to two years less a day for the kind of heists he pulled off, particularly with that glove.

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• Was it just me or did it seem as though the Hawks never really got out of their zone, at least after the 10 minute mark of the first? 

• Can you say deer in the headlights? Patrick Kane had zero shots on net. Jonathan Toews was a bit better -- he had three. But both were minus-3.

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• Drama, tension, intrigue -- now that's what Game 7s should be like. Oh how I wish the Caps-Pens game had followed the script of either of tonight's battles.

• What's up with Pavel Datsyuk? One goal in his last nine and five points in 11 games. He shook that can't score in the playoffs label last season but he's back at it this year. Which is the anomaly?

]]>http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DThursday%2D-BBD1039.htmhttp://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DThursday%2D-BBD1039.htmThu, 14 May 2009 37:00 PM 0000

• Sidney Crosby came to play; Alexander Ovechkin came to pout. I haven't seen that kind of petulance since Team Russia's loss at the World Junior Championships. Embarrassing.
  

• Remember -- Simeon Varlamov is a a 21-year-old kid. He'll be very, very good... some day. He's too young to have the kind of resilience needed to recover from two goals in an eight-second span.

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Alexander Edler joins Tom Poti in the own-goal hall-of-fame. Tough break for a guy with only two full seasons under his belt.

• Patrick Kane has some of the silkiest hands out there. He's going to make some woman very, very happy some day.

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• Own goals. Steve Smith is still at the top of the list but Tom Poti could end up right behind him. 

• Looked up freight train on Wikipedia; found Andrew Ladd's picture. That hit on Mattias Ohlund was devastating.

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• Sergei Gonchar zigged and ended up zagged... in a big way. Knee-on-knee? Yes and no. That zig turned it from a shoulder to a knee but when exactly do we blame the victim? Oh ya, when it's a superstar. Alexander Ovechkin isn't likely to face suspension.

• I think Simeon Varlamov got into the chewy candy because three, if not four, of those goals were mighty soft. Ditto Tim Thomas -- he wants a couple of those back. BTW, he hadn't lost three straight since October.

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• I completely forgot Mark Recchi was in these playoffs; how about you?

• I got a fever and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL. Those Canes' fans sure do a good job channelling Will Ferrell, bare midriffs and all. Shudder.

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• I've shown you mine now show me yours. You used to hear that on the school yard; now you hear it on the ice. I just wasn't expecting duelling hat tricks. Un-freaking believable. 

• The more I watch Evgeni Malkin, the less I like him. His dumb-arse penalty at 12:49 of the third swung the momentum in the Caps' favor. There's also the matter of Mr. Art Ross going goal-less in his last five games. The box scores sure lie -- those 11 points in eight playoff games are the hollowest points I've seen in a long time.
  

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• Box scores lie. Just take a look at the body of work of both Alexander Semin and Evgeni Malkin on Saturday. The former had two assists; the latter had one. But neither did squat during the game. Semin was benched most of the third and Malkin couldn't bother with a back check that resulted in a goal. Spit.

• Still don't believe that goaltenders rule the playoffs? Go to YouTube and search "Varlamaov save on Crosby" and "Luongo amazing save on Chicago." Go now. Come back and tell me I'm wrong.

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• When will the Flyers figure out that goaltending in the reason you win -- and lose -- in the playoffs? They do know the latter, that's for sure. Martin Biron couldn't steal a candy bar from a blind convenience store owner. Thank goodness for free agency.

• Dion Phaneuf was Phaneufed not once, not twice but easily a half-dozen times by the hungry Hawks, culminating in that Troy Brouwer smack that sent him to the room. Whiplash? The "Big C?" Don't count either out.
  

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• Roberto Luongo -- tweak or twang? He's keeping a stiff upper lip but that crotch of his seems to be tender. And we all know what that means for the Orcas. Ditto for Henrik Sedin -- lame after that last minute face-off in the third? They're starting to fall.
  

• Red Wings' fans are ingenious. It must have taken a full roll of Saran Wrap and a scent-challenged friend to help conceal that octopus from frisk-happy security guards. The thought of suction cups against the skin is repulsive and exciting, all at the same time.

• Marc Andre Fleury was flat-out ridiculous. He's the only reason the Pens won.
  

]]>http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DTuesday-BBD952.htmhttp://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Playoff%2DObservations%2D%2D%2D%2DTuesday-BBD952.htmTue, 21 Apr 2009 06:00 PM 0000