SaucyJack

Err…me no can count good. I need big sign near bed in morning which say (big font) : FOUR…*THEN* FIVE. (SIX LATER) Kinda like that old Far Side cartoon with the big bedroom sign saying: “First, pants. THEN shoes.”

Well don’t lose hope! Two storms converge on Tampa Bay on Wednesday for game 6. One, Elsa is bringing her rain and high winds from the south. Two, Allie (that is, Montre-Allie!) is bringing her determination and puck savvy from the north! These two whirlwinds meeting on Wednesday can lead to the Unpredictable!

To imagine this on Wimbledon Centre Court…the fireflies had match point on their own serve and failed to convert. Many a match has had cicadas come back to win afterwards! Well, the Capitals STILL remain the last team to get swept in the Finals, back in ‘98 when they got rolled by the Wings led by the NHL’s first Russkie Wave and Stevie “Wonder” Yzerman.

Most common question asked by TBL players of the hotel concierge: “So what’s the best way to kill 48+ hours in Montreal?”

Leah Hextall announced well in the recent NCAA Frozen Four. Haven’t heard about new TNT announcer decisions since Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk were named almost 2 months ago. The good thing about Melrose is that we get free frequent mentions of his small Saskatchewan hometown. Gotta have that regular Kelvington fix!

Yup I suppose. After losing the first game against the Nordiques in OT, Montreal won 10 of their 16 victories in OT, never losing in OT again. Especially killer was erasing a 1-0 Final deficit to Gretzky’s and Mullet Melrose’s LA Kings to win games 2,3, and 4 in OT. Call ‘em lucky, they knew how to play in the clutch. Let’s see if this 2021 batch can come back and adjust to last night’s manhandling.

Montreal has shown highly skilled offensive stick handling and quick effective shotmaking. Such a difference from my Capitals. They look to be a Team Of Destiny as was the ‘93 squad that won an unheard-of number of OT games and killed LA fans hopes of a Gretzky South Cup victory. (And killed the mullet style of one Barry Melrose.) These Quebec cicadas burrow out of the earth with ferociousness every once in a blue moon. But it’s little buggers winning no matter what, cicadas or lightning bugs (fireflies) but I’m on board The Train now… …Montrecicada Canadiennae overcome Photuris Tampabayana in 6. (The losers get impaled on little pins for display at some Natural History museum I guess.)

I had the game on my DVR and kept going forward and the score kept rising, Islandudez unable to bail water out of their sinking boat, so I saw virtually none of it. NHL app game highlights only for me. Others of a certain age were likely reminded of the 1991 finals where Mario Lemieux’s Penguins finally wore down a game Minnesota North Stars squad by seizing the Cup in an 8-0 Game Six blowout.

Not enough, I’m afraid! (Capitals’ Samsonov is now off the hook for the boneheadiest goalie gaffe of this year’s Cup-proceedings.)

I’ve been dying to have somebody follow this up with a joke about the goal mouth, but I suppose it wouldn’t be PG now would it? But, Habs leaving Vegas tied 1-1, seems as apt as Burt Reynolds saving Ned Beatty’s purty you-know-what, before the weird mountain kid could make things a dreadful 2-0.

Simpler than what was described in the first clip (4 win, 3 OT win, 2 shootout win, 1 for OT/shootout loss)... ...would be 3 win, 2 OT/SO win, 1 OT/SO loss. Then it’s a zero-sum game, all contests equal divvying out 3 points total. The league also has to cater to more casual customers who will attend a game in winter because, well, it is winter and it’s not MLB or NFL season. And those folks don’t find ties palatable. If every fan was “serious” about the league, and followed the regular season horse race with interest, ties would be A-OK. I remember the pre-2004-strike days, looking at the fine print scores in the newspaper, and seeing what the IHL did...extra point to an OT winner making some games 3 points, others 2. My immediate thought: BUSH LEAGUE! Nobody gives a doocr@p about the league’s horse race. When it was announced post-strike that the NHL would adopt the same, I groaned.

I think it was 2010, the 3rd year that the Ovenchicken Caps choked at playoff time, that I utterly broke down. Three decades of countless playoff chokes had evolved me to watching less regular season every season,but dutifully viewing their annual spring meltdown. After 2010 it was barely watch regular season, just read the WaPo articles now and then and maybe an occasional game highlight. Playoff watching remained a mandatory viewing assignment, less a joy than a solemn duty. Then the unimaginable 2018 run of luck and skill to a Cup, probably the only one they’ll win in a century of toil. After that I watched a bit more regular season, able to enjoy it knowing that no matter what, the lads didn’t go 0 for 100. The mostly meaningless fluff was at least fun and no longer an utter waste of hope. Yes if you want sport in a true sense then watch playoffs only. NHL, NBA, MLB, College Hoops being the main ones in that category.

Entomologists keep having to reassess whether this group of pests (to other clubs, perhaps going beyond that) qualify as cicadas. Yes, yes, recognized cicadas, such as this past month’s outburst of Brood X centered in the DC/Maryland/Virginia region, are all either 13 or 17 year cycle. Suspicions arose in 1993 after Montreal captured the Cup in three successive 7-year cycles (‘79, ‘86, ‘93). To then upset the Capitals and Penguins as an 8 seed in 2010, on a standard 17-year cycle from their prior success in 1993, raised eyebrows in the science world. Now, what to make of yet another cycle, another prime number cycle of 11 years, repeating similar success here in 2021 as they did on 2010. My sources in the insect study community reveal to me the great excitement, mixed with consternation, now prevailing. I am told that an ever-growing minority of experts believe this warrants declaration of not just a new species, but a new genus as well: Montrecicada Canadiennae We shall keep our eyes and ears open for more on these ground-breaking scientific developments!

“What happens in Vegas, stays in V...er, never mind!”

As much as I hated seeing that hit, and how Evans’ head turned going down, I agree. In real time, my thought was that unless a Jet can get in there quickly to body check (not stick check) the Montreal player, it’s the game-clinching empty-netter. In this case they were pretty much coming at the worst (180 degree) angle.

Maybe ice hockey needs soccer’s Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to concurrently examine videotape of suspected transgressions as play on the ice continues, then contact the on-ice ref to stop play if VAR officials feel a change in call is appropriate. Nice in theory, I think it has been a good thing for soccer. But...the pace of ice hockey is so much faster that the ability to real-time review an incident before too much else happens on the ice would be more difficult. A team is more likely to have scored before VAR review is complete in hockey than in soccer. Maybe only fixable by better standard refereeing, then (?)

Yeah. That winning goal by Goodrow in game 1 on the narrow angle shot scoring per tons of space by the post and plenty of time for the Canes’ goalie to set himself...I then figured for Canes to win, even in 7, was a tough chore.

Of course, for viewers in USA, the network just had to show (early in 2nd period) the Canadiens game 7 winner against Washington in 2010, winning after being down 3-1 in games. In the next 4 minutes, Montreal scores, then Price robs a Leaf on what looked to be a sure tally. J-I-N-X-E-D ‘-E-M

Ever notice how ‘unexpected’ breakaways in the normal course of play score far more often than in shootouts? I think the shooter has less time to think about it so screws up less. I think the goalie has less time to prepare and screws up more than in a shootout. Anyhoo great shot by Cizikas on tonight’s OT breakaway winner for the Isles. My Boston in Five pick was looking up after the two Brewski goals in the last 10 minutes but now a longshot for sure, glad I didn’t place a dime on it anywhere.

Did I see Mike Cammalleri on the ice for the Habs tonight? Maybe it was an illusion cuz this is starting to look like the infamous #1 Caps and Ovie blow 3-1 first round game lead to #8 Montreal in April 2010 debacle.

One of my first cousins and her kids live in Twin Cities area and have been, well, call it “medium-suffering” Wild fans for a while. Before COVID they’d make a yearly Facebook post of them at the (probably) one game they attended live that year. Darn I had a good FB post to throw up on her wall had they overcome Vegas. “go wild! what a golden night! avoiding capitals to improve your luck next round!” Wasted opportunity dang it...

Canes had the savvy when it counted those last 2 games against the Preds. Tie it late in the 3rd, put ‘em away early in OT. I don’t follow teams anywhere near as closely as many of you do, so I don’t know how much the Canes have changed in 2 years. But they left an impression in those 2019 playoffs when they took 4 of the last 5 from the Cup-defending Caps (who were far better than now in 2021) including a game 7 OT winner... ...I recall that the Canes’ back-checking was often so uber-intense that frequently a Capital in puck possession couldn’t make an adequate shoulder turn to make an effective pass much less a shot. So they then swept NYI before being swept by Brewskis, then mauled by Brewskis again in 2020...still this team seems to have been a-brewin’ about a bit themselves, in recent years. Time for them to shine here, so they can revenge those Brewskis next round.

Started watching game 4 near end of regulation. Seemed very even, got the feeling it would not have been a miracle for Edmonton to win and make a serious comeback in the series. Always great to listen to Caps radio guy John Walton when he announces a gig for NBCSN. Too bad he only does the “Good Morning! Good Afternoon! And Good Night!” spiel for the Caps (been ages, though ) and not for that triple OT winner from the Jets’ Kyle Connor.

Not to ruin a good Caps Playoffs Futility story, but I forgot they lost to the Canes in 7, not 5, in 2019. (They lost 4 of the last 5 making this yet another series they lost being up 2 games for which they are specialists.) OK, they’re 21-20 in this period, not 19-20. (5-12 since the Cup.) Give ‘em one more year to lose a first-rounder by 4-2 or worse to get them under .500 since and including 2018’s 16-8 run.