NLL Championship game and Stanley Cup playoffs

The NLL Champions Cup game between The Arizona Sting and Rochester Knighthawks was played earlier today. Early on it looked like Rochester was going to run away with the game as they took a 7-2 lead in the second quarter before Arizona scored a couple goals to make it 7-4 at the half. The score was 10-6 for the Knighthawks at the end of the third quarter but the Sting never quit. They kept fighting their way back, but in the end Rochester was just too strong. They prevailed in the end. winning 13-11 and their first championship since 1997. It was nice to hear the Arizona crowd respond and acknowledge the champions by cheering. Their cheering was in stark contrast to the reception given to the Buffalo Bandits and Bandits fans in Rochester two weeks ago and I applaud them for that. Many of the NLL players will be in Halifax, NS next week for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, then there will be the summer leagues starting at the end of the month. In the Major Series Lacrosse league, the Six Nations Chiefs begin their season on May 24, with their first home game on May 27. Unfortunately I'll miss the first home game as I'll be in Charlotte for NASCAR races. However, I hope to be there for their second game on June 2.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are not as interesting for me now that the San Jose Sharks were eliminated by the Detroit Red Wings. Our local team, the Buffalo Sabres, is still in the hunt for the Stanley Cup but lost the first game of the their Eastern Conference final series at home on Thursday. They were outplayed by the Ottawa Senators and will look to even the series when they play at home again tonight. In the Western Conference final series, Detroit took a 1-0 series lead at Anaheim on Friday night, winning the game 2-1. I have no favorites in either series. I’ll probably wait till the conference series are over and see who is playing in the Stanley Cup finals before I decide who I’ll cheer for.

Playoffs - Part Two (and the end)

In the span of about 10 days both of my teams have been eliminated from the playoffs. Both teams were up against tough opponents and came up short.

First, the Buffalo Bandits were eliminated from the NLL playoffs by the Rochester Knighthawks on April 27. The Knighthawks will play the Arizona Sting at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ on Saturday May 12 to determine the 2007 NLL champion. I’ll be watching the game at 4PM ET on Versus.

On Monday the San Jose Sharks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by a very tough Detroit Red Wings team. There were high expectations for this San Jose team especially after the way they played during the regular season. The first round of the playoffs, against Nashville, seem to confirm that the team was on the way to a long run in the playoffs. The second round against the Red Wings started off quite well, with a win for San Jose in the opening game in Detroit. It still looked okay when they won the first game in San Jose to take a 2-1 series lead. However, Detroit took control in game 4 and never looked back. The Sharks played tough, but it wasn’t enough. The Red Wings won the last three games to win the series 4-2. They now move on to play in the Western Conference finals vs the Anaheim Ducks starting on May 11. The Eastern Conference finals begin on May 10 with Ottawa playing at Buffalo.

You know you watch too much NASCAR if........

1. you refer to the car in front of you as your drafting partner
2. you see a Waste Management truck and think of Sterling Marlin
3. you pass by a Lowes or Home Depot and immediately think of Jimmie Johnson/Tony Stewart
4. you tell your spouse not to slide the tires when pulling into a parking space
5. you're not tailgating, you're bump-drafting
6. you're not speeding, you're qualifying
7. when somebody is trying to pass you, you refer to them as "inside, inside"
8. and when they get by it's "clear, clear, all clear"
9. people aren't braking, they're "checking up"
10. when traffic is slow you "back it down"