In this extreemly long postseason, there is only one series left.

Tonite Detroit finished off Dallas, and we're looking at a Cup Final between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguines. The series starts Saturday nite.

Just a quick shoutout to Dallas' season. I didn't expect them to make the conference finals this year, and the run may have rejuvineted that franchise at a time where they may have started to lose some fans. I was very impressed with their fans in the playoffs. One side of the lower level stood for the majority of the games, including the 4 OT marathon in game 6 v. the Sharks.

Detroit should run away with this series. They're playing excellent hockey. Pittsburgh is playing well too, so maybe I'm a bit too hasty with my quick judgement. But I think the Wings win. At any rate, I hope it is exciting. I didn't find much reason to watch much of the Conference Finals. I only caught bits and pieces of Wings v. Stars, and I'd like to be interested in this series.

The NHL gets Sidney Crosby in the Final, so that's good for the league supposedly. NBC will get to air more Penguins this season. And we're guaranteed that a traditional hockey city will win the Cup this year, breaking the string of 3 straight southern teams coming away with Lord Stanley.

And in Wild news, Thug Nation Numeral Uno will be playing in Russia next season. GREAT TRADE DEADLINE MOVE MR. REISBROUGH!

Since the Wild were eliminated, it's been tougher this year than others to get into the playoffs. That said, I did watch most of the Dallas/SJ 4 overtime game on Sunday. I watched most of the game, then 3 of the overtimes, and decided I can't stay awake through another intermission and who knows how much hockey. So I set the DVR and watched the 4th OT as I got ready for work. Thank goodness it ended when it did...I almost had to FFwd to the game winner. Incidentally, what a great game! Both goalies were stellar in the OTs, including an unbelievable save by Nabokov in the 1st (I think) OT. Congrats to the Stars for finishing the series and pulling another upset. And to Brendan Morrow...would love to have him on our team.

On to my thoughts about the finals...

Pittsburgh Penguins v. Philadelphia Flyers
It's been a pretty magical run for the Flyers. They've played tough in this playoff, beating Washington and then ousting #1 seeded Montreal. For the Pens, they've only lost 1 game so far in the playoffs, sweeping Ottawa and losing only 1 to the NY Rangers. This could be a good series. Can Philly's bruisers take it to Pitt's talented forwards? I think this will go long, and I think the Pens will outlast the Flyers. We know one thing...the state of Pennsylvania will have a team in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Detroit Red Wings v. Dallas Stars
Detroit had to work a little to get by Nashville in the 1st round, but had an easy go against Colorado. Dallas pulled upsets against teams from their own conference in both rounds, Anaheim and then San Jose. How will they do against a team from another conference, and one that has not had to play seemingly 50 periods of overtime hockey? I gotta say it's been fun watching Dallas overachieve, but I think Detroit's the better team here and is playing real well right now. Detroit wins...Sorry Matt.

It's been a while since I last posted...so here's a recap of where the playoffs are at. Philadelphia has ousted Montreal. Detroit obliterated Colorado (typical). Pittsburgh is about to finish off New York Rangers, and San Jose has won the last 2 to make a series v. Dallas.

I can't say I've watched too much of the playoffs since the Wild lost, but I have picked up enough of Stars v. San Jose to know that that series could easily be San Jose up 3-2 or even already over in SJ's favor, or already over with Dallas winning. The games have been tight. Dallas has won 2 OT games, SJ has won 1. It has been the most competitive, which is why it was odd that Dallas was up 3-0. Dallas has another chance tonite to close this series out, but SJ has a bunch of momentum. Stars fans have to hope they haven't used up all their great play over the first month of the playoffs...

Pittsburgh also has a chance to close out the Rangers this afternoon, in Pittsburgh, on NBC. (What? the Pens and the Rangers are on NBC? That's so different!) I think this one is over today.

Philly is back in the Eastern Conference Finals, a year after accumulating only 22 wins in the entire season. Very impressive. Hey Wild!

Lastly, Detroit absolutely manhandled Colorado, sweeping a series that culminated in a 8-2 drubbing in Colorado. All-world against the Wild, Jose Theodore came back to earth, yanked 3 times in this series. In fairness, the Avs were hit with a bunch of injuries. Wild fans can sympathize there, but I'm not sure if I'm happy because Colorado was handled so easily, or more disappointed because it shows the Wild played down to their competition and simply lost to a team that they were better than.

The Conference Finals are setting up to be pretty exciting. We're getting down it!