And finally, it is friday.

After a week's worth of waiting, the final day is here. In less than an hour the start of what will undoubtably be an epic series awaits, and with it comes the possibility of a chance to stand on the Cup stage...or take a jump off a cliff at being defeated by the Flyers.

I'm not going to do a finals preview (especially not after Steph's Wings/Stars dazzling post!), everyone knows what this final is going to be about. Physical, chippy play, breakout plays and solid goaltending; all the makings of a super conference final. If your stomach isn't in knots, you had better figure out what's going on.

Want a nice preview? Check out these bad boys (and girls!):
Empty Netters (solid as always)
The Pensblog (essential)
The Sidney Crosby Show (anything and everything you ever wanted to know about Sid)
Going Five Hole (great collection from around the web)
And, of course, NHL.com has a nice spread up.

Enemy territory more your thing?:
Flyers.Femme and Eager to go Psycho, my HLOGin' sistas
The 700 Level (pretty solid Philly blog)

Honestly, that's about as deep as I went into Philly territory this round. I get enough lore from the fans around here, asked for or otherwise.

Being a big fan of the lolcats site, I was pleased to see this version pop up on the net. Go there. Love it. (big thanks to The Pensblog for that particular gem)

Now it's almost time to drop the puck, and I have to venture out into the bar world with Flyers fans. Only one thing left to do:

Go Pens.


EDIT: Thank you, Blogger, for posting this a day late. Sheesh.

I'll pretend it didn't happen if you will.

Yeah, yeah, I watched it. On the Wings did a really nice recap that mine would probably not measure up to since I was also trying desperately to finish homework and cook dinner, but the couple points I have are:

• If you really want to know what my recap would have looked like, scroll back two or three entries, and read every instance of "Flames" as "Wings".
• Philly absolutely dominated us size-wise. This doesn't usually seem to be such a problem for us, but it was definitely damaging last night.
• Joey MacDonald continues to look good (despite always seeming to suffer little breakdowns in the third) but why is it that in front of a goalie like Hasek we play crazy defensive hockey to the point that the announcers are always commenting on how little work he has to do and how few shots other teams get off on us - and then we put the kid in the net and all bets are off?

Out of curiosity, anyone have any opinions on the Wings seeming to fall fairly often to teams we expect them to beat with ease? I really don't have any ideas myself, unless it's some sort of overconfidence thing, but I've noticed it happening a lot - the teams we expect to be shoe-in victories (St. Louis, Philidelphia, Columbus) have been teams that have hung us out to dry with a decent enough regularity to make me point it out. (Or is it just that I'm just overplaying this because they're teams everyone expects us to beat?)

Boston takes on the Oilers tonight and Elly's down at the game - all I have to say is (while I do love Boston) GOILERS!

(And of course a bit of GO LEAFS GO!)

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PS just in case there's anyone in the hockey blogosphere who hasn't seen this yet...

The NHL will never cease to provide amazing commercials, will they?

Hey all. This is my first attempt at posting in this blog, so we'll see how it goes. Blogger and I have not made friends as of yet.

A few things:

1. Sidney was pulled during the Flyers game due to a groin injury. I am sure that Therrien knows what he's doing, but I really hope that he is telling the fans the truth and that Sid is okay. We may only have him for another season, I want to see him as much as possible with a Penguin on his chest. (Hey, that's not a phrase you hear every day)

2. The Flyers are not flying so well. Now, as a long-time Pens fan, I am not crying myself to sleep over this, but it is a bit disconcerting to see the always brutal Philidelphia coming up lame this year. Since I am pretty much the only Penguins fan in the Green Mountains (I think there might be 4 others, thank you John LeClair for coming west), I am enjoying this to its fullest and rubbing it in the face of every single Flyers fan I find. Trust me, after Johnny's tour with them, there are a good amount to choose from. According to NHL.com, the Flyers are facing some hard decisions. Resign Forsberg? Try to trade and see what comes up? I don't envy the fans watching their team slide to the basement. I know how they feel.

3. Canes v Rangers tonight. I am not sure which one I want to lose more.

4. Calgary v Edmonton tonight. Battle of the goaltenders. With Kipper being better than sliced bread, and Roloson being...well...amazing, it will be interesting to see how the offense gets past these two. Since I have love for both teams (yes, I know, shhh), it is probably a good thing that I will not be able to watch the game tonight. I don't know who I would want to win and I do not have enough beer to help me with that decision.

5. Clash of the black and gold. Next Penguins game is Wednesday, against the local boys, the Bruins. I really hope NESN is showing it. Why can't I be rich and order Center Ice?

6. I haven't heard anything lately about he of the luscious tattoos, Ryan Malone. How is his arm coming along?


Now that I have wasted time figuring out this program a bit, I am going to do dishes and go visit my mother for Thanksgiving. I love going home, free food and I don't have to pay to do my laundry. Go Pens!