Off Wing Opinion

So, who do you think will win the Cup? If you give me the right answer, you'll win bragging rights and a whole lot more.

The rules are fairly simple, and here's how it works:

Send me your pick to win the Stanley Cup by email (emcerlain-at-hotmail-dotcom). I'll list every entry I receive in the left hand margin, like so. And if you have a blog, I'll embed a link to it in your entry:

Chris McMurtry: Ottawa

As teams get eliminated, I'll indicate their departure with a strikethrough over incorrect entries. For example:

Chris McMurtry: Ottawa

That continues until we get to a winner sometime toward the end of June. Since we'll probably have a number of folks who have picked the Stanley Cup Champion, I'll conduct a random drawing from the winning entries to determine a Grand Prize Winner. After consultation with the winner, I'll make a $50 donation in honor of the Grand Prize Winner to the charity of their choice.

And best of all, if you win, you'll be immortalized on the left nav bar along with previous winners Gregg Simon and Josh Crockett.

Easy enough? One last detail -- just get me your entry to me by e-mail by 5:30 p.m. U.S. EDT on April 11, 2007, the opening night of the playoffs.

Now get to it, get you pick in, and you may be able to do some good.

Welcome to Verizon Center for the very last game of the 2006-07 regular season as the Caps host the Buffalo Sabres. I'm in the press box and Ellen Blanchard is down low on the glass with the camera.

Before I get started, I wanted to take a moment to thank Ted Leonsis and everyone at the Washington Capitals for making me feel so welcome this season. It's been an incredible experience, and everyone inside the organization made me feel more than welcome over the course of the season, and didn't treat me any differently than any other member of the media.

It's a real testament to the Caps and the way they approach the business of hockey that they extended me this privilege in the first place, and that same privilege has now been extended to so many others here in the Washington area. Last Tuesday night, I counted seven bloggers inside the box. And while that seems like a lot, it's only a scratching the surface of what I believe is the most vibrant group of local hockey bloggers in the league.

Once this team starts winning, and that day will come, the team's efforts online -- which are already bearing fruit -- will pay off in an even more dramatic fashion.

And speaking of those bloggers, don't forget the post game party that J.P. has put together at Clyde's beginning at 4:00 p.m. Please RSVP if you intend to come. Ellen and I will be there, along with many of the usual suspects.

Now, for the last time, here are your game previews:

NHL.com
Mike Vogel
Japers' Rink
Caps Chick
Caps Nut
The Peerless Prognosticator
Puckhead

And for those of you wondering, there are lots of Sabres fans here this afternoon.

Off Wing's Man Of The Night: Martin Brodeur
48th win of the season breaks Bernie Paret's record

BUF 4 BOS 2: Vanek (2G, A), Roy (G, A). Bergeron (G).
CLB 2 DAL 1 (OT): Nash (GWG OT), Malhorta (G). Barnes (G).
NYR 3 MON 1: Jagr (G, A), Lundqvist (25 S). Souray (G).
NJD 3 PHI 2: Brodeur (34 S), Brylin (G, A). Gagne (G, A).
NYI 5 TOR 2: Sillinger (G, A), Dubielewicz (28 S). Colaiacovo (G, A).
PIT 3 OTT 2: Talbot (G), Fleury (35 S). Spezza (G, A).
MIN 3 EDM 0: Gaborik (G), Carney (G), Backstrom (22 S).
NAS 4 STL 1: Legwand (2G), Forsberg (G). Backman (G).
CHI 3 DET 2 (SO): Sharp (GWG SO), Khabibulin (56 S). Calder (G).
PHO 3 LAK 2: Roenick (G, A), Morris (2A). Cammalleri (G, A).
COL 3 VAN 1: Hejduk (3G), Stasny (3A). Salo (G).
SJS 4 CAL 3: Michalek (G, A), Thornton (2A). Iginla (2G, A).

OFF THE ICE
"Ice Girls" Flap Done, Newsday
Why You Should Watch The Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bleacher Report
NHL Product Highly Entertaining, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Cup Finals One Year, Miss Playoffs The Next, Edmonton Journal
Top Season-Ending Games To Watch, SI.com

HOCKEY VIDEO: Check out a "my NHL" promo from a while back:

RANDOM HOCKEY BLOG GENERATOR
The Puck Stops Here
Washington Caps Legends
Bruins Nation
hershey Bears Alumni
Ted's Hockey Emporium

TONIGHT'S SCHEDULE: (All times ET)
7:00PM ATL at CAR SS, FSS
8:00PM FLO at TBL SUN
8:30PM ANA at DAL FSPT, FSSW

AHL SCOREBOARD: (NHL affiliates in parentheses)
Syracuse (CLB) 5 Hamilton (MON/EDM) 1

NCAA FROZEN FOUR SCOREBOARD:
Maine 2 Michigan State 4
North Dakota 4 Boston College 6

National Championship
Saturday 04/07, 7:00PM ET: Michigan State vs. Boston College
Game can be seen on ESPN

Here are my most recent entries over at the NHL Fanhouse:

Olde Time Hockey Fight of the Day: Caps vs. Bruins
Even Ice Girls Can't Cover Up What's Wrong on Long Island
Last Goal for Jeremy Roenick?

Remember, there's both the NHL Fan House main page, and a page that features just my posts.

Off Wing's Man Of The Night: Alexander Ovechkin
Two goals in 3-2 victory over Atlanta

WAS 3 ATL 2: Ovechkin (2G), Gordon (G, A). Kovalchuk (G).
SJS 3 ANA 2 (SO): Clowe (GWG SO), Goc (2A). McDonald (G, A).

OFF THE ICE
Method To NHL Enforcer Madness?, USA Today
Sabres Set Sales Pace For NHL, Business First
Revisiting The NHL Awards Race, ESPN
The East's Last-Second Scramble, The Phanatic Magazine
Weekly NHL Rankings, CP

HOCKEY VIDEO: The Plays of the Week:

RANDOM HOCKEY BLOG GENERATOR
BFLOblog
Boltsmag
Girl With A Puck
Sabre Rattling
American Hockey Fan

TONIGHT'S SCHEDULE: (All times ET)
7:00PM MON at NYR RDS, MSG
7:00PM BOS at BUF NESN, MSG
7:00PM DAL at CLB FSSW, FSOH
7:00PM NJD at PHI FSNY, CSP
7:30PM TOR at NYI RSN, FSNY2
7:30PM PIT at OTT FSPI, A Ch
8:00PM STL at NAS FSMW, FSS
8:00PM EDM at MIN RSW, KSTC
8:30PM DET at CHI FSD, CSNC
10:00PM COL at VAN ALT, CPPV
10:00PM LAK at PHO FSPT, FSAZ
10:30PM CAL at SJS RSW, FSBA

AHL SCOREBOARD: (NHL affiliates in parentheses)
Portland (ANA) 4 Hartford (NYR) 7
Manitoba (VAN) 2 Omaha (CAL) 3
Grand Rapids (DET/EDM) 1 Syracuse (CLB) 3
Manchester (LAK) 5 Worcester (SJS) 3
Hershey (WAS) 1 Binghamton (OTT) 4
Bridgeport (NYI) 0 Philadelphia (PHI) 3
Toronto (TOR) 3 Rochester (BUF/FLO) 5
Albany (CAR/COL) 2 Springfield (TBL) 3
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (PIT/EDM) 3 Norfolk (CHI) 1

I've been pretty busy helping Jamie Mottram get the NHL Fanhouse off the ground over at AOL. Here's a selection of what I've posted over the past few hours:

Hockey Fight of the Day
Do the Rangers Hate the Ice Girls?
More on the Ice Girls
Wilson Dings Selanne for Illegal Stick
Mrs. Gretzky Strikes Back at the Media

Remember, there's both the NHL Fan House main page, and a page that features just my posts. Be sure to check them out soon.

Welcome to tonight's game. I will be covering my last game of the season, as I'll be home in Massachusetts this coming weekend for Easter break. Eric is here with me, and Kate McGovern is down on the glass taking pictures. It's Police and Fire Night here at the Verizon, so hopefully the Caps can honor them with a strong showing.

Tonight's matchup is basically a battle of the worst in the Southeast Division. Washington needs to win 2 of its last 3 games to match last year's total of 70 points. This will be the 8th and last meeting between the two teams this season. The Caps took the first 2 games of the series, but Florida has dominated since then, winning the last 5 meetings by a combined score of 26-14. So I'll be looking for a relatively high-scoring game tonight. Tonight's game has no playoff bearing whatsoever, so it will be interesting to see how much intensity the teams play with.

I take a look at the frustrating sophomore season of Alex Ovechkin.

I think that by now most of you have noticed that things have been a little quieter than usual here at Off Wing over the past few weeks. The reason, one which has been aired elsewhere over the course of the weekend, is the expansion of AOL's successful Fanhouse blog project to include the NHL.

A number of months ago the man behind the Fanhouse, Jamie Mottram, first raised the question of me becoming the lead blogger for the NHL Fanhouse. Over the course of several months we batted the idea around, eventually coming to the conclusion that with Jamie's workload being what it was that the Stanley Cup Playoffs were probably the best time to get started outside of the start of the regular season.

But once I agreed to become lead blogger, I had to tackle a more difficult task: Just who would I ask to join our team? Though I would have loved to have had more slots to fill, AOL's budget only made provision for five other bloggers in addition to myself.

After some quick consultations, I settled on this group: James Mirtle, Jon "J.P." Press of Japers' Rink, Tyler Dellow of mc79 Hockey, Tom Luongo of Sabre Rattling and Jes Gőlbez of Hockey Rants.

One thing is for sure when you're restricted to so few slots: The NHL Fanhouse is all killer and no filler. It's a great team, and one I'm proud to be a part of.

In any case, what this means in the near term is that I'm going to be spending a lot of time over at the NHL Fanhouse, and I hope you do too. If all you're looking for are my contributions, click here.

So what does this mean for Off Wing in the long term? I'm not sure. I do know that I'll still be posting here as often as possible, as will Eric Caterina and Joe Dumas. We still have a pair of Caps home games on the schedule next week, so we'll be at both of those, with photographers on the glass and video from the locker room.

And speaking of photography, the folks taking pictures for Off Wing, Allen Clark, Ellen Blanchard and Kate McGovern have set up a virtual photo agency to sell the pics that they've taken this season. You can find their virtual agency at the following address: http://www.photoshelter.com/user/offwing.

Speaking of video, if there's one regret I have after spending a year with a press pass, it's that I didn't purchase my digital camera any sooner than I did. As of late Sunday night, my interview with Donald Brashear had been viewed more than 8,000 times. My conversation with hockey fans about fighting had been seen more than 2,000 times as well.

Needless to say, I think there's a lot of potential in Web video, and I'll be doing all I can over the next two Caps home games to get some compelling footage. And you can count on seeing me brining that camera into the D.C. United locker room this Summer to see where else we might be able to take this.

Just to recap, here's where you can find me on the Web:

Off Wing Opinion: http://offwing.com
The NHL Fanhouse: http://nhl.aolsportsblog.com
Winging It: http://www.nbcsports.com/nhl/1247265/detail.html
The NHL on NBC Blog: http://www.nbcsports.com/nhlonnbc/blog/
Videos on Daily Motion: http://www.dailymotion.com/emcerlain

So, the bottom line is this: Things are changing again. And I think that's a good thing. Thanks for sticking with us, and thanks for reading Off Wing.

Off Wing's Man Of the Night: Johnathan Cheechoo
Hat trick dethrones Kings in 6-2 effort

DET 4 CLB 1: Holmstrom (2G), Lebda (G, A). Nash (G).
CHI 2 EDM 1: Ruutu (G), Sharp (G). Torres (G).
NJD 3 BOS 1: Pandolfo (2G), Madden (2A). Kalus (G).
CAR 4 FLO 3 (OT): Whitney (GWG OT, A), Brind'Amour (G, A). Stumpel (2G).
SJS 6 LAK 2: Cheechoo (3G), Thornton (4A). Frolov (G).
NYR 7 TOR 2: Avery (2G, A), Jagr (G, 2A). Ponikarovsky (G).

OFF THE ICE
New Reebok Hockey Stick Catching On In NHL, AP
Answers To NHL Final-week Questions, USA Today
Ex-Star Peterson Nominated For NHL Award, Des Moines Register
NHL Owner Brings Hockey To Afghanistan, CP
Angling For A Fight On And Off The Ice, The New York Times

HOCKEY VIDEO: When playoff time rolls around, few sports have more passionate fans than hockey. Once the postseason starts, it's a new season for 16 of the NHL's teams- and every fan believes their team can hoist the Stanley Cup in the end. Check out just how crazy things got on this street in Vancouver after the Canucks eliminated the Blues from the playoffs in 2003:

RANDOM HOCKEY BLOG GENERATOR
Do Thrashers Have Large Talons?
Covered In Oil
Southeast Shootout
Orland Kurtenblog
The Penalty Killer

TONIGHT'S SCHEDULE: (All times ET)
8:00PM STL at DAL VS.

AHL SCOREBOARD: (NHL affiliates in parentheses)
Albany (CAR/COL) 2 Bridgeport (NYI) 4
Toronto (TOR) 4 Hamilton (MON/EDM) 1
Hartford (NYR) 2 Manchester (LAK) 4
Springfield (TBL) 2 Portland (ANA) 3
Lowell (NJD) 1 Providence (BOS) 2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (PIT/EDM) 3 Hershey (WAS) 2
Peoria (STL) 0 San Antonio (PHO) 1
Syracuse (CLB) 4 Binghamton (OTT) 1
Manitoba (VAN) 0 Iowa (DAL/EDM) 1

The Associated Press has reported that,

Claude Julien was fired as New Jersey Devils coach Monday and replaced by general manager Lou Lamoriello with less than a week to go in the regular season.

When has winning become not enough? In his first season as Devils head coach Julien has led the Devils to a 47-24-8 record, good enough for 2nd place in the East with 3 games to go. So what's the rationale to can him now? At least give him the rest of the season. Three more regular season games followed by the playoffs isn't nearly enough time to install a new system that would significantly alter the team's playing style.

In short, there's no legitimate reason to fire Julien at this point of the season, short of it being a "conflict of ideologies" between Julien and Lamoriello. And if that is the case, I'd hope both would think of the best interests of the team and organization and suck it up for another month in order for the Devils to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

So it will be interesting to see what people say when its all over. Will Lamoriello be a genius for booting Julien and leading the Devils to the Cup, or will he be a moron for booting Julien and ruining their chances?