Nearing the one week mark until my game in Dallas with my Philadelphia Flyers in town. So stoked. Trying to decide which jersey to wear. Pronger or Richards? Probably Richards. I can only hope the next seven days pass quickly.
Well, after last night's Chara debacle, another debacle was completely thrown to the side. Last night the Tampa Bay Lightning's Pavel Kubina followed through with an elbow (video below) to the head of Blackhawk Dave Bolland. Bolland appeared to be ok other than he seemed a bit stunned. He left the game after the first period and didn't return. I wouldn't doubt he had a bad headache, but you can't rule out a concussion. The "C" word of hockey is never pretty to see. Unlike Max Pacioretty, I don't think Bolland will miss the entire season.
The difference between Chara and Kubina is that Kubina will be receiving a suspension. The NHL handed out three games to Kubina for his elbow. It does appear when watching the video in slow motion that Kubina kind of reached out to elbow Bolland. Whether it was intentionally held out for the elbow is debatable. The odd thing is the NHL usually hands out suspensions when injuries are involved. Pacioretty's injury was brutal. Bolland skated a bit and then left. A lot of people argue that it takes injuring someone, not the intent, to get suspended. Here's an example where that wasn't the case.
Regardless, it's ugly and you can only hope that Bolland will be able to return to the Blackhawks as soon as possible.
* Results *
It seems like a running gag at this point: I've managed yet another fairly mediocre night. My record for tonight flip flopped from last night from 3-4 to 4-3. The games I didn't choose correctly had two underdogs beating the superior team and then just my picking of one mediocre team over another not working out. The Canucks and Sharks game lived up to it's hype with a 5-4 Canucks win via shootout. The Flyers continued to get out of their rut with a 3-2 victory over the Leafs which included one of the funniest goals I've seen. Mikhail Grabovski scored by having a Dion Phaneuf slap shot deflect off a Flyer stick and ricocheted off his visor into the net(video below). He's very lucky he was wearing one of those tonight. The Flyers hung on for their second in a row after losing four straight. Following the video is the results for Thursday. Enjoy.
3/11/2011 - Thursday
Sabres at Bruins : Pick - Bruins : Result -- 4-3 Sabres : Wrong (SO/L) : 117-96
Flyers at Maple Leafs : Pick - Flyers : Result -- 3-2 Flyers : Correct : 118-96
Senators at Panthers : Pick - Panthers : Result -- 2-1 Senators : Wrong : 118-97
Canadiens at Blues : Pick - Canadiens : Result -- 4-1 Blues : Wrong : 118-98
Wild at Predators : Pick - Predators : Result -- 4-0 Predators : Correct : 119-98
Flames at Coyotes : Pick - Coyotes : Result -- 3-0 Flames : Correct : 120-98
Canucks at Sharks : Pick - Canucks : Result 5-4 Canucks : Correct (SO/W) : 121-98
=Dumbest Pick of the Night=
Senators at Panthers : It's really a battle of horrible teams, but I had a feeling initially that Ottawa would win this game. They've been playing hockey to eke out any respect they can earn. I like Ottawa better than Florida generally and would have taken this one back. Stupid pick.
=Hardest Pick of the Night=
Canucks at Sharks : Both clubs are stacked. I went with Vancouver just based off their recent hot run. I lucked out with this one.
=Easiest Pick of the Night=
I don't think any of my correct picks were easy really. I'd say Flyers at Maple Leafs, but after last week's loss to Toronto and Philly's recent struggles, it could have easily been a dumb pick. No easy ones tonight.
=Shoulda, Coulda, Didn't Game of the Night=
Canadiens at Blues : I was thinking about going with the Sabres and Bruins, but this one is more obvious. Montreal is a far superior team and gunning for a playoff spot. The Blues have packed it up for the year for the most part. Halak stymied his old team and lead the Blues to a huge win. Montreal needs points and this should have been easy money.
=Most Impressive Pick of the Night=
Wild at Predators : I was down the middle with this one but just used my wits. Minnesota is a good team but they're so wild when it comes to consistency. Using that range of thinking, I went with the Preds. It paid off with a huge 4-0 Nashville victory. I had to pat myself on the back for this one.
* Picks *
Eight games for your pleasure tonight. The only that appears to be very close is the Hurricanes at Capitals. Should be a fun Southeast Division match there. I'd consider the rest to have serious favorites in all of them. Here's what I like for Friday.
Bruins at Islanders ==> Bruins
Hurricanes at Capitals ==> Capitals
Kings at Blue Jackets ==> Kings
Oilers at Red Wings ==> Red Wings
Senators at Lightning ==> Lightning
Devils at Thrashers ==> Devils
Wild at Stars ==> Stars
Ducks at Avalanche ==> Ducks
Night!
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