'Nuck Off: Canucks 3, Sens 0

I'm going to level with you: I didn't really watch the whole Senators/Canucks game. It was boring. I missed the end of the first, all of the second, and some of the third playing NHL 2K9 on Wii, which I received for Christmas. (On the plus side, my Senators franchise team defeated the Islanders 5-2, although I have completely dismantled the team [assembling the best-ever power-forward line of Milan Lucic, Mike Fisher, and Dustin Penner in the process].)

Anyway, the Sens 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks was their twelfth consecutive, and it was far from pretty. Far from pretty. They barely managed 18 shots against Canucks backup Curtis Sanford, few of which were of the difficult variety. The powerplay was abysmal. Nothing really stands out positively on the score sheet.

From what I saw of the game, Dean McAmmond seemed to being some speed and energy to the game, although it didn't do much on or off the scoreboard. Antoine Vermette had three shots, but still isn't scoring. The penalty killing was perfect, including an extended 5-on-3 kill, but that's small consolation.

Bottom line: Ugly game, terrible road trip so far.

Nycholat traded to Vancouver for F Shannon

As I predicted, Sens GM Bryan Murray cleared some room on the Ottawa blue line today by trading Lawrence Nycholat to the Vancouver Canucks for winger Ryan Shannon.

Shannon went undrafted, but was signed by--wait for it--Bryan Murray when he worked for Anaheim in 2005 (Edit: Murray was already with the Sens when Shannon was signed. It just seems like something he'd do... he probably initiated the process. Thanks for the correction, MoJo). He's been up and down from AHL to NHL since then, having scored 20 points over his 80 career NHL games. He's averaging more than a point a game in the AHL, though, so Binghamton fans should be happy to see this trade as some much-needed offensive help.

He was re-signed by the Canucks in July to a one-year contract which NHLNumbers.com has estimated will pay him $605k. I'm not sure if the contract is a two-way deal, but wouldn't make much sense if it was one-way considering the Sens' current abundance of third- and fourth-line forwards.

EDIT: A story in the Ottawa Sun confirmed that Shannon's deal is indeed a two-way contract, and also noted that Nycholat had asked for a trade--probably so that the former AHL All-Star could get a more prominent role on an NHL defence corps.

Second Round Predictions

Well after going 7-1 in the first round you might say I'm fairly confident, but let's be realistic here... it wasn't exactly a round swimming in a pool of controversy. The better teams won for the most part, end of story. (Atlanta just didn't show up to play, good job Hossa! and frankly Dallas deserved to win that series but just lost discipline when it mattered, well that and Roberto had different plans.)

1 - Ottawa vs New Jersey

This is pretty much a 180 from what Ottawa faced in the first round. Instead of the potent offense and lack of playoff experience they found in Pittsburgh, they now face a team with dominant defense and oozing playoff experience (12 current Devils players have a stanley cup ring on their finger, 9 of those have more than just one.) Some might find that worrying, but Ottawa has come into their own this year, they may not have the rings to show their experience but they are certainly not playoff virgins by now. Can the Devil's defense shut down Alfie, Heater & Spezz? Maybe. Too bad Ottawa has more scoring depth than a hooker on New Year's.

Ottawa in six.

2 - Buffalo vs New York

So maybe New York CAN play hockey, who woulda known. If nothing else I'd watch one of these games just to see Sean Avery kick Andrew Peters' ass, and then score a goal. New York may have looked impressive against Atlanta, but that was more of the Thrashers looking down right horrible against the Rangers. Buffalo's just too stacked I'm afraid.

Buffalo in seven.

3 - Vancouver vs Anaheim

The 'Nucks - Stars series was possibly one of the most boring playoff series I can remember. I'm not sure if it was the All-Star goaltending on both sides or just that neither team could put the puck in the friggen net. Either way, I'd love to see an all-Canadian cup this year, but that's not gonna happen. Roberto is awesome but unless he suddenly is able to start shooting pucks into the Ducks net after he makes a save, Vancouver just doesn't have the offense to compete with Anaheim.

Anaheim in five.

4 - Detroit vs San Jose

There is always one series that I don't care about and this round it's this one. I could ramble on about Thornton, then ramble more about Hasek... but for me this series comes down to one thing. Will Hasek get tired of playing hockey and suddenly pull his groin? If he does then San Jose wins, if he doesn't then Detroit does.

Detroit in seven.

I would just like to take a final second to point out that Maggie the Monkey knows jack all about hockey. She may have picked the Edmonton - Carolina final last year... but she picked Pittsburgh over Ottawa this year! Seriously! Bad monkey! Good thing she's taken Ottawa this round.

Cheers, enjoy the Second Round.