HOCKEY MATTERS

What you were chewing over while wondering why a ball hockey game never breaks out in your neighbourhood.

Today, we're learning about Cuba, and havin' some food. Actually, I'm looking ahead at the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and breaking news -- Hockey Canada seems to be getting its comeuppance. Again.

NHL PLAYOFFS DAY 15

7 p.m., SABRES vs. SENS: As noted yesterday, this might be the best second-round matchup Ottawa could have hoped for, due the Sabres' inexperience, not to mention Buffalo's high-risk, high-reward style of play, which is why Ottawa won't get extended to a Game 7. Expect a lot of 2-on-1s coming out of Ottawa's end. Good as Ryan Miller is, there's going to a few shots in this series he'll have no chance on.

There's some good subplots here: The win-or-bust theme in the nation's capital, the rookie goalies (Miller and Ray Emery), the looming spectre of playoffs past (the seventh-seeded Sabres swept the Sens back in 1999).

A few Sabres (Rockland's Derek Roy, Gatineau's Daniel Briere and Amherstview's Jay McKee) have roots in eastern Ontario-western Quebec. Oh, and having these two teams playing each other in Round 2 really, really rubs it in the face of that major metropolitan city located between Buffalo and Ottawa, which starts with T and rhymes with "oronto."

10 p.m., AVALANCHE vs. DUCKS: Everyone seems to be taking Colorado, and why the hell not? A red-hot power play -- if Calgary had had anything remotely remembling a PP in the last round, the Ducks would be goners. The veteran leadership of Rob Blake and Joe Sakic. They have the glue guys like Andrew Brunette and Jim Dowd, and José Théodore's 50-save game in the clincher against Dallas suggests he's settling in as Colorado's No. 1 guy.

And yes, as ESPN.com's Scott Burnside notes, Anaheim had a lot of passengers in the last round.

So the situation absolutely requires a grasping-for-straws radical hypothesis whereby Anaheim might pull this off, especially since my gut reaction was "Ducks in 7."

Here goes nothing: by beating Calgary, the darlings of 2004, the Ducks became Calgary of 2004. Don't let the Disneyified nickname, the wimpy arena name and the teal on those sweaters fool you: they are mean and nasty and have the potential to turn every game in a three-hour, near-scoreless war of attrition, meant not to be enjoyed or savoured but merely endured. This sets up a lot like Colorado's upset loss against the Minnesota Wild in '03: the Avs could lose, even though there's no rational reason why they should.

Ducks in 7. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

THE OTHER TWO SERIES

DEVILS vs. HURRICANES (begins Saturday at 2 p.m.): One of the drawbacks of being a blogger is the need to go for the "reach" prediction. The MSM get to go with the vanilla picks and their logical, reasoned analysis; our lot has to go out on a limb and stick to Level One or Level Two thinking, for the most part.Which gets to the point: Carolina, like Colorado, is the hip pick, yet my rush to make a call led to "Devils in 7."

Never mind that the 'Canes have more depth up front than anyone else left in the playoffs who's not Buffalo or Ottawa. They're deep on defence too, while New Jersey's back end includes Ken Klee, who was too slow to play for the Leafs, for Chrissakes. Plus, the 'Canes have a bona fide coach, while the Devils have their general manager filling in behind the bench.

So why New Jersey? Martin Brodeur, for one, and the Devils will probably get more pressure on Cam Ward than the Canadiens did in the last round. New Jersey's not totally lacking in scoring, and don't be surprised if their penalty killers completely frustrate Carolina.

Also, if the Hurricanes win, that means the possiblity of a Stanley Cup final betweens teams from North Carolina and California. This cannot be allowed to happen.

OILERS vs. SHARKS (Starts Sunday at 8 p.m.): Be wary of professional experts who pick against an underdog tema in the first round, then change their tune after they pull the upset.

Sure, you can throw the regular-season standings out the window, but there's got to be a reason no No. 8 seed has ever got the past the second round since the NHL went to the current playoff format in 1994.

It's called consistency -- if Edmonton had it, wouldn't it stand to reason that they would have finished higher in the standings? The Oilers are riding a wave of confidence, and yes, the Sharks drew the long straw in Round 1 by getting a Nashville team that had lost their goalie. Plus Joe Thornton seems to be up to his post-season disappearing act.So why San Jose in 6?

But it's the consistency, stupid -- the Oilers are more likely to have trouble keeping up their play. Plus the Sharks' physical style is more likely to get the Oilers into penalty problems -- can the Chris Pronger who took so many silly penalties in Turin continue to stay out of the box (just two minors in the Detroit series) while logging 30-plus minutes of ice time a night? If the Sharks power play gets untracked, Edmonton will be doomed.

Besides, there's nothing a western Canada boy on an American team loves more than knocking the Oilers or Flames out of the playoffs. Along with their leader, Patrick Marleau, San Jose has four other regulars from the West -- Mark Smith, Scott Hannan, Josh Gorges and Kyle McLaren -- who will go all hell for a basement to knock out the Oilers. At least that's what I'd like to think. If only it was the simple.

WORLD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

Is it just me, or did it reek of arrogance for Team Canada to dress just 15 skaters (five fewer than the maximum) for today's game against Denmark at the world hockey championship, especially when that includes two guys, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, who just got to Riga, Latvia in time for today's pregame meal?

This isn't 1949, when Canada could send a senior amatuer club and whomp the likes of Denmark, 47-0 -- the Danes actually tied the Canucks back in 2003, although our team went on to win the tournament.

There were problems getting players to commit after a long season, especially since so many NHLers struggled with the 82-game grind after a year away from it.

But still, someone should be asking whether it's acceptable to go into a game with only 15 skaters, even in the first game of a long tournament.

That was my first thought as soon as TSN put up a graphic of Canada's forward lines and defence pairs. To wit, Canada has just gone ahead 4-3 early in the third period on Sidney Crosby's second goal of the game, but blew a three-goal lead in the second.

Bottom line, this is a bad omen. The hockey gods have taken note, you can be sure.