TRISTAN WEBB: 'AN EAGLE WITH A CAPITAL E'

Before we begin, let me pass along condolences to the friends and family of Tristan Webb. Tristan, who played minor hockey with my brother Shawn and attended Ernestown Secondary School in Odessa, Ont., where my mom teaches, died Thursday after being struck by a train. By all accounts, Tristan, who was just 20 years old, was a popular, likeable young man, who as his and my old gym teacher Dale Huddleston told the Kingston Whig-Standard, was "an Eagle with a capital E."

Along with the family, my thoughts go out to the staff and students at ESS, who will have to deal with this just one week after two students were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Ernestown was, in my day, and still very much is a small school. I can't speak for what it's like when something unfortunate happens at a big, urban school, but I know that with ESS, it stings.

Sorry, but this pretty much puts me off talking sports today. Just a few brief items for 06/05/06:

• SI.com's Michael Farber examines which goalie is more likely to bounce back from that "Stephen King Meets Gary Bettman" game between the Sabres and Senators last night. Damien Cox described it best with his lede, "It was as though somebody organized a Stanley Cup playoff match and a Grey Cup game broke out." That's especially ironic, considering Ottawa's CFL track record.
• What did I say about the Ducks being mean and nasty? They certainly were in a 5-0 Game 1 win over the Avalanche last night.
• Nice win for the Jays last night -- 13 runs, 17 hits. Naturally, today they're getting shut out by the Angels. Promising effort for Ted Lilly, though.
• Man, do I ever feel stupid for focusing on the Jays and the Stanley Cup playoffs and not following the NBA playoffs. Suns and Nash vs. Kobe and the Lakers in Game 7 tonight.

We'll see you later. No hockey on Saturday night, so I'm grateful that I have to work.

TOUGH ONE, OTTAWA

I knew there was a reason I'd kept that Photoshop job of then-Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime on my hard drive for the last two years.

Truth be known, Don Cherry had it mostly right during the intermission between the third period and overtime, when he said that Sens goalie Ray Emery would unfairly bear the brunt of criticism from fans and media after giving up six goals on 22 shots in regulation time. And that before Buffalo's Chris Drury scored 18 seconds into overtime, giving the Sabres a who-da-thunk-it 7-6 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal and having Ottawa what, to borrow Bill Simmons' term, is a Category Five Stomach Punch Loss, save for the fact it's only one game.

It's an absolute no-no to give up a goal in the first or last minute of a period, and Ottawa did that four times tonight, along with giving up Derek Roy's short-handed goal that briefly tied it 5-5 with less than two minutes to go in regulation. Of those five tallies that, from an Ottawa perspective, should never have happened and just can't be brushed off, Emery was really at fault on only one: Ted Connolly's game-tying goal with 11 seconds left that tied the game for the fifth time.

A goalie who's not fighting the puck would have not have played that one the way Emery did. What happened was Derek Roy, whose only option was to get the puck toward the net and try to create a rebound or scramble situation, took a weak shot that Emery didn't try to trap or bat toward the corner. Instead it went behind the net, too far for the goalie to flop on it and let his chances on his team winning the ensuing faceoff and pinning the puck against the boards.

Buffalo poked the puck out front, Emery missed a second chance to corral the puck, and Connolly backhanded it in. Tie game.

Bad luck, yes, but the point is, when your goalie who's on a post-season roll -- think Dominik Hasek in '98 and '99, J.S. Giguere in 2003 -- somehow, some way, those kinds of goals don't end up going in.

But still, Emery isn't the biggest problem Ottawa has. He's their only option in goal, so the Sens have no recourse but to circle the wagons and trot out the standard playoff cliché about how goaltending isn't the issue. And they'd be right, because Ottawa has much more to worry about. When a team lets the lead slip away five times in one night, it can't all be one guy. Anton Volchenkov was coughed up the puck to lead to Drury's game-winner, and right alongside him on the goat platform was fellow Euro-rearguard Andrej Meszaros, who was beaten by Roy on Grier's goal 35 seconds into the game, and got caught on a pinch on Roy's short-handed tally late in the third.

The spin for Ottawa: this was their loss more than it was Buffalo's win. The best thing the Sabres did was hang around and let Ottawa give them an opening.

Other noteworthy stuff about this game:

Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Kelly are the two Senators who must be feeling the heat to score a goal. Alfie, Ottawa's captain, now has two goals in his last 20 post-season games, although he played well tonight and set up the Brian Smolinksi tally that put Ottawa ahead (briefly, as it turned out) with 1:03 left in regulation. Kelly had about four scoring chances in the third period when Ottawa led 5-4, including a near-miss on a deflection. Those loom large now.

Other notes on the night:

• Has a team ever blown a lead twice in the final 100 seconds of a playoff game? Someone get the Elias Sports Bureau on this.
• Another one for the researchers: when was the last 7-6 overtime game? When was the last time a team was scored on in the first or last minute in all four periods?
• No one noticed at the time but Sabres d-man Jay McKee might have made a smart play when he goaded Peter Schaefer into taking a penalty after the Sens' fifth goal. Four-on-four hockey is much better than 5-on-5.
• Maybe Senators fans have a point when they complain about Bob Cole and Harry Neale, who were back together on Hockey Night in Canada after being separated for Round 1. On the OT winner, Neale said, "And the goal scorer for Buffalo, Mike Grier." Easy enough mistake to make -- Grier wears No. 25, actual overtime hero Chris Drury wears No. 23, and both shoot right. Except Grier is three inches taller, 40 pounds heavier, and you know, black.
• What's Ottawa doing between home playoff games? With Scotiabank Place booked for a Dora the Explorer show this weekend, Game 2 won't be until Monday. Bryan Murray would be wise to get his team out of the capital region for the next 48 hours.
• This is devastating for Ottawa right now, but the beauty of playoff hockey is you can be brutal one night and look like a completely different team the next. This isn't much different than Game 2 of the Tampa Bay series, except that the magnitude's been multiplied by about 10.

Tough one, Ottawa. Take heart, though, those mistakes can be corrected. And unlike most of the mistakes in Ottawa, you don't have to wait until election day to fix them. Ha-ha-ha.

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.

SHORT BLUE JAYS BLOG

It's getaway day for the Jays -- play in Boston, fly home to face the Angels -- and there's no hockey to be played tonight. It all makes for a very short blog.

For once (well, it's happened before, but not often), Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star and I agree on something: Alex Rios should be leading off for the Jays.

Rios isn't a conventional leadoff hitter -- he's tall (6-foot-5) and doesn't walk much, but he's a .323 career hitter when batting first. Until Russ Adams comes around (maybe that game-winning double will perform wonders), Rios is the best man for the job. Call him the compromise candidate, I guess.

Plus, with Rios' speed, the Jays can hit-and-run more, whichever member of the left-field platoon is batting second, be it lefty Frank Catalanatto or righty Reed Johnson.

Of course, if Rios plays every day, where does that leave Eric Hinske, who was originally slotted in as his platoon mate? As well as everyday DH (and other positions where necessary) Shea Hillenbrand is hitting these days, Hinske has more value as a utilityman, since he can play first or third base in addition to right field.

Hillenbrand and Rios put together don't make Hinske expendable. Throw in Johnson, as long as he's spared from facing tough right-handers, and Hinske, the one-time AL Rookie of the Year, is the odd man out.

Thing is, the Jays have to keep playing him a couple times a week if they're going to get anything in value (namely, a pitcher) between now and the July 31 trade deadline.

Bottom line, after the way the Jays won last night on a cold evening at Fenway -- fighting through time and again to beat a playoff-hardened team -- there's reason to be optimistic. Toronto has managed to go 14-12 thus far despite having a 5.51 team earned-run average, which is bound to get better, since it can't get much worse.

DEPARTING OF THE RED 'C'

DAY 13 UNLUCKY FOR FLAMES

ANAHEIM 3 CALGARY 0 (Ducks win series 4-3): Instead of a gusher, the Flames hit the world's deepest dry hole in Game 7, going down without a single shot being fired. Calgary, by official count, had two (two!) odd-man rushes all night, and couldn't generate much on their shoot-in attempts. It's not surprising that the Ducks won, but that they did so with such efficiency. We all know that Calgary couldn't score to save their lives, but their physical play was supposed to carry them a lot farther. Once the Ducks matched them -- you could count on one hand the number of 1-on-1 battles the Flames won tonight -- Calgary started to leak oil three lanes wide.

It's a damn shame we won't see the first playoff Battle of Alberta since 1991, the year yours truly began high school. (Who can forget Theo Fleury's celebration after scoring the overtime winner in Game 6, or the Oilers coming back three goals down to win Game 7, also in OT? Godd times.) But seeing as Edmonton has two wins in their last 18 games against Calgary, I don't think the Oilers mind meeting the Sharks instead, red-hot though that team may be.

So on to the second round . . .

(By the way, does Thursday count as Day 14 even though there's no games being played. Someone please answer this before Friday.)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

• (4) BUFFALO vs. (1) OTTAWA: Speed against speed. This would be the series the NHL bigwigs would be hyping if it didn't involve a Canadian team playing a de facto Canadian team. The Sabres face a big adjustment after playing the plodding Flyers in Round 1, and it's hard to see if they can effectively match Ottawa's depth up front. In a sense, this is a good matchup for the Sens because their own relative lack of post-season experience is matched by Buffalo's lack of playoff experience. As for the season series, it was 5-3 Ottawa, and two of the Sabres wins came when the Sens were minus Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden and Chris Phillips on the back end, along with the currently red-hot Martin Havlat. (Thanks to Battle of Ontario.) Ryan Miller could steal this series for the Sabres, but I wouldn't bet on it. Prediction: Ottawa in 6.
• (3) CAROLINA vs. (2) NEW JERSEY: The goaltending matchup here is Cam Ward against Martin Brodeur. Score one for New Jersey. Of course, we know how the Brodeur-Martin Gerber matchup in Turin three months ago went. Some might say the last round probably flattered the Hurricanes somewhat since the Canadiens crumbled after losing Saku Koivu, but Montreal was fortunate to get that 2-0 lead. New Jersey's penalty killing against Carolina's power play looms as the other big matchup. Is John Madden willing to stick various body part in the way of those Eric Staal howitzers? Probably. Prediction: New Jersey in 7.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

• (8) EDMONTON vs. (5) SAN JOSE: Hands up, everyone who foresaw an Oilers-Sharks matchup. Don't be shy. Hands up. The big question for Edmonton is how well their defence, after playing Detroit, who was about as physical as the third-place team in a 35-and-over, no-contact, Tuesday's night gentlemen's league, is going to stand up to San Jose's ability to cycle the puck down low. If Edmonton's penalty problems resurface, Joe Thornton could run wild. One omen for Edmonton: San Jose's Vesa Toskala, like Manny Legace before him, isn't completely proven as a playoff goalie after Nashville barely challenged him in Round 1. Prediction: San Jose in 6.
• (7) COLORADO vs. (6) ANAHEIM: Hands up, everyone who foresaw an Avs . . . oh, you heard that already? How smart were the Ducks to pawn Sergei Fedorov off on Columbus and bring in Francis Beauchemin to anchor their defence early in the year? How smart were the Avs to pick up José Théodore? Colorado obviously has the advantage of four more days of rest, but you can build a case that they caught every break against Dallas. Anaheim's earned everything they've got. Prediction: Anaheim in 7.

OTHER BUSINESS

• No pitching, no defence, a lack of clutch hitting (12 runners left on base, and with a game-time temperature of 7 C, they really were stranded) and some bad luck on the bases (for the second time this week, Alex Rios was caught stealing when replays indicated he was safe), yet, still, the Jays took a close one at Fenway, beating the Red Sox 7-6 last night. This was either a fluke or some great mojo. Russ Adams broke and oh-for-14 slump with a game-winning double in the ninth; kudos to Dustin McGowan for holding Boston in the eighth. Now here's hoping the Jays score, oh, I don't know, 11 runs in the first inning tonight for Josh Towers. That should do it. Maybe.
• A disgruntled Kansas City Royals fan, Chad Carroll, sold his loyalty on eBay. Chad, I suggest you hook on with the Blue Jays, although be forewarned -- we have a different interpretation of Jim Sundberg's infamous wind-blown triple.
• Selling your loyalty on eBay. Wait until A-Rod hears about this.

That's all for tonight. By the way, who knew they were still making new episodes of That '70s Show?

FLAME-OUT

The Flames have added a new player for tonight's game. He's the Green Bastard, from parts unknown.

PLAYOFFS DAY 12

• 'CANES 2 HABS 1 in OT (Carolina wins 4-2): Does anyone have more of a right to be heartbroken this playoff year than the fans of the team with 23 Stanley Cups? Probably not. From Saku Koivu's injury, to blowing the 2-0 lead, to having the series-winner go in off a deflection, Habs fans have the right to cry like they bankrolled Waterworld. For the first time in my life, I feel bad for Canadiens fans, but then I remember how much of my tax dollars are going to keep Quebec in Confederation.
• SABRES 7 FLYERS who cares (Buffalo wins 4-2): The Great Philly Phlameout helped ensure us of a hockey-free Thursday. Boy, was this ugly. Now the Sabres -- who are these guys -- get Ottawa in the second round. Won't be many dull moments.

DAY 13 LOOK-AHEAD

• 9 p.m., DUCKS AT FLAMES, Game 7: Something I hadn't realized -- not only is there a chance of the first Flames-Oilers playoff matchup in 15 years, but 1991 was the last time both Alberta rivals made the post-season. That tells you how bad the fans of both teams want Calgary to win tonight, and how bad CBC wants it to happen. Why hasn't Calgary put Anaheim away yet? Largely because unlike the Oilers, who at various times got big offensive games from the likes of Brad Winchester, Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky and Fernando Pisani, Calgary hasn't had someone off the second and third line pop in a couple big goals. The Calgary Sun's Eric Francis nails it: the pressure is all on Calgary, who's essentially getting beaten at the game they used to great success two years ago. Anaheim has nothing to lose, though it's anyone's guess how a young team reacts in a seventh game. I'm obligated to say that Calgary will squeak by, since I predicted Calgary in 7. (Of course, I also had Detroit in 4 and Dallas in 5, and we all know how that turned out.)

OTHER BUSINESS

• Ottawa has been awarded the 2009 IIHF world junior hockey championships, the Ottawa Sun is reporting. I have issues with this tournament. TSN's presentation is equal parts Fox News covering Iraq and ESPN covering the Little League World Series, and the way the media buried the Steve Downie hazing story during this year's tournament was nothing shy of shameful. But overall, good for Ottawa.
• First he falls to the 10th pick in the draft, and now this: Matt Leinart is dating Paris Hilton. I think I speak for all of us when I say, Ewwwwwww. (Via Deadspin.) And don't let the brunette wig fool you -- that is Ms. Hilton. Who else carries a handbag that's weighs more than she does?
• The Red Sox are taking the Jays seriously -- Josh Beckett has been moved up to start against Roy Halladay tonight. Matt Clement faces Josh (10.45 ERA) Towers tomorrow. Even though the Jays didn't get the two-game sweep in B'more, I'll be happy with a split of these two games.

That's all for now.

FOOKING BRILLIANT

39 years ago today, the Leafs won their last Stanley Cup. And people howled that they couldn't believe the playoffs were now carrying into May. On with the show:

Daily Kos has the transcript of Stephen Colbert tearing the Bush White House a new one at the correspondents' dinner. Gems include but are not limited to:

• "Somebody pinch me. You know what? I'm a pretty sound sleeper -- that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face. Is he really not here tonight? Dammit. The one guy who could have helped."
• 'By the way, Senator McCain, it's so wonderful to see you coming back into the Republican fold. I have a summer house in South Carolina; look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University."
• "Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash."
• "Fox News gives you both sides of every story: the president's side, and the vice president's side."

Thanks to Greg for directing me. Now here's sports:

NHL PLAYOFFS DAY 11

• OILERS 4 RED WINGS 3 (Edmonton wins 4-2): Huzzah for the fooking brilliant Oilers! Too bad they couldn't have dragged it to a Game 7 back in Dee-troit, thereby prompting Mitch Albom to do his once-a-year column on hockey. That makes the big winners in this series Dwayne Roloson, Craig MacTavish and the entire Detroit Free Press readership. Did the Oilers really erase two Red Wings leads in the third period? Did they really win after trailing with five minutes left? Yea gods. And yes, this will be Stevie Y's last game. Confession: I passed on this to go see The Rocket at the theatre. I regret nothing. Any movie where you see L.A. Kings meathead Sean Avery (who is cast against type as a New York Rangers meathead) get punched in the face three times is cheap at twice the price.
• DUCKS 2 FLAMES 1 (Series tied 3-3): So, if Anaheim wins on Wednesday, fifth seed San Jose will have home-ice advantage for the second and third rounds. My one comment here is this has been a hard series to get into unless you have friends or family employed by either team. Sure, it's intense, but at some point there has to be some freakin' offence. Fittingly, Anaheim's winning goal was actually scored by Calgary d-man Rhett Warrener, who had Scott Niedermayer's centring pass deflect off his leg and into the net. Prediction for Game 7: First goal wins. Calgary's the better team, but you would figure they would have proved it by now and finished off Anaheim. Still, I stand by the Flames on goaltending and experience.

DAY 12 LOOK AHEAD

• 7 p.m., 'CANES AT HABS (Carolina leads 3-2): The Canadiens are DUI. I mean DOA. I always get those two mixed up. Cam Ward is the story of the series, and so are the Habs forwards who haven't challenged the young 'Canes netminder. The Habs look every bit like a beaten bunch.
• 7 p.m., SABRES AT FLYERS (Buffalo leads 3-2): Two words: young legs. Buffalo's got 'em. Philly, not so much. I doubt any team's won a playoff series where it allowed the first goal in every game, which is what Philly has done so far. Buffalo's ready to finish this off tonight, let's say with a 4-2 win. Bank it.

OTHER BUSINESS

• How about those Blue Jays? Troy Glaus goes yard twice in a 9-7 win over the Orioles. They look to sweep tonight when Casey Janssen makes his second big-league start against Anna Benson's husband.
• Question: are the people snapping up Reggie Bush No. 5 New Orleans Saints jerseys doing so because they figure they'll have a collector's item when the NFL makes their predictable ruling that he has to conform to the league's numbering system? They haven't bent the rule for anyone, and I doubt they ever will.

See you after the games tonight.

WEEKEND LEFTOVERS

Here's some advice for any NBA or NHL team that is trailing their playoff series and playing tonight.

Hang a big "Mission Accomplished" banner from the scoreboard. That trick's bound to work sometime.

It was three years ago today that the Bush White House did just that and declared "major combat operations" over in Iraq. Since the: 2,261 U.S. soldiers have died. Good thing it was it wasn't "major combat operations," huh?

OK, that's enough with political announcements, although if someone wants to answer the question of how a Canadian government that's promising to be more open and accountable won't let the media see their new terror jail, be my guest.

By the way, I can't think of a better image for the Dubya era -- posing for a photo-op next to an ugly redneck in an uglier shirt while half of New Orleans was underwater.

NHL PLAYOFFS DAY 10

• SABRES 3 FLYERS 0 (Buffalo leads 3-2): Philly was, once again, unable to win in Buffalo. Funniest comment: Sabres goalie Ryan Miller afterward talked about the critics he's had to win over, including those who said he was too small. Miller is 6-foot-3. That didn't pass the smell test with TSN analyst Darren Pang, the 5-foot-4 former NHL 'tender. Now here's hoping Buffalo wraps it up tomorrow, since I said Buffalo in 6.
• AVS 3 STARS 2 (Colorado wins series 4-1): Score one for the new rules. On Andrew Brunette's game-winner, Joe Sakic cut toward the high slot on his backhand. Time was, the defender would have put the hook into me. This time, Dallas' Sergei Zubov couldn't, out of fear of drawing a penalty, even in overtime. Sakic was able to shove a shot toward then net, which became a great pass when Brunette cut it off and lobbed a shot over a fallen Marty Turco.
• 'CANES 2 HABS 2 (Carolina leads 3-2): Ironic, isn't it? Going into this series, one storyline was about the Swiss connection with the goalies -- the Habs' David Aebischer and Carolina's Martin Gerber are both from Switzerland, and Habs starter Cristobal Huet, a Frenchman, played there. Now the odd one out in the equation, Cam Ward of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has stolen the show.
• SHARKS 2 PREDATORS 1 (San Jose wins 4-1): San Jose, who was in 10th place about six weeks ago, could end up becoming the top seed in the Western Conference if Edmonton finishes off Detroit and Anaheim comes back to beat Calgary. Crazy.
  
  DAY 11 LOOK AHEAD

• 8 p.m., RED WINGS AT OILERS (Edmonton leads 3-2): Here's some numbers for you: Edmonton's Dwayne Roloson and Detroit's Manny Legace have each allowed 14 goals in the series, but Roli the goalie has faced 202 shots to Legace's 126. I still say, however, Edmonton's going to have to win in Detroit one more time. The Oilers never do anything the easy way.
• 11 p.m., FLAMES AT DUCKS (Calgary leads 3-2): If I'm Ducks coach Randy Carlyle -- and this may surprise you, but I'm not -- Ilya Bryzgalov starts tonight and J.S. Giguere sits. Anaheim has outscored Calgary (not by much, 3-2, but a point's a point) when he's been in the net. I've said all along this series will go seven games, so I'm sticking to it, even if I doubt Anaheim will have much left in the tank for Game 7 on Wednesday. And pretty please with sugar on top, for the sake of us in the Eastern and Atlantic time zones, don't let this go into overtime.

OTHER BUSINESS

Here's the AL East standings this afternoon:

New York 13-10 .565 --
Boston 14-11 .560 --
Toronto 12-11 .522 1
Baltimore 13-13 .500 1 1/2
Tampa Bay 11-14 .440 3

• The Jays are 6-5 on their 15-game stretch against the AL East and probably need to win three out of four on this mini-trips to Baltimore and Boston. Taking two wins off the Orioles will be a tad easier now that Brian Roberts is on the disabled list, while Kevin Millar and Javy Lopez are also ailing. Who's going to DH for Baltimore now, Tommy Davis?
• As for the Boston trip, the pitching matchups are Roy Halladay-Matt Clement on Wednesday and Josh Towers-Lenny DiNardo on Thursday. Guess which one I'm a little more optimistic about. Go ahead, guess.
• I have to second what Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star wrote today -- NBC is doing a great job with the NHL playoffs, but too bad almost no one in America is watching.

See you after the games tonight.

WHAAAAAATTTTT? YEAHHHHHH! OKKKKKKAAAY!

Lil Jon is a hockey fan? Who knew? (From the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to Deadspin for the link-up.)

Read the article. I guess it's pretty S.O.P. for sports leagues to comp celebrities with tickets, but I don't get it. Why would you watch something just because Jeff Probst goes to the games?

I'm emotionally down because the Jays not only lost but got hosed most egregiously on a blown call by the second-base umpire. Alex Rios was coming up out of his slide on a stolen-base try when Derek Jeter tagged him, but the dude couldn't see that. Oh well. It's only a game.

COLE WHINERS

The stuff you may have missed while making a date with the razor, and I don't mean the Senators goalie.

Here's a news flash for Ottawa Senators fans. I hope it gets through, because I hate having to smack people with a frozen mackerel to get their attention.

It's bad form to accuse Hockey Night in Canada's Bob Cole of bias against your beloved hometown team. (Full disclosure: the newspaper I work for carried a story on Saturday on this exact theme.)

Not only is it false -- and I have proof -- but your focus should be on the Sens, not a broadcaster. Be happy that the Sens have as good a chance as anyone else to capture the Stanley Cup after dismissing the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning like they were a bunch of D students applying to an Ivy League school. Those days of first-round crapouts are a thing of the past.

Getting back to Bob Cole: granted, he is a little long on the tooth and no longer as sharp an announcer as he once was. Yes, he's more familiar with the players on a certain southern Ontario team that must not be mentioned. Sorry, but that does not a bias make.

But but but, you mewl, Cole is biased against our Sens. But but but, Cole doesn't know the names of the Ottawa players. But but but, I have to mute the TV broadcast and listen to Dean and Gord on The Team 1200 instead, to keep from getting mad.

So tonight, I kept a count of how many times Bob Cole referred to an Ottawa player and how many times he referred to a Tampa player. (It was simple. I made a list of each team's lineup and made a tick mark next to each guy's name every time I heard it.)

First period: Cole referred to Ottawa players 120 times, Tampa players 109 times.

Second period: Ottawa faltered somewhat early in the period, as Tampa cut a 2-0 deficit to 3-2 by the end of the frame. Cole made 102 references to Ottawa's players, 113 to Tampa's.

Sean Burke, who was busy during the period as the Sens took 17 shots to Tampa's 11. Cole mentioned Burke 20 times, compared to just nine name-drops for his Ottawa counterpart, Ray Emery. In other words, Cole was talking about how the other team's goalie was doing well to keep his overmatched team in the game.

Does that sound like an anti-Ottawa bias?

Third period: 118 Tampa mentions to 93 for Ottawa. Again, the goaltending question comes up. Burke did well to keep it a one-shot game for the Lightning. I heard Emery's name only twice, while counting 22 references to Burke.

That cuts it down to 98-91, and when you consider that there was a defending Stanley Cup champion trying to keep from going out in the first round (something that's happened only half a dozen times in the past 25 years or so), it's understandable there might be some emphasis put on them.

Final count: That puts it at 340-315 for Tampa. But again, it all comes back to the goalies (by the way, Cole was complimentary to Emery, pointing out twice that he had had silenced questions about Ottawa's goaltending).

On the night, I heard Burke's name 55 times, Emery's 17 times.

Which makes the true tally 298-285 for Ottawa.

What skater did Cole mention the most? Martin Havlat, 46 times.

But but but, you say, that's because he was one of the stars of the game. Cole was forced to mention him.

Well, you're wrong. Because who was the second-most mentioned skater, by my count? Daniel Alfredsson (44 times), who had a pretty ordinary night.

For the record, the most-mentioned Lightning skater was Brad Richards (41 times), and it should be pointed out that Tampa gave its top two lines more ice time, because they were playing desperate and can't match Ottawa's depth.

By the way, here were some of Cole's comments.

• First period, before a Sens power play: "Ottawa's special teams are terrific."
• Second period, after Havlat scored what proved to be the winning goal: "Dynamite, that's all you can say. Dynamite. Dynamite. Just too much power."

Now, I understand this is the playoffs, and the us-against-the-world attitude does tend to prevail. I remember being a Blue Jays fan during their championship years, and giving credence to the conspiracy theory that umpires didn't want a Canadian team to win the World Series. But I was a teen then, and I'm an adult now, just slightly less ignorant.

The lesson here is to pick your villains wisely.

Besides, if Cole's broadcasting was the Senators' biggest concern, then why isn't the NHL calling off the playoffs and just handing them the Cup right now?

A septuagenarian sports announcer is not going to keep the Sens from their date with destiny. There is a man half Cole's age who will take care of that a few weeks from now.

His name, in case you're wondering, is Martin Brodeur.

NHL PLAYOFFS DAY 9

• OILERS 3 RED WINGS 2 (Edmonton leads 3-2): Dwayne Roloson is one win from doing what he, with some help from Manny Fernandez, did to his former Simcoe, Ont., minor hockey teammate Rob Blake and the Colorado Avalanche in 2003. Edmonton's Fernando Pisani, with three goals in the series, might be that secondary scorer who often comes up big in a playoff upset. I'm still convinced the Oilers will need seven games, like they did in their '97 upset of Dallas. By the way, I love this line about the Oilers from the Canadian Press gamer: "...they gave themselves a collective shake before coming out and playing much more disciplined hockey in the second period." What's a collective shake? Does it hurt?
• DEVILS 4 RANGERS 2 (New Jersey wins 4-0): It won't go in the record books since it bridges the regular season and playoffs, but if New Jersey gets out to a 3-0 lead in the next round, that will make it 18 straight wins, topping the record 17 in a row Mario Lemieux's '92-93 Penguins reeled off.
• SENATORS 3 LIGHTNING 2 (Ottawa wins 4-1): I've already talked myself out here. When are we going to see Brian McGrattan in the lineup?
• FLAMES 3 DUCKS 2 (Calgary leads 3-2): Someone should do a study on the impact of short-handed goals in the playoffs, especially when it's the first score of the game. Tony Amonte, with an assist from Matthew Lombardi, got the Flames started. Jarome Iginla had his second-straight two-goal night. Still looks like a seven-game series here.
  

Last but not least, I guess appropriate that on the day of the NFL draft, the Yankees pounded the Blue Jays by a football score. Just remember who scored first!

Sunday is another day. Sunday is another day . . .