Conference Finals

                   

Well, the Conference Finals schedule is out.  Buffalo and Carolina will meet for game on Saturday.  As much as my heart likes the break so it can heal and start beating properly, the wait is going to kill me or make me stronger.  I don't like the long wait.  It might help get the boys rested and get their legs back under them, but it may also take some momentum away.  It probably won't help with the injured players.  Dmitri Kalinin broke a bone in his ankle blocking a shot in the Ottawa series.  Hear that Grapes?  So much for the boys not blocking shots, I guess you forgot about McKee too?  You do realize he was tops in the league for most block shots, right? Coach?  Connolly's status/injury is still unclear.  No one has said anything about a concussion, but that is to be expected at this time of year (no comment I mean).  I've heard rumor after rumor on his condition, and today a friend of a friends mother knows his grandmother and he is fine.... will be fine.. will be back.....  but who knows.  I do know they were both out the majority of the Ottawa series, and though we are definitely better with them on the ice, someone seemed to step up in their absence. 

 

This is going to be another tough series.  The teams are pretty much evenly matched.  Both goaltenders seem to be hot, forwards and dmen are stepping up.  And surely both are planning a strategy.  Both coaches have been nominated for coach of the year and in the beginning of the season both were predicted by the media to finish at the bottom of the league. 

 

Sports Illustrated had them 25 and 26 out of 30, go figure!  They actually finished 2 points apart in the conference.  Carolina 2 and Buffalo 4.  Separated by New Jersey who was seeded at 3 because they won their division but had fewer points then both.

Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 12:18PM; Updated: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 6:29PM

 

Buffalo Ranked 25  It could be a long season for the Sabres, who lost Miroslav Satan and Alexei Zhitnik to free agency. But at least the club re-signed restricted free agents Daniel Briere, Maxim Afinogenov and J.P. Dumont. But the pressure of being the go-to goal scorer now falls on 21-year-old rookie Thomas Vanek, who had eight points this preseason. "He's [Vanek] probably the most all-around gifted player I've been around," said coach Lindy Ruff.

 

Carolina Ranked 26 The Canes have a number of solid young players in the fold, but they won't make their mark in the NHL for a few years. Carolina finished last in goals in 2003-04, so finding a legit No. 1 scoring threat is a must. Could 20-year-old Eric Staal be that guy? The Hurricanes would also welcome some scoring punch from Jozef Vasicek. But the biggest question entering the season is in net, where Martin Gerber is the starter after being J.S. Giguere's backup in Anaheim for two years.

 

The boys seem intensely focused. They've saying the right things and not getting ahead of themselves.  Until Saturday..........