Jose Theodore made 50+ saves today as Colorado eliminated Dallas from playoff action. Rumor has it that Star's goalie, Marty Turco, does not take steroids. Also this weekend The Rangers were eliminated by New Jersey - anybody who does not think that The Devils are the real deal is a fool. Defending champs, Tampa, were also eliminated this weekend (now we know how big a mistake it was to let go of Dave Anderchuck) - maybe Ottawa is over their playoff demons (we will wait and see on this however as one series does make a team Stanley Cup Champs).

The NFL draft is today. It does not matter if Reggie Bush goes 1st or where Vince Young goes. The Cowboys have the Superbowl in the bag as they picked up the only piece they were missing in Terrell Owens and this year we expect him to see more pig skin than Kermit the Frog.

A few random thoughts and observations on the NHL playoffs so far:

- Ottawa will choke in the Playoffs but it might not be to Tampa - I forgot how bad John Grahame could be.
- An awful lot of 5 on 3's. It seems that the refs are going out of their way to give week penalties for a 5 on 3 just to show that they are not afraid to call it.
- Joe Thornton is doing his disappearing playoff act again. 3 assists in 4 games is not bad but remember he had 125 pts. this year and all 3 of his playoff assists have been on the power play with 2 of them on 5 on 3's.
- Dion Phaneuf was either the most over rated player in the league this year (I never seen very much of him in regular season) or he just choked in the post-season because he just plain stinks.
- Rangers suck and I do not know why.
- TSN hockey people. Pierre McQuire is the worst ever. And Joe Thornton's nickname is Big Joe not Jumbo Joe. His cousin Steve Thornton (Scott's brother) used to call him this as a kid because of how big he was for his age - he actually used to call him Big Joe Mufferaw who is a folk legend in the Ottawa Valley area and immortalized in song by Stompin Tom Connors - so TSN until you hear Stompin Tom sing Jumbo Joe Mufferaw his name is Big Joe.
- Goaltending seems to be weak for the caliber of teams in the playoffs.
- Dallas down 3 -0 because they are not playing with heart.
- Once again I hate to say it but Montreal will beat Carolina.
- These are just my early analysis of the playoffs - still a lot of hockey to come yet before we can crown a Stanley cup champion.
- Off topic - The Blue Jays spent a shit load of money to remain about a .500 baseball team.

Old picture I found of Terry Hedd going for a beer on one of our Goose Bay soccer trips.  

Vallis, after being doubled dared by Montague, painted his car (Dodge Magnum station wagon) to resemble the one driven by Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) in the movie Vacation.

Happy Birthday to Roger Soucy!!!  

Jimmy "The Greek" here checking in with my 1st round predictions for the NHL playoffs. I know you might only think of me as a football genius but I am also a God at picking hockey so pay attention.

First let's start in the weak western conference where perennial 70 point man Joe Thornton can go and break out with 125 points to win the scoring race. If Jagr played in the West this year he may have broken "The Great One's" single season point record.
-Detroit over Edmonton in 5. Edmonton complained for the last ten years that with an even playing field (cap) they could make things happen. However, they still looked like the same Oilers fighting for eighth place once again.
-Dallas over Colorado in 5. Turco could win this series himself. A big mismatch in nets in this one.
-Calgary over Anaheim in 7. Every game will be 1-0 or 2-1 but give the Flames the edge in nets.
-Sharks over Nashville in 6. Youth and speed with good goaltending - this is a team built for the new NHL. Only question is if "Big Joe" can get rid of his playoff demons - a switch to the weaker Western Conference may just be what he needs.

Next lets go to the East.
-Against my better judgement I have to say Tampa over Ottawa in 5. My better judgement says that they will sweep the Sens. but with all their talent Ottawa might get one game at home. When it comes to playoff choking The Sens. are the Scott Norwoods of the NHL. If they could not get by a shitty Leaf's team 5 times in the playoffs what hope do they have of beating the defending champs who will step up their game come playoffs.
-Habs over Carolina in 6. Crystal Ball Huet will get the Canadiens out of one round. (Hardest pick I ever had to make but I wanted this column to be honest).
-Rangers over Devils. A lot of talk about the Devils great play of late and people are taking them to win the East - these people are fools. Rangers in 6.
-Buffalo vs. Philly. If I could take a series to be tied it would be this one. Buffalo in 7 with the final game going to overtime (flipped a coin and the Sabres will win) - this will be the best series of the 1st round.

Hill across the street from my parents place. On bottom we have kids playing on snow bank and the two pictures on top are of Gerry clearing snow off of his lawn - I realized that this may look different for people not from Labrador so I took a few snaps. 

Barry Bonds' rookie card - what steroids??? 

Bruins lose to Montreal AGAIN!!!! Montreal has beaten them 7 out of 8 times this year. Bruins have had a year of disappointment. Sticking with hockey "The Greek" has decided to come back with his playoff predictions when all the match-ups are decided - stay tuned.

It seems that my last post has offended someone (scroll down and read the comment). However, this is the last thing that I intended to do. After reading it over myself I guess that the joke was not as apparent as I thought. I was making excuses as to why we lost and I know it was because we were outplayed. I know that Carlos did not intentionally take me out (as we spoke and joked about it after) and I know that the refs were not in on it as a conspiracy to get us out of the tourney - this was just us joking after the games were over and me not being 100% clear on my post. I know that people that were around us after we were put out know that we were nothing but gracious losers. I also know that the refs know that I meant nothing by this as Tony, Don and Darrell can assure you that I never even questioned one call in all 5 of our games - I commend anyone who is willing to ref because I know that it is a thankless job.
The tourney once again went over excellent and a thank you goes out to all who helped out - in organizing, reffing and playing. I wish to congratulate The Cabin on winning as they were the class of the tourney and for the 1st time in 4 years a team has gone undefeated. I am sorry once again for the confusion in my last post and must say I really enjoyed the weekend - it is always one of my favorites of the year.

A few members of my team at Drakes (our sponsor) after our last game during the 4th annual Labrador Indoor Soccer Tournament. We did not win it this year (due to some goon tatics by one team and some questionable officiating) - we were put out in the semi finals. Pictured from left to right are: Gary Winter, me (Jim Buffett), Mitchel Fewer, Chris Vallis and Mike Brown.

150 of the world's best foosball players gather in Calgary for "Foosapalooza 2006" with an incredible grand prize of, um, $7,500 Canadian ($150 U.S.)... Sponsored by SML Entertainment and held at Calgary's Olympic Oval, the tournament is sanctioned by both the United States Table Soccer Association (USTA) and the International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF).
The event is open to pros, beginners and novices alike and will feature both singles and doubles events, as well as presenting a forward shootout and a goalie shootout Saturday and Sunday. Moreover, Friday night will offer a fun DYP - draw your partner doubles event to kick off the weekend's festivities
"Foosapalooza is for all levels from rookies to pros," said Dean Fisher, marketing director for SML Entertainment. "Regardless of the skill level, these foosball players are extremely competitive and the action is fast-paced and spirited."
Novice singles, rookie singles, open singles, semi-pro singles, the forward shootout and the goalie wars will all take place Saturday between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., while Sunday's events include open doubles, rookie doubles, semi-pro doubles and novice doubles. Sunday's competition runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Boston Bruins Customized 2006 Harley-Davidson XL 883 Sportster autographed by the Boston Bruins! I am not much into bikes but this one is awesome!!! Bruin's foundation has it on tickets for charity at $50.00 each. Visit www.bostonbruinsfoundation.com for more details. 

Congrats. to Joakim Noah (or the world's ugliest dog) and the Florida Gators on winning the basketball finals on Monday nite. I never even knew the playoffs began - I guess I'll have to wait until next year for my 76ers to win. 

The fourth annual Labrador indoor soccer tournament starts tonite. My team has won 2 of the 3 previous tounaments and pictured above is last years championship team - I am the goalie in the middle front with the trophy and ball. This tourney attracts allstar teams from all over the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Baseball seems to have started again - it only seems like 2 weeks ago I watched Japan win The World Series (when did individual countries join major league ball). However, with baseball being the strenuous sport that it is a 2 week off season is probably enough for these remarkable athletes. I predict The White Socks and Japan (the last 2 winners) in this years fall classic. Hopefully The Expos can get at least a wild card berth - I will be going to a game when I visit Montreal this summer. 

Ex Jets quarterback Quincy Carter signs with The Montreal Alouettes of The CFL. I love this move - I am an Edmonton fan and Carter is the only QB to ever play professional football that was worse than Ryan Leaf. Go Eskimos!!!! 

Pic. of the Curlers partying with some of the locals at The Ash last week.
I had a chance to get a few words with The Curlers last week and here are some of their thoughts and comments.
- Mike Adam on the response they recieved here - "unbelievable, I am overwhelmed!!"
- Russ Howard when I asked him if he will be with the team in 4 years time for another run - "have not thought about it yet. I am still living in a dream world after these Olympics. I will think about it once the high wears off of this victory".
- Toby MacDonald when I asked him how does one coach Russ Howard? - "I never coached Russ. Just tried to keep him calm at times - how can I expect to tell Russ Howard something he does not know about curling".
- Brad Gushue when I asked what his goals were now after the Olympic gold - "The teams ultimate goal is to win gold again in 2010. Hopefully we will pick up 3 or 4 brier wins and world golds on the way to another Olympic gold medal".
- Mark Nichols made a few comments. Here is a few of them:
- Now I have to find a job - for the last few years all my life has been is curling.
- We never got to see much of Italy - it was not a holiday, When we were over there it was all business.
- When I asked him about his 96% and 97% shooting in the semies and the finals - "I just peaked at the right time. "I guess it was a good time to have the best two games of my life".