The Day After...

Ahh, the day after the Bruins bloody massacre and I am still kinda reeling about it. They really did just get utterly outplayed and outclassed. But there is still another series to contemplate: Vancouver vs San Jose. The Western Conference has been so awesome to watch. I cant even say I have an (expert) prediction about this series. San Jose has played with a lot of grit and rebounded nicely in Game 7 but Vancouver is just unstoppable. Both teams have similar make ups with strong forwards who are expert goal scorers but have amazing set up guys. The only real difference I see is with goaltending. Ahh, goalies. My personal red headed step child of hockey players. The superstitious, super smelly padded and always kind of nervous hockey players. Unlike my tough guy, non-expressive,  shut em down defenseman. Luongo has the regular season reputation with his post season reputation being less than stellar. Niemi on the other hand is pretty much Luongo's exact reputation opposite. It'll be interesting to see what triumphs over the other. Luongo has been more solid that he ever has been in the post season but as the pressure rises I do wonder if he will step up to the challenge. Niemi has proven himself in the post season (if a Stanley Cup doesn't prove that then I'll eat some worms, it's cool), but I don't know about him this year. He's let in some soft goals in the almost nuclear meltdown of the Western Semis and Sharks fans can only hope he can start playing on more solid ice. I am torn about who I want to win. On one hand, San Jose versus Boston would be an amazing tale of the Thornton's but if Boston doesn't make it, Vancouver is certainly the more interesting team to watch. Having lived in Vancouver (::sniff:: miss it :( ),  I have a bit of loyalty to them as my Canadian team. So, I guess what I am ultimately saying here is that the series will be really interesting, with some amazing hockey bound to be played and whoever ends up winning will have done so with solid fundamentals and some lucky bounces. And to jump a bit to the Final, it looks like the Western conference competition will wipe away either team from the East. So thanks, Western conference, for making hockey look as beautiful as it is! And Go both teams! And Go Bruins! Please have a better game 2!