John McCain

A couple weeks ago I posted my disappointment over John McCain's change of course over in Mike's Neighborhood. After watching The Daily Show Tuesday night, I'm sticking by it.

John McCain has made so many appearences on The Daily Show that I've lost count. His disarmingly honest explanations on how DC worked, and self-deprecating style, won over Jon Stewart and the staff. He got such great accolades from the audience that he was a shoe in for the young, moderate vote in '08. But Stewart and the writers over at The Daily Show have been watching McCain drift over the past year, just as I have, and have even lampooned him for his change in position. So last night's show was a bit awkward, almost sad. It was like watching a man try to save his friend from his self-destructive behavior before it was too late.

See for yourself:

Part 1



Part 2



So unless Ron Paul makes a big hit at the Republican debates, or Chuck Hagel decides to run, the Republicans don't have a chance of getting my vote in 2008.

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DED

Devils, Red Wings, and Canucks Advance

Devils Defuse Lightning

From April 16th: ...Another surprise is the 1-1 tie between New Jersey and Tampa. The Devils don't lose at home in the playoffs so Saturday's 3-2 loss was a shocker, especially since the Lightning only had 20 SOG. Holmqvist shook off the game 1 loss (5 goals on 24 shots) and made 34 saves. Tampa will try to build on that momentum as the series heads south.

From April 19th: Scott Gomez got the game winner in OT last night to help the Devils tie up their series with Tampa at 2. It's back to NJ Friday.

From April 23rd: The New Jersey Devils have beaten the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. This series got off to a rocky start for future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur. In each of the first 4 games, he allowed 3 goals, far above his 2.18 GAA during the regular season. But game 5 was the turning point, as he shutout the Lightning with 31 saves. By game 6, he made 32 saves to send New Jersey into the next round.

Until he got his game on, the Devils actually had to muscle up some offense. Sophmore Zach Parise, who had 31 goals in the regular season, led the way with 6 goals. He was followed closely by Brian Gionta with 5 goals. Scotty Gomez had 9 points while Rafalski and Elias had 7.

The Devils really only had to deal with three guys: St. Louis, Lecavalier, and Richards. These guys had 11 of Tampa's 14 goals in the series. It was this lack of depth coupled with an inexperienced goalie that did them in.


Red Wings Douse Flames

From April 16th: The Red Wings have a 2-0 lead over Calgary. Although the scores have been 4-1 and 3-1, they could just as easily have been double that. Kiprusoff has made some fantastic saves in what looks to be a one man effort to keep the Flames in the series. Game 2 opened with 5 penalties for Calgary in the first 8 minutes. Detroit had two two-man advantages over the stretch. Although they only capitalized once (Datsyuk scored in the opening minute), it left Calgary down 2-0 and drained for the rest of the game.

From April 19th: The Flames were all ablaze in game 3. Once back home in the Saddledome, they were re-energized. Jarome Iginla got his first goal of the series and it was the game winner. They look to even up the series before it heads back to Detroit.

From April 23rd: Except for their dismal power play (2-25 in the first three games), it looked like the Detroit Red Wings were going to sweep the Calgary Flames. The Red Wings completely dominated the Flames in the first two games. The only reason why the scores weren't twice as high as they were was because Kiprusoff made a ton of phenomenal saves.

But then the series went to Calgary and suddenly the Flames were a different team. Of the 16 teams that made it to the playoffs, Calgary had the worst road record: 13-20-8. As the series headed back to Detroit, it was all tied up.

Game 5 was Detroit's again. Once again Calgary's inability to do anything constructive outside of the Saddledome killed them. So, they decided to get brutally physical. They could've billed it as "Thugs On Ice" for all that went on. As soon as the game was lost, the Flames played to injure, rather that score goals.

"It was really about getting some fights going at that point to keep our energy up and carry some anger into the next game," Iginla said with several new stitches over his left eye. "We're not going away."

Back up goalie Jamie McLennan deliberately slashed Johan Frazen twice in the back of the legs and then attempted to eviscerate him. I had a Chris Simon flashback it was so bad. I mean, it was with a goalie stick! McLennan complained that the Red Wings were all over Kiprusoff and he needed to fight back. He was on the ice for a total of 18 seconds. This was an obvious and deliberate attempt to injure. There's no place for this in hockey.

McLennan got a meager 5 game suspension while the coach was fined $10,000 and the team was fined $100,000. I'm hoping the NHL's message was loud and clear.

In game 6, Joahn Frazen scored the series winning goal in OT in Calgary. Revenge couldn't have been sweeter.


Canucks Outlast Stars

From April 12th: The very late Vancouver - Dallas game was televised. I watched some of it through the first OT, but the game went on to a staggering 4th OT before it was settled in Vancouver's favor 5-4. The Stars played harder than I thought they would and the Canucks blew a 2 goal lead in the 3rd period. Ladislav Nagy, a trade deadline acquisition from Phoenix (it wasn't like they were going anywhere) scored the tying goal for Dallas. The Sedin brothers each had a goal, Henrik's was the game winner. It was Vancouver goalie Robert Luongo's 1st playoff game, and likely his longest. Fortunately for both teams, they have tonight off.

From April 16th: Vancouver leads Dallas in their series 2-1. It took OT, just one this time, for the Canucks to win game three 2-1. Despite trailing, Marty Turco has played exceptionally well. Since allowing 4 goals on just 22 shots in regulation on game 1, Turco has only allowed 2 goals on 95 shots! Now if only his teammates could help him out a bit and score some goals.

From Today: Speaking of the Canucks, I wasn't too sure that they wanted to win their series against Dallas. Then again, I wasn't too sure the Stars wanted to win either.

Neither team excelled on the power play. Dallas was 10% while Vancouver was 7.9%.

Marty Turco, Dallas' goalie, was amazing. He had 3 shutouts, a 1.30 GAA, and a save percentage of 95.2. But he couldn't get his team to score many goals. The team scored 12 goals in 7 games. Look at it this way: any time that Vancouver got a goal, they won their game.

Luongo, Vancouver's goalie, was no slouch either. He had a 1.41 GAA and a save percentage of 95%. Vancouver had 13 goals in the series. Well 4 games actually. They'll need to pick up the goal scoring if they want to beat Anaheim's tough pair of Giguere and Bryzgalov.

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DED

Sabres and Sharks Surge Ahead

Buffalo Sabres Beat the New York Islanders 4-1

From April 16th: Alot of people were expecting Buffalo to sweep the Islanders, but the latter has been able to maintain some of their season ending momentum. Game 1 went to the Sabres though it was closer than the 4-1 score would indicate. The game didn't get away from the Isles until the third period. Game 2 saw the return of DiPietro in net and made fans think "what concussion?" He had 32 saves in a 3-2 win.

From April 19th: The Sabres took both games at Nassau Coliseum from the Islanders to go up 3-1 in the series. Rick DiPietro has been asked to carry the team, but goalies don't score goals. Yashin, Kozlov, and Satan have 0 goals, 3 assists and 20 shots between them over 4 games.

From April 21st: There weren't too many people willing to give the New York Islanders much of a chance against the President's Trophy winning Buffalo Sabres. But the Islanders did pull off a win in game 2 and, except for game 1, kept each game close. Even in game 5, the clincher for Buffalo, the Sabres nearly blew two, three goal leads in the 3rd period. The Islanders, sensing that the end was near, finally came to life with the energy that they used at the end of the season to make their playoff appearance. They peppered Sabre goalie Ryan Miller with 18 shots in the 3rd period. Miller was on his game and made some great saves to give the Sabres the win.

Buffalo was 16.7% on the power play while the Islanders went 10.5%. Fairly even there. Buffalo averaged 32.4 shots/game to the Islanders' 26.8.

Rick DiPietro was finally cleared to play for game 2 and got the win. He seemed to play fine to me. Islander fans can let me know if my perception is accurate or not. Defense didn't seem great, but it didn't seem that bad either. The loss of Sean Hill for performance enhancement drugs in game 5 didn't seem like an overriding factor either. They weren't able to contain Drury (4 goals 1 assist), Briere (1 goal 4 assists), and Zubrus (5 assists), but they could've overcome them. The fault with the Islanders was their offense.

Trent Hunter led the team with 3 goals. He had 20 during the regular season so that isn't too shabby for him. Trade deadline acquisition Ryan Smyth had 4 points. He was mic'd up for one game and I heard him ask a teammate, "Where's my support out there?" Good question. Jason Blake had 40 goals this season but only had 1 in the playoffs. Miroslav Satan had 27 goals during the season but didn't get his playoff goal until game 5. Sillinger had 26 goals during the season but just 1 in the playoffs. Kozlov had 25 goals during the regular season but no goals in the playoffs. Yashin? Not a single point in the playoffs.

The Islanders will likely look to build their team around DiPietro, who really shined this year. Smyth is a free agent. Will he stay? I wouldn't count on it. The front office will have to clean out the dead wood to give him a reason to stay.


San Jose Sharks Beat the Nashville Predators 4-1

From April 12th: Down in Nashville, it was a rematch from last year's round 1 battle between the Predators and the Sharks. And the body count has begun. Cheechoo, the league's leading scorer last year and no slouch this year with 37, had a knee on knee collision with Scott Hartnell. Hartnell drew a major penalty and a game misconduct, his second over the last three games. Seems fishy to me, though I haven't seen the video nor was the game on in my area. Cheechoo will likely miss the rest of the playoffs. The Sharks prevailed in the end, 5-4, after a double OT.

From April 16th: ...And speaking of hitting, apparently that's all the Predators - Sharks series is about. San Jose's Cheechoo's knee on knee hit by Nashville's Hartnell turned out not to be the season ender it was thought to be. He played in game 2. Hartnell had his suspension lifted and got into more fights. Instead, another Nashville player, Radulov, got suspended for game 3, tonight, for boarding Steve Bernier so bad he had to be carried off the ice. It was all fights at the end of the game (6 guys tossed) but Nashville won in the end 5-2 to even up the series. Peter "I'm not dead!" Forsberg scored two goals, though one was an empty netter.

From April 21st: The 1st round re-match between the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks promised to be an exciting series. It certainly was an intensely physical series, but the Sharks won it in only 5 games. My Dad watched the series and told me that he felt that Nashville played alot harder during the regular season, particularly against division rivals Detroit. The other three teams in their division (Columbus, Chicago, and St. Louis) have been softies these last two seasons. Granted, the Blues actually improved this season, but they were still a long way off from the playoffs. When 24 of your 82 games come against soft teams, does that mean your record is a little inflated? I suppose one could take the time to compare their record to non-divisional foes to find out.

What went wrong for Nashville? They were definitely better on the power play: 13.6% vs. San Jose's 6.7%. Goal scoring? In game 1 and 2 they put up 4 and 5 goals, respectively. After that they squeaked out 5 goals for the rest of the series. 14 goals total. The Sharks only had 16. It seems like it was just a case of the Sharks being able to go that extra mile to win.

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DED

Beer In Review: A Scottish Otter

Otter Creek Brewery set off on a world tour of beer styles. Each of these limited edition runs is only available in 22 oz bottles. Unfortunately, I only recently learned about this beer tour so I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to try the earlier varieties. Anyway, the latest creation (#6) is the Otter Kilter, a "scottish style wee heavy ale." This is a yummy beer for malty beer lovers.

It has a rich caramel color and taste, due mostly to a Scottish barley called Golden Promise used for the malt. Apparently Scotch whiskey distillers prize it as well. Hops are kept to a minimum, as is the tradition with scotch ales. I never knew why, but apparently there's a historical precedent. You see, hops don't grow in Scotland. They only grow in South Britain. If you know the history of the British Isles, the Scots didn't get along with their southern neighbors, the Sassenachs. Who were they? Oh, "Sassenach" is Scottish for "Saxon." That should clear things up.

If your local liquor store carries Otter Creek brews, grab one of these while you can.

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The 13th Annual Connecticut Craft Brewers Beer Festival is Saturday, May 19th. Not sure yet if I'm going to be able to go, but I hope to.

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DED

Senators Skewer Penguins, Ducks Get Wild

No, you non-hockey fans. I'm not talking about Congress passing more anti-environmental legislation. I'm talking hockey! Here's more stuff that I've sent out on Round 1 matchups.

Senators Skewer Penguins

From April 12th: Day 1 opened up with 3 Western Conference games and 1 Eastern matchup. In the East, Ottawa charged after Pittsburgh and pummeled them 6-3. It had been 6-1 at one point in the 3rd period, but the Senators got sloppy and took penalties. The Penguins made sure to capitalize on these opportunities, but it was too little, too late.

Crosby thought that he had a goal when the Senators went up 4-1, but it was disallowed on the review due to an apparent kicking motion with his skate.

It's the 10th straight season for the Senators in the playoffs while Pittsburgh is here for the first time since 2001. Ottawa took advantage of the Penguins' inexperience and outchecked, outskated, and outshot (29-12 through 2 periods) them.

From April 16th: In game 3 of the Penguins - Senators series yesterday, Patrick Eaves was taken off the ice on a stretcher after being leveled by Colby Armstrong. Eaves was trying for a wraparound shot when Armstrong hit him in the face with his shoulder. There was no penalty called, though a fight broke out. Armstrong was involved in a similar incident back in October. In the end, Ottawa won 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Although Pittsburgh took game 2, thanks to a 3 goal third period capped by the game winner from Sidney Crosby, and scored first in game 3, Ottawa took control and scored 4 straight. Crosby has scored a goal in each game for Pittsburgh and each one has been the last one of the game.

From Today: Sidney Crosby, the league's youngest scoring champ ever, led his fellow Penguins to the team's first playoff berth since 2001. Unfortunately for them, they were up against the Ottawa Senators, a team with 10 straight playoff appearances. Ottawa prevailed in the series 4-1, with a shutout in game 5.

IMO, experience was the deciding factor in the series. Only 3 Penguins had any sort of playoff experience.

Crosby led the Penguins with 3 goals and 2 assists. Veteran Gary Roberts had 2 of each. The other standout was Jordan Staal with 3 goals. Evgeni Malkin, who had 33 goals and 52 assists, and will likely win rookie of the year honors, had 4 assists. Veteran Mark Recchi did likewise.

Key stats: Ottawa went an impressive 25% on the power play while Pittsburgh had an average performance of 14.3%. Ottawa also averaged 30.2 shots/game while Pittsburgh only managed 22.

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Ducks Get Wild

From April 12th: Anaheim beat Minnesota 2-1. This game wasn't televised in my area either. Pavol Demitra scored first for the Wild but the Ducks came back with goals from Teemu Selanne and sophmore Dustin Penner. Wild defenseman, Kim Johnnson, backed into his goalie, Niklas Backstrom who claimed to have fallen on the puck. The Ducks kept at it and 29 goal scorer Penner got the game winning tally.

From April 16th: There's a run on brooms in southern California as Anaheim is up 3-0 over Minnesota. Although the Wild had the best defense in the league this year, the Ducks are proving that they're better. All three games have been low scoring one goal margins, but last night's game was almost a shutout. Nummelin got a PPG for Minnesota with half a minute left in the game.

From Today: I didn't see too much of this series. What little I did, seemed a bit on the dull side. No real enthusiasm on the part of either team, at least for the first 3 games. If anyone else did see this series and thought otherwise, feel free to correct me.

Game 4 saw things heat up. Thug-for-life, Brad May, punched Kim Johnnson in the face. May got a 3 game suspension, which will carry over to the next round.

And in game 5, there was a skirmish before the game even started. Two goons, Boogaard and Parros argued over who was crossing over the red line as each team warmed up. There was plenty of pushing and shoving as their teammates joined them, but no punches were thrown.

Although the Ducks got off to a 3-0 start, they were all 1 goal games. Low scoring affairs too. 11 goals between the two teams. Minnesota's desperation win in game 4 to stave off elimination, was the highest margin of victory 4-1. But then the Ducks returned the favor in game 5.

Minnesota's offense was Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra. Each had 4 points. Brian Polston, who had 31 goals this season, managed just 1 in the series. Anaheim wasn't much better, but veteran defenseman Chris Pronger had 2 goals and 4 assists.

Key Stats: Anaheim made the most of power plays, scoring 26.3% of the time. Minnesota was an dismal 7.4%

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DED

Ignorance Is Still Bliss

Got the following email today as I'm still on ADM's mailing list. I just had to share it. All emphasis is mine.

National Survey Reveals More than 70% of Americans Don't Know Plastic is Made from Oil -- 40% believe plastic will biodegrade at some point

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Apr 20, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- According to a nationwide online survey released today, 72 percent of the American public does not know that conventional plastic is made from petroleum products, primarily oil. The survey was conducted by national online market research firm InsightExpress for Telles(TM), a joint venture of Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX), a company using bioscience to provide clean solutions for plastics, fuels and chemicals, and Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), one of the world's largest agricultural processors and the world leader in BioEnergy.

Plastics are everywhere and most Americans have come to rely on plastics in all aspects of their lives. However, very few people realize that plastics are made from oil, further contributing to the problems of energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions and depleting resources. In fact, nearly 10 percent of U.S. oil consumption - approximately 2 million barrels a day - is used to make plastic. The survey also revealed a misunderstanding about another important characteristic of traditional plastic - it never goes away. Despite the fact that petroleum-based plastic will never biodegrade, 40 percent of respondents believe that it will biodegrade underground, in home compost, in landfills, or in the ocean. Plastics will not biodegrade in any of these environments. In fact, the only way to rid the planet of existing plastic is by incineration in those cases where it can be recovered.

"Everyone knows about our country's unhealthy reliance on oil and the impact that petroleum use has on climate change," said Jim Barber, President and CEO, Metabolix, which has developed a brand of fully biodegradable Natural Plastics. "Similarly, people see a lot of plastic waste in the form of litter. But the fact that so many people are unaware that plastic is made from oil and that it will persist in the environment for thousands of years, shows the need for education about the impact of plastic on the environment and the various alternatives made from renewable resources."

Americans also have a much more optimistic view of the country's recycling efforts than is supported by the facts. On average, those surveyed believe nearly 40 percent (38.2%) of plastic is recycled, when in fact that figure is less than six percent (5.7%) nationally, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There is hope, however. When informed that plastic is made from oil and that it never biodegrades, half of Americans indicated they would be willing to pay a premium for natural, biodegradable plastic. Mr. Barber concluded, "The more Americans understand the environmental impact of using conventional plastics, the more they will look for and demand new solutions for meeting their needs for these essential materials. "Snapshot of Survey Results:

-- 72% of respondents do not know that plastic is made out of oil/petroleum-- On average, respondents estimated 38% of plastic is recycled (the reality is less than 6%, according to the EPA)

-- Nearly 40% (38.1%) of respondents said plastic will biodegrade underground, in home compost, in landfills, or in the ocean (plastic will not biodegrade in any of these environments).

-- After learning that plastic is made from oil and never biodegrades, half (50.1%) of respondents stated they would be likely or very likely to pay 5-10% more for a natural, biodegradable plastic. Only 24% were unlikely/very unlikely to pay this much more.

-- 62% of respondents rate their own level of environmental knowledge as fair or poor,with only 5.6% rating it as excellent.

About the Survey
The survey was conducted online between the dates of April 5 and April 10, by InsightExpress,a leading national online market research firm. Survey participants were recruited online via InsightExpress' patented sampling methodology. A representative sample of 501 respondents completed the survey, reflecting a +/-4.89% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.

If you want to know more about the companies, I can either post the rest or forward it to you.

One thing that wasn't discussed was photodegradation. That's where plastics degrade when exposed to light. Unfortunately, it's extremely limited. Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE, aka #4 in the recycle triangle) is the most susceptible to this method, but it's still very slow.

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DED

Rangers Sweep Atlanta

Since I'm writing all of this stuff for my hockey pool, I may as well throw it into the blog as well. Non-hockey fans (and Ranger haters) can just skip this one.

From: Monday, April 16th
The first weekend of the playoffs has come and gone. Lots of games available for viewing this year, which is great. Thursday night I had a little slice of hockey heaven as all four games were televised. Of course, the Rangers received the lion's share of my viewing time, but I surfed the channels during game stoppages. [sigh] If only it were like that more often.

Speaking of the Rangers, they're up 2-0 in their series against Atlanta, despite being drastically outhit. Maybe the Thrashers, who resembled the defunct Danbury Trashers of the UHL in their style of play, spent too much time playing the man and not the puck. Both games were decided by one goal. Lundqvist has been outstanding and Johann Hedberg was excellent for Atlanta in game 2, filling in for Kari Lehtonen who first ever NHL playoff game didn't measure up to Coach Bob Hartley's expectations.

In game 2, a bizarre ricochet off a dump in pass from Sean Avery gave the Rangers their first goal of the game. Late in the third, with the game tied, Avery passed the puck to an uncovered Brendan Shanahan who one timed the puck into the net for the game winner. As the game drew down to its final seconds, Atlanta players made it obvious to Avery that they didn't care much for him. He'll likely be a target when the series moves to NYC on Tuesday.

From: Thursday, April 19th

Much to everyone's surprise, the NY Rangers have swept the Atlanta Thrashers. The latter's first ever trip to the playoffs (and with the oldest roster in the league) ended so abruptly that it's likely that there will be some big changes in the offseason.

After two hard fought games in Atlanta, the Rangers returned to MSG with a 2-0 lead in the series. Tuesday night they annihilated the Thrashers 7-0, thanks to a hat trick from Michael Nylander and a pair of goals from rookie Ryan Callahan. Despite a strong performance in game 2 (37 saves), Atlanta coach Bob Hartley opted to pull Johan Hedberg for Kari Lehtonen, who he pulled after game 1. The move backfired. 20% of New York's shots resulted in goals.

In game 4, Hartley put Hedberg back in net. He gave another strong performance, stopping 27 of 30 shots. As a team, Atlanta fought harder this time, without taking penalties. They even had the lead twice in the game, something they hadn't done the whole series. But Matt Cullen got the game winner with a ricochet off the crossbar early in the 3rd.

So what went wrong with Atlanta? Flip flopping on goalie choice didn't help. Hartley should've stuck with Hedberg. The goals that got past him in game 2 weren't his fault.

There was also too much focus on hitting and not enough on the puck. The Rangers outscored Atlanta 17-6 over four games. Even when you take out the blowout game, you're at 10-6 over three games.

Ilya Kovalchuck had 1 goal and 2 assists. He had 42 goals and 34 assists this season. He also let troublemaker Sean Avery get under his skin. Kovalchuck had 19 penalty minutes in the series, most of it in game 3. He had 66 penalty minutes all season.

Keith Tkachuk had 1 goal and 2 assists. He had 27 goals and 31 assists in the regular season. Marian Hossa only had an assist. He had 43 goals and 57 assists in the regular season. Kozlov had 80 points during the regular season but none in the series. He was +9 during the season and a -6 in the series.

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Adding to this, there are some other telling stats... Atlanta was only 5.9% on the power play while the Rangers were 20.8% effective. That's a huge difference right there. It shows that the Rangers took advantage of opportunities while holding tight on defense when down a man (or two).

The Rangers outshot Atlanta, on average, 35.8 to 24.8.

Lundqvist had a 1.50 GAA and a 93.9 save percentage.

I guess that's enough gloating for now. RANGERS WIN!!!

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DED

Kurt Vonnegut

To be honest, I haven't read much of Kurt Vonnegut's work. I don't know why. I've only read Galapagos, a satirical work written in the mid-80's. It detailed the pivotal events that shaped homo sapiens evolution from the perspective of a ghost, one million years in the future, who watched it all happen. The outcome is certainly not what one might expect, unless you know Vonnegut.

I didn't read Slaughterhouse Five, but I saw the movie in college. Unlike alot of book adaptations into film, it is considered faithful to the original story. Apparently, even Vonnegut liked it. I suppose that since I really liked the film, and it's considered one of the classics of the 20th century, I should add it to my long list of books to read.

I saw Vonnegut on The Daily Show recently, part of which was re-broadcast last night. It was the first time I'd seen a picture of him since the 80's and he looked terrible. I don't want to sound morbid but the shadow of Death seemed to be hanging over him. Nevertheless, he was full of piss and vinegar, especially when railing against W, who he despised.

R.I.P.

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DED

NHL Season In Review (Part 2) - The East

And now for part 2....

Atlantic Division

The Devils fought off the advances of the upstart Penguins to win the division and take the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Apparently that wasn't good enough for Lou Lamoriello, who fired coach Claude Julien. I wonder what he would've done if they didn't make the playoffs.

The Penguins are in the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Led by Gretzky's heir and the new Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, they had the 4th best turnaround in NHL history. But that's not good enough for Pittsburgh fans. They seem compelled to keep booing Jagr. What the fuck? They don't boo other Pittsburgh refugees like Robert Lang or Martin Straka, so what's up? It's been 6 years, wash the rust out of your underwear already.

The Rangers slumped hard and looked like they weren't going to make the playoffs. It wasn't too long ago that they were the #11 seed in the conference. But everyone stepped up and Lundqvist started playing like he did before last year's Olympics and the team ended the season sixth in the conference.

The Islanders were flying high behind the stalwart goaltending of DiPietro. He departed the lineup with an injury and the team's hopes went right along with him. Back up goalie, Mike Dunham, couldn't get the job done (well, when has he ever?) so the Isles turned to Doobie and he got the job done. The Islanders had to win every single game to get in and they did. Will the momentum be any good against Buffalo? Are they this year's Edmonton?

And the Flyers made it official late last month. They would end the season as the worst team in the league. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but I still can't get over their dismal performance this season. I'm calling it the "Surprise of the Season." No one in the pool predicted it, though Rick came close (care to let on Rick?).

The pool was thrown completely off by the Flyers and the Penguins. The Devils taking the division was the only thing that seemed to make sense. Only 8 total points were had here. Tied for the worst with the Northwest.

Northeast Division

Buffalo recovered from its injuries to hold off the Senators, take the division, the Conference, and the President's Trophy (3 bonus points to Tammy, Dad, and me). Ottawa finished strong and Ray Emery made everyone forget about that whiny Czech goalie, who moved back to Detroit.

Montreal and Toronto were both supposed to go to the playoffs but neither one could get their shit together for long enough to make any kind of run. Toronto stepped on Montreal in their last game to get themselves into a position for the playoffs only to be usurped by the Islanders. It's the second year in a row for Maple Leafs fans to be disgruntled. Can't blame this one on ex-coach Quinn this time.

And despite finishing last in the division, the Bruins were contenders for the playoffs until the end of March when they were sidelined by a huge slide (2-7-1) going into April.

The collective average of the pool had no problem guessing that Buffalo would win and Ottawa would place. And Boston's last place finish (again) was no surprise to most. But Montreal and Toronto were harder to pin down. Both teams were picked to finish everywhere except first, well, Toronto did get one first place vote. 18 points were had, with Tammy, Tim, and Claude snagging 3 each.

Southeast Division

After all of Carolina's off season maneuvers, most of us felt that they weren't going to repeat. But only a couple people felt strong enough that they wouldn't even make the playoffs. So much for defending the Cup. In fact, they barely held onto third in the division. They had to fight off the Panthers on the last game of the season to avoid falling to fourth. Hmmm, I suspect someone's gonna get fired.

Instead, the accolades go to Atlanta for making the playoffs for the first time, ever. But 9 out of 11 of us knew that it was finally time for that to happen. They have a good mix of old and new players, with the younger guys scoring goals (Hossa and Kovalchuk) and the older guys providing solid leadership (Holik, Tkachuk, Mellanby). These guys might be the sleeper favorite in the playoffs.

Tampa was up and down in the division, but always slightly better than we expected. At the end, they wound up higher than most of us thought. But they still only managed the #7 seed in the conference. I don't think that they've plugged the hole left by Khabibulin.

Florida managed to not get any worse after losing their star goalie, Roberto Luongo, who shipped off to Vancouver. Injuries put Joe Nieuwendyk and Todd Bertuzzi (and then he was traded) on the sidelines before the team could get going. Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton (who?) carried the team offensively while Ed Belfour got peppered at the net. They made an attempt at a playoff run but it was too little, too late.

The Capitols last place finish was an easy one. 8 out of 11 of us called that one.

The Southeast was very good to us. Although the collective average managed 3 out of 5, we racked up 27 points, our second best division. Dad led the way with a perfect 5 of 5, while Damian, Tim, Rick 1, and I came up with 3 each.

Final Standings....

1.	Tammy	16
2.	Dad	15
3.	Damian	14
4.	Tim	12
	Me
5.	Rich	10
	Rick 1
	Claude
6.	Peter	7
7.	Rick 2	6
8.	Annie	4

Thanks to the 3 point President's Trophy Bonus, Tammy wins!

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DED

NHL Season In Review (Part 1) - The West

If hockey isn't your thing, read no further. I run a couple hockey pools. The first one covers the regular season while the other covers the playoffs, which start Wednesday. With the former, people make their guesses in October how the season will end in April. It's not straightforward. Surprises happen. Here's Part 1 of my review of the season. Part 2 will be posted later.

Central Division

Nashville tried really, really hard to prove to the hockey world that they were the new kings of the Central Division. For most of the season, they held the #1 spot. But in the end, the Red Wings said, "No, not yet." The pool was split 6-5 on that call.

Nashville dropped out of the playoffs in the first round last year, primarily because their star goalie, Tomas Vokoun, had a "blood condition" which kept him in the hospital. This year he split his time in net with Chris Mason and the two have similar stats, giving Nashville options that most other teams lack. Although they acquired Forsberg, a Philadelphia refugee, at the trade deadline, his injury riddled body has prevented him from being much of a menace on the ice. Opposing teams would be wise to ignore him and focus on Legwand, Arnott, and Kariya (200 points between them).

Dominik Hasek, the whiny, groin pulling Czech, has returned to Detroit after stints in retirement and Ottawa. While his performance has been stellar this year, it is the next generation of Red Wings that have carried this team (Datsyuk and Zetterberg). Veterans like Chelios, Lang, Lidstrom, Holstrom, and Schneider haven't slouched either. While fans may have wondered at the start of the season how the team would fare with the retirement of Yzerman and the departure (some say 'defection') of Shanahan, it's #1 finish in the division and the conference should allay those fears. Now if only they can make it past the first round of the playoffs.

The St. Louis Blues are a much improved team over last year. New GM and ex-Ranger analyst, John "JD" Davidson dragged the team out of the cellar and into mediocrity. While that doesn't sound like much, it certainly is an improvement. 9 out of 11 of us picked them to stay in the basement. Damian and Tammy were correct in their predictions of better times.

Columbus and Chicago rounded out the division. Well, that's about all I can say about them.

This wasn't such a good division for the pool. We were split on who was king of the division and which of the C cities would fare better than St. Louis, though the correct answer was none. We managed only 16 points. The sole exception to poor performance was Tammy who was perfect and snagged 5 of those points.

Northwest Division

The Northwest Division was a wild ride for most of the season, with no clear leader. As late as the start of February, six points was all that separated the top from the bottom. Edmonton was the first to run out of gas and then Colorado. The Canucks poured it on with the Wild in hot pursuit. Stunned to realize that they might miss the playoffs for the first time in ages, the Avs poured it on at the end. Like the Islanders, they were forced to win every single game if they wanted to avoid the golf course. But unlike the Islanders, they couldn't get it done. They ran out of games. Calgary breathed a sigh of relief as the last game of the season was between them and Colorado.

The Vancouver Canucks defied expectations. The team suffered from Olympic Burnout (like the Rangers) last year and crashed so hard they didn't make the playoffs. This year they won the division. There have been several keys to the turnaround: the addition of Robert Luongo (Florida Panthers refugee) in goal, dumping troublesome players (like Todd Bertuzzi), and the maturity of the Sedin twins. Solid leadership from Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison, and Trevor Linden didn't hurt either, but you expect that from your veteran players.

The Minnesota Wild had the stingiest defense in the league. That's what got them so far. Manny Fernandez and Niklas Backstrom manned the pipes while Kim Johnsson and Martin Skoula screened shots. The offense was led by Pavol Demitra, Brian Rolston, Marc Bouchard, and Marian Gaborik. Not exactly household names unless you live in Minnesota. The playoffs may change that.

8 out of 11 people picked Calgary to take the division, but they're just not as hot as they used to be. Now that the playoffs are here, perhaps Iginla can get the team fired up.

Runner up for "Surprise of the Season," is Edmonton's crash and burn performance. Last year they fought for the Cup, this year they've been done since February. An anemic offense and injuries appears to have done them in. After trading away Ryan Smyth, only Petr Sykora, an off season free agent signing, had more than 20 goals. They finished March with 1-8-1. Damian was the only one to get that one right. Our collective average even had them finishing second.

This division was tough for us to call. None of our collective averaging worked. Of the mere 8 points we scraped together, 3 of them went to Damian.

Pacific Division

Except for a slump in January, Anaheim has been top dog (or is that top duck?) in the division all season long. They earned their first division title thanks to a revitalized offense led by veterans Teemu Selanne (48 goals!) and Andy McDonald and young guys like Dustin Penner and Ryan Getzlaf, strong defense led by old pros Niedermayer and Pronger, and solid goaltending from Giguere and Bryzgalov. The Ducks have teeth.

Another team with teeth were the Sharks. Except for a slump in February, they held close to Anaheim all year. Their offense was led by Thornton, Marleau, Cheechoo, and Michalek. The net was defended equally well by Toskala and Nabokov, though the former had the better record. They face Nashville in the first round of the playoffs, a rematch from last year that's sure to be brutal.

The Dallas Stars fizzled last year in the first round of the playoffs, despite winning the division. Their inability to rack up alot of offense kept them from dominating the division, but their defense (second fewest goals allowed) got them into the playoffs. Injuries may keep them from going far.

The Kings got off to a good start but fizzled by Thanksgiving. They barely stayed out of the division basement. Instead, Phoenix, led by the impotent coaching of Gretzky, wound up there, again, with the worst record in the conference. For a while, things were looking non-dismal, but hockey in the desert just ain't happenin'. Maybe they should go back to Winnipeg.

Our most predicable division! The collective average came up perfect, as did Tim. Seven people wound up with 3 points. We racked up 30 points!

Standings so far....

1.	Tammy	7
	Damian
2.	Tim	6
3.	Rich	5
	Rick 1
	Dad
	Claude
4.	Me	4
	Peter
5.	Rick 2	3
	Annie

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DED

Ethanol Optimism

You may have heard the news today about the Supreme Court ruling that the EPA and the federal do have the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as per the Clean Air Act. The auto industry spun their reaction as something positive but insisted that they not be the sole bearer of the CO₂ clean up burden.

How far will it go? While my rant may make it seem like I'm not on board for improving the environment and getting carbon emissions reduced, as the logic I tried to convey will likely be lost, nothing could be further from the truth. It's the federal government's ability to do anything right this decade that has me colored skeptical. Carbon dioxide is essential to life on Earth, but too much of it, and other naturally occurring greenhouse gases, and the planet cooks. It helps to keep the planet warm from the cold of space. But it's also why Venus is hotter than Mercury despite being about twice as far from the sun.

Hopefully any legislation that comes out of this will be specific about which sources of carbon dioxide will be regulated. I'm not optimistic. Creating a category for "greenhouse gases" separate from "pollutants" would be a nice start. You might think that it's semantics, but "the devil's in the details." Leave room for loopholes and the lawyers for the big offenders will exploit them.

The automobile industry "urge(s) consumers to consider buying one of our many fuel-efficient technologies on sale now, because these autos can reduce gasoline use and thereby reduce carbon dioxide." What they're really saying is, "prove to us you want cleaner cars, then we'll make more." While Toyota and Honda have eagerly gambled on this approach, GM has taken the easy route. Ford waffled at first, but they seem to be opting for GM's route.

In case you didn't already know, ethanol is the easy route. Very little needs to be done for the auto industry to produce flex-fuel cars and trucks that will run on ethanol. In fact, they claim that millions of vehicles on the road already are capable of handling ethanol. As I wrote before, I'm not advocating ethanol for various reasons. But there are people who are wildly optimistic about its potential.

Vinod Khosla, a founder of Sun Microsystems, formed Khosla Ventures to invest in environmentally friendly technologies. He wrote an article for Wired magazine explaining why he's so bullish on ethanol. It's definitely worth reading as he tackles most of the arguments against ethanol in detail. He lays out a somewhat rosy picture for ethanol's future and I hope that he's right. My lack of faith in ethanol's viability doesn't mean I wish failure on those who pursue it.

Khosla firmly believes that the technological problems ethanol faces can be overcome. He even advocates genetic engineering to increase crop yields. I can't help but wonder how that will play out in the Greenpeace crowd.

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DED