HBIC Playoff Pool - Round Two

How about the finish in that opening round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs? Seeing Boston nearly implode before destroying the dreams of Leafs Nation will probably be one of the more incredible stories from this srping. Washington's total collapse in yet another Game Seven - this time at the hands of the New York Rangers - will only further infuriate and frustrate Capitals fans. And with those games in the books, it's time for Round Two of the HBIC Playoff Pool!

THE NEW SPREADSHEET IS LINKED HERE. Same rules apply: fill this out and send it back to me WITH YOUR NAME AS THE NAME OF THE EXCEL DOCUMENT (ie. Teebz.xls). Again, send Round Two picks to hbicplayoffpool-at-gmail-dot-com. Entries sent to any other email address that you have for me will be categorically deleted so that I can keep all of the HBIC Playoff Pool entries in one place.

If you missed the link for the spreadsheet, it's right here again. You have until Wednesday evening before the puck drops to submit your picks. Yes, I'll essentially give you the opening game of Ottawa-Pittsburgh if you like. Just make sure the entry is in before the games start on Wednesday. Clear? Clear.

The one guy I feel sorry for in all of this? James Reimer. It's not that I feel bad because he struggled to control rebounds or because he allowed four goals over a fourteen-minute span that sealed Toronto's golf dates for the spring. No, I feel bad because Toronto thought they could play a "prevent" defence for nearly sixteen minutes against one of the NHL's best offences when it catches fire. And it became an inferno last night as Reimer denied wave after wave of Boston chances. If that was a coaching strategy employed by Randy Carlyle, he should be fired immediately. As they say in football, a "prevent" defence only prevents you from winning.

And personally, I wouldn't have had Dion Phaneuf on the ice in the final two minutes. The guy looked gassed by the middle of the second period, yet Carlyle kept rolling him out there. If you're Dion Phaneuf, I get that pride might take over, but if you're gassed, let the coach know. Those two goals in the last two minutes of the third period were partly your fault. And you know it. Don Cherry called you out for it, Aaron Ward called you out for it, and I'm calling you our for it. You cannot let Chara and Lucic stand in front of Reimer without paying some sort of price. Horrible call by Carlyle to put you out there and leave you out there, and it was worse in that you stayed out there and made the same mistake twice. Within two minutes!

The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins move on. Pittsburgh and Ottawa kick things off in Round Two tonight from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Get your picks in by tomorrow eve!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!