2007 Stanley Cup Finals Prediction

Not that I wanted to copy Cliff, the Canadian Press, and EA Sports simulation but, alas, I must. I've actually had this pick in my head for the last week, and it seems everyone agrees. So either we're all geniuses, or Anaheim's about to shock the lot of us.

Since their bad start they've only lost 10 games, going something like 47-10. I'm not confident even the strong Ducks with their solid defence can string off four wins in seven. This will be the most defensive and hardest-hitting team the Sens have faced, but this is a team that's also beat some good teams to get this far. Four lines deep will be hard for even the Ducks to cover.

Win it for Elgin, boys.

Stanley Cup

Wow, my first ever entry... I'm felling a little nervous as I type.

Well, I thought my first topic should be something controversial that will surely elicit some feedback.

I put forth that the NHL scrap the 7 game Stanley Cup final format and instead go with a one game winner-takes-all format. All other rounds would still be best 4 of 7.
That's part 1 of my suggestion. Part II is to scrap the mid-season all-star game. I think the all-star game should be played after the season is over but before the Stanley cup game.

For 7 days following the 3rd round of the play-offs we would have:
Rookies and prospects skills competition
Rookies and prospects all-star game
All-star skills competition
All-star game
Stanley Cup final

The all-star games would exclude players would are playing in the final.

This event should be held around May 24 weekend... ball-hockey tourneys, tail-gate parties, concerts, etc...

I think it would be awesome.

I'm a little tired of hockey right now and an event like this would get me back into it... but that's just me. What do you think?

Side With the Seeds

So for those counting that's 7-1 in first round matchups, 3-1 in the second, and 2-0 in the third for a total of 12-2 in the NHL Playoffs going into our Cup finals. I do believe that would tie me with TSN's Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger for tops amongst their prognosticating team. Maggie the Monkey is 8-6, stupid chimp.

That said, I shall now direct attention to Rick's pre-season NHL picks. There's a mix of good and bad predictions there but I shall point out to Toronto fans that Suglobov was indeed a bust, and to everyone that my Ottawa vs Anaheim prediction actually predates May 9th - it stretches all the way back to October 5, 2006.

My finals pick shall arrive Sunday - historically, I'm not so good at closing things out. So proceed with caution...

Drowning On Dry Land

Long time no post, I might only now be recovering from a fairly difficult road week in the sticks of La Belle Province. When we lost a replacement staff member for a maternity leave position it left Ingram in a bit of a lurch with a rapidly approaching three-city road-show that had no owner. I jumped in and took it over as I felt I had the time to devote, but wasn't prepared for the effort required. As a non-French speaker it involved a lot of translation, and of course, the show itself was a logistical nightmare.

I flew into Montreal Monday night where I met up with a trip director, Patti, before renting a car and heading off to Sherbrooke. We checked into the Delta there and met up with Jonathan, an Ingram outside sales rep, and headed out for a very nice dinner at Da Toni, a fine restaurant serving Italian and French cuisine. I had a very strange Creme Caramel with Shrimp and Asparagus Salad appetizer and a Pesto Crusted Mahi-Mahi for my main, along with a nice bottle of Leffe Brun to match. The next day it was day one of the "Via Quebec Tour" in the Delta. We had hoped for 25, anticipated 10, and got.. three. Three people showed up. An unmatched piece of misery in Ingram lore, whose previous worst attendance rate was eight. Go Rick.

On the road afterwards, and attempting to figure out what went wrong, we set out at three for the assumed 5.5 hour trip to Chicoutimi. Upon arrival after a delightful and scenic 4.5 hour ride we checked into >L'Hotel La Sagueneenne and dove into dinner at Le Tremblay where I paired up the pork chop with a local horrid pale lager whose name escapes me. Afterwards, back at the room, I found the laptop I'd been provided came with 14 viruses, and upon cleaning them, it never came up. Things were obviously going well.

Day two, however, things looked up. We achieved a full house with more than all who registered coming, something I'm not sure has happened before. Especially not the day after a historically poor turnout. The attendees were a wild and excited bunch, and the vendors involved were ecstatic. The day ended with a massive deal for a vendor and smiles all around as we began the four-hour trip back to Trois-Rivieres, and the Hotel Gouverneur. Once in we all decided it was time to catch the Sabres/Senators game and headed to - no kidding - La Cage Aux Sports. This is a chain of sports bars that was actually quite nice, with the exception of a pedestrian food and drink menu. I settled on a steak sandwich and poutine paired with a glass of water, much to the chagrin of my tablemates who failed to understand how I could dislike Rickard's Red enough to order water. Once done we headed outside to .. snow.

I'm bored of typing, and must finish with the fact that the third show was yet another success, leaving day one a distant memory. Back to work Friday to finish up and off to sleep Friday night in a dazed stupor.

Next up.. Calgary.

Le Pauvre Chanteur de la Rive-Sud

Not that I post much except my hockey picks as of late (10-2 in series picks, for those counting) but I'll be posting even less for this coming week. I've taken on a project at work that will now require me to fly into Montreal on Monday night, meet up with a trip director, and head immediately out to Sherbrooke. I'm running three small trade shows in three days in three remote-ish cities in Quebec - Sherbrooke, Saguenay, and Trois-Rivieres. The second day is the killer, over five hours in driving time, not including gas and food stops. However, I shall persevere. I just hope people show up.

In the meantime, beg Mark and Rob to post things and keep you entertained, they still have their posting access around here.

NHL Playoffs 2007 - Round Three

House, Cliff - don't forget to update your picks for the final two rounds!

Mexican Moonshine

Did everyone have a good weekend? I had anticipated a "downtown day" on Saturday for some time, and I was pretty excited to make my way to Toronto with Mike in tow for a full day of walking and browsing. We had lucked out in booking our day during Free Comic Book Day, an annual event in North America during which comic shops hand out free crud. I had, oddly, decided to source out every G.I. Joe comic in which Joe's were killed (COOOOOOO-BRA!!!!) so everything was coming together like a neat little package.

First, I must note, if you do a lot of downtown walking/shopping you absolutely need a slingpack. This half-backpack/half-manpurse was the handiest thing I've bought in sometime, holding all my comics, cell phone, GPS, etc.. Available at MEC, cheap. Get one.

Interspersed with our comic-driven walk were stops for beer, first at beerbistro for the beautiful Belgian Frites and a pint of Ste Andre Eastern IPA. Later was a stop at Volo for a few samplers. Unfortunately I still haven't tried their food but it's a nice enough place, although the bartenders are usually fairly surly.

As the long walk unspoiled was coming to a close we decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Mexican food and sought out Tequila Sunrise on Adelaide, between University and Spadina. A drunken fool on the sidewalk informed us that it was open and the party was going late so we ventured in. My first time celebrating Cinco de Mayo in a Mexican environment was awesome, I highly recommend it. Of course, the food was great, but that's a given seeing as Mexican food is easily the world's best cuisine. Eat it, Italian.

Wakeup Call

I am an absentee landlord.

Alas, I finally find the time and strength to go about posting on the events of Monday night. For those on Facebook you've already seen the few pictures, but for the rest of you, it goes something like this.

Mark and I headed downtown from Yorkdale with the plan to call Rodimus Mark upon our arrival. Dinner would be at Thai Princess before the RCPM show at the Horseshoe. Sadly, when we got downtown, we realized that Rodimus had given me the wrong number and we had no way to reach him. It was decided that we'd venture towards King and Spadina in anticipation of his call. What we didn't know is he'd typed my number in wrong and was having the same issue on his side; no way to contact us. This is where fate steps in and, in the entire City of Toronto, drops Rodimus outside a store and into our path along Spadina. Yes, somehow we met one another in the wide city by a stroke of odd luck.

After a very nice Thai dinner (those unfamiliar with Thai Princess should become familiar - it's across the street from Mountain Equipment Co-Op on King, just off Spadina) we headed to the Horseshoe. As we were a bit early for the show we decided to launch the concert in true RCPM fashion - tequila shots. Mark hadn't tried tequila before so it was a happy introduction for him. Once inside I met up with some old friends from last year's show who actually remembered me, chatted a bit, we partook in the available Waterloo Dark, and enjoyed an opening band going by the name We Are the Take.

I ordered up a second tequila shot to satisfy my desire to launch an RCPM concert with a shot of sweet fermented agave. As Clyne strummed the first notes of "Hello New Day" I threw back the silver tequila and aggressively placed the shot glass on top of their speakers. The rest of the night was an exciting blend of great music, rowdy fans, horrific white-boy dancing, and general energy-expelling craziness. All was well.

Unfortunately, given the amount of energy I do exert at the average concert, coupled with only four hours sleep, it's taken me days to recover. Even now my neck hurts and I'm still tired. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Next up is Circus Mexicus in May 2008. Who's up for flying to Phoenix, renting a car, driving over the border into uncivilized bandito land and enjoying a weekend of excessive tequila and beer consumption along with RCPM?