The baseball season has started, and when every team begins 0-0, it seems all clubs feel they have a shot at a magical year, if they have a good start.
And it’s funny how people react when they do get off to say, a perfect start.
Take the Texas Rangers, for example.
They got off to a 3-0 start, and it was the first time they’ve begun a season with three straight wins since 1996.
Now, they are in the same division as the favored L.A. Angels, who are expected to win the AL West. (The tragic death of rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart isn’t going to send the Angels off to a bad year.)
And with 159 games (at the time) still to play, obviously it was way too early to know.
Yet, it didn’t stop Marlon Byrd from saying the following to the press after the Rangers’ 12-8 win over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday: “This team has a different feel. We go out there and we’re expecting to win now.”
Huh?
Looking at Texas’ two wins following Opening Day, however, shows the Rangers are still having the same problem as always: they can’t pitch. In those two games, they allowed 13 runs against the Indians (while scoring 20).
That’s not going to carry them to the playoffs, especially if the pitching continues to be mediocre.
The Rangers were almost a .500 team last season (ending up with 79 wins), so is Byrd trying to say they’re “expecting to win” more games now this year, and thus the division and go to the World Series?
“The team chemistry in here is second to none, and right now it’s a special team to be part of,” said pitcher Brandon McCarthy.
I wonder if McCarthy has been in the clubhouses of all the other big-league clubs to know that their team chemistry is the best. Hmm

The Boston-Montreal tilt Thursday night at the TD Banknorth Garden was a thriller, to be sure, with the B’s coming out on top with a 5-4 overtime win.
Sure, the Bruins have shown they can beat the Canadiens, and the Habs themselves have shown they’re vulnerable this year, including in goal and now with injuries to their defense.
Boston won the last five meetings against Montreal this season, and are the Eastern Conference’s top seed. And though the Canadiens lost this contest, they still (finally) clinched a playoff berth by earning a point in the defeat.
Thus, the Habs will be in the playoffs, and thanks to their loss against Pittsburgh on Saturday night, Montreal finished with the eighth seed and will clash with the first-place Bruins in the opening round.
Now, I’ve talked about this before earlier in the year, but Boston-Montreal in the playoffs… doesn’t favor the Bruins.
If you believe in ‘hockey gods’, then despite the regular-season records, you’ll probably believe Montreal has some sort of an edge.
The Habs have owned the Bruins in the playoffs throughout hockey history. Yes, in 1971, the B’s outscored everyone by over 100 goals and were clearly the league’s best team, but they fell to rookie Ken Dryden and the Habs in seven in the first round.
It was in the spring of 1984 when an unknown named Steve Penney (another rookie) helped Montreal upset Boston in the opening round in a shocking sweep.
And who can forget 2002, when Boston was the top seed in the Eastern Conference, only to see Jose Theodore make miraculous save after save to help the eighth-seeded Habs on to the next round with a six-game triumph? When Joe Thornton was sent to the penalty box for a double-minor in the sixth game with the score tied, you just knew Montreal was going to score. The Habs did, and it turned out to be the series-winner.
Yes, the players are different now, the teams are different now. But once the playoffs start, throw out the season records. Everyone starts 0-0 in the postseason.
Goalie Tim Thomas–who will be 35 next week–may be the MVP of the Bruins and may be the top netminder in the league, but weren’t we all raving about Byron Dafoe years ago?
In the playoffs, it’s all about matchups. During the last Cup run for the Habs in 1993, yes, Patrick Roy was the savior, but you can’t overlook the fact the Canadiens had somewhat of an easy ride without playing some of the top teams in the league. Those Habs faced inferior teams like the Sabres and Islanders on their way to the Finals. Oh yeah, matchups are important in the playoffs, and I just don’t feel comfortable, being a B’s fan, seeing Boston-Montreal in the first round.
And, let’s not forget, this is the Canadiens’ 100th season, and it looks like they’ve overcome a lot of adversity–with the mid-season slump and Carey Price’s poor play and some players being mentioned hanging out with a gangster and Guy Carbonneau’s firing–and have finally made the playoffs.
Oh yeah, and the Habs’ Alex Kovalev has turned it around after being sent home earlier in the season for a couple games. Kovalev led all skaters a week ago with nine points (with seven assists) and was named the “first star” in the NHL on Monday.
Perhaps the Habitants will come together and win at least one round, led by the rejuvenated Kovalev?
Boston-Montreal also will undoubtedly bring out a lot of emotion on both teams, and in an emotional series between two long-time rivals who have already played seven times during the season… there’s just no edge for either team, regardless of seasonal records.
Thus, as a Bruins fan, it was unfortunate to see Montreal not finishing seventh so the B’s could have avoided a first-round matchup against the hated Habs.

The debate about shootouts will always rage. Points raised for and against will always have merit, because ultimately it is a matter of personal opinion. My personal opinion is the shootout sucks. It’s a gimmick. If they are taking away ties, scrap the three point system and use a Games Back system like the MLB and NBA.
Ever since Canada lost in 1994 to Sweden and in 1998 to the Czech Republic, shootouts have been a sore spot for most purist hockey fans. Some like the shootout, and that’s their choice. They are entitled to it. Myself, I think things like the shootout need to be abolished in a team game. After ten innings, do we see baseball stop the game and decide it with a homerun derby? As entertaining as some may find it, most would agree that it would be a gimmick and not the way to decide the game. Imagine if the World Series was decided in such a way? There would be an outcry.
On a related (somewhat) note, Bettman insists the revenues are fine this NHL season. In fact, he also insists Phoenix is viable in the market it’s in. Bettman is the perfect politician…not telling the truth when things are really tough.
So say no to shootouts. Say yes to the two point system for games. Hockey lasted for over 75 years in that system. Bring back the old names for the divisions. And just say NO to Bettman.

I’ve often given Rick a hard time about being a lazy blogger, going weeks between posts, and now here he is turning the tables. Well, the reason I haven’t updated is because there isn’t much to update. ;)
I’ve had a cold since the weekend, haven’t been to the gym… I’ve stepped up my liquid intake, or at least tried to… I’ve also been trying to keep up the healty eating, I think I’ve been doing a half-decent job of that. I’ve been staying away from the scales until I’ve been to the gym a few more times, so I don’t get discouraged. Maybe I’ll write up a graph so I can keep track of weight loss once things get back to normal.
I’ll keep you apprised. And Rick, you’re still the lazy blogger.

This is a very happy blog entry I’m writing. This weekend I had the privilege of watching four great hockey teams battle it out for Nova Scotia Division II supremacy. The team I am a coach of, the Central Kings Gators, was one of two teams from the Western Region who earned the right to compete for the title. The other teams were the NKEC Titans (the other Western Region team), the Dalbrae Dragons from Cape Breton Region, and from the Metro Region, the Eastern Shore Schooners. Thanks to team building, some hard work and a little luck, Mike Landry, Danny Grant, Frank Woodworth, Jay Abrecht, and myself watched our Gators end the tournament as Division II champions!
As I was watching these young athletes battle it out, it struck me and the other coaches as the purest form of competition we have been witness to in a long while. These young athletes aren’t playing for million dollar paydays. There’s no endorsements to be had. There was nothing making them play in this three day tournament but the desire to be the best team in the province. While that seems on the surface to be the logical reason to play sports, in this day and age, the promise of quick cash and pro contracts seem to hinder that fun and love of the game.
We started slowly, losing Game 1 6-3 to the Titans. This was a game that left us wondering how badly our boys wanted to win. We had a 3-1 lead and in the last five minutes, allowed five straight goals. It was a complete meltdown.
The next day we were faced with a very bad schedule. We had to play and win three straight games to be in the championship the next day. To make matters worse, we had to play the team that defeated the Titans (the early favorites) 3-2, the Eastern Shore Schooners. The Schooners were the talk of the tournament after they had won their first two games buy cialis overnight. Given the meltdown against the Titans the evening before, we weren’t given much of a chance. Our goaltender had had a very shaky start, which led us to wonder how much his head was in the game.
We won the next game by a 2-1 score against a weak Dalbrae team. Nothing to be excited about there…and now the Schooners stood before us.
Our goalie had surprised us against Dalbrae, as the boys didn’t play to their potential and Mitchell Woodworth still won us the game. We could sense something special happening with him. I had had a one to one chat with him earlier in the day that lasted fifteen minutes, and he seemed to respond. He became a brick wall, slamming the door shut on the Schooners and allowing us to build a 4-1 lead. Penalty trouble and some bad breaks allowed Eastern Shore to make it 4-3 before the win was sealed with an empty net goal.
We were now slated to play the semi-final game for the right to play in the championship. As luck would have it, we had to face the Eastern Shore squad again. We coaches were a little nervous, as our goaltending had a habit of turning in a horrid performance after a great one. Eastern Shore obviously wanted to win as well, but Mitchell continued to improve, turning in a 2-0 shutout! The win put us into the finals against the Titans. We had suffered seven losses this season, and all seven were against NKEC. It was the only team we had never had a win against all season. Now we just needed to win once.
Mitch stood on his head, Jeremy Foote added a late third period goal, Chris Alguire, Ricky Sawler, and Mitch Getson added insurance. The CK boys had won the Nova Scotia Division II title for the first time in 15 years!!! The boys earned every win, they deserved it, and it is they, not the coaches, that deserve all the credit and praise for a weekend of hockey never to be forgotten.
The players on NKEC were crushed…some in tears. For some, it is the last chance they would have of winning a Division II provincial title and the heartbreak seen on those kids’ faces will be something I will not forget for a long time. It was a classic game, scoreless until halfway through the third. It is a shame someone had to lose.
But today belongs to CK. The banner belongs to the Gators. I want to make special mention to Mitch Woodworth, the goalie who had suffered a lot of bad press throughout the year, but rose to the occasion when it counted most. He is an amazing goaltender and we are so lucky to have him for next year.
So congratulations go out to the CK Gators, the 2009 Division II champions! Well done, boys! This is your moment!