The NHL regular season is over. It’s time for the playoffs! The second season! The important stuff! Whatever, bring it on… on Wednesday. It is now time for my annual pointless first round predictions post that is based on gut and my tiny knowledge of hockey… and my outspoken Bruins fanboy nature.

Here are the match ups and the television schedules:

2010 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
SERIES A		#1 vs. #8	Network
Thursday, April 15		at Washington, 7:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS
Saturday, April 17		at Washington, 7:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS
Monday, April 19		at Montreal, 7:00 p.m.	TSN
Wednesday, April 21		at Montreal, 7:00 p.m.	TSN
*Friday, April 23		at Washington, 7:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS
*Monday, April 26		at Montreal, 7:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS
*Wednesday, April 28		at Washington, TBD	TSN
SERIES B		#2 vs. #7	Network
Wednesday, April 14		at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.	TSN
Friday, April 16		at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.	TSN
Sunday, April 18		at Philadelphia, 6:00 p.m.	TSN
Tuesday, April 20		at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.	TSN2
*Thursday, April 22		at New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.	TSN
*Sunday, April 25		at Philadelphia, TBD	TSN
*Tuesday, April 27		at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.	TSN
SERIES C		#3 vs. #6	Network
Thursday, April 15		at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.	CBC
Saturday, April 17		at Buffalo, 1:00 p.m.	NBC, CBC
Monday, April 19		at Boston, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, CBC
Wednesday, April 21		at Boston, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, CBC
*Friday, April 23		at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.	CBC
*Monday, April 26		at Boston, 7:00 p.m.	CBC
*Wednesday, April 28		at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.	CBC
SERIES D		#4 vs. #5	Network
Wednesday, April 14		at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Friday, April 16		at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Sunday, April 18		at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Tuesday, April 20		at Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
*Thursday, April 22		at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
*Saturday, April 24		at Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
*Tuesday, April 27		at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.	CBC
2010 WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
SERIES E		#1 vs. #8	Network
Wednesday, April 14		at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
Friday, April 16		at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
Sunday, April 18		at Colorado, 9:30 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
Tuesday, April 20		at Colorado, 10:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
*Thursday, April 22		at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
*Saturday, April 24		at Colorado, TBD	CBC
*Monday, April 26		at San Jose, TBD	CBC
SERIES F		#2 vs. #7	Network
Friday, April 16		at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.	TSN2, VERSUS (JIP)
Sunday, April 18		at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS (JIP)
Tuesday, April 20		at Nashville, 9:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS (JIP)
Thursday, April 22		at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.	TSN2, VERSUS (JIP)
*Saturday, April 24		at Chicago, 3:00 p.m.	NBC, TSN
*Monday, April 26		at Nashville, TBD	TSN
*Wednesday, April 28		at Chicago, TBD	TSN
SERIES G		#3 vs. #6	Network
Thursday, April 15		at Vancouver, 10:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Saturday, April 17		at Vancouver, 10:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Monday, April 19		at Los Angeles, 10:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
Wednesday, April 21		at Los Angeles, 10:00 p.m.	CBC, VERSUS
*Friday, April 23		at Vancouver, 10:00 p.m.	CBC
*Sunday, April 25		at Los Angeles, TBD	CBC, VERSUS
*Tuesday, April 27		at Vancouver, TBD	CBC
SERIES H		#4 vs. #5	Network
Wednesday, April 14		at Phoenix, 10:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS
Friday, April 16		at Phoenix, 10:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS
Sunday, April 18		at Detroit, 3:00 p.m.	NBC, TSN
Tuesday, April 20		at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.	TSN
*Friday, April 23		at Phoenix, 10:00 p.m.	TSN, VERSUS
*Sunday, April 25		at Detroit, 2:00 p.m.	NBC, TSN
*Tuesday, April 27		at Phoenix, TBD	TSN

In Series A we have the Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens. Washington scored 23586235235 goals this year (approximate) and the Canadiens more or less limped into the playoffs. The teams in 6th through 8th in the East (sadly, including Boston) are cannon fodder this year. None of them are any good. I don’t know if Washington has what it takes to win the cup (see San Jose over the last 2465426 years) but I do know they have what it takes to utterly destroy Montreal. I pick Washington, easily… and so does everyone else on Earth.

In Series B it’s the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Devils have been awesome this year, but their recent past (including the Olympics) shows that they (meaning Martin Brodeur) have been a bit shaky in the big games. Philly has been fighting for it’s life over the last couple of weeks. They needed to win yesterday to clinch their spot and they did. I don’t think the Flyers are that good, and on top of that I think they might have used themselves up just getting into the playoffs. I don’t see New Jersey getting past the second round, but I do see them getting past the first round. I pick the Devils, but it might be a fun series to watch.

Series C is a match up between the evil, vile, hated Buffalo Sabers and the majestically awesome, heroic Boston Bruins. Of all the first round match ups for my Bruins, this is the one I wanted. I don’t think we have what it takes to win a single game in this year’s playoffs, but I would say Buffalo is the team we have the best chance of not getting swept. Ryan Miller is the King of All American Hockey after his incredible run at the Olympics, but he’s been showing some cracks in his armor lately. It might be fatigue. It might be boredom caused by clinching the division and at worst the third seed quite a while ago. Who knows, but if it continues into the playoffs (it won’t) the Bruins might just have a fighting chance. I am going to pick this series as my upset because I think the Bruins might make a series out of it, but also because I will never, ever, for all eternity pick against my team. I pick Boston in seven grueling 2-1 games.

Series D: the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Ottawa Senators. Sorry Ottawa, been nice knowing you and all, but you are done. There are three teams that have a shot against the Penguins. Washington, because they dominated everyone this year, and New Jersey, because they actually dominated Pittsburgh this year. No one else has a prayer… and really… I don’t thin Jersey and Washington do either. It’s too soon to call them as the finalist from the East, but I think they will probably be the finalist from the East for the third year in a row. Pittsburgh wins this one.

Over in the West we have series E featuring the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs were picked to finish lower than the East Coast League this year. No one expected anything out of them. Over the last few weeks it looks like they might have run out of gas, but it was enough to get them to the post season. San Jose is the first seed in the West yet again. As usual they dominated everyone in the regular season. They should rip the Avalanche to shreds. That’s why I’m picking the Avalanche. I will not pick San Jose for anything again until they win a Stanley Cup. They have cemented themselves as the masters of choke. They rule in the regular season and then die immediately in the playoffs. I don’t see any reason to believe it will be different in 2010. The Avs win this.

In series F we have the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators. I have to admit I know almost nothing about the Predators this year… okay I know nothing at all about the Predators this year. I know Chicago is having some questions in goal that might be enough to keep them from making a deep run, but they are a whale of a team. I don’t think anyone will be able to take them in the first round. No offense to Nashville, I just think Chicago is too good for anyone.

Series G: The Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have been door mats for years and here they are with the sixth seed. The Canucks are a great team. The league leading scorer, the Olympic gold medal winning goalie. They really should win this easily… but what can I say, I am a Kings fan. Here is an upset pick for me. the Kings win this in a long, painful, drawn out seven games.

Last but not least, series H. The Phoenix Coyotes and the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings should own this series. It shouldn’t even be close. But I am going with the feel good story of the year and picking the Coyotes. Like Colorado they were destined to spend the season in the basement. The organization spent the off season in court trying to decide who the real owner is and whether they were going to move to Hamilton Ontario, or Kansas City, or Las Vegas, or wherever. Now here we are after the regular season and Phoenix is not only in the playoffs, but they are the fourth seed. Detroit is as low as they are in the standings due in large part to injuries and questionable goal tending. Neither of which are a question now. So they should slaughter Phoenix. But I am picking Phoenix anyway. Sure, they might move to the other end of the continent after the season is over, but for now I think they make it to round two.

So there you have it. Eight predictions, most of which are probably dead wrong. I don’t care. That’s how I see it.

Go Bruins!

Over the last few days I’ve done something that I would have thought was impossible. I have not had any caffeine since Thursday night. Jen and I were talking about how we have trouble sleeping and how we’re getting jittery and twitchie. We tracked the source of both problems back to ridiculous caffeine consumption. We’re both cola drinkers, and when I say we are cola drinkers I mean we drink on average the gross domestic product’s worth of cola per week.

For me Coca~Cola is the drug of choice. Pepsi is a distant second, but still a favorite. In the diet cola realm Diet Pepsi is the clear winner with Diet Coke and Coke Zero not too far behind. As far as drinks without caffeine go, I place Ginger Ale at the top of the list… I guess. After that it’s a mish-mash of decaf colas, sprite, and concentrated juice drinks.

After discussing how we weren’t feeling all that great I decided to go all nazi general and declare that we were now a caffeine free family. Then Jen said she was tired and might need a pick-me-up to start the work day. I of course rescinded my statement in a full nazi general-esque manner. She said she’d cut down to one caffeinated beverage a day.

Jen has cut back a lot. I am very proud of her. As for me… I have cut back almost completely. We had our little discussion on Thursday morning. I had one diet coke on Thursday with dinner. Other than that I haven’t had anything. It’s been ginger ale and juice concentrate for me. I know those aren’t terribly good for me either, but I have to eliminate one bad thing at a time or else I am going to get fed up and stop trying.

So good job so far Jenny! Keep up the good work. We are actually going to join a gym this week… something I’ve never done out of pure embarrassment. We’re going to start eating better and we’re going to get ourselves healthier. We’ve both promised ourselves this on a few past occasions, but this time we’re doing it. We’re off to a decent start. We didn’t deny ourselves anything this weekend, but we did greatly reduce the between meal snacking. We didn’t eliminate it, we just cut back. That’s the secret, I think. If we shut ourselves off of everything right away we’re going to cheat once and blow the whole thing. If we cut back a little more gradually we’ll ease into the whole diet thing. Wish us luck!

_________________________

Change of subject.

I don’t usually get into web series very often. I have found a few comic strips that I like to read pretty regularly, but no video series or anything.

I might have to make an exception for Zombie college though.

Looking at the NHL standings it appears that the Bruins are the proud owners of the sixth place spot in the East. If my math is correct (it’s probably not… I was a crappy math student in high school… I redeemed myself in college with that string of A’s in calculus, but old habits die hard, ya know?) the Bruins get to lose in the first round to either Buffalo or New Jersey, depending on the outcome of today’s games.

The only playoff spot left in the league is the 8th position on the East. Philadelphia and the New York Rangers are tied with the Flyers owning the tie breaker. Those two teams are playing each other today at 3:00pm. I might have to find a radio broadcast of that one on the ‘net somewhere and give it a listen.

In the AHL, the Lowell Devils have also clinched a playoff spot. The first time in their history. I think it’s a cross divisional deal as five teams in their division have clinched and only three in the other division. I have no clue who they’ll play. I would like to go to a playoff game, but the whole traveling-to-Disney-World thing might interfere. Still, congrats to the Devils on finally getting to the post season after 13582352 years.

(ed note: It has come to my attention that the previous paragraph isn’t as clear as it should be. If I have two choices for my entertainment dollar and one is a Devils playoff game and the other is something… anything… related to getting to, visiting, or getting home from Disney World then the money goes to Disney World without any hesitation or regrets. I wasn’t complaining about missing a Devils game… I was rejoicing in the glow of the awesomeness that is our planned Disney Vacation. There is no contest. We’re Going to Disney World!!!)

Jen is in the kitchen making meatballs. I am about to drown due to the huge puddle of drool I’m making. Mmmm meatballs.

The Red Sox won last night. They beat the Royals. All was again right with the world.

Today’s lazy Sunday is progressing well. The kids are taking their showers with minimal complaint. The laundry is underway. There Bruins and the Red Sox play today. We’ve discovered Superman the Animated Series. And Jen is making spaghetti and meatballs.

And all was right with the world.

Yesterday my step son was dismissed from school because he was sick. This morning he was still really sick. He threw up a bunch of times and was feeling miserable. As a result his mom declared Saturday to be a lazy, stay at home in our pajamas kinda day. She was wonderful and made him scrambled eggs for breakfast.

We watched the movie The Sandlot together. It was okay. I thought the dog was pretty funny. The my step daughter asked if she could pick the next movie and she picked… Mama Mia. So… Jenny went food shopping, my step son went to bed for a couple of hours, and I sat on the couch with Stephen King’s Under the Dome, and a playlist on my iPhone that included all studio albums by Yes that include Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, Jon Anderson, and Chris Squire. (that eliminates the ABWH record and Union, partly because Union just sucks. The listing included Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans, Going for the One, Tormato, and the studio portions of the two Keys to Ascension albums. I have been listening to nothing but Yes for a couple of weeks now. I haven’t been this obsessed since high school. You’re fascinated, I can tell.)

After his nap the little man felt much better. We watched Planet 51. I want The Rock to just go away now, thanks.

After dinner Jen and I made a tentative schedule for our week in Florida, including stopping points for the drives there and back. Nothing is set in stone. It’s all still fluid, but it is making all four of us really, really, really want to leave right now. Right this second.

I think all Toyota owners who have either had their vehicles recalled or gotten into accidents due to the manufacturer’s negligence should file a class action suit to stop them from running advertisements saying how wonderful they are. Toyota is not wonderful. They are selling entire lines of cars that should have failed their QC department and putting their customers in danger. They should be spending their entire advertising budget apologizing.

The Red Sox are beating the Royals… unlike last night (urgh) and I am feeling good for the first time since opening night. Please beat the Royals. Please?

Have I mentioned we are going to Disney in a few weeks? Have I mentioned that we want to get there Right Now?

RIGHT NOW!

The Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes today to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Effectively earning the right to get eliminated in four games by either Buffalo, Washington, Pittsburgh, or New Jersey.

They opened the second period by scoring three shorthanded goals on a single penalty kill. I have never seen anything like that before. I don’t know if it’s ever happened before, but it sure was cool.

Go Bruins!

34 minutes until the weekend. Amazingly enough, we have nothing on the agenda other than the usual Saturday kid activities. There’s laundry that needs to be done, and food shopping too… but otherwise we’re free.

It’s been a while!

What should we do this weekend? Make suggestions. Leave comments.

Did I mention we are going to Disney? We are.

If all goes well we’re going to see Rush too.

Best summer ever? Very well could be!

Hockey fans: You should root for Philly to beat the Rangers tonight so that the Bruins will clinch a playoff spot. Of course that also means the Flyers and Canadiens clinch too, but who cares about them. I want the Bruins to not have to worry about it for the weekend… and then get routed in the 1st round by whoever is lucky enough to play them.

We spilled the beans last night. All that promising I made you do yesterday, you can forget about that.

Jen came up with a great scheme. She went to Barnes and Noble and picked up two books about bringing kids to Disney World. During dinner last night she gave each kid a book and said they had to read it all.

They were pretty confused. Why does mom want us to read a book about kids at Disney World?

It took a few minutes but light started to dawn… are we going to Disney World? Yes!

We gave them all the caveats. We’re driving and it’s going to be brutally boring. We’re staying in a cheap hotel. We won’t have time to do all of the parks. It didn’t matter, they were both excited.

Then we started looking at rides and they started getting really scared. We hadn’t even left the couch yet and they were starting to look terrified. We told them we wouldn’t make them go on any rides that were scary, but we would make them go on rides that are not scary. It didn’t help. Panic ensued. Then we said if they were that scared we wouldn’t go. Then they calmed down and stopped being scared and started being really excited again.

It’s still a long way off… but we are ready for it right now. Right. Now.

In hockey news, the Bruins beat Buffalo last night. Read that again. It’s not a lie. They beat Buffalo and jumped into sixth place. They haven’t clinched yet. They can still blow it. Two loses in the final two games coupled with two wins for the New York Rangers in their final two games and Boston would be eliminated from the post season. Any combination of two points earned by Boston or lost by the Rangers will clinch a spot for the Bruins. It will also clinch a four game sweep that sends them back home before mid-April. But at least they will have made it.

We’re totally going to Disney World. Just saying.

No, not too excited at all.

Looks like the choice between Boston and Uncasville has been made in favor of Boston. In honor of 2007’s magical Garden Grady Rush Forum pre-show meet up at Madison Square Garden in New York, we expect to have a Garden Grady V2.0, Boston edition. It should be another great time followed by another landmark example of awesomeness in the form of three old guys from Canada playing the best music I’ve ever heard.

The whole idea of keeping the trip to Disney World a secret from the kids is probably going away. Two reasons, first we aren’t sneaky enough to pull it off for almost two months. Second, if we tell them now they can have a couple of months to let the excitement build. We’ll probably tell them tonight.

Also today was an Apple press event for developers that demonstrated some new functionality that will be included in iPhone OS 4.0 that will be available for us to install sometime this summer.

Some of the stuff looks really cool. The big one is Multitasking. The ability to run more than one application at a time without destroying battery performance. Another is the ability to group similar apps into folders to save space on the desktop. I am going to make good use of that, I assure you. There is also a gaming network ala the playstation network or xbox live.

Some good stuff all around.

Of course I won’t get the big one. Multitasking is for iPhone 3GS only. I have a 3G. Apple teased me. I feel burned.

But everything all together today is so awesome that I don’t care. I’ll be due for an upgrade before long anyway.

Lots to be excited about.

Above all else, of course, is that I love my wife. I am excited about that all the time. Love ya Jenny!

Can you keep a secret? Really, I need to know. I can’t go on any further with this unless you all promise me to not tell the kids what I’m about to say.

Promise?

Cross your heart?

Okay, I’ll let you in on the secret.

We’re taking the kids to Disney World. Their father will be on his honeymoon so we’re going to have them for a couple of weeks anyway. We told them last year that we’d be taking them on a vacation somewhere but then we started concentrating on paying down debt and started hinting to them that it might not happen. Well, it is happening.

We’re going to drive. Two Nintendo DS’s, two iPod Touches with tons of game apps, and iPods and portable DVD players should hopefully be enough to keep the kids from melting down during two days of nothing but driving.

Here’s the reason for the secrecy. We are hoping (hoping hoping) that we can keep this a secret from the kids right up until the time we are actually in the car heading South.

Tentatively the plan is for me to take a vacation day so I can get the kids at school and take them to Jen’s office where we’ll pick her up. Then we’ll hop on the highway and head toward the Happiest Place on Earth. At some point after we reach the highway we’ll do something coy like ask the kids where they want to go, and then let them stew for a bit before asking if they’d like to go to Disney World… and then tell them, “Sure, let’s go to Disney right now!”

There is no way on Earth that we’ll be able to pull this much secrecy off. At some point one of us is going to slip up. But… think of how awesome it will be to spring something like that on them. It will be worth it. I know it will.

But we still need your help.

Yes, oh faithful readers, we need your input.

Jen has made the drive from here to there before. I did a similar drive from here to near Mobile, AL once. Those trips were both a long time ago though. We need ideas.

I am a freak of nature with a bladder so huge it can take days to fill. Therefore I rarely need to make pit stops. My three traveling companions (remember you promised not to tell the kids about this, right?) are normal sized humans with normal sized bladders who need to stop and pee from time to time. In other words, as much as we’d like to crank out 12 straight hours of driving it just isn’t going to happen.

So…

Have you, faithful readers, done this sort of trip before? Can you make suggestions for interesting/neat/weird/cool things to see during our brief stops? Any roadside curiosities we should check out if the timing is right?

Let me know in the comment section. (yes, comments are in fact encouraged.)

We’re Going to Disney World!

The countdown clock at Rush.com has finished… and what did it count down to?

Tour Dates!

They are calling it the Time Machine Tour and they will be play Moving Pictures in it’s entirety.

Bliss Bliss Bliss Bliss Bliss

Now the million or so Rushforum.com users can stop complaining that they never play “The Camera Eye”.

It’s looking like a nostalgia tour… which Rush promised us they would never do. They are probably getting around that by playing a couple of new, as yet unreleased (yet) songs. I am more excited about that then about hearing a complete Moving Pictures performance.

The question then becomes… which show do we go to? Jen and I have agreed that we are only going to one this time. There are two New England Shows: Mohegan Sun in July, and The TD Garden in September. The Garden will probably be easier to get tickets for, but Mohegan is a whole lot sooner. I’m leaning toward Mohegan, but either one will suit me fine.

Here are the tour dates, as posted at rush.com

Jun 29 Jul 01 Jul 02 Jul 05 Jul 09 Jul 13 Jul 15 Jul 17 Jul 19 Jul 21 Jul 23 Jul 24 Aug 05 Aug 07 Aug 09 Aug 11 Aug 13 Aug 14 Aug 16 Aug 20 Aug 22 Aug 25 Aug 27 Aug 29 Aug 31 Sep 02 Sep 03 Sep 14 Sep 16 Sep 18 Sep 21 Sep 23 Sep 25 Sep 26 Sep 29 Oct 01 Oct 02	Albuquerque, NM Kansas City, MO Milwaukee, WI Chicago, IL Sarnia, ON Toronto, ON Quebec City, QC Toronto, ON Uncasville, CT Philadelphia, PA Saratoga Springs, NY Wantagh, NY Salt Lake City, UT Seattle, WA San Francisco, CA Los Angeles, CA Irvine, CA Las Vegas, NV Denver, CO Wichita, KS St. Louis, MO Omaha, NE St. Paul, MN Columbus, OH Allentown, PA Syracuse, NY Holmdel, NJ Boston, MA Pittsburgh, PA Washington, DC Tulsa, OK San Antonio, TX Houston, TX Dallas, TX Atlanta, GA Tampa, FL West Palm Beach, FL	Hard Rock Pavilion Starlight Theatre Summerfest Charter One Pavilion Rogers Sarnia Bayfest Molson Canadian Amphitheatre Festival d’iti de Quibec Air Canada Centre Mohegan Sun Susquehanna Bank Center SPAC Nikon at Jones Beach USANA Amphitheatre White River Amphitheatre Shoreline Amphitheatre LA Forum Verizon Wireless Amphitheater MGM Grand Garden Arena Red Rocks Amphitheatre INTRUST Bank Arena Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Qwest Center Minnesota State Fair Nationwide Arena Allentown Fair New York State Fair PNC Bank Arts Center TD Garden Consol Energy Center Jiffy Lube Live Amphitheater BOK Center AT&T Center Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Superpages.com Center Encore Park Ford Amphitheatre Cruzan Amphitheatre

Bliss Bliss Bliss Bliss Bliss