Tag: NHL

Lunch Break

I’m on my lunch break. I started a little late today due to a conference call. No big deal. All good news. The last few days at work have felt a little like I am stuck in a time loop. My own personal Groundhog’s Day, if you will. It’s weird. I feel like I am getting the same questions and looking at the same functionality over and over again. We wrap it all up at the end of the day and then are asked to work on it again the next day. It’s very weird.

What else is going on?

Stanley Cup Final game #3 tonight. They are playing in the lion’s den for the first time. Montreal. The home of the most evil hockey team in all of hockey. Tampa Bay cannot take their foot off of the metaphorical gas. The universe demands Tampa Bay win, and the universe is optimistic that they will win in a sweep. I don’t know if I am going to be able to watch any of it tonight. We’ll see. I will definitely be following the score.

We’ve had a ton of rain over the last couple of days. We have a little water in the cellar. Not much. Just a little. I still haven’t shared our basement 2020/21 nightmare yet, and I probably won’t at this point, but suffice to say that getting a little water in the cellar is triggering me like you wouldn’t believe. It’s not PTSD, as I would never insult someone who actually experiences PTSD by equating my current state with theirs, but seeing that water on the floor was a kick in the pants, believe me.

One final question before I get back to work. Would you consider people who work at amusement parks to be carnies? I’m not talking about a traveling fair or anything like that. I’m talking about a stationary amusement park. I don’t think you would call people in that profession carnies, but the 15 seconds worth of Googling I did failed to give me a definite answer. It failed to give me any answer.

Okay, back to work.

Tampa Bay Takes Game Two

I don’t see a lot of highlight clips from tonight’s game on the youtubes yet. This is the best I could do. All the goals are here, and all the noteworthy plays are here, but the one you want starts at 13:52.

The word you’re looking for is “gaffe”. I loved every second of this play. The Montreal defenseman was asleep at the wheel. Price in net must have been thinking about where he was going to go after the game ended, because he sure as hell wasn’t paying attention.

Maybe we have two more games filled with bone head plays by the Canadiens.

Good job, Tampa Bay. Even if they did outplay you all night.

Stanly Cup Final – Game Two – Second Intermission

Full disclosure. I have the game on the TV with the sound muted. At the same time I’m watching it, I’m also watching an old local access cable episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (the original Gamera!). So I am not paying full attention to the game.

Having said that, literally every time I look up Montreal is dominating. After two periods they lead the shot count 29 to 13. Fortunately for those who stand against evil, Tampa Bay is winner where it counts. 2-1 after two, thanks to a crazy diving goal in the final second of the period. Sweet.

Come on, Tampa Bay. Let’s put these evil bastards away quick and get this one over with.

Lunch Break

It’s the tail end of my lunch break. What’s going on in the world?

What the hell is the deal with Apple’s podcast player? Both on iOS and iPadOS? I’ve been using them both for years but over the last few weeks they’ve become useless. I’ve found myself using Stitcher out of frustration. The app is garbage these days. I’m almost afraid to try it on the MacOS, though it’s pretty much always been garbage there.

At this moment, the third podcast I have queued up is a hockey podcast talking about game one of the Stanley Cup Final from last night. I only watched the first period and I fell asleep before the third period started. The final score was Tampa Bay 5, Montreal 1. That’s what I am talking about, hockey fans! I hate Tampa Bay but anything is better than Montreal. Tampa Bay, keep up the good work. Let’s win this one in four. Pretty please?

Work has been weird today, and I am not talking about my idiotic forgetting of my badge this morning. Not sure if it’s something in the air or what, but lots of weirdness going on. Nothing we can’t handle, just… odd.

I finally made myself an eye appointment. I’ll be visiting my local Lens Crafters this weekend. I think I am 100% on board with a dedicated computer glasses. I think that will make my work day a little less blurry.

I am a bad person. I have to nana sit tomorrow, which means I need to go over there around 6:30 or so. Harry has a new job and he won’t be getting home until after 7:00. That means we can’t watch the new episode of Loki on the day it’s released. At least we can’t watch it together. Maybe we could do one of those… what do they call them… viewing parties? Or we can just wait until Thursday. Or Harry and Jen can watch it without me. I don’t want that, but I would rather the two of them be happy than anything else. I feel like I am breaking my own heart every third day. I just feel awful.

It’s 95 degrees out right now. As bad as that is, it’s better than 110, or whatever it is over in the Northwest. The air conditioner is keeping up here. May it continue it’s good, heroic work.

Okay, it’s 2:00. Back to work, red head.

Game One – Second Intermission

I watched the first period. I didn’t watch the second, and I’ll likely sleep through the third.

After two periods the Lightning are up 2-1. Having the lead is good, but it’s too close for me. Having a 15 goal lead would be better.

Hang on, Tampa Bay.

Game One – First Intermission

I promise I am not going to give score updates after each period throughout this Stanley Cup Final series.

I am probably going to do it a lot though. I really, really want Montreal to lose.

In case you didn’t catch that, I really, really want Montreal to lose.

Game one, one period is in the books, and the Lightning lead 1-0. So far so good.

Game On – Game One

Game one of the Stanley Cup Final is underway. It’s time. Time to end the reign of evil. Time for Tampa Bay to start putting Montreal away.

It’s a best of seven series. Anything less than a Tampa Bay sweep is flirting with danger. Beat them soundly, Lightning. The world is counting on you.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Predictions – The Stanley Cup Final

We are in seriously dangerous territory. Montreal is in the finals. 28 NHL teams have failed in the world’s quest to keep Montreal from winning another Cup. There is only one team left who can stop this madness and it just happens to be the defending Stanley Cup Champs.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before we talk about defeating the evil, let’s look at how my predictions have done thus far. Also, I flipped a coin for all but the first two round’s Northeast Division series so let’s see how the coin is doing (hint, the coin is doing better than I am).

After the first round my winning percentage was exactly .500. Six correct pics and six incorrect picks. 6-6. Pretty much the text book definition of mediocrity. The coin, with three fewer picks made, has a winning record at 5-4.

How did we do in the third round?

Lightning vs Islanders. It came down to a game seven but Tampa Bay was able to make both me and the coin look smart. We both picked Tampa so we were both right. I’m up to 7-6 and the coin is 6-4.

Golden Knights vs Canadiens. The horror. The horror. The horror. I picked Vegas because I hate the Canadiens with a passion that cannot be put into words. The coin sided with evil and picked Montreal. The coin was right (7-4) and I was heartbreakingly wrong (7-7).

And finally (pun definitely intended)……..

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens: So now we’ve arrived at the finals. There is so much more at stake than just the Cup, or my picks, or experiments in random selection, or anything like that. No, the fate of the universe is at stake. This isn’t hockey anymore, this is good vs evil with the defending champions the Tampa Bay Lightning on the side of good, and the vile, hated Montreal Canadiens on the side of evil. This is literally Luke “Lightning” Skywalker vs Darth “Les Habitants” Vader. Clearly I am picking Tampa Bay because I stand against evil whenever I can. The coin, who has picked Montreal twice now, picks (heads for the higher seed, which according to the NHL iOS app is Tampa Bay) Tampa Bay! The coin finally chooses to side against the evil ones! Thanks, coin!

Game one is Monday night. If Tampa Bay wins I will finish the playoffs with an 8-7 record and I’ll get to pat myself on the back for finishing with a winning record. If I lose I’ll finish 7-8 but it won’t matter because the universe will have collapsed into evil and madness so no one will notice my awful prediction skills. The coin will end up with a winning record either way, because it’s an asshole.

GO LIGHTNING!

1-0 After Two

Two periods into game seven between the Islanders and the Lightning, and Tampa Bay is clinging to a 1-0 lead. They’ve been dominant for most of the game so far, but when the Islanders are clicking they are a little terrifying.

I am rooting for Tampa for three reasons. First, because I picked them. Second, because they are not from New York. Third, because I legitimately feel they will have a better chance at beating Montreal.

One period to go. How about you hang on to that lead, Tampa Bay?