GAME TIME: 6:00 PST

TV: CBC, NBCSN, RDS

GAME PREVIEW: NHL.com

Obviously, the Kings have not lost 2 games in a row these playoffs. I expect a completely different effort / outcome from them in this one.

Off topic: A man called Horse put the Jackass guys to shame on America's Got Talent last night:

Clearly we're wandering around the desert in the hockey world right now. July is slowly drawing to a close, most teams have made their big moves and those of us still licking out wounds in Vancouver land are waiting to see if GMMG has any tricks left up his sleeve before camp opens in about, oh, eight weeks.

In the meantime, toss your thoughts, classy insights, memes and animated gifs into the thread. Perhaps start with your initial thoughts on the new Jets logo (see the gallery here). Now we know what the logo looks like on Rypien's jersey during his next fan appreciation moment.

If the first free weekend in ten weeks doesn't signal the season is truly over then go check in on the Bruins' Cup parade today which should confirm it.

Next up are the NHL awards on Wednesday (other than Kesler/Selke can't say I care much) and the NHL Entry Draft that starts next Friday. Unlike last year when Vancouver had to sit on their hands for the first four rounds, Vancouver have their 1-7 deep picks: 29th, 60th, 90th, 120th, 150th, 180th, and 210th. You can start brushing up on the rankings here, here and SBN has been having a mock draft the past few weeks that is worth checking out here.

Elsewhere:

• Plenty of videos from GMMG and AV from yesterday's clean out.
• Juice is saying all the right things.
• The boss wants GJ back. GJ wants GJ back.
• The oldest guy on the team will take a paycut to stay. The boss sounds open to it.
• Hoff sounds willing to stay and display his defensive mistakes for a bit longer but don't hold your breath.
• Cue the laughtrack: AV sees "promise" in Ballard.
• The Cup run was grueling for the zebras too.

By the way, you may have noticed the past few days I'm purposely not discussing the riot. I speak for myself, not Sean or any other writer. There are no shortage of outlets discussing everything from the philosophy of rioters, celebrating the kissing couple, asking if the mayor should be fired and if the Canucks should foot some of the clean up expenses (quick opinion: hells yes). But at the root is once these jackasses are tossed into what I hope is a gulag that would make Dostoyevsky puke, our NM community and others have to play clean up. These cretins have made our real passion for this team more difficult than a debilitating game seven loss ever could have on its own and that alone makes it uniquely infuriating. These lowest common denominator pricks aren't representative of the fans NM is here for and the fans I want the site to represent. It's like having a shitty distant cousin: you may occasionally have to hold your nose and acknowledge they're there, but that's the extent of the relationship.

To end on something more positive, here's a derp.

Well, last night was heartbreaking.  Some thoughts on what went down:

• Congratulations to the Bruins on their Cup win.  They were very effective at shutting down our offense, and they also deserved to have their Cup drought end.  Kudos to Stanley Cup of Chowder visitors for being great to talk to, and for welcoming us to their blog.
• If you were rioting in downtown Vancouver last night, SHAME ON YOU!  That was an absolute travesty.  If you were downtown, but didn't partake in the riots, I hope you all got home safely.
• Now, the Canucks themselves.  Let's face it: that was a bad game.  Seriously, if you're in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, you should be giving 100000% effort.  And, probably due to injuries, what we saw last night was not that.  However, in an attempt to be positive, I will say that we have gained significant ground this year, and we probably shouldn't need to tear apart our team this summer to fit back under the salary cap, so I see a bright shiny thing in our future.

Here's an open thread to keep you guys tied over for the aftermath, until someone else gets around to posting some analysis.  Some possible discussion topics:

• Our UFA's this summer (thanks CapGeek): Chris Higgins, Raffi Torres, Jeff Tambellini, Tanner Glass, Andrew Alberts, Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff.
• Our RFA's this summer: Jannik Hansen, Maxim Lapierre, Lee Sweatt.
• Players who are entering the last year of their contracts, and will soon contemplate extensions: Cory Schneider, Mason Raymond, Mikael Samuelsson, Aaron Rome.
• Will Sami Salo retire?
• Do we trade away one of our UFA's negotiation rights?  Do we trade for negotiation rights for another UFA around the league?
• Who looks probable for the 29th pick in the draft?  Will we trade for better 1st-round picks?  Do we trade at all?
  

So, tonight could potentially see the end of 2 more 2nd-round series, with the Canucks and Predators being the only series where there wasn't a sweep.  Some people see this as a bad thing for Vancouver since being the only team not to finish the 2nd round by sweeping their opponent shows them as weaker.  I don't agree with this, mainly because of the matchups and results in the other series.  For example, San Jose and Detroit went to OT twice already in 3 games so far, and all their results have been 1-goal games.  San Jose is lucky to be leading 3-0.  Our series is very similar to this, with the only difference being that Nashville got a lucky bounce in OT that Detroit hasn't had yet.
Before I go off on a rant, here are today's games:

4:00 pm PDT Sharks vs Red Wings Game 4.  As I said above, the Sharks are leading the series 3-0, but the first 3 games were much too close to show a true dominance.  Viewable on Versus and TSN.

5:00 pm Flyers vs Bruins Game 4.  Last year, with Boston up 3-0, this was the point where the Flyers started their historical comeback to win in 7 games.  However, having that happen 2 years ago between the same teams in the same round?  It would truly be historical if that kind of luck came about again.  Viewable on CBC, Versus and RDS.

Go drama.

Yes, folks, I know I've been busy.  I keep getting scheduled to work during our games, so I haven't been able to watch and comment on the games.  Luckily, I have tomorrow evening off, so I'll be able to watch our Game 4.  Meanwhile, this evening, all the 3 other series in the league are in action:

4:00 pm PDT Capitals vs Lightning Game 4.  Tampa Bay is ready to sweep Washington back to the golf course, although the young players are trying to keep their cool.  Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin is guaranteeing a win for the Capitals, believing that they can pull off the necessary 4 wins to stay alive and pull off what Philly did last year.  Viewable on TSN, RDS and NHLN.

4:00 pm Flyers vs Bruins Game 3.  Down 2-0 in the series, Philly is waiting on a game-time decision for whether Jeff Carter will be able to help out tonight.  UPDATE: He's in.  Meanwhile, the question around Boston is whether or not their horrible playoff PP rate will need to improve for them to beat the Flyers.  Viewable on CBC and Versus.

5:00 pm Sharks vs Red Wings Game 3.  Up 2-0 in the series, San Jose is finally growing to appreciate having Antti Niemi in their net.  Meanwhile, despite splitting up Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg for tonight's game, Mike Babcock insists that he isn't worried about matching his lines up against the Sharks lines.  Viewable on TSN2 and Versus.

Go drama.

I'm working a day shift today, so I didn't really have much time to dedicate to this open thread.  Interesting game last night, with huge games by both goalies.  Anyways, here are today's games.

12:00 pm PDT Red Wings vs Sharks Game 2.  The first game of this series resulted in an overtime winner from Benn Ferriero, one of the least expected Sharks.  Detroit will be looking to bounce back from that close loss, looking at the play of Jimmy Howard as something very bright to build on.  Viewable on TSN, NBC and RDS.  Extra:  I shared this in the comments of the Coffee yesterday, but this fan is mighty clever.

4:00 Capitals vs Lightning Game 2.  After the loss in Game 1, Alex Ovechkin and his teammates were rather unhappy with their performance.  They will be looking to play much better this game.  Meanwhile, with injuries to Simon Gagne and Pavel Kubina, the Lightning will have to fight a way to repeat their performance without those players.  Viewable on CBC, RDS and Versus.

Go drama.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Round 2 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs!!  Today marks Game 1 for two of the four series in this round.

4:00 pm PDT Capitals vs Lightning.  The Capitals had a fairly easy time taking down the Rangers, while the Lightning struggled to pull off a series win against the Penguins.  Tampa Bay could use a spark of offense from Steven Stamkos this round.  Meanwhile, Washington needs Alex Ovechkin to keep up his formidable play, with possibly some more help from Nicklas Backstrom.  Dwayne Roloson will need to keep in control in his own net, while Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth battle it out in the Caps net.  Viewable on Versus, TSN and RDS.

7:00 Sharks vs Red Wings.  Oh yay, we get this series in the same round 2 years in a row!  Both these teams had excellent first round, with San Jose getting lots of offense against the Kings and Detroit sweeping the Coyotes.  Both these teams are also very well-known as among the most powerful teams in the Western Conference.  No matter who wins this series, the survivor will be a formidable opponent for Vancouver should we make the next round.  Viewable on Versus, TSN and RDS.

Go drama.