All seems to be right.  Looking through this page and back posts reveal the malicious site in question is no longer linked anywhere.  Anyone can screw up, but if it happens again I might be looking about for a new web host.  For now, however, it seems no harm, no foul.

It hasn’t been so bad, really. It’s just I find myself constantly relocating around the house in search of a room where they aren’t banging away just outside. This of course involves not only moving Gabriel with me, but also an army of little toys, seats, mats, blankets, and other assorted baby paraphernalia. This of course makes it a bit of a production number for me. I’m the one looking for little escapes for awhile. As for Gabriel, he’s napping away on his play mat while they tear large sections of wood siding right outisde the window.

I have no regrets about our decision.  Watching him being born was one of the most singularly happy days I’ve ever had.  It’s impossible to not believe in miracles when you watch that tiny little person being born.  A life being brought in to the world.  A life you helped create.  There aren’t words in any language that I know of sufficient to describe that feeling.

Sure, before he was born I read a lot about babies, and did some research.  I really knew next to nothing about babies in general let alone how to care for one.  I wanted to do my best to be ready for the experience.  During the entire pregnancy I knew he would one day have to come on out of the womb, but it wasn’t entirely real.  That feeling that I was going to be a parent hadn’t quite registered in my brain.  There were brief moments where I began to see the light, before some part of me slammed that door, locked it, and pushed several dresser sets up against it.

I had braced myself for it as best as I could, and the second he was born that all went right out the window.  Any last bit of of prepared that I had felt evaporated like a drop of water fizzling away on a hot skillet.  My feelings of happiness were tempered by feelings of absolute terror.  I’m not sure it’s possible to ever be ready for when you’re first child is born.  You can go through all the motions, do all the leg work, but once that moment is upon you and there’s no denying that everything is absolutely real, the game changes.

Four months later there are still many moments throughout the day where I find myself wondering what I got myself in to.  But still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The Flyers are going to look to keep their team system running, attempting to control the pace of the game.  They’ll have to set the pace in order to slow down the fast transitional play of the Blackhawks.  Chicago is going to need to be a little less fancy, and do a bit more dump and chase, using their advantage in speed to win the race to the puck.  The Flyers control is going to shut down center ice and make it hard to control the puck in to the zone.

I feel this series has the potential to be a very close one.  Neither team can afford to spend much time in the box, as both teams have been dominant on the power play.  In the end it’s likely to come down to which unlikely goaltender can keep up their momentum.

At the end of the day I give this series to Chicago – probably in six games.

Eastern Conference

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadians

Here is a matchup no one would have even dreamed up.  It’s like the East slipped in to some parallel universe.  The bottom seeds have defied all odds and are now lacing up to do battle tonight.  Throw all common hockey sense right out the window because the normal rules have ceased to apply.  Jaroslav Halak has kept Montreal in every game this playoff year.  He has risen to the occasion and really has become quite the Cinderella story in his own right.  Camalleri has also been big, becoming the most prolific scorer in these playoffs.  While its not surprising that he’s been a solid player, it is shocking that he’s the best of the best in scoring in the 2010 playoffs.  He has been huge for Montreal and has given them the spark that makes them believe night after night.  For the Flyers Boucher has been the story right up until getting hurt in game 6.  He had been playing larger than life, like Halak coming alive for the playoffs.  Now an injury has sidelined him for the remainder of Philly’s cup run.  Michael Leighton came in and played solid games 6 and 7, Philly never missed a beat.  Chris Pronger has continued his superb veteran play, leading this team by example, finishing every check and clearing everyone out of the crease.  Briere played a great series against the Bruins, having 10 points over the 7 games and is looking to keep his hot streak going against the Canadians.  This is one of the toughest contests to call as the two teams both finished with 88 points, and split their regular season series.  While the Canadians get the edge in goaltending, their defense is weakened by the loss of all-star Andrei Markov.  The Flyers certainly have the better veteran defensive core, but when it comes to offense the two teams are fairly evenly matched.  At the end of the day I say watch Halak to stand on his head, Cammaleri to get that big game winner in the closing moments, and Montreal moving on to have a chance to win their 25th Stanley Cup.

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks v. Chicago Blackhawks

Offense.  Offense.  And, well offense.  Speed kills and both of these teams are loaded with fast playing forwards who can turn a bad pass in to a 3 on 1 break in the blink of an eye.  Jonathan Toews almost single handedly dismantled the Vancouver blueliners.  With 12 points in that series he comes in to this series red hot.  Patrick Kane, still hasn’t had the big performance people have been waiting for, but if he is going to come out and show what he is capable of, this series is the time to do it.  The Sharks look to Joe Pavelski to light the lamp and make Huet’s job a tough one.  Add to that Joe Thorton finishing up the Vancouver series on a streak of his own and you have some dangerous players with wonderful scoring touches.  San Jose is going to look for Dan Boyle to pick up his defensive play, and also his special teams scoring ability.  He hasn’t been bad in the playoffs, but he hasn’t been himself.  They are certainly going to expect him to elevate his game if they want to continue their post season run.  Nabakov has shaken off the monkey that has continually plagued him in post-season play.  He’s been there when the Sharks needed him, and he’s made very few of the mistakes that led to some early exits in previous playoffs.  He has the experience in net and the Sharks will need him to be solid.  For the Blackhawks their goaltending situation isn’t as solid.  Niemi came in the playoffs as the guy in net, but after some rather sloppy play Huet found himself in the starting role  and he has run with it.  He was in net in all four meetings against the Sharks during the regular season, which the Blackhakws led 3-1.  He certainly feels comfortable facing them in this series.  Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are going to have to continue their dominating blueline play.  They did a good job keeping the Sedin twins quiet and now they are going to be tasked with shutting down the 3rd best regular season offense.  In an offensive showdown it generally comes down to which goaltender has the gusto.  I’ve, over the years, had little to no faith in Huet’s ability to carry a team, but after his performance against Vancouver its hard to say he doesn’t have the goods.  This is going to be a high scoring series that’s not going to look good on a goaltenders stat sheet, and considering Nabakov’s past of losing his cool when they go down quick I’m going to lean slightly in favor of the Hawks and say that they will do the Original Six proud by marching on to the Stanley Cup finals.

Eastern Conference

#1 Montreal Canadians v. #8 Boston Bruins – The only team hotter coming down the home stretch than the Candians was the Washington Capitals.  The Bruins almost fell apart completely and dropped out of the 8th spot (less than a month ago they were the sixth seed).  Montreal is a fast team that capitalizes on every mistake made by the other team.  They are dangerous in the neutral zone and generate a bevy of odd-man rushes.  If Boston hopes to survive the onslaught they’ll have to tighten up their lax defense.  They’ll also need someone to step up and be a big offensive weapon for them.  It’s cliche but the first game will dictate the tempo of this series.  Look for Boston to come out giving it all they got, playing up the scrappy underdog role, but I feel they will fall sadly short.  I say Montreal takes this one in 5 games.

#2 Pittsburgh Penguins v. #7 Ottawa Senators – Even if this is a two seed facing a seventh seed this is going to be the Eastern Conference series to watch.  The Senators have been struggling as of late, but if they can shake off the regular season blues, and get their head in the game they have all the talent they need to take on team Crosby.  Even with Daniel Alferdson, the Senators big gun, likely out for the series, upcoming talent such as Jason Spezza have the capacity to step up and fill the scoring gap.  Ottawa is a dangerous team that combines a quick transition game with big hitting defensemen who could slow down the Penguins young talent.  Certainly, despite my feelings towards him, Crosby is a big time play maker and its impossible to discount him.  Their goaltender, Fluery, has been brillant as of late, playing well beyond his early season showings.  The Penguins are a team on a mission, and through sheer force of will I think they will win this series in 7.

#3 Washington Capitals v. #6 Philadelphia Flyers.  The Capitals went from being considered out of contention at one point to charging their way up the ladder, taking the Southeast Division by storm.  In a late season rally, winning 9 of their last 10 games, the Capitals made a lot of sports writers and critics eat their words.  Alexander Ovechkin, Washington’s amazing young star, only got better in every single game he played and now, with everything riding on the line, it’s time to find out if he has the mental edge.  There is going to be a lot of young talent on the ice for both teams – plenty of inexperience to go around.  This means there’s going to be a lot of offense, a lot of chances taken, and a lot of scoring both ways.  This series will come down to which goalie can rise to the top.  People should know how I feel about Biron, and I’m going to let that color my feelings here and say that the Caps take this series in 6.

#4 New Jersey Devils v. #5 New York Rangers – I dub this series the battle of who gives a flying f*ck.  Both of these teams have been streaky all season long, and despite having some considerable talent, neither has managed to get that talent to gel in to a cohesive unit that’s ready to go out and play night after night.  I think this series is going to be an odd one with one team dominating one game, and then the next night the other team hitting back.  In the end I have to give the edge to the New York Rangers, in large part due to former New Jersey Devil Scott Gomez.  Add to the Chris Drury, and a Jaromir Jagr who is starting to play back at his former levels of scoring prowess and you have a team that is poised to go deep in the playoffs.  The Rangers will own this series in 6.

Western Conference

#1 Detroit Redwings v. #8 Nashville Predators – Detroit finished the season with the best record in hockey.  Nashville almost folded during the off season and relocated the greener pastures.  It’s almost too easy to say nothing about this one, point at Nashville, laugh, and then move on, except for the fact that since the mid-90′s Detroit has been an amazing regular season team that fails spectacularly come the post-season.  Nashville has a crop of young talent who have taken turns leading their team to wins.  Each night leaves their opponents unsure just who to watch as they have so many players capable of stepping up and dictating the flow of the game.  Still, the Redwings have depth, depth, and more depth.  There isn’t a soft line on their team.  Even their checking line has soft hands to deflect blue line shots in to the net.  The Predators will need to come out of the gates on all cylinders.  If they slip early the Redwings will devour them.  I think the Predators will make this series look closer than it probably should be – yeah, I’m going with the safe bet and saying Detroit in 5 (though 4 of these 5 games are going to go to OT).

#2 San Jose Sharks v. #7 Calgary Flames – Hitting.  Hitting.  Hitting, and oh, some more hitting.  That’s what this series will be about.  Both teams play a very physical game that relys heavily on big hits to force turn overs and disrupt the offensive flow of their opponents.  This should be a fun one to watch for all you boxing fans out there.  This series will come down to one thing, and that’s which team has the better power play unit.  Even strength is going to be a low scoring affair, so both teams will have to capitlize on power play opportunities (because there’s going to be a lot of penalties in this series).  I’m going to be a Sabres fanboy here – Brian Campell (now playing for San Jose)has a great power shot from the blue line, and on the power play he is going to open a lot of opportunities up for them.  The Sharks will win this one in 6.

#3 Minnesota Wild v. #6 Colorado Avalanche – The Wild.. number 3.. really?  Seriously?  This isn’t some bizzare joke is it?  The Avalance might have finished six, but the depth of their playoff experience carries a lot of weight now that the regular season has ended.  They’re going to break out the brooms in Denver as they sweep the Wild – Colorado excites the home crowd and seals the deal in 4.

#4 Anaheim Ducks v. #5 Dallas Stars – The Ducks come in to this series riding a tidal wave of winning.  Dallas comes in to this series, limping, broken, and struggling to find the back of their opponents net.  While the Stars have a talented roster, the Ducks picked up some superior talent of their own.  Scott Niedermayer and Teeemu Selanne add creativity and offensive sniping capability to an already dynamic offensive line.  Marty Turco is going to be hard pressed to hold off the shooting gallery that the Ducks will let lose upon them.  With JS Giguire playing at levels he hasn’t seen in the past couple of seasons Dallas will be hard pressed to match the offensive output of their opponents.  The Ducks are going to walk away with this one in 5.

So there you have it, we’ll see if I need to take my crystal ball back to the shop for repairs at the end of this season or not.

So lift up a pint and celebrate 75 years of legalized beer!  Here’s to you beer, and 75 more years of deliciousness!

For now it is time to go to sleep.  Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get the basics setup on the box so I can start mucking around with the more serious things that I want to get up and running.

Yeah, there are some days that I do miss being a geek for hire.

Actually I have a few writing ideas which I’ll work on tonight or tomorrow.  Hopefully it will feel good to spill out some of my mind.