Senators dominate the Devils.

The Ottawa Senators dominated game 3 of the Eastern conference semifinal as they defeated the New-Jersey Devils tonight by 2-0. Without Martin Brodeur in net for New-Jersey the game would've been a blowout.

Tom Preissing managed to score the game-winning goal during the 3rd period after Ottawa's multiple attempts to score the first goal of the game. Martin Brodeur did his best to keep his team in the contest but nobody from the Devils was able to beat Ray Emery. Jason Spezza completed the score in an empty net.

Yesterday's scores:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ottawa Senators 2 - New-Jersey Devils 0
(Ottawa lead the series 2-1)

San Jose Sharks 2 - Detroit Red Wings 1
(San Jose lead the series 2-1)

(Picture: Getty images)

Overtime reaches PR3!

I was surprized to see that the blog is now ranked PR3 after the latest Google page rank update. Many thanks to every reader and to every blogger that exchanged links with us. I was expecting no changes in our page rank because I do not fully understand how this works. Looks like my hard work since the start of the year has finally paid off! I will continue to work hard on this blog, add more links to increase the reader base a bit more. Who knows, maybe with a bit more work the blog will be ranked PR4 after the next update...

Once again thanks to everyone who exchanged links with this blog and thanks to all of YOU beloved readers. During the month of may I will open the first contest on this very blog. What will be the prize? hmmm I won't say anything right now. I will tell you more about it during the month of may. So keep on reading!

Matt Roney suspended.

Matt Roney, 27 years old, a minor league pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization has been suspended for 50 games after he failed an anti-drug test.

With Syracuse in the AAA league, Roney played 10 games this season. He has a record of 2-0 and a ERA of 0.90. Roney has also registered 12 strikeouts. Sendy Vasquez from the Detroit Tigers has also been suspended for 50 games for the same reasons.

Unfortunately for Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds has not been suspended for doping and is getting closer to the 755 career home runs mark. The all-time MLB record for home runs in career will most likely be broken this season by Bonds.

Can De La Hoya defeat Pretty Boy Floyd?

On next saturday may 5th Oscar de la Hoya (38-4 30 KO) will face undefeated Floyd Mayweather (37-0 24 KO) in a very anticipated bout. De la Hoya will defend his junior middleweight championship against Mayweather, which many boxing experts say that he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Can De la Hoya inflict Mayweater his first loss in his pro career? I really doubt he can. Of course this will probably be the biggest boxing match of 2007 and the fight should be well disputed but in the end I think that Mayweather's speed will be too much for the ''golden boy''. Should De la Hoya find a way to win the bout, it will be a surprizing upset. But anything can happen in boxing, let's wait and see on next saturday.

So who do you think will win this bout? The Golden Boy or Pretty Boy Floyd?

Ducks edges the Canucks.

The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 to take a 2-1 lead of their Western conference semifinal.

Corey Perry scored the game-winner for the Ducks halfway thru the 3rd period. Francois Beauchemin and Dustin Penner completed the score for Anaheim. The Canucks replied with goals from Markus Naslund and Daniel Sedin but it wasn't enough to prevent Anaheim from taking the lead in the series. Game 4 will be presented again at the GM place in Vancouver.


Anaheim Ducks 3 - Vancouver Canucks 2
(Anaheim lead the series 2-1)

Rangers registers a win.

The New-York Rangers have defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 today during the 2nd overtime period. Michael Roszival ended the contest with the game-winner with a shot from the blue line.

The Rangers had to win today's game to stay alive in this Eastern conference semifinal. Jaromir Jagr opened the score during the 2nd period for the Rangers but Daniel Briere forced the overtime session with a goal halfway in the 3rd period. The game ended just a bit before hitting the 100th minute mark of the contest. Next game of the series is scheduled for tuesday evening in New-York.

New-York Rangers 2 - Buffalo Sabres 1 (2nd overtime)
(Buffalo lead the series 2-1)

Dave Hilton-Adam Green: Who's buying a ticket?

This next tuesday Dave Hilton, 43 years old, is scheduled to fight Adam Green (12-4-0 6KO). Hilton, freshly released from La Macaza prison last June of 2006 after doing the 2/3 of his time.

Hilton was sentenced to a 7-year sentence at La Macaza prison in 2001 for repeated sexual agressions on both of his own daughters. Hilton purged 5 of his 7 year sentence, then was released under conditions on last June 19th 2006. Interviewed during his jail time, he was still denying the facts. During the time he was in jail, both of his daughters appeared in a few press conferences to reveal themselves, one of them a bit later published her version of the story in a book.

So Hilton was released last year, his last fight in career was his WBC super-middleweight title bout victory over Dingaan Thobela on december 15th 2000. A title Hilton never defended as he was stripped of his title because of the sexual charges on him.

Since his release from prison, a local old school boxing promoter, Regis Levesque, went back from his retirement to promote Hilton's ''two or three very lucrative fights''. Levesque even mentionned that ''Hilton could fight rising top rank contender (from Montreal also) Joachim Alcine in the third Hilton comeback fight.'' A last desperation shot from Regis Levesque. This man said since about a year that ''an Hilton-Alcine fight would sell 20, 000 tickets at the Bell centre.'' Levesque also said that ''his purse offer to Alcine would be too good to be refused.''

Well, first lets be serious.

As of yesterday, under 2000 tickets were sold for next tuesday's bout. A few vox-populi reports over the last few years showed that very few people were interested in seeing Dave Hilton perform in a ring ever again. So everyday normal people won't buy tickets, who will? Because there are tickets sold anyway. The place won't be sold out but there will be at least a couple hundreds or a thousand people in there anyway. What could possibly attract them in the event itself?

Who supports an ex-convict by buying a ticket?

(Picture: Adam Green, Regis Levesque, Dave Hilton. Canadian Press)

Devils avoid the worse.

The New-Jersey Devils were cruising towards a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators yesterday but Dany Heatley tied up the score at 2-2 with just under 27 seconds to go in the 3rd period. Heatley's goal forced an overtime session to decide of a winner for game 2 of their Eastern conference semifinal.

Martin Brodeur and the Devils had to work 22 more minutes to finally claim the win. Jamie Langenbrunner scored the game-winning goal at 1:55 of the 2nd overtime period to give the New-Jersey Devils a needed 3-2 win. The Devils avoid going down a very uncomfortable 0-2 in the series. Martin Brodeur did very well in front of the Devils net blocking 43 of the 45 shots he faced during the contest. The Devils managed to grab the win at their 33rd shot on goal.

Brian Gionta and Sergei Brylin gave quick a 2-0 Devils lead after the 1st period but Ottawa progressively cutted the lead to 2-1 thru Daniel Alfredsson in the 2nd period then at 2-2 with Heatley's goal 27 seconds from the end of the 3rd.

Yesterday's scores:
----------------------------------------------------------------

New-Jersey Devils 3 - Ottawa Senators 2 (2nd overtime)
(The series is tied 1-1) Next 2 games in Ottawa.

Detroit Red Wings 3 - San Jose Sharks 2
(The series is tied 1-1) Next 2 games in San Jose.

(Picture: Getty images)

Nothing stops Nadal on clay.

Rafael Nadal will play Guillermo Canas tomorrow in the finals, Nadal is considered favorite for this match as his clay domination continues. The Barcelona tournament will come to a conclusion, getting a us week closer to the second Grand Slam turnament: Roland Garros. Should Nadal win the match tomorrow, as he logically should do, his clay surface win streak will improove to 72.

Nadal would also win the Barcelona tournament for a third time in a row, tying Mats Wilander three consecutive titles at Barcelona during the 1980's. Rafael Nadal's domination on the clay surfaces is not about to weaken anytime soon. Many pages of the ''clay tennis record book'' will be re-edited after Nadal's passage in the ATP tour. Even Roger Federer wasn't able to end this great streak last week in their matchup in the finals at Monte Carlo.

Roland Garros is approaching and there is no sign of slowing down from Rafael Nadal.

Canucks ties up the series in 2nd overtime.

The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 late yesterday. Jeff Cowan scored the game-winning goal during the 2nd overtime period. Both goaltenders, (Roberto Luongo and Jean-Sebastien Giguere) did well in this game as only 3 goals were scored on them with the 93 total shots of the game. Markus Naslund opened the score for Vancouver during the 2nd period. Anaheim tied the game 4:31 later thru Travis Moen. The series is tied 1-1 as the next two games of this series will be presented in Vancouver.

Yesterday's scores:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Vancouver Canucks 2 - Anaheim Ducks 1 (2nd overtime)
(The series is tied 1-1)

Buffalo Sabres 3 - New-York Rangers 2
(Buffalo lead the series 2-0)

Arturo Gatti, one last time.

My favorite boxer ever and the favorite boxer of many other boxing fans from around the world, Arturo Gatti, will fight one last time in Atlantic city next July 14th. His glorious career shows 40 wins (31 by KO) and 8 losses.

During his career, Gatti won the USBA Super Featherweight Title, the IBF Super Featherweight Title and the Vacant WBC Light Welterweight Title. His stamina and determination gained many fans over the years. His ability to win fights with a single powerful punch and how he could win sometimes when he looked almost out of the fight was phenomenal and very entertaining. His determination was truly inspiring.

Gatti's trilogy with Mickey Ward is another thing to remember about Arturo's career as the first fight of the trilogy between the two fighters was named ''fight of the year'' in boxing. Those three exciting fights kept boxing fans from around the world on the edge of their seat. Boxing at it's best.

Gatti's opponent for this ultimate showdown is Alfonso Gomez, a participant from the first year of the TV show ''The contender''. Gomez has 16 wins in 21 pro fights.

I will miss Arturo Gatti as he was the most exciting boxer I have ever seen in my life. Good luck in this last fight and thank you for the memories Arturo!

The Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup final?

After watching all the teams in their different series and the way they played in the playoffs this far, I really think today that the Ottawa Senators can go to the Stanley Cup final. In the facts, Ottawa still needs to win 7 more games to get there. Unless two or three bad injuries hit them, or a total goaltending collapse, I think they will get there.

The four Ottawa offensive lines are well balanced and capable of scoring a big goal anytime. I think Ottawa's depth is superior to anyone around the NHL in speed, playmaking and toughness. Ottawa's third and fouth line players showed a glimpse of it in yesterday's 5-4 victory over the Devils: Dean McAmmond scored a shothanded goal and Mike Fisher, who didn't registered a point yesterday, was always first on the puck and delivering solid checks the moment he was on the ice.

Sure they have great talent up front on the first two lines: Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza. And great defensemens with Preissing, Redden, Corvo and Volchenkov. But without depth in those 3rd and 4th lines it is hard to get to the finals. I think Ottawa at the moment have the best combination of four offensive lines of the Eastern conference and that is enough for them to go all the way to the finals.

I have never liked the Sens before but I am forced now to admit that they built a great team over the years.

So...do you agree or not? Does the Ottawa Senators have what it takes to go all the way?

(Picture: Getty images)

Ottawa and San Jose steals home-ice advantage.

The Ottawa Senators scored 4 goals during the first period on Martin Brodeur and the New-Jersey Devils to win game 1 of their Eastern conference semifinal 5-4.

Both goaltenders were ordinary as a few bad goals on both sides were scored during the course of the game. Senators' goaltender Ray Emery didn't shut the door completely once the Senators took an early 4-0 lead as he let the Devils sneak back to 4-3 after 2 periods. Wade Redden scored early in the 3rd period, the game-winning goal. Both goaltenders won't be happy with their respective game 1 performance.

Ottawa Senators 5 - New-Jersey Devils 4
(Ottawa lead the series 1-0)

Western conference semifinal:

San Jose Sharks 2 - Detroit Red Wings 0
(San Jose lead the series 1-0)

Olympic flame brings controversy.

The Olympic torch and it's flame should cover over a record 137 000 km during 130 days before the opening of the Beijing summer Olympics coming next August 2008.

The Beijing Olympic Committee announced that within the run, the flame is scheduled to go thru Taiwan. But that decision is raising a lot of controversy in Taiwan.

The Taiwan Olympic Commitee president, Tsai Chen-wei, said that it was an attempt to devaluate their sovereignty. Taiwan and China are political ennemies since the separation of Taiwan from China 58 years ago. Some controversy is also raised in Tibet and on Mount Everest as the flame is also planned to go thru those politically delicate areas.

The torch itself, made of aluminum, is 72 centemeters high and weights 985 grams. It represents a scroll with a traditional chinese symbol meaning ''The cloud of luck''. Let's hope it will bring luck as there are more negociations over the course of the torch going on.

Maybe the story will devellop a bit more in the upcoming months.

(Picture: Canadian Press)

Sabres take care of the Rangers in 4 minutes and 5 seconds.

The Buffalo Sabres scored 3 goals in a 4:05 span at the end of the second period as it was enough to defeat the New-York Rangers 5-2. Thomas Vanek scored 2 goals during the 2nd period, including the game-winner. Alex Kotalik, Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford also scored for the Sabres.

Marcel Hossa and Brendan Shanahan were the only Rangers players able to beat Sabres' goaltender Ryan Miller yesterday.

Yesterday's scores:
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Buffalo Sabres 5 - New-York Rangers 2
(Buffalo lead the series 1-0)

Anaheim Ducks 5 - Vancouver Canucks 1 (Andy McDonald 3 goals)
(Anaheim lead the series 1-0)

(Picture: Getty images)

Rams gets Dante Hall.

The St-Louis Rams gave up a 5th round draft pick to get Dante Hall. Rams' head coach, Scott Linehan said that he was delighted with the acquisition. He also said that Hall will perfectly fit in the team system. Hall is one of the best kick returner in NFL history. His speed and elusiveness gave many highlight reel material over the past years.

There will be more kick return total yards with the Rams from now on. Dante Hall was also used as wide receiver in the Kansas City offense.

(Picture: Getty images)

Western conference semifinals.

Detroit Red Wings (1) - San Jose Sharks (5)

The Detroit Red Wings finished in first place of the Western conference and defeated the Calgary Flames in 6 games during the first round. The Wings offensively can count on Niklas Lidstrom who registered 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points during the first round, Pavel Datsyuk with 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points and Johan Franzen with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points were the best offensive players for Detroit during the first round. The Wings can also count on Dominik Hasek in their net. The team has a nice balance between offense, defense, youth and experience.

The San Jose Sharks finished 5th of the conference then defeated the Nashville Predators in 5 quick games during the first round. Offensively, Patrick Marleau has 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points. Joe Thornton has 6 assists, and still only 1 career playoff goal. Craig Rivet, acquired from the Montreal Canadiens during the season is the best San Jose defensemen this far in the playoffs with 2 goals and 3 assists.

The Sharks are already beyond what I expected from them. I tought that they would lose during the first round but they played a very good series against Nashville and managed to defeat them pretty quickly. But this time they are facing a better team and I doubt that they can win more than 2 games against the Wings.

The Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.

Anaheim Ducks (2) - Vancouver Canucks (3)

The Anaheim Ducks finished in 2nd place of the conference then defeated the Minnesota Wild during the first round in 5 games. The series with Minnesota was a real defensive battle and the Ducks showed their defensive power. The Ducks' main offensive weapons this far in the playoffs consist in Chris Pronger who registered 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points and Ryan Getzlaf with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points. Jean-Sebastien Giguere will be in front of Anaheim's net and is among the best goaltenders in the league.

The Vancouver Canucks finished 3rd of the conference and defeated the Dallas Stars in 7 games during the first round. The best offensive players for the Canucks thru round one are: Taylor Pyatt and Trevor Linden with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points. Don't count out Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Brendan Morrisson and Markus Naslund. Goaltender Roberto Luongo will be in net for Vancouver. Two of the best goaltenders of the NHL will face each other in this series.

I predict a Vancouver win in 6 games.

Eastern conference semifinals.

Tonight the 2007 NHL playoffs continues with the presentation of the conference semifinals. As I did for the first round, here are my picks for this second round.

Buffalo Sabres (1) - New-York Rangers (6)

The Buffalo Sabres finished in 1st place of the Eastern conference this season and will benefit of the home ice advantage during the whole duration of the 2007 playoffs. The Sabres defeated the New-York Islanders in 5 games in the first round.

For Buffalo, the short first round series should keep them fresh for this conference semifinals. Chris Drury has scored 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points this far in the playoffs. Daniel Briere totals 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points also. Danius Zubrus has 5 assists.

The New-York Rangers finished in 6th place during the regular season and defeated the Atlanta Trashers in 4 quick games during the first round. On the attack side, the Rangers are in good shape. Michael Nylander has scored 4 goals and has 4 assists for 8 points in only four games. Jaromir Jagr has 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points. Sean Avery 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points.

This series will be an exciting one to watch as Sean Avery promised the Buffalo players yesterday that he will be very physical with them and will hurt them all series long. Both teams have decent offensive power with a small advantage to the Sabres on the defense side of the game. This series will be intense and should give high intensity games. Expect this series to go past 5 games.

I predict a Buffalo Sabres victory in 6 games.

New-Jersey Devils (2) - Ottawa Senators (4)

The New-Jersey Devils finished 2nd in the conference then eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in 6 games during the first round series. The succes of this franchise relies on their defense and goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Patrick Elias with 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points, Zach Parise with 6 goals and Brian Gionta with 5 goals and 1 assist for 6 points are the main offensive weapons of the Devils.

The Ottawa Senators finished 4th in the Eastern conference and eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins in 5 games during the first round. On the attack side, Daniel Alfredsson with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points. Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza with 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points will be the main weapons for the Senators.

Both teams will give a good fight in this series. I do not expect a quick 4 or 5 games series in this one. The home ice advantage could help the Devils down the line. But I think that Ottawa's attack will do enough to win the series.

The Ottawa Senators should win the series in 6 games.

First round predictions.

The NHL first round playoffs are now over. Before the beginning of the first round I have posted in here my predictions for every series. Time for the comparison. One point for the correct team that advanced and one point for the correct number of games will be counted for a maximum of 16 points. Let's see the results.

Green: My prediction.
Red: Final result.

Ottawa Senators-Pittsburgh Penguins:(Pitt in 6)(Ottawa in 5)=0 points
Buffalo Sabres-New- York Islanders: (Buf in 5) (Buf in 5) = 2 points.
New-Jersey Devils-Tampa Bay Lightning:(N-J in 6)(N-J in 6)=2 points
Atlanta Trashers-New-York Rangers: (N-Y in 7) (N-Y in 4) = 1 point.
Detroit Red Wings-Calgary FLames: (Det in 7) (Det in 6) = 1 point.
Anaheim Ducks-Minnesota Wild: (Ana in 5) (Ana in 5) = 2 points.
Dallas Stars-Vancouver Canucks: (Van in 5) (Van in 7) = 1 point.
San Jose Sharks-Nashville Predators: (Nash in 6) (SJ in 5) = 0 points.

First round total: 9/16 points.

Canucks wins game 7.

The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Dallas Stars by the score of 4-1 during game 7 of their first round series. The Canucks win the series 4-3.

It took the Vancouver Canucks seven games to get rid of the Dallas Stars as things were looking much more easier for the Canucks as they were leading this series 3 games to 1 after game 4 of the series.

Dallas didn't give up and tightened their defense a bit more. It worked like a charm and from the start of game 5 to the 2nd period of game 7, the Canucks were unable to put a single puck in Marty Turco's net for over 2 entire games. An incredible comeback was shaping up yesterday as Dallas even took a 1-0 lead during the first period of yesterday's game.

But late in the second period the Canucks finally scored thru Henrik Sedin who finally managed to put a puck behind Marty Turco. Then Trevor Linden deflected a shot in front of Dallas' goal during the 3rd period to score what was to be the game-winner. The Canucks were leading the game 2-1 at the mid point of the third period. Roberto Luongo did the rest in front of Vancouver's net. The Canucks added 2 empty net goals during the final minute of the game as Dallas, desperate, pulled their goaltender to benefit from a 6th skater.


Vancouver Canucks 4 - Dallas Stars 1
(Vancouver win the series 4-3)

This ends the first round of the 2007 NHL playoffs. The conference semifinals will start during the course of this week.

Federer on cover of Men's Vogue this month.

Roger Federer is on the cover of Men's Vogue this month. An interview with Tim Adams, who met the No1 player in the world in Dubai is featured. There are some very nice pictures of him and his better half, Mirka Vavrinek. All the pictures are from Annie Leibovitz.

Some of the pictures on the site are from a shooting used for premium clothing brands. Those are high quality pictures that will satisfy any Roger Federer fan. A very long and interesting multi-page interview is also available on the website. I enjoyed my reading as it was very interesting, some real pro work.

For those interested in buying the issue, your favorite newstand is the best spot to get an issue. The cover of the magazine shows ATP number one ranked player Roger Federer in a Calvin Klein suit, standing by a grey sport car.

The pictures reveals a new and a fit unknown side of the tennis superstar. The usual fan get to see him on the courts a lot. But when the referee calls game, set and match, Mr. Federer disappears to the lockeroom and away from media coverage. The usual fan gets too much picture coverage of Federer in t-shirt and shorts and not enough coverage like the one in this full lenght article.

(Pictures from Annie Leibovitz.)

Fatal game six for Tampa and Calgary.

Two series ended yesterday as the New-Jersey Devils defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 and won the series 4-2. Goaltender Martin Brodeur made the difference after the Devils win in overtime during game four of the series. The Devils will face the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern conference semifinals. The Devils have the home ice advantage and will host game 1 and 2 of the series.

New-Jersey Devils 3 - Tampa Bay Lightning 2
The Devils win the series 4-2.

In the Western conference, the Detroit Red Wings have defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1 during the 2nd overtime period of game 6 in Calgary. Johan Franzen scored the series ending goal for Detroit. The Wings' 42-year old goaltender Dominik Hasek made a miraculous save with the back of his helmet late in the 1st overtime period to keep Detroit in it. He has to be the luckiest goaltender I have ever seen in my life... :)

Detroit Red Wings 2 - Calgary Flames 1
The Red Wings win the series 4-2.

(Picture: Getty images.)

Advantage Nadal.

Rafael Nadal has won the Monte Carlo tournament, a Masters series event earlier today. This is already the third time that Nadal wins this tournament. He has defeated the number one player on the ATP tour, Roger Federer in two sets of 6-4 and 6-4.

Today's victory is Nadal's 67th straight win on clay surface. As we are only a few weeks away from Roland Garros, the next grand slam tournament, the man to beat is identified: Rafael Nadal. Unless he's hiding some kind of injury, it will take a monster performance to eliminate him during the Roland Garros tournament. The only missing grand slam title for Roger Federer is Roland Garros while Nadal has already won the tournament two times.

Will the 2007 Roland Garros clay be still Nadal's territory in a few weeks?

NHL first round: Game 6

Today are scheduled two first round series that will play their respective game number six.

First, the New-Jersey Devils are in Tampa to face the Tampa Bay Lightning at 1PM this afternoon. The Devils lead the series 3-2. The main obstacle in Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St-Louis and Eric Perrin 's way is veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur who is in great shape this far in the playoffs. The Lightning have to find a way to score a goal, and the quicker the better to survive this game and play a game 7 in New-Jersey.

Let's hope that their building will be full of loud fans on this sunday afternoon. Lecavalier and St-Louis have had plenty of ice time as they both break the 23 minute mark of playing time average in this series. Is there anything left in the tank?

Then later tonight in Calgary, the Calgary Flames host the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings lead the series 3-2. Yesterday, Detroit clearly dominated and it really doesn't smell good for the Flames. Should Detroit strike early, this one could get ugly as yesterday's last minutes were a bit chaotic. The Flames had a great season at home, their only hope for game six. An eventual game 7 would be played in Detroit. But this is still a mirage far away for the Flames.

The only other series still going is the one opposing the Vancouver Canucks and the Dallas Stars. The series is tied 3-3. Game 7 is scheduled tomorrow in Vancouver. Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars have won their three games by shutout in this series. The Canucks have to find a way to put pucks in the net or their very promising season will be over in a stunning upset.

(Picture: Getty images)

Dallas forces Game 7.

The Dallas Stars have shut out the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 yesterday. For the second straight game the Canucks were unable to score a goal on Marty Turco. The Canucks will have to find a way to beat the Dallas goaltender to continue their way to the Stanley Cup. This first round series is now tied 3-3.

Dallas goaltender Marty Turco have shut down the Vancouver Canucks for the third time in the series. He is answering the challenge that is to face Roberto Luongo. Game 7 will be presented in Vancouver and will decide of who continues and who's out of the 2007 NHL playoffs.

Dallas Stars 2 - Vancouver Canucks 0
(Series tied 3-3)

Other scores:
---------------------------------------------------------------

Detroit Red Wings 5 - Calgary Flames 1
(Detroit lead the series 3-2)

Federer vs Nadal tomorrow.

Tomorrow's final at the Monte Carlo tournament will oppose Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The two best players on the ATP tour right now will play each other for the first time this year. Roger Federer defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 and 6-4 in his semifinal match as Rafael Nadal took Tomas Berdych away by 6-0 and 7-5.

The clay surface is Rafael Nadal's favorite surface as he is right now on a 66 straight wins streak. Will Roger be able to end his streak tomorrow or will Rafael dominate on the Monte Carlo clay? The two best tennis players on the planet will fight it out tomorrow.


(Picture: Getty images)

Brodeur once again.

Martin Brodeur and the New-Jersey Devils have blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 yesterday evening in game 5 of their first round series. The Devils take the lead of the series 3-2.

Once again, the poise and experience of Martin Brodeur makes the difference in a pivotal playoff game. Greene, Gionta and Gomez (the 3-G's) have scored the goals for the Devils. Game 6 will be played in Tampa.

Also yesterday, two teams have been eliminated of the 2007 NHL playoffs.

Other scores:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

San Jose Sharks 3 - Nashville Predators 2
(San Jose wins the series 4-1)

Buffalo Sabres 4 - New-York Islanders 3
(Buffalo wins the series 4-1)

(Picture: Getty images)

New acquisition.

PayPerPost has announced us tonight that they have just bought a new company. They have asked us posties to talk about it on our blogs before they do the official announcement where everyone will finally know what exact company they have bought and how will it affect us, PayPerPost posties.

So what company do I think they have just bought?

I know for a fact that Ted Murphy, the company CEO, is traveling a lot in a year. I think that he was tired of the same old airports and decided that he had lost enough time waiting for his plane to finally take off. That is why he has bought 100% of the shares of Bartok Sciences, a company long ago owned by Seth Brundle.

Seth Brundle was a research scientist, who started Bartok Sciences in 1986. The main invention of Mr. Brundle consisted in "Telepods": two matter transmission pods that teleports any object through space from one "Telepod" to the other "Telepod". Nobody have seen the scientist since...

This should end Ted's traveling problems. With ''Telepods'' installed in Paris, London, L-A, N-Y, Berlin and Shanghai he can now travel and build his business all over the world without having to wait for his plane anymore. Jetlag? Gone. Rumors say that Ted will allow the posties full access to PayPerPost's ''Telepod'' network. But I think I am speculating...

500th career victory for Federer.

Roger Federer has defeated David Ferrer by 6-4 6-0 today and shows himself into the semifinals of the Monte Carlo tournament. The milestone that really matters is that the match was the 500th victory in Roger Federer's career.

In his career so far, Roger Federer has a record of 500 wins and only 127 losses. More impressive are his numbers since he got to the number one rank of the ATP tour. Since the first time Federer has been ranked No1 for the first time at the beginning of 2004, he has won 264 times and lost only 17 matches. A 93.5% win percentage, simply impressive.

Back to the Monte Carlo tournament, a Master series event, Tomas Berdych has qualified himself to the semifinals also with a win in three sets over Robin Soderling by 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.
Rafael Nadal is currently facing Philipp Kohlschreiber from Germany, a qualified player. Should Nadal win the match, he will face Tomas Berdych in the tournament semifinals. The winner of quarterfinal No4 between Richard Gasquet and Juan Carlos Ferrero will face Roger Federer in the other semifinal match.

(Picture: Canadian Press.)

Ottawa sends Sidney and the Penguins on vacation.

The Ottawa Senators have defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 yesterday and has won the series 4 games to 1. The Senators advances to the conference semifinals as the Pittsburgh Penguins' superb season is now over. The young team will be more experienced and even more dangerous contenders next time around. The Minnesota Wild has also been eliminated yesterday.

Ottawa Senators 3 - Pittsburgh Penguins 0
(Ottawa wins the series 4-1)

Other scores:
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Calgary Flames 3 - Detroit Red Wings 2
(The series is tied 2-2)

Anaheim Ducks 4 - Minnesota Wild 1
(Anaheim wins the series 4-1)

Dallas Stars 1 - Vancouver Canucks 0 (overtime)
(Vancouver lead the series 3-2)

Federer and Nadal in Quarterfinals.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both reached the quarterfinal match of the Monte Carlo tournament, a Masters series event. The clay season has begun and Rafael Nadal has his way on this surface since a few years already.

Nadal has on a good winning streak going on playing on clay surfaces. He has won his last 64 matches on clay. Even Roger Federer cannot beat Rafael Nadal in a good day on that surface. Will both men face each other during the finals?


Alexandra Wosniak to Roland Garros.

Young canadian female tennis player, Alexandra Wosniak, has just been confirmed that she is entered in the Roland Garros womens singles draw. Earlier this year, she qualified for the Australian open for the first time in her career. This time, she will play her first Roland Garros tournament.

Waking up hurting.

I guess my small bed aches I am feeling this morning are nothing compared to these.



I will take a walk around the block this morning and I should feel great before noon. I have much to do later on during the afternoon but the good part is that the main part of it will be outside. Some fresh air almost all day long. There is already a beautiful blue sky outside up here and the sun will be shining all day.

Have a nice one everyone!

The Rangers advances in 4 easy games.

Pictures: Getty images.

The New-York Rangers have swept the Atlanta Trashers out of the playoffs , winning game 4 by a 4-2 score yesterday. The New-York Rangers will advance to the next round. Their next opponent will be known as soon as the other Eastern conference 1st round series end up. The blueshirts, (seeded 6th in the East) will never have the home-ice advantage during the 2007 playoffs.

New-York Rangers 4 - Atlanta Trashers 2
(The New-York Rangers wins the series 4-0)

The New-Jersey Devils in a nailbiter of a game, have tied up their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning by defeating them 4-3 in overtime. Scott Gomez scored the game-winner for the Devils. Tampa fought back from 1-3 to force the overtime period but it wasn't enough. Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St-Louis and Eric Perrin have scored the Tampa goals in the losing cause.

New-Jersey Devils 4 - Tampa Bay Lightning 3 (overtime)
(The series is tied 2-2) Game 5 in N-J

Other scores:
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San Jose Sharks 3 - Nashville Predators 2
(San Jose lead the series 3-1) Game 5 in Nashville

Buffalo Sabres 4 - New-York Islanders 2
(Buffalo lead the series 3-1) Game 5 in Buffalo

I have spent 5 697 904$ this week!

My Hattrick franchise has made it's needed reconstruction and rejuvenation moves. During the course of the current week the acquisition of two players, a midfielder and a defensemen, costed $5 697 904. Lucky enough the second player I bought was a canadian player, giving me a break salary-wise. Every foreign player owned by a franchise has a 20% salary bonus that has to be paid.

I have been planning such a costly move two season ago. In fact, it costed me a bit less that I expected. I was saving the money I was making since two full seasons, collecting the attendances profits week after week without improoving my team.

From now on, my team will be a seller. Three players could be gone before this current season is over. All I have to do is wait for the best time to sell each player to get the most I can for them... I created a blog for my franchise just for fun a month ago. My franchise blog: The Raiderz.

I've had hours of fun playing Hattrick over the years. Wish I had as much money as my organization has... ;)

Federer advances in Monte Carlo.

Roger Federer advances to the 3rd round at the Monte Carlo masters series tournament. A win in two sets 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-1) over Andreas Seppi of Italy.

Rafael Nadal has defeated Juan Ignacio Chela quickly by 6-3 6-1. Nadal advances to the next round.

Roger Federer has been dealing with minor injuries lately and it shows in his late month results. He is not as dominant as he usually is when he is totally fit. Federer will play a south korean, Lee Hyung-taik in his third round match. More second and third round matches are scheduled today in Monte Carlo.

ATP rankings:
1-Federer R..... 7290
2-Nadal R.........4875
3-Roddick A......2980
4-Davydenko N.2825
5-Gonzalez F.....2755
6-Robredo T......2645
7-Djokovic N.....2540
8-Ljubicic I........2270
9-Blake J...........2150
10-Murray A......2125

Call for entries for the 2007 WebAwards.

The countdown has started for the 2007 WebAwards as entries are accepted until May 31st 2007.

The Web Marketing Association is looking for the best websites in 96 industries. If you know someone who deserves an award in any of those categories, you can submit the entry right now.
There are many new entries already and more are coming in. The list of categories is impressive.


But right now here is the complete press release from the Web Marketing Association.

The Web Marketing Association is now accepting entries into its 11th annual international WebAward Competition. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks and recognized the best web sites in 96 industries. The deadline for entry is May 31, 2007 and the WebAward Web site is located at www.webaward.org.

“Even the most amazing web sites remain invisible without the proper recognition,” said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. “The WebAward competition not only recognizes the best web sites on the Internet today, but our participants get valuable feedback from our experts judges to help make their web site better in the future”.

The WebAwards competition judges website entries on seven criteria: design, innovation, content, use of technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use. Participants receive not only their score for each criteria, but the average for their industry and the overall WebAwards to provide them benchmarks for their own web development efforts.

Participants in the 2007 WebAwards will receive:

• An independent evaluation of their Website
• Valuable feedback to help benchmark your efforts and it relationship to its industry.
• A free copy of the 2008 Internet Standards Assessment Report when published

If your site wins a WebAward, you will also get:

• A beautiful image plaque or certificate of achievement to display proudly
• Higher visibility for your company
• A great marketing opportunity to promote your site to the media
• Links to your site from the highly ranked WebAward site to help SEO
• Best of Industry winners will also receive a free press release distributed by PRWeb.

Judges are leading Internet professionals that are selected from hundreds of nominations every year. They volunteer their time and talent to help improve the standard of excellence of Web development. Most judges have participated in the WebAwards for several years.

Judging for the 2006 WebAwards will take place in June through August, with winners announced in September. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet professionals who have direct experience designing and managing Web sites, including members of the media, interactive creative directors, site designers, content providers and webmasters, with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site development and technology.

The WMA’s WebAward competition is the only major award program to provide in-depth, quantitative analysis of results that help entrants develop standards of excellence for future innovation. The aggregated results of each WebAward competition are published in the annual Internet Standards Assessment Report which will be provided to each participant.

To enter, go to www.webaward.org and create a free nominator account. The deadline is May 31,2007 so don't wait, enter today!

So login to the 2007 WebAwards cast your vote and submit your favorite site on the web. There is a wide list of categories to look for. You can even submit your own blog to the competition. This is a great way to find great new sites from around the world. Check it out as winners will be declared later this year.

This message was sponsored by the 2007 WebAwards.