7th Heaven!

1) That has to be what the NHL and Gary Bettman are thinking this morning. With 3 of the four conference semi final series going the distance the NHL has what it covets most, close playoff series that generate excitement/attention and most important, more money. You see, and many forget this, the players are not paid during the post season. Sure, they get a relatively small (compared with their regular salaries) bonus depending on how far they progress, but the vast majority of the income this time of year goes into the owners pockets.

2) "Its all gravy this time of year, one source told Fauxrumors last night. "Depending on the individual franchises arena agreements it could mean as much as an extra million dollars or more (US) in extra income for each home playoff game." Getting the feel/reason why teams strive so hard to make the playoffs? It could very well mean the difference between red and black ink at the end of the fiscal year. Of course some owners like Capitals owner Ted Leonsis went on record(even before the season ended) that he would still lose money this year. We won't get into the fuzzy math that the NHL/owners have used to push the salary cap, but suffice to say that if Ted isn't making money this season with a sold out Verizon center and at minimum 8 home playoff games then it seems they will NEVER turn a profit!!

3) Now back to hockey:

• Congrats Hawks: Great job by the upstart Chicago Black Hawks making it to the Conference Finals by beating the Canucks in 6 games. Not a shock to us, for we believed the series would go the distance originally, but later we amended this prediction when we saw the Hawks play and believe that there was no way that the Canucks would be able to hold off the multiple scoring threats the boys from Chicago possess.


• Boston pushes Canes: Again, no surprise here. We at FAUXRUMORS foresaw this as being a tough long series and never believed either team would skate off with a win easily. Last night the B's looked pretty dam tough to force a deciding game in Beantown tomorrow night. Our money would be on Boston (our original favourite) to take the series, but the Canes have shown everyone that they should not be taken lightly. Loving the Staal-Chara war!


• Wings and Ducks back to the Joe: With a close/exciting win last evening the Ducks have pushed the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings the distance. Patting ourselves(again) on our backs here as we also predicted this series would go the distance and we will stick with our original favourite, the home town Red Wings to advance to play an All Original Six Conference Final against the Hawks. Of course its a Game 7, so anything is possible.


• Pens and Caps renew war: This series has lived up to its advanced billing with all the teams' stars playing at their best. Crosby-Ovechkin have both been their teams best players(as it should be). All of the 6 games have been nail biters(3 OT's) No reason to believe tonight will be any different. Despite being home, history is on the side of the Penguins and we believe their slightly more experienced lineup will prevail.