Tag Archives: western conference

Things to Consider With Three Weeks to Go.

Posted on March 19, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

ST. PAUL, Minn. — While the general managers and the league’s other tall foreheads try to come to terms with illegal checks to the head (sorry, boys, but the rulebook is full of rules that would get headshots out of the game), the rest of the NHL is just playing hockey.

So with about three weeks to play before the Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us, let’s take a look at the league from a Winnipeg perspective:

1) Although he says he has not completely made up his mind, it appears that after 18 seasons, former Winnipeg Jets captain Keith Tkachuk is nearing the end of his brilliant career.

Saying his future in St. Louis is now, Tkachuk wouldn’t admit whether or not he was retiring at the end of the season, but he did say, “I often think about this being the end.” No doubt, the Hall of Fame awaits.

2) Remember when the San Jose Sharks had a very comfortable 12-point lead in the Pacific Division? Well, not anymore. That’s because the Phoenix Coyotes have won seven straight and have moved to within three points (at the beginning of the weekend) of the heavily favored and quite talented division leaders.

The 44-22-5 Coyotes have all but assured themselves of a spot in the post-season for the first time since 2002. Now, however, they are closing in on home ice advantage in the West. This should be a great finish.

3) By now, it has to be official. There is no better coach in the NHL than Dauphin’s Barry Trotz (OK, maybe Dave Tippett in Phoenix, but nobody else). Trotz, the only coach the Nashville Predators have ever had, has the no-name, star-less Predators in seventh place five points ahead up on eight-place Detroit (at the start of the weekend).

That shouldn’t happen. The Preds just don’t have the personnel. But Trotz has made them a playoff contender – they beat L.A. on the road this week and have won four straight — and that says more about his brilliance than anything else.

4) Calling it “a retaliatory hit to the head,” the National Hockey League suspended Anaheim Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski for eight games without pay for that terrible hit to the face and head of Brent Seabrook on Wednesday night.

Wisniewski definitely gave Seabrook a cheap shot, but an eight-game suspension after giving Alexander Ovechkin only two? The NHL justice department is completely nonsensical.

5) The Montreal Canadiens have looked very good at times this season. They’ve had two four-game winning streaks. But not until the Olympic break, have the Habs put together so many outstanding games in succession. In fact, with six straight wins heading into the weekend, Montreal has moved into the playoff driver’s seat in the East.

After Tuesday night’s game, a 3-1 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, the Habs moved past Philly and into sixth place in the Eastern Conference (later in the week they fell back into seventh). The Bruins are eighth with 74 points, four points back, while ninth-place Atlanta and the Rangers are seven points back. With only 12 to play, the red-hot Habs are in control of their own playoff destiny.

6) Perhaps no one has noticed, but Winnipeg’s Travis Zajac is having a season to remember. Zajac, the 24-year-old rightwinger out of the University of North Dakota has moved into the Top 35 in NHL scoring with 21 goals and 38 assists.

Perhaps more importantly, the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, is a terrific plus-14. By the time the next Olympics roll around, he’ll be one of the best players in the game, if he isn’t already.

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Bombers Lose. It’s Becoming a Habit. But it’s Fixable.

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Last Sunday afternoon in Regina, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were drilled 29-14 by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

I must admit, I thought the Bombers would win. I thought the team that played in B.C. one week earlier was the real Bombers. That team won 37-10. This past week’s team didn’t look like the real Bombers. It looked like some absurd, talentless, faux Bombers.

Oh well, here’s the deal: When you have six turnovers and the other team has one, you lose. More often than not, you get clobbered. The Bombers got clobbered.

However, until the fourth quarter disaster — three of the six turnovers came in the final 15 minutes — I watched a team that still had a chance to win. Fact is, the Roughriders might be a 5-4 first-place team, but they aren’t Montreal or Calgary and they  probably aren’t even Hamilton (Boy, that Kevin Glenn has played well, hasn’t he?). The Riders are beatable. They aren’t Grey Cup contenders at all. And with 30,000 crazies at Canad Inns Stadium this week, Winnipeg can certainly win.

We talked about this on The TEAM 1260 in Edmonton this morning. The only team that really doesn’t have a chance to win its post-Labour Day Classic re-match is the Toronto Argos. This is, after all, the CFL. Home teams win a lot and there is no reason to believe Montreal, Edmonton and Winnipeg won’t win at home this week. Toronto, on the other hand, is just a mess and you have to wonder how long head coach Bart Andrus will keep his job.

Now, I’m not naive. I still believe the Bombers must improve at quarterback if they’re ever going to become a .500 football team. But they should win this week.

What happens in Montreal in Week 12, however, is a whole ‘nother deal, but still, if the Bombers are 4-7 with Toronto coming to town on Sept. 26, they’ll make the playoffs. In fact, even with Michael Bishop at quarterback, this looks like a team that will be no worse than  8-10.

Check the schedule. There are a load of home games, and plenty of wins out there.  Just win on Sunday and everything should be fine. Lose, and well…WTF.

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Lots of Hockey News At Stanley Cup Time: Steen Back in Hockey, Hnidy Wants to Re-Sign in Boston, Wings Win Game 1.

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Three things that came up during telephone conversations this past week…

1) Our good friend, Thomas Steen got a job in hockey.

That’s just not good news, it’s great news.

Thomas has gone through some tough times in the past few years, but now he’s back in the game.

The one-time Winnipeg Jets captain and all-time Winnipeg Jets legend is going back to Sweden to work in both junior hockey and the Swedish Elite League.

“I’m going to work for Modo,” Thomas told us. “I’m going to be an assistant coach with the pro club and an assistant coach and scout with the junior team.

“I’m leaving the first of July and I’ll be gone nine months. I’ll get back to Winnipeg for my golf tournament in August, at Christmas and during the Olympic break. But that’s it. I’m going back home.”

He’s not quite going home. Farjestad is home. But close enough.

2) Another good friend, Neepawa’s Shane Hnidy, can become a free-agent on July 1 but what Shane would really like to do is re-sign with the Boston Bruins.

“Yeah, I’d really like to come back here,” he said. “I thought we were good enough to win it all this year, but I know we’ll be good enough to win it next year.”

Hnidy, 34, one of the great stories of heart and perseverance in the NHL, has been a pro for 13 seasons. He’s played nine of those years in the NHL with Ottawa, Nashville, Atlanta, Anaheim and Boston after being drafted (173rd overall) by Buffalo in 1994.

“Someday, I’d like to be a hockey commentator on TV or radio,” Hnidy said. “But right now, I still want to play and I hope that next year, I’m playing in Boston.”

3) We had Darren Helm’s mom, Karine, on 92-CITI-FM’s morning show this past week, the morning after he scored the OT winner against the Blackhawks. She was very proud, and one sensed, still crying after her son’s heroics on Wednesday.

That night, Helm set an NHL record with his fifth career playoff goal. He now has five playoff goals and has yet to score a single regular-season goal. No other NHL player has ever done that.

However, besides scoring goals, the young man from St. Andrews, Man., has one other talent: He can win faceoffs.

In the opener of the Stanley Cup final, a game won 3-1 by Detroit, Helm had won 10-of-12 faceoffs in the first two periods. He finsihed with 11 wins in 15 faceoffs.

One suspects Helm will be a full-time member of the Red Wings next season. It’s unlikely he’ll ever see Grand Rapids, Mich., again.

By the way, how good was Chris Osgood on Saturday night? First star? 29 saves? The best goalie in the playoffs, two years in a row.

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Helm gets Red Wings to within Four Games of Back-to-Back Stanley Cup Crowns.

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Thanks to a kid from tiny St. Andrews, Man., the Detroit Red Wings have advanced to the Stanley Cup final to face the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second straight year.

Wednesday night in Detroit, the Wings ended the Cinderella playoff run of the young Chicago Blackhawks with a 2-1 overtime victory as Darren Helm was the hero. Helm scored the game winner at 3:58 of overtime as the Western Conference champs are now just four wins away from their second straight Stanley Cup. The final starts Saturday night in Detroit.

Amazingly, Helm became the first player in history to score his first five NHL goals in the playoffs. He still hasn’t scored a regular-season goal. He breaks the record of another Manitoban, Winnipegger Eddie (Spider) Mazur who scored his first four NHL goals in the playoffs with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1950s.

Here’s our look at the upcoming Stanley Cup final:

Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings (No. 2 seed in the West) vs. Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins (No. 4 seed in the East):

The Red Wings are clearly the favourites, and for good reason. They just won the Western Conference title without Hart Trophy (MVP) finalist Pavel Datsyuk and Norris Trophy finalist (Top Defenceman) Nicklas Lidstrom is the lineup for the final two games of the Western Conference final.

However, when the Wings beat the Penguins in five games in last year’s final, the Pens’ top scorer Evgeni Malkin was injured and now, with a healthy Malkin, the Pens disposed of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern final in four straight games. Meanwhile, Malkin was not only the leading scorer in the regular season this year, but is currently tied with teammate Sidney Crosby for the scoring lead in the playoffs.

But here is why I like the Wings to repeat: Youth, experience and speed. Granted, with the addition of Bill Guerin, the Penguins have those elements, but Detroit just might have one of the great teams in NHL history. Almost every member of the Wings already has a Stanley Cup ring with two exceptions: off-season acquisitions Marian Hossa and Ty Conklin, who both played in Pittsburgh last year. I also like Detroit’s goaltending. Chris Osgood will outplay Marc-Andre Fleury when it counts.

The Wings and Pens split the season series 1-1. Detroit won 3-0 in Pittsburgh on NBC, on Feb. 8 while Pittsburgh won 7-6 in overtime way back on Nov. 11 in Detroit as Jordan Staal had a hat-trick. No team has repeated as Stanley Cup champions since, you guessed it, the Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. And that’s why I like the Red Wings in six games.

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Old coaches, young superstars and the best goalie in the playoffs.

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

As we get set to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes in four straight games (barring a miracle), in tonight’s Eastern Conference final there was a boatload of hockey news today.

There was also just some stuff.

Onward:

1) Pat Quinn was hired as head coach by the Edmonton Oilers today. He’s 66. Personally, I like Pat Quinn, a lot. He’s a fine man, who did a wonderful job with Team Canada in Salt Lake City in 2002 and with our national junior team. I had a lot of respect for him when he was head coach of the Leafs and I must admit, he’s always been very respectful to me.

The question has to be in this case: Can a 66-year-old coach find happiness with a young team in Edmonton? Especially after the Calgary Flames just dumped 59-year-old Mike Keenan, another old coach, who gets recycled more than old truck tires. 

There is a difference, however. Keenan is a guy who likes “his guys.” He likes veteran players he knows and can trust. And that’s fine. Trouble is, “his guys” don’t win anymore. Quinn, however, during his time with the national junior team, proved to everyone he can teach young players how to play the game.

And that’s exactly what the Oilers need.

Age has nothing to do with anything. It’s attitude and approach that matters. Quinn might be 66, but he has already demonstrated that he respects young, enthusiastic hockey players and can take those types of players and show them how to win.

Full disclosure: I like Pat Quinn as a person. And I also believe he will be a great head coach in Edmonton.

2) Tonight, we get to watch the likes of Sidney Crosby, Eric Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Cam Ward play an extremely important NHL playoff game.

If the Penguins win, the young stars from Pittsburgh will zoom into the Stanley Cup final for a second straight year (frankly, no matter what the Hurricanes do, Pittsburgh’s offence should put a quick nail in Carolina’s coffin).

What is most interesting, however, is that whenever the media looks for a storyline involving the Pens, it’s always Sidney Crosby vs. (insert name here). Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin. Sidney Crosby vs. Jarome Iginla. Sidney Crosby vs. oh, I don’t know, Johan Franzen?

Unfortunately, the mainstream hockey media loves a story no matter how silly it is. If anyone is looking for a consistent storyline, it should be this one: Evgeni Malkin vs. the hockey world.

This spring, Ovechkin will likely be awarded the Hart Trophy as the regular season MVP and so far in the playoffs, Crosby has the inside track to the Conn Smythe Trophy. 

Meanwhile, all Malkin has done is win the league scoring championship and lead all scorers in the playoffs (12 goals and 16 assists). 

There was a day before all these mouth-breathing TV bingo callers became uber-experts, a day when scoring goals and dishing out assists was an important part of the game. And today, nobody does that better than Evgeni Malkin.

I guess he’s no Sidney Crosby (he certainly doesn’t have the same group of publicists), but he could be the Rodney Dangerfield of the NHL.

3) Of course, if Malkin isn’t hockey’s answer to Rodney D., it’s Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood.

Ozzie is close to winning his third Stanley Cup as a starter (he was also on a winner as the No. 2 to Mike Vernon). He’s also been to the finals one other time, been a Vezina Trophy runner-up and won the Jennings Trophy twice. He was the second goalie ever to score a goal (following Ron Hextall), was the No. 1 goalie (statistically) in the NHL in the 1995-96 season, is 10th in the NHL in career wins and the winningest goaltender in Red Wings history. He’s been an all-star, won Stanley Cups in two decades and is on the verge of going back-to-back.

And yet, you ask anybody in the mainstream media and he/she will tell you: “Detroit’s only problem is goaltending.”

Hogwash.

I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing our TV experts talk of Tim Thomas this or Roberto Luongo that or Cam Ward… whatever. The best goalie in the playoffs last year was Chris Osgood and clearly the best goalie this year is Chris Osgood.

At 37, he’s never been better. Right now he leads the playoffs in wins with 11, is second in goals against average at 2.14 and fourth in save percentage at .921. He’s 11-4 in the post-season, has an assist and a shutout.

He’s often hung out to dry by his always-attacking teammates and yet he’s made some magnificent saves in this year’s post-season. He’s been tremendous.

At this stage, I don’t want to argue with the experts who believe Crosby is a shoo-in to take the Conn Smythe. But there is still a lot of hockey left.

And right now, the best goalie in the playoffs has not been Jonas Hiller, Cam Ward or Tim Thomas. It’s been Chris Osgood.

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On to the Conference finals: We like Wings and Pens — Again — in the Stanley Cup final

Posted on May 16, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

For those of us trying to make money in the wonderful world of Sport Select, the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs have been a pretty decent source of revenue. 

Granted, after two rounds, the two top seeds — the Boston Bruins in the East and the San Jose harks in the West — are gone, but for the most part, the teams we have selected to reach the Conference Finals, have indeed reached the Conference finals.

Pittsburgh, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will face Carolina with Eric Staal (our darkhorse pick as a Stanley Cup finalist) in the Eastern final, while the “Winnipeg” teams, Chicago with captain Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Cam Barker against Detroit, with Darren Helm and Derek Meech, are in the Western final.

That’s obviously the way it should be.

For the record, here at rcsportsblog.com (you can follow us on twitter), we went 7-1 in the first round and 3-1 in Round 2. The only outcome we did not select correctly in Round 1 was, of course, Anaheim’s upset of Jonathan Cheechoo’s San Jose Sharks and our only incorrect choice in Round 2 was Carolina’s Game 7 upset of the No. 1-ranked Boston Bruins.

Interestingly, we also said that the two most interesting — and exciting — series would be Chicago-Vancouver and Pittsburgh-Washington. They were.

So on with the Show. Here’s our look at the third round, the conference finals, of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs.

ROUND THREE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes

The Pens won the season series 2-1-1 and were not only in last year’s Stanley Cup final, but have five players with Stanley Cup rings. They obviously have enough experience to handle this series against a team that won the Cup in 2006 and still have 10 players from that team. The Pens have the stars in Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar and Jordan Staal, but Carolina has so much grit and character, that it’s impossible to count them out. It also doesn’t hurt that when it looked like this team was out of it back in February, goalie Cam Ward went 14-4-2 over the final 20 games. Ward won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2006 and will have to be that good again against all the Pittsburgh firepower. We like the Penguins in five.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings vs. No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks

The Red Wings are the defending Stanley Cup champions and they’re certainly good enough to win it again. In fact, the Red Wings have the best team in the National Hockey League. They roll four strong lines, have a Norris Trophy defenceman in Nick Lidstrom and an MVP-calibre forward in Pavel Datsyuk, they are well-coached and have better goaltending (Chris Osgood) than the Eastern media will ever give credit. The Wings won the season series against the upstart Hawks, but when asked about this matchup, I always see that January 1, outdoor game at Wrigley Field, the one in which the Hawks rode the home crowd to an early lead and then collapsed under the weight of the Wings speed and talent. The most important thing the Hawks have going for them is youth and enthusiasm and, hey, that might carry them, but we like Detroit in six.

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On to the Second Round: We like Chicago in an upset, Pens in a thriller plus the Wings and Bruins.

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

For the longest time, we have believed that the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the most exciting.

What the hell, there are 16 teams. Of course, it will be exciting.

This year, however, we seem to be a little more enthused about Round 2. After all, in Round 1 this year, it went pretty much as we expected — and when I say “we,” I mean everyone who follows hockey closely.

With the exception of those who always believe (for reasons I still don’t understand) that Detroit will be upset in the first round, most hockey people picked at least six of the opening round series correctly.

For the record, here at rcsportsblog.com (you can follow us on twitter), we went 7-1 in the first round. The only outcome we did not select correctly was, of course, Anaheim’s upset of Jonathan Cheechoo’s San Jose Sharks.

Round 2 will provide us with two spectacular match-ups: Chicago and Vancouver and Pittsburgh and Washington. I can almost guarantee that those two series will double the excitement we saw in any series in Round 1.

So on with the show. Here’s our look at Round 2 of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs…

ROUND TWO

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 Boston Bruins vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes

The Bruins played wonderfully in taking out the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round in four straight games. Everything about this team, that now has home ice advantage throughout the playoffs as long as it keeps winning, screams “Eastern Division Champion!” Tim Thomas has been sensational in goal, the big defence led by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman moves the puck quickly and does a solid job of clearing the zone and the forward lines were nearly flawless in Round 1. And while we took Carolina to knock off New Jersey in Round 1, the dream ends here. The Bruins dominated the Hurricanes during the regular season, winning all four meetings by a combined score of 18-6. There is no reason for that to stop. Bruins in five games.

No. 2 Washington Capitals vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins

On the surface, this looks like a great series/ Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin of the Caps against Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins. Big names, big stars, should be exciting. However, the Capitals took three of four from the Penguins during the regular season and Washington’s only loss was the result of a shootout. Pittsburgh beat a tough Flyers team in six games, mainly because Philly’s goaltending was lousy. The Caps have not had lousy goaltending since the day head coach Bruce Boudreau decided to go with Simeon Varlamov. Still, the Caps were lucky to beat a dysfunctional Rangers team. Pittsburgh in seven games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings vs. No. 8 Anaheim Ducks

The Red Wings should waltz through this second round match-up against a team that was very lucky to make the playoffs. Thanks to the fact the San Jose Sharks seldom if ever bring their A game (or raise their level of play) to the playoff dance, the defending Stanley Cup champs get a team with a hot goalie and not much else. This season, the well-balanced, well-disciplined Red Wings went 3-0-1 against Anaheim. As TSN says, “The Red Wings sacrifice individual glory for what is best for the team, which speaks to the professionalism of those inside the organization.” Detroit has the best team in the NHL and while I love the Ducks’ Teemu Selanne and Randy Carlyle, the Red Wings win in four games.

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks

Potentially, this is the best and definitely, the most exciting series of the second round. The teams went 2-2 against each other this season and this series should go right to the wire every single night. Both teams have exciting young players and, frankly, a match-up of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp against the Sedin Twins  and Alex Burrows, is more intriguing to me than the Crosby-Ovechkin dance. Ultimately, this series will come down to goaltending. Is Nikolai Khabibulin as good as Roberto Luongo when it counts? Stay tuned. This will be a dandy. Right now, I like Chicago in seven games. 

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The Grey Cup is over. Canadian teams about average at quarter pole, Steen goes to St. Louis and the Bruins a pleasant surprise.

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Congratulations to the Calgary Stampeders, certainly a deserving Canadian Football League champion after that 22-14 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday.

In one of the great snoozers in Grey Cup history, Sandro DeAngelis kicked five field goals while most outstanding player Henry Burris hit Brett Ralph for a touchdown as Calgary played just well enough to beat a Montreal team that put up 0 points in the second half.

 

So now that we’ve laid the CFL to rest for another season (at least until Mike Kelly is named Blue Bombers’ head coach later this week or early next week), it’s tim to catch up with the NHL.

 

We’ll do that by giving you an update on th things we’ve nattering about on the 92-CITI-FM morning show this week…

 

1) We’re just about a quarter of the way into the 2008-09 National Hockey League season and if the playoffs started tomorrow, only three of the six Canadian-based teams would be participating.

 

In the West, Vancouver is third, Calgary is seventh and Edmonton is 10th. In the East, Montreal is fifth but Toronto is 11th and Ottawa is 12th. Both the Leafs and Senators have a combined total of 14 wins, fewer than the first-pace Rangers.

 

Seeing Toronto out of the playoffs is no surprise, but nobody thought that, at the quarter pole, Ottawa would have seven wins in 20 games.

 

2) We’ve been talking quite a lot about the deal that sent talented Lee Stempniak to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo and centre Alexander Steen. A lot of Toronto fans have said good riddance to Steen, a young guy they felt was underachieving.

 

But while Steen always said he loved playing in Toronto, this trade is the best thing that ever happened to his career. In St. Louis, he’ll not only get some much-needed ice time (the Blues have three centres — T.J. Oshie, Paul Kariya and Andy McDonald — on the shelf), but he’ll play for a guy who adored his dad, Blues head coach and former Jets assistant, Andy Murray.

 

Stempniak is a worker who should help the Leafs, but Steen is a legitimate talent who will get ice time and support in St. Louis and in all likelihood will develop into an outstanding player.

 

3) Since we have just passed the quarter pole in this ‘08-09 NHL season, it’s probably time to look up, w-a-a-a-a-y up. To the top of the NHL’s Eastern Conference. 

 

See who’s on top? that’s right, the Boston Bruins.

 

Who would have thought? The 14-3-4 Bruins have 32 points and while they’re tied with the Rangers overall, they’ve played three fewer games. 

 

So how does it happen? Well, it would be nice to say the offensive brilliance of Marc Savard is the reason, but in fact, it’s not. It’s  defence and goaltending. From Zdeno Chara to Shane Hnidy to Tim Thomas, the Bruins are No. 1 defensively in the NHL and as a result, they are the No. 1 in the East.

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The CFL Conference finals. Are we looking at an All-Alberta Grey Cup?

Posted on November 15, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

This season, the West dominated the East. The tally was 22-6 when the Edmonton Eskimos went into Winnipeg and beat the Bombers 29-21 in the crossover semifinal.

 

Montreal hasn’t played well for seven weeks and Anthony Calvillo hasn’t taken a snap in anger in three weeks. Ricky Ray — and his receiving corps — has looked very good in the final month of the season.  

 

Out west, Calgary has owned B.C. all season. they should own them again on Saturday.

 

We are looking at an All-Alberta Grey Cup IN Montreal next Sunday. Could be fun. Especially for the Scott Taylor Reports on The FAN 960 in Calgary on Tuesday and Thursday and on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton on Wednesday.

 

Let’s take a close look at the Conference finals:

 

Edmonton Eskimos (11-8) at Montreal Alouettes (11-7)

 

Saturday, 12 Noon, CT, TSN

 

The Eskimos became the first Western team in history to win the West-East crossover semifinal. In fact, last week’s win in Winnipeg was pretty easy. This week, the Eskimos go into Montreal, where the Alouettes lost 24-23 to the Bombers in Week 18. In Week 19, the Eskimos whipped the Alouettes 37-14 in Edmonton, but Montreal played without Anthony Calvillo. Of course, Calvillo hasn’t played well since he put up 43 points against sad-sack Toronto in Week 17. In fact, Montreal hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record since Week 14, way back on Sept. 28, when they whipped a banged-up Saskatchewan team 37-12 at Molson Stadium. Since then, the Als have lost to Hamilton, Winnipeg and Edmonton and beaten only 3-15 Hamilton and 4-14 Toronto. On Saturday, the Esks and Als play at the cavernous Olympic Stadium and that’s really not homefield advantage for the Alouettes. It’s West vs. East and I always pick West first. 

 

Pick: Edmonton

B.C. Lions (12-7) at Calgary Stampeders (13-5)

Saturday 3:30 p.m. CT, TSN

Last week, B.C. won on the road in Regina. There is no tougher place to play. That means could certainly take out Calgary this week. Calgary beat B.C. in Calgary 28-18 in Calgary way back in Week 1. Calgary beat B.C. 36-29 in B.C. in Week 9. And Calgary wasted B.C. 41-30 in Calgary in Week 19 in a game B.C. had to win to play host to the Western semifinal. Calgary has B.C.’s number and the Stamps put up a lot of points to get to 13-5. If Henry Burris avoids brain farts and Cameron Wake, Calgary could blow the Lions away. It’s time. It’s time for an All-Alberta Grey Cup.

Pick: Calgary

Last Week: 0-2

Season: 45-21

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CFL Picks: It’s semifinal weekend and we love the Bombers and Riders…

Posted on November 8, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Granted, weather has a lot to do with our selections this week.

 

Here in Winnipeg, it’s absolutely dreadful. We had snow on Thursday, it stayed on Friday and it’s coming back on Saturday. A weather warning has been issued and at 7 a.m. it screamed “high winds and freezing rain.”

 

Ahhhh, what a great day for football.

 

In Regina, the 7 a.m. forecast predicted low clouds and cold, cold, cold. Perhaps minus-13 by game time.

 

It’s time for the runningbacks to take their rightful positions at the top of football’s food chain…

 

Let’s take a closer look…

 

EASTERN SEMIFINAL

Edmonton Eskimos (10-8) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-10)

12 Noon, CST, TSN

 

This is when the CFL’s crossover playoff becomes silly. An 8-10 team gets homefield advantage against a 10-8 team. It’s time to reward to good football and cut out this East vs. West charade. Perhaps, next season, the CFL’s tall foreheads will come to their senses. As it is, however, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will play host to the Edmonton Eskimos in the crossover Eastern semifinal at Canad Inns Stadium and, amazingly, the 8-10 Bombers are 2 ½-point favourites. More than 26,000 tickets have been sold for the game, a game that Milt Stegall guaranteed the Bombers would win if Winnipeg sold 30,000 tickets and sold out the ballyard. It doesn’t look good. The two teams split the season series, but the Bombers won here in Winnipeg and they were the hottest team in the CFL in the last two months, going 6-2 down the stretch. If head coach Doug Berry does nothing but run “Thunder and Lightning,” Joe Smith and Fred Reid, the Bombers win by two touchdowns. The banged up Bomber defence is almost 100 per cent healthy this week and it will shut down Ricky Ray. The winner heads to Montreal for the Eastern final next week

 

Pick: Winnipeg

 

WESTERN SEMIFINAL

B.C. Lions (11-7) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (12-6)

3:30 p.m., CST, TSN

 

During the season, this series belonged to B.C. The Lions won the only game in Regina, 27-21 on Sept. 20, and then they split in Vancouver: Saskatchewan won 26-16 on July 4, when the Riders were healthy and red-hot and then lost 28-23 to the Lions on Sept. 13, when they had 19 players on the injured list. This week, Saskatchewan is healthy again and they’re coming off three straight high-scoring wins over Hamilton, Edmonton and Toronto. B.C., meanwhile, is heading south. The Lions lost 41-30 to Calgary in a game they had to win to play host to Saturday’s semifinal and they’re 2-2 in their last four. B.C. is a passing team (RB Charles Roberts is out for the season) and a windy, cloudy day in Regina, won’t help an indoor team with a passing offence. The winner heads to Calgary for the Western final next week. 

 

Pick: Saskatchewan

 

Last Week: 4-0

Season: 45-19

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