Let's carry on here...

It seems the dates of the final might change if Zurich Lions do qualify for it as the daft buggers have rented out their ice-rink on the 1-3 April, with game 2 taking place on the 2nd...If they win the series this thursday, game 1 of the final will be on saturday rather than next tuesday which is fine by McSorley at GSHC, less time faffing around for GSHC and Zurich will have only a day rest.

In New York, it was traditionally the circus that caused these issues.

I'll link to the old thread as soon as OTF is back on line, it will be a shame to miss on that discussion for anyone who arrives here.

Well, that's it, Zurich have beaten Davos 4-2 in the series and from saturday onwards it's Geneve/Servette-Zurich Lions to slug it out for the title.

The last series will concerne LNB champions Bienne who will play Basel to decide who plays in the LNA next season.

Milan Vipers are out of the Italian playoffs, going down to Bolzano Foxes in four games.

Fassa and Ritten Sport are tied 2-2 in the other semi.

In Russia, ursus family favourites Lokomotiv Yaroslavl are a game away from putting out reigning Russian and European champions Metallurg Magnitogorsk. AK Bars Kazan lead the other semi-final 2-1 over regular season leaders Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

At the beginning to the season, French international Laurent Meunier was offered a "5th foreigner" contract, he would be the spare part player playing only when one of Kolnik/Law/Vigier/Aubin was not available. He was even farmed out for a short while to Lausanne in LNB. A modest, hard working player, he took it on the chin and it paid off big time. French players have zero reputation in Switzerland or had as since Meunier has arrived, he has been the best advert you can imagine for French hockey. Going from the French league to the Swiss league is like going from League One to the Premiership top half and French hockey fans are very proud of him.

He gave us the win in game 1 of the semis by scoring the 4-3 a minute before the end and right now he's done it again, scoring the 4-3 in OT against Zurich to give us the win and lead 1-0 in the Final series. We conceded two deeply stupid goals in this game, particularly the 3-2 when we were cruising to victory 7 minutes before the end. I hope this will be a "lessons learned"...Big game of Vigier today, he has not been at his best during the regular season but he seems to have clicked. Law is the one on the bench at the moment, eventhough he had some really good games during the semis. It's tough at the top...

So...LNA Playoffs Final GSHC-Zurich Lions 1-0

Get the fuck in!

Video of tonight's game, click on the lens below the video to have a big screen version.

http://www.sf.tv/sfsport/artikel.php?catid=sporteishockeyartikel&docid=20080329-02

As usual, you can go on the GSHC website and watch videos of the games on GSHC TV, use lurker/lurker as a login/pwd. The first installement of "Aux coeurs des playoffs" for the final does indeed rock and there are some good crowd shots including the superb balloons/banner tifo of the ultras at the start of the game.

www.gshc.ch

Oh my God, we won 4-2 away to Zurich, 2-0 in the series...2 wins away from our first title...gaaaah!

More details later...

The Caps are on the brink of one of the most amazing season resurrections ever. They've won 17 of their last 20 and 6 in a row. They've got one more to go on Saturday. I think that if they win (it's the Panthers, in Washington, so their chances are good), they'll probably make the playoffs, but it's not a certainty. Somebody else has to lose. They've got 92 points and are currently 8th in the east. Ottawa and Boston have 92 with a game in hand. Philly has 91 points with a game in hand.

They're level with Carolina, but Carolina has the tie-breaker. Catching Carolina would be sweet, because then they'll not only make the playoffs, but win the division and get the #3 seed.

If they get in and Ottawa drops out, it would mark perhaps the most remarkable rise in conjunction with a remarkable collapse in NHL history.

When they changed coaches at Thanksgiving, they were 6-14-1 and widely considered the worst team in the league. On Jan 1. they were 16-19-5 and still pretty bad. Now they're 42-31-8. So that means under Bruce Boudreau, they're 36-17-7. So they went from a .286 winning percentage to .600.

It's so agonizingly close, I can barely stand to watch. Unfortunately, Saturday is also the home opener for DC United. Those tickets are a lot cheaper, so I'm going to that, but I'll be checking the Caps score on my mobile during the match. If they make the playoffs, I'll find a way to get to at least one game, even though I can't afford it.

They've got real atmosphere and crowd excitement going on down there for the first time in about 10 years. Attendance started to surge the day they signed Alex Ovechkin to a long term deal and demand has picked up as they keep winning and Ovechkin continues to score.

It would be a real loss if they don't make it. They've got more "buzz" going right now than any other team in town. The Wizards are fading, all of the college b-ball teams are out of the tournament, baseball is just starting and the Redskins are, for a change, not doing anything in the off season. This is a chance to get new fans into it. Sports radio guys who know nothing about hockey are jumping on the bandwagon.

Sounds like it's the same in Washington as it is in Geneva...

Anyhow, first home defeat in the playoffs for us yesterday, Zurich winning 3-2 and the series is now 2-1 for us, with game 4 on saturday, in Zurich, it suddenly got a lot harder but the Lions are another proposition than Lakers or Fribourg...

Interesting news in the LNA/LNB playoff, Bienne leads 2-0 in the series against Basel, after starting with a win away to Basel and an easy home win yesterday. It's looking good for some change in the top division...

Ah well, a sweep was never likely. And Basel have no business being in LNA on this season's form; it would be good to have another Francophone club in the league.

In Russia, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won the first match of the best of 5 final away to Salavat Yulaev Ufa, continuing their impressive playoff form.

The best of seven finals in Finland between Espoo Blues and Karpat begin this weekend, which I'm sure has Muuk on the edge of his seat.

The Czech Republic is at the same stage, with the final between Karlovy Vary and Slavia (does Janik care about hockey?)

Ritten Sport won the first match of the Italian finals against Bolzano/Bozen, but virtually no one whose first language isn't German cares anymore.

As speaking of Germany; they are at the semifinal stage, with Eisbaren Berlin 1-0 up on DEG (Duesseldorf) Metro Stars) and Frankfurt Lions and Koelner Haie (Sharks) tied 1-1.

Indeed ursus, my team versus my most loathed team is a final I won't be looking forward to losing. Let's see how many fans Blues bring with them this time; they managed one car load during last season's play offs. Quite impressive in the wrong direction for a city of more than 200000. I did actually write a rather barbed piece earlier today about their unwelcome ascent, but on trying to post it it somehow got lost and I got logged out. Seems like the new server is rather more discerning than the old one...

I'm also keeping an eye on events to the east, since Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's coach these days is Kari Heikkilä, one of the chief architects of Kärpät's rise to power.

It's because the Caps went back with the old unis. The Caps are red, should've always been red, and are wearing the same colors as Pete Peeters, Dale Hunter, and that oldschool lot that would give anyone a game, anytime, anywhere.

I prefer the swooping eagle logo, but I agree that the red works much better than either the black or the blue they had before. It really looks good on tv, especially paired with the dark blue on the trim, helmets and pants. They're getting the fans into the "Red Out," which also looks impressive on tv - not quite as impressive as Calgary's total red wash - but better than it has in years past.