Good Times Grimes

It's looking more and more like a Los Angeles-New York final. Definitely not what I expected. I'd like to see the Rangers have a win, as I quite like Marty St. Louis, but am not too fussed really.

Seems as though I have cursed the Canadiens, with Price ruled out for the remained of the ECF. No Price, no Montreal. NYR to win the series in 5, Chicago to win the cup.

So it's down to Montreal vs New York in the East and the west is looking like it will be LA vs Chicago (LA is currently leading Anaheim 5-0). Who wins it from here? I think Montreal and New York will be a duel between Lundqvist and Price, but I think Montreal will be too good. Montreal in 6. Los Angeles and Chicago will be very interesting. I rate Quick as a far better goalie than Crawford, but I think Chicago's offence is much better than LA's. I'll pick Chicago in 7. As much as I hate to say it, I think that the Canadiens will win it all.

Predictions went 7/8 in the first round...I think that's a personal best. The second round will be tougher to predict, I think. Boston/Montreal will be a fantastic series which I think will go seven. I'm also really looking forward to Anaheim/LA. My picks: Anaheim v LA: Anaheim in 6 Chicago v Minnesota: Chicago in 6 New York v Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh in 7 Montreal v Boston: Montreal in 7 (although I wish they could both lose).

So you're a Melbourne supporter and you're trying to convert other Melbourne supporters into Collingwood ones? That's just what the club needs! Great initiative.

Says the guy who comes on an opposition team's forum and bags its fans...

Some very interesting match-ups there, and a few that I wouldn't be at all surprised to see going either way. My predictions (often a kiss-of-death for the teams I think will win) Pittsburgh v Columbus- Pittsburgh in 5 New York Rangers v Philadelphia- New York in 7 Boston v Detroit- Boston in 6 Tampa Bay v Montreal- Montreal in 5 Anaheim v Dallas- Anaheim in 6 San Jose v Los Angeles- LA in 7 Colorado v Minnesota- Minnesota in 7 St Louis v Chicago- St Louis in 7 The ones that I italicized are the series that I think will be the most exciting to watch. NYR v Philadelphia will be crazy.

I think St Louis has a pretty solid team, but I can't see them getting past the likes of Anaheim or even Chicago. Minnesota has an awesome offensive lineup and they will go as far as their goaltending can take them..they could definitely be the surprise packet of 2014. Pominville, Parise, Koivu, Heatley, Moulson and Suter all have the ability to put up big numbers and will be tough to stop. In the East I think it's a two horse race between Boston and Pittsburgh. I'd like to see Boston lose as early as possible. A best case scenario would be seeing them squander a 4-1 lead in game 7 with 10 minutes to go (I'm not bitter about last year). As for who I'd like to win, I admire the way that Colorado has played this season, especially after most people gave them no chance in October. I also wouldn't mind seeing Columbus do well, just because they've been so bad for so long. Hopefully it's an exciting couple of months with a few surprises!

The Leafs are so much like the Dees

15 day suspension for Tortorella, $25,000 fine for Hartley. I feel for Torts in this situation. If he'd put his usual starters on the ice after having seen who Calgary was starting and the Sedins had been jumped, he would be under all sorts of scrutiny. Instead, he decided to protect his star players and counter Hartley's move. No matter how he played it, it was really a lose-lose situation for him as Hartley had played the first move and indicated Calgary's intentions. I wonder what the situation would have been had Torts not tried to get into the Calgary rooms. Would he have been fined as much as Hartley? Would either of them have been fined at all?

But how good is Tortorella: I'm in two minds with it...I hate fighting like there was in the game tonight (completely staged), but I do think that without it there would be a lot more cheap shots/dirty plays.

Almost time for the Winter Classic...can't wait to see the Leafs and Wings go at it tomorrow. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend checking out HBO's 24/7 program. They've had behind the scenes access in the month leading up to the game, and have released one episode each week which gives some interesting insight into both teams. I think all the episodes are available on YouTube, the first is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-HOPxV_dlw

Fighting is an interesting debate. Take a read of Brian Burke's recent article in support of fighting: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2013/10/30/pro-fighting-column/3320245/ There's good points to be made on either side, but ultimately I think it should be removed from the game.

Pretty disgusting news; any sort of domestic abuse is terrible, but it's even worse when athletes do it because they are role models to so many people. I hope he is punished appropriately. On a side note, my Maple Leafs are killing it so far

Yeah, Karlsson is unbelievably good. Bobby Ryan was a great pick up as well...I'd love to have him on the Leafs. I like the look of the Leafs this year, but I'm not thrilled with a couple of the moves they made in the offseason (massive contracts to Clarkson/Kessel/Kadri). Last night was a great game though!

Similar sort of luck...Ottawa hasn't EVER won...worse than the Dees! I've hated Ottawa since they met the Leafs about 4 years in a row in the playoffs...it's a great rivalry! Well, it was. They haven't played in the playoffs since then and the Sens have had the upper hand in recent years. Can't wait until the next time we face you guys in the playoffs!

The Jays have just won their 10th in a row and are right back into contention!

It's feeding time for Phil in Blacktown. You know who better get on the next plane back or there will be hell to pay.

Alright, the season's underway! Who's your prediction for the 2013 World Series Champs? I like what the Jays have done in the offseason, but I find it hard to go past the Tigers. There's lots of good teams going around though...should make for an interesting season!

The lockout's officially over! Teams are expected to play a 48 game season in addition to the regular playoff fixture. The schedule should be released in the coming days.

Melky Cabrera to the Jays too!

It's ridiculous. The two sides are $182m apart over five years. The cancellation of games for the next two weeks is costing the owners $266m and the players $126m.

The Blue Jays have reportedly acquired Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and John Buck in exchange for Yunel Escobar, Henderson Alvarez, Josh Nicolino and Adeiny Hechavarria. One of the biggest trades I've ever seen the Jays do... today is a good day.

The Giants were big winners over the Cardinals in Game 7 of the NLCS, meaning that the World Series is between Detroit and San Francisco. Should be an interesting series; my tip: Detroit in 6.