2012 NHL Playoffs! Let's Go!

This playoff season will mark my 2nd year participating in the annual Aaron Reinard Hockey-Blog Spectacular!

Opening Round Picks:

East: Rangers (in 6); Bruins (in 6); Devils (in 7) Pens (in 7)
West: Canucks (in 6); Blues (in 7); Hawks (in 6); Preds (in 7)

This year's opening round is really hard to gauge, least for me. All four lower seeded Eastern Conference teams won their season series against their higher seed opponents, so it's hard to be super confident, and so i have each match-up going 6 or 7 games. Out West its even crazier. The Canucks have never won the President's Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same year. So are they really the favorites? As you can tell I am by no means confident in my picks, but I will throw my inhibitions to the wind and we'll see how it shakes out.

Rangers have looked pretty steady all season, but 1994 is a long time ago, so they will have to stay strong if they are going all the way, plus the Sens just don't seem like they are on the same level. Equally hard to go against last year's champs, so I have the Bruins (and my boy Timmy Thomas) beating the Crapitals. Sorry Ovechkin, still don't like you. Now for my Eastern Conf. upset I'll take the Devils over the Panthers. First time in team history Florida has won their division? - hard to believe, so I'll take experience over the upstarts. As for the Pens/Flyers, yes I am a homer but its also because I share Aaron's hatred for the Flyers. Pens need to step up the D and sure up Fleury's miscues over the last month. Only reason I have it going 7 games is due to Sid's health. But c'mon Line 1 - Malkin, Line 2- Crosby, and Line 3- Staal? What is not to like?

As for out West, I cannot express how much I really want to pick the Kings over the Canucks....but I'm not. Vancouver's in the same situation as last year, best team, great weapons, but as good as Luango was last year, he's been inconsistent down the stretch and it might hurt them to go back and forth with their goalies. Next I like the Blues over the Sharks. Again inconsistent play from San Jose worries me, but they are scrappy so it should be a good series, maybe 7 games. Coyotes/Hawks should be a good series too, even though they won their last 5 games and 11 of their last 12, having never won a playoff series, Phoenix still has to show me something. Lastly, I am loving the Preds and if Rinne can duplicate his play from last year's playoffs they can beat Detroit in a slug-fest and get to the conference finals.

Back to School

So since I am so sporadic at blogging, I decided that I should really make a new commitment to it this year - sort of a new years resolution.

This past week was my first week in Practicum. Basically, practicum involves spending time in a school building, in my case that building is Laruel Jr./Sr. High School. And because I am in the Counselor Education program, I pretty much shadow their counselors around, help with office tasks, and work with students.

So far I have enjoyed it, but already find it very tiring, which means i need an earlier bedtime. However, I am really excited to get my hours and learn more about the career while interacting with the students. I am trying to make it a low stress time while I am there and hopefully it will be a good experience.

My hope is to continue blogging about my experience and share stories and pictures with friends and family. We'll see how that all work and if I can find time. Welp...here goes nothing!

FINALS!!!

Here it is, time for the big finale. Should be a GREAT series.
Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks
Drumroll..................Bruins in 7
(Coming Soon: my reasons for picking Boston)

Conference Finals!

Alright, not so good predictions for round two of the playoffs, went 2-2 (so still .500, making my overall playoff record is 8-4)...time to redeem myself. However in my defense, if you go read my Round 1 post, I said the Caps always flame out in Round 2, and I STILL picked them, should've trusted myself. Always go with your first instinct kids. I also panicked when Detroit went down 3-0, and they almost pulled it out, oh well.

Moving on...here come the Conference Finals picks:
East: Bruins (in 7)
West: Canucks (in 7)

This may just be the best round yet! Both are very tough matchups and should be exciting to watch! The best part is in the East no one would have predicted a 3 vs. 5 matchup, especially Tampa. Out West, you have the 1 vs. 2 seeds who are ready for an epic showdown.

I was almost happier to watch the Flyers lose than see the Bruins win. I'm sure Aaron was thrilled. I like Boston's defensive toughness and have I mentioned how much I LOVE TIMMY THOMAS!? Tampa is definitely legit though, and avg. the most goals/game in the playoffs, but no. 2 is Boston. If Tampa wins I wouldn't be shocked, but I think the defense will prevail, and I think Boston has the edge in goal. Go Bruins!

As for the West, I still don't think Vancouver has played to their potential, which honestly scares me, A LOT. I don't think teams can turn it on and off during the playoffs, but we shall see. I haven't watched the Sharks much at all, but allowing the Wings to force a game 7 says to me that they'd have a hard time closing out a series. That being said, the Sedin Bros. need to show up this series, and I think they will. Canucks win!

Round Dos!

Okay, not to bad for round 1...went 6-2. Sabres let me down, clearly they need Aaron in goal instead of Miller (too many soft goals). As for the Pens, I thought it'd go seven, they just didn't have enough fight. On the other hand, the Preds came through HUGE, great upset!

So, onto Round 2, where we separate the men from the boys, the newcomers from the vets. Read them and weep...

East: Caps (in 6); Bruins (in 7)
West: Canucks (in 6); Wings (in 7)

The Caps are pretty strong, especially on the defensive end. And even though they usually don't step their game up for round 2, I think they have a lot left in the tank to beat the Lightning, but containing Stamko will be key! The Flyers squeaked out a series against Buffalo, but they can't do it again, can they? Boston should grind them out. And I'm riding on the Timmy Thomas express!

Out West, the Preds, who may be on the brink of becoming legit are just overmatched here, got to give the nod to Vancover (although they may come out tired after a 7 game series vs. Chicago). The Wings/Sharks has the chance to go the distance, but Detroit looked great in round 1. Sharks are always too up and down for me to ever have the confidence to pick them so I gotta go with the Wings.

I'll admit it, I punked out on this round, no upsets. I gotta go chalk here, I just see too many glaring differences between the good teams and the elite. Cross your fingers, lets just hope for some good hockey!

PLAYOFFS!? Did Someone Say Playoffs!?!

Okay, so while hockey isn't my primary sport, here are my picks:

East: Caps (in 5); Sabres (in 6); Bruins (in 6) Pens (in 6)
West: Canucks (in 6); Sharks (in 5); Wings (in 7); Preds (in 7)
...its always a hard question, do I go with my head or my heart?....

Capitals have had their strongest season yet, and the Rangers pretty much backed into the playoffs, so I'll let the Caps get to the 2nd Round (where they usually flame out anyways). As for the Sabres, yes I just hate Philadelphia that much. Period. The Bruins/Canadiens match up should be a thriller, probably could go either way, but Timmy Thomas has been pretty solid, they get the nod. Now, the Pens have actually done well, all injuries considered and Dan Bylsma should at least be on the ballot for coach of the year. I'll take the Pens (I get one homer pass, right?), but we'll see how they look, definitely not as solid as the past 3 yrs.

Now for the West...the Canucks have been great all season, big props to the Sedin bros. It'll be a tough matchup against the Hawks and may go the distance, but it's hard to pick against them, tough road but they'll get it done. Next matchup, I'll take Sharks over the Kings, but if I had to pick a BIG upset, it'd be this one. The Sharks are always streaky but I think they'll handle their business rather easily. I wish I could say that I'm picking the Coyotes too, but the Red Wings are always tough to knock out of the playoffs. Finally, I'll end with my big 1st Round upset special...Preds over the Ducks! As much as Anaheim is my favorite Western Conf. team, I'm going with my heart here and also for my friend Matt whose a huge Preds fan. Go Nashville!

Time Flies!

Wow. Is that an emotion? Maybe? Well that's the feeling I am getting right now. My work day ended, and I figured that there is no better time to blog than the present. Too bad we don't center our lives around that idea. The present. We don't live in it and we definitely do not spend our time thinking about it. Students have about a week and a half left of classes! Yea, that's it! So naturally, they are running around studying for tests, preping for finals, and for SENIORS this is the time to be scrambling for resumes, interviews, summer employment, apartment shopping, and transition. I remember, it was only a year ago that I too was stressing out trying to determine what I would be doing next year. Luckily for me things worked out an I was able to spend my year in AmeriCorps volunteering and serving the New Wilmington community, aka my 2nd home.

Now I feel as though I should take stock of my time as the school year wraps up and my year of service is coming to a close. Wow. The Drinko Center and Westminster has blessed me with another year of wonderful work, excitment, and amazing relationships. Time to make a list (my mom would be proud, she loves lists)

Continued playing frisbee, you can't get me to stop, I love those kids too much
Attended FCA meetings, its just an amazing group of special people
Shout out to our bible study, great times with great people with big hearts
Served others in nearby communities: New Wilmington, New Castle, Farrell, North Liberty
Worked with some committed students through my Scholars in Service program
Spent time with the few close friends who are still around
Worshiped with awesome believers at Neshanock and New Life
Made new friends who have helped fill me and put the spark back into my life
....I guess I can stop there and add to this list later, but it has been a wonderful year, and I am so extremely blessed to have this place and these people around me! =)

Shout out to my friends old and new that have encouraged me this year! You know who you are.
MaryBeth, Michael, Scott, Abby, Dan, Carly & the WolfPACC VISTAs, Carissa, Jenny, Morgan, Sydney, Brit, Chrissy & Josh, Brad, Tom, Doreen, Kelly, Patrick, Terri, Beth, Patti & Joey +kids, Art, Kelsey, and Wyatt....and MANY more. Thanks all!!