Moss Traded to the Pats

Randy Moss, one of the best wide receivers and most controversial WR in the game of football was traded to the New England Patriots.

In the 2nd day of the 2007 NFL draft, which was on Sunday, the 5-time pro bowler was shipped off the New England for just a 4th round draft pick. It seems that Oakland really wanted to get rid of Randy for such a low price.

Moss said few words during the interviews on Sunday. 'The Moss of old is back,'' he declared Sunday.

But in New England, that will be a big question. Is the Moss of old back? With Minnesota, he was looking like one of the greatest WR ever helping the Vikings to a NFL record for total points in a season, getting them to the NFC championship game and getting to 5 pro bowls. But after a 8-8 season, and losing to the Eagles in a playoff game, the Vikings traded the star receiver in the 2005 draft to Oakland. But during his time in Oakland, it seemed Moss disappeared of the face of the earth as he was not the savior for the Raiders' franchise as many had hoped he would be and was not really a factor in any games. But after 2 years in Oakland, he was traded to New England.

If Moss can be " the Moss of old ", than he will help a Patriots' team without much talent in their receivers after losing star receiver Deion Branch to Seattle last season. It will be very interesting to see how Moss plays in New England.

Raptors Netted (Part 2)

The Toronto Raptors were down 2-1 to the New Jesrey Nets going into game 4 in New Jersey.

The Raps didn't play like it was a playoff game as they were beaten to every rebound and every lose ball. This led to a 81-102 New Jersey win.

Toronto will now have to win 3 in a row to take the series. And 1 of those games will be in New Jersey where they have been awful all year. They've lost all 4 games in New Jersey and lost badly. But Toronto has been great at home all year and should be ready to go on Tuesday.

Raptors Netted

In game 3 of the Nets, Raptors series, the Nets looked to win on home-court.

The Raps didn't start out good letting the Nets scored 31 in the 1st compared to their 19. Through the rest of the game, Toronto couldn't get within 4 points of the Nets lead. This led to a 102-89 win by New Jersey.

The player of the game was Jason Kidd. Playing with a sore knee, he poured in a triple-double and a career high in playoff assists with 19. Vince Carter also got out of a slump scoring 37 in the game and leading the Nets to a win.

Toronto will try to regroup for Sunday's game against New Jersey.

A Fresh Start

The Toronto Raptors played their 1st playoff game in 5 years on Saturday. They lost. But yesterday, they had a chance to tie up the series at the ACC.

Before the game, head coach Sam Mitchell was presented the NBA Coach Of The Year Award for leading the Raptors to a +20 win differential from last year to this year. If you started watching the game at the end of the 1st quarter, than you would be surprised because it was only 14-12 for the Raps. But in the 2nd, the Nets took over as they got a 4 point lead into halftime. In the 3rd, the Nets bested Toronto again increasing their lead to 6 points. But the Raptors took over in the 4th. Led by Chris Bosh they got a 2 point lead into the final minute of the game. But with 40 seconds left, the Nets drained a 3 to grab the lead. And then T.J Ford grabbed the lead for the Raps again 2 free throws. Then, with 8 seconds left, the Nets top 3-point man had an open 3 and missed! That led to a 89-83 win for the Toronto Raptors.

The series is now tied up and is going to New Jersey for the 3rd game.

1st Round

The NHL playoffs have arrived and so far have been great.

In the East's 1 seed vs 8 seed series, the Sabres faced the Isles.

In game no.1 the Isles got totally dominated by the Sabres as they could not muster any offence against the powerful Sabres. The final score was 4-1. But the 2nd game was a much different story. For game 2 the Isles had Rick Dipietro back from injury. In the 1st 11 minutes, the Isles scored 2 goals from Trent Hunter and Bruno Gervais. But the Sabres scored 1 before the break to get within 1. After a scoreless 2nd Buffalo tied it up early in the 3rd. Then, on the powerplay, Marc-Andre Bergeron scored to give New York the lead. Buffalo could not come back from that as the Isles took game 2 3-2. In the 3rd game, the 2nd period was the factor. Buffalo scored 3 while NY scored 2 in that period. No teams scored any more as the Sabres took a 2-1 series lead. In game 4, the teams tied through 1. But in the next 2, Buffalo dominated scoring the only goals from the 2nd on to win 4-2. In game 5, the Sabres dominated the 1st 2 periods scoring 3 goals in that span. But after the teams exchanged goal;s, the Isles scored 2 more. But that wasn't enough as the Sabres won the series 4-1.


In the other 1 vs 8 series, the Flames faced the Red Wings.

The 1st game was all Detroit as they scored 4 goals through 2 before the Flames could muster 1, which came late in the 3rd. Detroit's defence made sure Iginla wouldn't be a factor as he had no shots on goal. In the 2nd game, the Red Wings came out good scoring on a early powerplay and again 2 minutes after that. In the 2nd, the Flames started a comeback when Dion Phaneuf scored to make it a 1-goal game. But all hopes of a comeback were squandered by a late goal in the 3rd by Detroit. Game 3. Skip to the 3rd where the game was tied, Detroit got the lead from Kris Draper. But Calgary came back as Mark Giordano scored to tie it up. Then, late in the game, Jarome Iginla scored to give the Flames the lead. Detroit couldn't come back as the Flames got back in the series with a 3-2 win. In the 4th game, Calgary came out great with a early powerplay goal. But then Todd Bertuzzi scored to tie it up. After the teams exchanged goals before the 2nd, Daymond Langkow grabbed his 2nd of the game and the lead for Calgary. A period and a half went by after that goal and no one got another one as the Flames tied up the series 2-2. In game 6, Detroit dominated scoring 4 goals before the Flames scored 1! That led to a 5-1 win for Detroit and a 3-2 lead in the series. In the game, Calgary's Jamie Mclennen slashed Johan Franzen which resulted in a 5 game suspension. In the 6th game, Detroit and Calgary traded goals in the 2nd. The next goal that was scored was in an O.T period.
In the O.T, Johan Franzen got his revenge scoring the series winner.

In a 7 vs 2 series, the Devils faced the Lightning.

The 1st game was close, but Tampa was plagued by bad goaltending. With the game within 1 goal for Tampa in the 3rd, Holmqvist saved a shot, but didn't cover it up. Instead he let it go. The puck then went to the Devils and Brian Gionta scored to clinch it for the Devils. In game 2 the Lightning looked for redemption. This game was controlled more by Tampa. The Lightning scored the 1st goal in the game short-handed, but the game was later tied by Zach Parise. After the teams exchanged goals the 3rd started. Early in the 3rd, Vincent Lecavalier scored to give Tampa Bay the lead. New Jersey couldn't come back from that as the Lightning tied up the series 1-1. In the 3rd game in Tampa, the teams exchanged goals over the 1st 2 periods until the 3rd. In the 3rd period, Brad Richards scored to give Tampa a lead, but Zach Parise scored to tie it up. But then, late in the game, Tampa's Vaclav Prospal scored to give Tampa the lead. New Jersey couldn't come back as the Lightning grabbed a 2-1 series lead. In game 4, the game went to O.T. In the 1st overtime period, after some exciting end-to-end action, the Devils scored to win the game and tie the series. In game 5, New Jersey dominated not letting Tampa score in the game and getting 3 goals themselves to win 3-0 and get a 3-2 lead in the series.
In game 6, New Jersey got a 2 goal lead early in the 2nd. But Tampa wouldn't go away scoring one right after New Jersey got their 2nd goal. But that's all Tampa would muster as New Jersey took the game 3-2 and the series 4-2.

In the West's 2 vs 7 series, the Wild faced the Ducks.

In the 1st game, the Wild scored the 1st goal, but later lost the lead because of Teemu Selanne. Then, in the 3rd with 6 minutes left, Dustin Penner scored to give Anaheim a lead that the Wild could not come back from. In the 2nd game, the Ducks got the 1st goal from Beauchemin. In the 2nd though, the Wild tied it up from Marion Gaborik. But the Ducks bettered that by scoring 2 goals before the break. The Wild tried a comeback when Mikko Koivu scored with 4 minutes left, but that's all Minnesota could get. The Ducks lead the series 2-0. In game number 3, the Ducks controlled the game until the final minute, where Anaheim had a 2-goal lead. In that final minute, the Wild scored to give themselves a chance, but they could not come back to give the Ducks a win and a 3-0 lead in the series. In game 4, a game the Wild had to win, they came out good. Despite a good start, the Ducks got the 1st goal in the 2nd from Pronger. But they tied it up before the 3rd. In the 3rd, Minnesota scored 3 straight goals to grab the win and to get back in the series. In the 5th game, Minnesota didn't come out like it was a must win as they lost the series on a 4-1 game.

In the 1st 6 vs 3 series, the New York Rangers faced the Atlanta Thrashers.

In the 1st game, New York got a early 1-goal lead at the end of the 1st. After a goal by each team, New York added to their 1 goal lead to get a 2-goal lead into the 3rd. In the 3rd, Atlanta tried a comeback, but fell short to lose 4-3. In game 2 the Rangers again got an early 1-goal lead and held on to it until the 3rd. That's when Kovalchuk scored to tie up the game. But late in the 3rd, Brendan Shanahan scored to give New York a late lead. The Thrashers could not come back from that as the Rangers took game 2 2-1 and lead the series 2-0. Game 3 was all Rangers. They scored 3 in the 3rd and didn't look back scoring 4 more before the game's end to win it 7-0 and get a 3-0 lead in the series. In game 4, the Rangers looked for the sweep. After a tie through 2, New York came out with 2 quick ones in the 3rd to get a 2-goal lead. Atlanta couldn't get 2 more goals to tie it as the Rangers took this series 4-0.

In the West, Dallas and Vancouver faced off.

The 1st game of the series was very exciting. With the game tied in the 2nd at 2's, Markus Naslund scored to give the Canucks a lead. They then added to that in the 3rd. But the Stars came back as they scored 2 quick goals from Antti Miettinen and Ladislav Nagy. The game then went to O.T For the 1st 4 O.T periods , there were no goals scored. But in the 5th, Henrik Sedin scored to win it for the Canucks. In the 2nd game, the Stars came out and got 2 goals through the 1st 2 periods. Vancouver could not muster up a goal on Marty Turco which allowed the Stars to tie up the series. In game 3, it was a 1-1 tie in reglation, so the teams went to O.T. In the 1st overtime period, the Canucks' Taylor Pyatt scored to give Vancouver their 2nd O.T win of the series and a 2-1 lead in the series. Game 4 was a low scoring affair. The 3rd was where all the scoring was as the Canucks scored 2 and the Stars 1 in the period. That equaled a 2-1 win for the Canucks and a 3-1 lead in the series. In game 5, no one scored until the 1st O.T period, a period in which Brendan Morrow scored on a powerplay to get back in the series. Game 6 was another low-scoring affair. Dallas got the only 2 goals in the game which were scored by Modano and Halpern to tie the series and get it to go to a game 7. In that game 7, the Stars started out great scoring the 1st goal of the game in the 1st. But in the 2nd, Henrik Sedin scored to tie it up. Then, in the 3rd, Trever Linden scored off a tip in to give the Canucks the lead. The Stars pressed for the goal that would tie the game. But with the goalie pulled, Vancouvere scored to get a 2-goal lead. They added another to take the series 4-3.

In the 1st 5 vs 4 series, the Ottawa Senators faced the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 1st game was all Ottawa as they scored 2 early goals and didn't look back winning 6-3. n the 2nd game though, Pittsburgh came out great as they scored early in the 1st. But in the 2nd, Ottawa scored 2 quick ones to grab the lead. In the 3rd, the Sens were still up by 1 when the Penguins scored 2 quick ones to take the lead. The Sens couldn't come back from that as the Pens took game 2 4-3. In game 3, the Senators dominated yet again capped of by a 3-goal outburst in the 2nd to take it 4-2 and to take a 1 game lead in the series. In game 4, the teams exchanged goals through 2 to lead to a tie. In the 3rd, Ottawa scored to get a 1-goal lead. Pittsburgh couldn't come back from that as they go down 3-1 in the series. In a must win game for the Pens, they played bad. They couldn't get a goal and gave up 3 in the 2nd. That led to a 3-0 win to close out the Penguins season.

In the final series, the San Jose Sharks faced the Nashville Predators.

Skip to the the 3rd period in game 1 were the Preds were down by 2. They scored 2 quick ones in the final 7 minutes to tie it up. The game ended up going to O.T, where in double overtime, Patrick Rissmiller scored to win it for the Sharks. In game 2, the Preds dominated San Jose outscoring them in 2 periods and winning 5-2 to tie up the series. In game 3, after a quick Nashville goal, the Sharks dominated. They scored 3 goals in the next periods to win 3-1. In a must game 5 for the Preds, the Sharks came out with the 1st goal. But they tied it up in the 2nd. And then, with 4:21 left in the game, Patrick Marleau scoree to silence the Preds and win the series 4-1.

The Playoffs

The Toronto Raptors have had one of their best regular seasons in franchise history. Now they had to do it in the playoffs against VC and the Nets. With the sea of red watching on, the Raptors played their 1st playoff game in 5 years.

The Raptors were off all night. They never got any good offensive rhythum going and could not stop the nets on the fast-break. New Jersey also bettered the Raps by 24 points in the points in paint. Despite the Raptors having all of these things against them, they still had a chance to win the game. But a missed 3-pointer cost them as the Nets took game 1 96-91.

After the game, none of the Raptors were worried though. Most were encouraged that they had a chance to win the game even with all the faults they had.

The next game will go Tuesday at the ACC.

No-Hit Wonder

Last year, Anibal Sanchez threw a no-hitter. That broke the longest streak ever in the Majors without one. It didn't take long to get another.

The White Sox Mark Buehrle yesterday was 1 batter short of a perfect game as Sammy Sosa got a walk in the 5th. But Mark quickly threw him out at 1st on a pickoff throw. In the 9th, Buehrle was yet to give up a hit. So he struck out Matt Kata and Nelson Cruz. Then, the final batter of the game was Gerald Laird. He hit a slow grounder to Joe Crede, who fired it to 1st for the out. Upon realizing what just happened, the entire Sox bench went and celebrated with him on the mound.

''I can't believe I did it,'' Buehrle said. ''Perfect game would have been nice, too.'' 'I knew Crede over there, he's a pretty good defensive player. I had faith in him and I just started pumping my fist because I knew I had a chance to get the out,'' Buehrle said.

In the end, it seems Buehrle jinxed himself in that game as he went up to some of his players and said, "You know I got a no-hitter going.''

Itis the 1st no-hitter in the AL since Derek Lowe in 2002.

''People try to jinx and I was trying to jinx on myself,'' Buehrle said.

Boston - Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays yesterday were getting their 1st look at the Boston Red Sox this year. They also got a look at Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Through the 1st 2 innings, it was a good pitching duel. But in the top of the 3rd, the Jays gave up a upper-deck homer to Wily Mo Pena. The Jays though got those runs back in the 4th. Toronto took advantage of a infield-single by Vernon Wells by moving him up a bag and getting Lyle Overbay to bring him home. Then, with the bases loaded, Dice-K walked Gregg Zaun to bring home another run. Then, Jason Smith with the bases still loaded hit a deep shot to center field, but was caught by the center fielder. Boston couldn't come back from that as the Jays took the 1st Sox-Jays game of the year. Toronto is now leading the AL East.

Season Finale

The Toronto Raptors have had one of the best comeback years in recent memory. They finish off that season tonight against Philadelphia.

This is the last game that the Raps have to set the franchise record for most wins in the season. That being said, they probably won't start all of their stars. But they may get rookie sensation Andrea Bargnani back from injury tonight after a emergency appendectomy.

Even without their starters, Toronto still should win this game. They eant to close the season out on a high note for the post-season, and give the fans a good game on Fan Appreciation Day.

Injury Troubles

The Toronto Blue Jays are playing good ball of late, but suffered a big blow today.

Their closer B.J Ryan, outfielder Reed Johnson and Troy Glaus where all announced injured today.

B.J will be out 4-6 weeks with a elbow strain, Johnson will be out until July as he will have surgery on his back and Troy Glaus was placed on the 15-day DL because of a sore heel.

Ryan will not be a huge issue as Jason Frasor will take his spot and Adam Lind will take Johnson's spot. Glaus' place will be the real trouble. It is unknown right now who will be the full time replacement for Glaus.

The Jays are leading their division right now, and will have to play inspired ball to keep it.

A Blown Opportunity

As the new MLB season begins, the Toronto Blue Jays look good. They're leading their division and are 6-4. They had a chance to go 7-4 yesterday.

The Jays were facing the Tigers yesterday at the Rogers Center. The game started out well as Vernon Wells hit a 3-run homer to grab an early lead. They then added another run the next inning. But then the Tigers came within 1 as they scored a combined 3 runs in the 4th and 5th. But in the home-half of the inning, Alex Rios homered to center-field to bring home 2 runs and a 3 run lead. By the 9th the Jays though had just a 1 run lead. B.J Ryan was on the mound and looked good getting the 1st batter. But he then walked 3 straight to load the bases. Then a broken-bat hit brought home 2 runs to give the Tigers the lead. They added 2 more to give Detroit a 3 run lead. The Jays could not come back from that as the Tigers took this one 10-7.

It was Ryan's 2nd blown save in 4 attempts and was not happy with himself.

'There's no excuse for that,'' said Ryan, refusing to place any blame for his early woes on his back. ''I was just missing a lot, throwing the ball up in the zone and I've been able to command the

The Playoff Push

It's the toughest prize to win. Bring yourself to a level of play that almost exceeds human possibilities, and you have a 1 in 16 chance at the cup. It's the quest for the Stanley Cup. 82 games that 16 teams have played have all led to these next few 7-game series. It starts now.

There are 8 series I have to cover now, and I will preview all of them.

In the 1 seed vs 8 seed series in the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings (1) will face the Calgary Flames (8).

The Flames in this series will be a little bit fatigued as they had to fight off the Colorado Avalanche to grab the 8th spot in the West. The Red Wings however will be well rested as they had a very high spot in the standings locked up early. It will be interesting to see how the Wings will fare without leaders Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman, as they have been the best playoff performers for the Wings in past years. The key to this series is the Wings' defence and the Flames' offence. Detroit has one of the best offensive defences in the league with Nik Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider and Chris Chelios. The Flames offence will also be a question mark as players like Alex Taungay and Tony Amonte have not lived up to expectations, reminiscent of last years Flames. I will pick the Red Wings to win this series, but Detroit has surprised many people in the past 3 playoffs losing early to Anaheim in 2003, Calgary in 2004 and Edmonton in 2006.

In the West the Anaheim Ducks (1) will face the Minnesota Wild (7).

This will be a very close series, even though the Wild is 7th, they have only 6 less points than Anaheim. The Ducks have Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, players who are all very experienced and came within 3 games of the finals last year. The Wild got 104 points quietly this year and also have great players with Brian Rolston and Marian Gaborik. It will be close, but the Ducks will win in 7.

In the East the New Jersey Devils (2) will face the Tampa Bay Lightning (7).

The Devils shocked the NHL last week firing Claude Julien, and might be shaken up by that. But the Devils do have Martin Brodeur, who has experienced that before and will again be awesome. Tampa will probably not matchup to the Devils talent and will lose in 4 or 5.

In the 3 vs 6 series in the West, the Vancouver Canucks (3) will face the Dallas Stars (6).

The Canucks have always been a team to be looked at ever since their birth in the final in '94. But never have they had such goaltending for the team to use during the playoffs. Roberto Luongo has carried this team and will play a big part in this series. Dallas' leading scorer this year was Mike Ribeiro with 59 points. This series will turn into a goalie battle. And if it ends up like that, than the Canucks will come out with this series. But it is still close as these teams were tied in points for the regular season, each with 105 points.

In the East, the Atlanta Thrashers (3) face off against the New York Islanders (6).

This one is also very tough to call. These teams were only separated by 3 points in the regular season. Atlanta's franchise has never been in the post-season, but does have some experience in Keith Tkachuk, Marion Hossa and Greg De Vries. The Rangers also have experience with Jagr and Shanahan. The offence of both teams is pretty even, so it will come down to goaltending. I think that the Rangers have the advantage there with Lundqvist in goal. So I choose the Rangers to down the Thrashers his round.

In what should be a great series, the Nashville Predators (4) will face the San Jose Sharks (5)

The Preds and Sharks faced off against each other last year in the playoffs and the Sharks won 4-1. But Nashville has gotten better than last year. They picked up Jason Arnott and Peter Forsberg. The Sharks did not pick up any significant players, so they will have to be led by Joe Thorton and Patrick Marleau. I believe because of the key players that the Sharks have, they will win the series.

In the final series of the 1st round, the Ottawa Senators (4) will face the Pittsburgh Penguins (5).

This should be a very exciting series as both teams are very fast and are great scorers. I would like to see Pittsburgh win the series, but I think the Sens will come out with it for these reasons. They have more experience, and they have something to prove. The Pens are some young guys who don't really have experience in the playoffs.

Coyotes Clean House

According to TSN, the Phoenix Coyotes have cleaned out their front office. General manager Mike Barnett, assistant general manager Laurence Gilman, and Senior Executive and Vice President of Hockey Operations, Cliff Fletcher have been let go.

Under Barnett, the Coyotes became one of the worst teams in the NHL having one of their worst years in Coyotes history last year. He joined Phoenix as Vice President and GM in 2001, leaving behind a successful career as a player agent with Wayne Gretzky as his marquee client.

No replacements have been for anyone have been named

Great In Green

Zach Johnson. Do you know the name. You probably don't. He is a young guy and is a self-proclaimed , "normal person." Just a normal guy, who just got his name in the history books.

Yesterday Johnson was in the one of final groupings knowing that Tiger Woods was in the hunt for the Green Jacket. But even with the pressure Johnson won the jacket and the Masters.

This was the 1st time in Masters history that the winner was over-par. "I'm Zach Johnson and I'm from Cedar Rapids, Iowa," said the guy wearing the green jacket after winning the Masters on Sunday night. "I'm very normal. I'm as normal as they come."

"I'm Zach Johnson and I'm from Cedar Rapids, Iowa," said the guy wearing the green jacket after winning the Masters on Sunday night. "I'm very normal. I'm as normal as they come."

Johnson became the first player ever to win a major tournament led by Woods in the final round by overcoming a late charge from the world's No. 1 player.

"They say a giant has to fall at some point and maybe that's the case," said Johnson. "You know, it's still very surreal in that respect.

"This golf course was playing very difficult," said Woods, who finished second in a major for just the third time in his career. "You just had to keep plodding along and give yourself as many chance as you possibly could at birdies. They were very hard to come by."

Controling Your Own Destiny

Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs gave themselves a chance at a playoff spot by beating the Canadiens. But doing that wasn't enough to get a playoff spot. The Leafs needed the New York Islanders to lose against New Jersey. It was do or die for the Islanders.

Before the game started, the Devils confirmed that #1 goalie Martin Brodeur would not start to get ready for the playoffs, so Scott Clemmensen (who had only had 3 starts in the year so far) got the nod. The Islanders started out well as the only goal of the 1st period was scored by Richard Park. After a scoreless 2nd, an exciting 3rd period started. The 1st goal of the period was scored again by Richard Park. With the Isles up 2-0, it looked like the Leafs season was over. Not so fast. John Madden scored 4 minutes after Park's goal to get the Devils within 1. Finally, with the goalie pulled, in the final second of the period, Madden scored again to tie the game! After a scoreless O.T period an excited New Jersey team and a deflated Isles team went to a shootout. The 1st 2 exchanged goals, and then Kozlov scored to give the Isles the lead. No one else scores from then on. The New York Islanders won 3-2 to clinch a playoff spot on the final day of the season.

The Isles will now face Buffalo in the 1st round of the playoffs.

Do Or Die

Yesterday, the Leafs and Habs met at the ACC. It was possibly the biggest regular season matchup in the 2 teams history.

To the cheers of the ACC crowd, the Leafs started out great as they got 20 shots in on Huet before Bates Battaglia scored to give the Leafs the lead in this crucial game. Then, Chris Higgins out muscled Pavel Kubina and deked out Tomas Kaberle and beat Raycroft to tie up the game. Before the period could end though. Mats Sundin threw one at the net from almost the goal-line and was tipped in by Nik Antropov. The Leafs ended the period with the shots 25-9 in their favor. Early in the 2nd, Toronto scored another goal, this one from Alex Steen to give the Leafs a 2-goal lead. Cue the comeback for the Habs. 1st, Micheal Ryder scored 36 seconds after Steen's goal to get the Habs within 1. Then, on the powerplay Ryder scored another of a big rebound from Raycroft. Finally, Ryder completed the hat-trick on a wrap-around that squeezed through Raycroft to give the Habs their 1st lead of the game. That lat goal by Ryder spelled the end of Raycroft's night as he was pulled for J.S Aubin. The goalie change didn't help though as Chris Higgins scored to give the Habs a 2 goal lead. With the Leafs disorganized, it looked like Montreal would take the lead into the break. But, Carlo Coliacavo scored on a knuckle-ball from the point. Before the period would end Montreal took 2 penalties, 1 of them a double-minor to give the Leafs a 2-man advantage going into would could be the final period their season. It didn't take long for the Leafs to score as Bryan McCabe potted one from the point to tie it up. Then, with the Leafs still enjoying part of a double-minor, Saku Koivu tripped up Kyle Wellwood, and went to the box for it. On the next play, Tomas Kaberle fired one to the net and got tipped by Wellwood to give the Leafs the lead. The Habs then turned it on for the last 16 minutes. But the Leafs playes good defence and held off the Habs to win it 6-5. Montreal is now eliminated from playoff contention and the Leafs are in 8th spot. They need a win by New Jersey tomorrow to get into the playoffs. One problem though is that the Devils may not start Brodeur.

'I got to go to church Sunday,'' Leafs defenceman Bryan McCabe said Saturday night after a huge 6-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

''The biggest church day of the year is Easter Sunday. I know I'll be there with my wife and kid and I'll be praying.''

March's Top 10 Stories

10. CFL Gets New Commissioner - Mark Cohan, son of McDonald's of Canada founder George Cohan was given a 5-year deal by the CFL to commission the league. He is very young (in comparison to other commissioners) as he only 41. He has already played big parts in the NBA and MLB and loves the CFL.

9.Tootoo Suspension - The Nashville Predators Jordan Tootoo was suspended 5 games by the NHL for a sucker punch on Stephane Robidas. After a questionable hit by a Dallas player on Tootoo, Jordan swung his fist at the 1st Stars player he saw, which ended up in a concussion and a week out of the lineup for Robidas.

8. Chacin's DUI - The Blue Jays youngest pitcher and the one with the most potential was arrested for a DUI in Florida. According to police reports, Chacin's blood alcohol content measured .150 while the legal limit in Florida is .08. Chacin was later released on a $500 bond that morning.

7. Damon Allen Re-signs With Toronto - The Toronto Argos re-signed their top QB this month. Allen is the all-time football passing leader passing the previous leader last season. It is good the Argos got this deal done, because they don't have a QB like him yet to take his place.

6. Brodeur and Luongo Chasing Parent - Both Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur are chasing a record set by Bernie Parent in 1973 - 1974. Brodeur just last night though did break the record, but there is some controversy over who really has the record. Parent set the record with 78 game while Brodeur did it with 82. Maybe someone will set the record before the 78 game mark next season.

5.Kaberle Injured - The Toronto Maple Leafs were in New Jersey to take on the Devils. It was just a regular game, but when Cam Janssen hit Tomas Kaberle into the boards, the game stopped. Kaberle's head smashed into the boards and gave him a concussion. The NHL would later review the hit.

4.Janssen's Suspension - After the league looked at Janssen's hit on Kaberle, the NHL agreed to suspend him for 3 games. That resulted in $7,220.16 of money lost. Janssen never said to the media that he was sorry or that the hit was dirty.

3.Simon Suspended For Rest Of The Season - In a game between the Isles and the Rangers, the Islanders Chris Simon received a hit from Ryan Hollweg. Simon got up and slashed Hollweg in the face. All Hollweg got was a few stitches, but Simon received the longest suspension in NHL history. He was suspended for 25 games and the playoffs.

2.6 Killed In College Bus Crash - While the Bluffton College baseball team was traveling to Florida for a game against the Gators, the bus crashed. The vehicle went off a highway ramp and and plunged onto a road below. 6 died in the crash and 29 were injured.

1. Race For 8th - In the Eastern Conference, there were 6 teams near the bottom of the standings looking for a playoff spot. One problem. There were only 3 spots up for garbs. In the last month the 1st 2 spots have been decided, and tonight on Hockey Night In Canada, the final spot will be decided.

A Saturday Night Showdown?

Right now, the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a playoff race. That's all you need to say about it. Tonight both teams will try to keep their playoff hopes alive as both Montreal and Toronto will face off against New York teams. Toronto faces the Isles you are all but out of the race for 8th and the Canadiens will face the New York Rangers who have already clinched a playoff spot. These games are right now the most important of the season for each team, but a much more important game may come on Saturday.

This Saturday the Leafs and the Canadiens will meet at the ACC. This matchup may decide the who gets the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference . There are many scenarios that could happen tonight that could lead to that Saturday game. Both the Leafs and the Canadiens could win tonight, the Leafs could win and the Habs lose, they both lose or they both lose in a shootout. All of these scenarios will lead to the Leaf - Canadien matchup this Saturday.

But before we think about that game both teams have to think about tonight.

The Habs are facing the surging New York Rangers tonight in New York.

The Canadiens and the Rangers are the 2 hottest teams in the Eastern Conference race, but the Rangers have a slight edge in this game. The Habs have been horrific on the road of late and will be worked hard by the physical play of the Rangers. One thing that is in the Habs favor is that NY only needs one point to clinch a playoff spot. So if the game go's to OT, than the Rangers may just give up.

While in the other game, the New York Isles will face the Leafs.

The Leafs I think have a huge edge in this game. The Isles have been in a free-fall since losing #1 goalie Rick Dipietro and #2 goalie Mike Dunham, and are almost out of the playoff race. But there is a situation were both the Leafs and Canadiens lose and the Isles win were NY can get a playoff spot on Saturday.

It will be cool to see what happens from now to Saturday, but it sure will be fun

A New Season

As the 1st real day of the MLB season comes to an end, the Toronto Blue Jays got the start they wanted to the season. The Jays were at Detroit's Comerica Park, were the Tigers raised the 2006 AL Pennant and had fireworks to boot. But the Jays spoiled the party in the end.

The game couldn't of started of better for the Jays as they got to Jeremy Bonderman early scoring 3 runs in the 1st inning with RBI's from Lyle Overbay, Vernon Wells and Alex Rios. Then, Doc Halladay came to the mound and shut down the Tigers to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead through the 1st inning. 2 innings later though, the Tigers mustered up a run to get within 2 runs of a tie. Another 2 innings later Detroit achieved that mark scoring 2 runs in the 5th. The game would go scoreless the rest of regulation, so the game went to extra innings. In the 1st extra inning, the Jays wasted no time as Troy Glaus and Alex Rios both batted home runs against relief pitcher Fernando Rodney to give the Jays a chance to win it in the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of that inning B.J Ryan came in and shut down Detroit to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 5-3 win.

After the game Frank Thomas talked about his 1st game with the Jays facing the team that eliminated his Athletics last post-season. "It's weird to be sitting in this locker again after ending last season here, but it's not a big deal," said Thomas, who was 1-for-4 and was hit by Rodney in his Blue Jays debut. "I'm with a different organization now, and these guys don't know anything about what happened to me last year."

These teams will face each-other again on Wednesday and Thursday both at 1:00pm

Julien Fired, Lamoriello to Replace Him

As of Monday, Claude Julien is unemployed! The Devils' head coach was fired earlier today in a surprise move by GM Lou Lamoriello. But with a record like they have and the position they are in for the playoffs, many are asking, why?

Lamoriello said that he and coach Julien were not on the same page both hockey-wise and mentally for many reasons. "I did not feel that we were going in the right direction, both mentally and hockey(-wise), going into the playoffs, for a variety of reasons," the New Jersey Devils GM told The Canadian Press. "It was never my intention to ever possibly go back (behind the bench) again," Lamoriello said. "It's just the timing to put somebody else in at this time with the number of games left wouldn't have been fair."

Julien has now been fired in the middle of the season for 2 straight years. Last year he got booted from Montreal during a lengthy slump and now, he's gone from New Jersey.

This isn't the 1st time that Lamoriello has made a late season move going into the playoffs. He fired Robbie Ftorek with eight games left in the 1999-2000 season and Robinson led the team to its second Stanley Cup title.

Lamoriello will coach coach the final 3 games of the season for the Devils starting with Ottawa, and then the Flyers and the NY Islanders.

Saturday Night Hockey

Going into Saturday night, there were 6 teams looking to grab 3 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The standings in that Conference drastically changed last night.

In the 1st game, the Toronto Maple Leafs were facing the Pittsburgh Penguins . The Leafs were at home were they had won 6 straight.

Early in the game, Chad Kilger potted one to give the Leafs an early lead. But that lead was squandered by Gary Roberts only 2 minutes after Kilger's goal. It looked like it would be a tie going into the break, but Alexei Ponikarovsky scored from the circle to get the lead back 2-1. In the 2nd, the Leafs scored another early one as Tomas Kaberle scored his 1st goal since receiving a concussion from Cam Janssen in early March. Then, on the powerplay Bryan McCabe potted in his 13th to get the lead 4-1. Before the period could end though, Maxime Talbot scored to get the Pens within 2 goals. In the 3rd the Penguins kept the pressure on until they finally got one past Raycroft with 5 minutes left in the game. Then, with the net empty Ryan Whitney scored to tie up the game with just 4 second left in the game. The Leafs went to the dressing room hearing the boos of the ACC. But Toronto did give the fans something to cheer about as Kaberle scored again in O.T for the Leafs to win it 5-4. The Leafs are now 9th in the Eastern Conference, 1 point behind 8th Montreal and have a game at hand on the Habs. Pittsburgh is 2nd in the Conference with 101 points.

In the Canadiens game, the Habs were playing the Buffalo Sabres. Montreal needed to win as they already lost yesterday to the Sens.

The 1st goal of the game was scored by Buffalo's Daniel Briere 9:20 into the game. But the Habs came back as Micheal Ryder scored his 27th to tie up the game. In the 2nd the Canadiens scored 1st as Radek Bonk scored to give the Habs the lead. Just 2 minutes after that, Maxim Lapierre scored to give Montreal a 2 goal lead! But before the period could end, Thomas Vanek scored to bring the Sabres within 1. But that's the closest Buffalo would get as Saku Koivu regained the 2 goal lead for the Habs in the 3rd. Zubrus did scored late in the game but it didn't matter as the Habs won a huge game. Montreal is now 8th in the Eastern Conference standings while Buffalo is the best team in the league.

In the last Eastern Canadian game of the night, the Ottawa Senators faced off against the New York Islanders. The Islanders 2 top goalies were hurt, so rookie Wade Dubielewics had to make the start.

The game started out slow as the 1st period almost went scoreless, but Christoph Schubert made sure that would not happen as he gave the Sens the lead with just 20 seconds left in the period. In the 3rd, the Isles' Viktor Kozlov scored to tie it up 1-1. From then on it was all Senators. 1st, Mike Comrie scored a beauty to get the lead back. In the 3rd Comrie scored again to give the Senators a 2 goal lead. Then Dean Mcammond scored to clinch the win. The teams exchanged goals at the end, but didn't matter as the Sens took this one 5-2. The Isles now sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and are 4 points behind Montreal for 8th while the Sens are 4th in the Conference and have clinched a playoff spot.

In the final Canadian game of the night, the Vancouver Canucks faced the Calgary Flames.

The Flames started out good as they scored 4:07 into the game from Daymond Langkow. They game then shifted to the 2nd, where Craig Conroy scored short-handed to give the Flames the 2 goal lead. The final goal of the period was scored by Kristian Huselius to give the Flames a commanding 3 goal lead. In the 3rd though, the Canucks came back as Morrison and Naslund both scored to get Vancouver within 2. But that's all they could muster as the Flames took this one 3-2. Calgary is now 8th in the Western Conference a while the Canucks are 3rd in that Conference .