138th Kentucky Derby
1. Daddy Long Legs 26-1
2. Optimizer 31-1
3. Take Charge Indy 8-1
4. Union Rags 6-1
5. Dullahan 10-1
6. Bodemeister 8-1
7. Rousing Sermon 19-1
8. Creative Cause 12-1
9. Trinniberg 41-1
10. Daddy Nose Best 14-1
11. Alpha 22-1
12. Prospective 69-1
13. Went The Day Well 20-1
14. Hansen 7-1
15. Gemologist 8-1
16. El Padrino 33-1
17. Done Talking 34-1
18. Sabercat 38-1
19. I’ll Have Another 17-1
20. Liaison 60-1
AHL Playoffs: WBS Penguins vs Hershey Bears
The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins or Baby Pens as they are known to some will open the AHL Playoffs Friday night against the 11 time Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears. This is a series that for me is hard to watch. I am a Pens fan so I wanna see the Baby Pens do well. However the Hershey Bears play about a half hour from where I live and are a very loved team around here.
Since 2005 the teams have met four times in the Playoffs. The Penguins eliminated the Bears in 2007-2008 winning a 4-1 series. The Bears beat the Pens in 2005-2006 4-0, 2006-2007 4-1, and in 2008-2009 4-3. That was 4 consecutive seasons they met in the Playoffs. The Penguins have never won the Calder Cup but reached the Finals 3 times in 2000-2001, 2003-2004, and 2007-2008.
The Bears are the New York Yankees of the AHL having won 11 calder Cups including back to bck in 2008-2009 & 2009-2010. They have won the Conference Championship 22 times. They also have 3 players in the Top 10 in Scoring in the AHL.
During the regular season the team’s met 10 times with the 4 seed Penguins winning 7 games over the 5 seeded Bears.
Players to Watch
HER Chris Bourque – 93 Points, 27 Goals, 66 Assists
HER Keith Aucoin – 70 Points, 11 Goals, 59 Assists
HER Ryan Potulny- 65 Points, 33 Goals, 32 Assists
WBS Ben Street- 57 Points, 27 Goals, 30 Assists
HER Jacob Mikfilkier- 56 Points, 21 Goals, 35 Assists
WBS Bryan Lerg- 53 Points, 27 Goals, 26 Assists
In The Net
WBS Brad Thiessen- 23-15-2, 88.7 SV%
WBS Scott Munroe- 19-10-3, 90.7 SV%
HER Braden Holtby- 20-15-2, 90.6 SV%
HER Dany Sabourin- 18-12-5, 90.9 SV%
Schedule
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 20 – Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 21 – Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 27 – W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 28 – Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Flyers Take 3-0 Lead
The Philadelphia Flyers took a 3-0 series lead in an 8-4 win over bitter rival Pittsburgh Sunday in a game that looked more like a UFC fight than a hockey game.
There were 133 penalty minutes from 35 penalties. The most in two decades in a playoff game. The penalties included a Match Penalty, 2 Game Misconducts, and two brawls.
The Penguins lost Aaron Asham who hit Brayden Schenn in the throat with his stick and punched him on the ground. Asham was ejected and likely facing a suspension. Another Penguin who could miss Game 4 is James “The Real Deal” Neal who left his feet to hit 19 year old rookie Sean Couturier. Moments later Neal would also hit Claude Giroux in the head and was involved in a fight and ejected.
The game featured 5 different players with 2 goals with Flyers Maxime Talbot, Danny Briere, and Matt Read along with Penguins Jordan Staal and James Neal scoring twice.
A story to watch in Game 4 may be wwho the Penguins start at goalie after Marc-Andre Fluery was pulled after two periods. Fluery had given up 18 goals in 8 periods. Brent Johnson gave up 2 in 1 period. I would go back to Fluery since this may wake him up that no man is irreplaceble. He has to step up and play like the elite goalie he is.
One of the more exciting parts of the game was watching two stars go at it in a brawl. Something not seen much as Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux fought. Crosby would win the battle but the Flyers control the war so far.
Game 4 the Pens need to show more class and the ability to play some Defense. The lost all composure in Game 3 and looked like a team that quit.
