So, who said the conference finals would be good?

Ok, so I couldn’t have been more wrong with this one. Injuries, sure… But even still, I would have thought Dallas or Philly would have at least won a game by now between the two of them.

As one of my friends said: “Well, these playoffs really went down the crapper…”

But here’s to hoping that the Detroit/Pittsburgh finals will be great. Hey… If both teams are dominating right now, shouldn’t that be a great match-up?

If both teams sweep, the Finals could start as early as this weekend or Monday. With two weeks left in May, the Stanley Cup might be awarded in May for a change instead of June.

ESPN adds Cherry to beef up NHL playoff coverage

By WILLIAM HOUSTON

Don Cherry is taking his commentary and wardrobe south of the border, where he will make regular appearances on ESPN during the NHL’s Eastern Conference final.

“I guess they like my jackets,” the Hockey Night in Canada personality said yesterday.

Cherry and Hockey Night host Ron MacLean will leave the CBC’s Toronto studio for the road to cover the Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins series, which will start on Friday.

Cherry will do live hits by remote for ESPN’s SportsCentre at the end of each Flyers-Penguins game.

“When I’m finished with the wrap-up on Hockey Night, I’ll do the ESPN spot,” Cherry said. “Sherali [Najak, the executive producer of Hockey Night ] will help set it up for me.”

Cherry has plenty of critics, but ESPN’s move to hire the Canadian-based commentator speaks to his popularity and profile among NHL fans on both sides of the border.

“We’re thrilled,” said Mark Gross, ESPN’s senior vice-president of studio production. “He’s a great personality and being able to incorporate him into our hockey coverage is a nice addition.”

The U.S. sports channel also plans to use Cherry during the Stanley Cup final.

Adding Cherry to beef up ESPN’s playoff coverage will restart speculation about ESPN2 returning as a carrier of NHL games next season. Gross said that decision will be made at a management level above his.

In the conference finals, Cherry picks the Penguins over the Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings to defeat the Dallas Stars.

It should be a good series…

"It should be a good series"… That’s what I caught myself saying to Pittsburgh-native Steve Mears tonight when I asked him how long of a drive is it from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. (About 6 hours, according to him).

But then I stopped myself and thought, it’s the Conference Finals, why wouldn’t it be a good series? Sure, we’ve seen our shares of sweeps, but generally when you get to the best two teams in each conference, you’re going to get some pretty good darn hockey games.

Both Philly and Pittsburgh are coming off Semi-Final series where they dominated for wins in five games. This season, the teams have already played each other eight times with the possibility of seven more times for a remarkable 15 games. They know each other and most definitely have some “issues” with each other.

But, some in the Canadian media are saying it’s an un-sexy series because A) There isn’t a team from north of the border left in the race and B) Prince Sidney and the Pens will win because Sidney is Sidney.

Well, looking at the way Philly tore through Montreal to reach this point, there’s no reason why they can’t make this a good and long series. They’re playing up to the potential that they were built to have.

And give Pittsburgh credit… They could be the complete package. With Sidney and Malkin and Hossa and a kid from Long Island, they have as good of a shot as anyone.

And can anyone say Laraque v. Cote or Gill v. Hatcher

So what does this rambling and nonsense mean? There’s a ton of reasons why Philly/Pitt will be a good series and a fun one to watch. Just because there isn’t a Canadian team in the conference finals, doesn’t mean there isn’t good hockey left.

Pittsburgh in 7.

Thank Goodness for the Redline Rule

This is a YouTube classic… It’s from a Polish Hockey League game where the goalie on the white team tried to cross the redline and score on an empty net from point blank range.



Thank goodness the goalies can’t do this in the NHL, because I think we all know what would happen…

Video courtesy of Sean Leahy’s Going Five Hole.

Mores pics from Bristol

Here are some more pictures of Bill Guerin at the ESPN studios.

Another ESPNews Hit Added

Billy G will stay at the ESPN campus for a little bit longer and will do another ESPNews hit at 11:00 PM. That should wrap up his big day at ESPN.

So, that makes segments at 7:50, 9:30 and 11:00.

The picture on the side is of Billy with his ESPN ID badge on him... Photo courtesy of Josh Bernstein and his BlackBerry.

More on ESPNews

Bill will appear twice more on ESPNews today. Once at 7:50 PM and again at 9:20 PM (UPDATE: It's actually 9:30 now...).

The digital media was for ESPN.com’s video player and Verizon Wireless broadband.

A+ for the Captain

I thought Billy Guerin did a great job on ESPNews with Barry Melrose. He really opened up and became more comfortable as the segment went. People say he might have a career in coaching after he hangs up the skates, but I wouldn’t rule out TV.

And going on the assumption that Billy wasn’t prompted on which teams Barry Melrose played for prior to going on air, he might be the only person in the world to know the correct answer!

Guerin will do more hits on ESPNews later on, so keep an eye on it.

ESPN Ditigal

Prior to going on ESPNews with Barry Melrose, Billy G. sat down with Barry to do some digital media interviews for ESPN.com. Josh Bernstein sent this picture via his Black Berry. I know it's riveting, but it's something. Technology...

REMINDER: Guerin on ESPNews

We're told the segment will run a few minutes late, but he'll be on with Barry Melrose. Enjoy.

We'll provide more updates once we get them from our people up in Bristol with Billy.