Should have stayed aboard the Red Wings' bandwagon
I know, I know. My Stanley Cup predictions are out the window, so save the e-mails.
The Montreal Canadiens won't be beating the San Jose Sharks in the Finals, as was predicted here, since neither team could get out of the second round.
It turned out Canadiens rookie goalie Carey Price wasn't the second coming of Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy -- not yet, anyway -- and as for the Sharks, well, something just is missing there.
Maybe the Sharks still are just a bit young, or maybe it's time for general manager Doug Wilson to make a change behind the bench. If I were a betting man, I'd say Ron Wilson has coached his last game in San Jose.
At least the Sharks had Jeremy Roenick flying around the ice playing like a kid again, which was fun to watch. Roenick said Tuesday he wanted to come back and play for the Sharks next season, and that's good news for a league that needs as many personalities as it can get.
Funny how the Detroit Red Wings racked up an NHL-best 115 points during the regular season and appeared dominating at times, yet so few of us so-called "experts" picked them to win the Cup.
The Hockey News polled 35 writers prior to the playoffs and only five picked the Red Wings as champions. I questioned Dominik Hasek holding up in goal and felt that Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk usually failed to deliver in the playoffs.
Hasek didn't hold up, but Chris Osgood stepped in and has provided the Red Wings with great goaltending. Zetterberg and Datsyuk have been very good, but not as good as Johan Franzen, who set a NHL record with 9 goals in Detroit's second-round series win over Colorado and has 11 for the playoffs.
The Red Wings are looking unbeatable now.
Foley mum: Pat Foley said Wednesday he preferred not to comment on speculation he was headed back to the Blackhawks as their TV play-by-play man.
But it's a done deal from my perspective.
Foley said his focus was on Wednesday's Calder Cup playoff game between the Chicago Wolves and Rockford IceHogs.
Bringing back Foley is another right move by Hawks chairman Rocky Wirtz and president John McDonough. Foley is a legend and the voice of hockey in Chicago.
It's unfortunate that good guy Dan Kelly lost his job. Kelly did capable work in a tough situation, trying to replace the popular Foley, and deserves to wind up on his feet with another NHL team somewhere.
Goalie competition: Maybe Corey Crawford isn't a lock to be Nikolai Khabibulin's backup next season after all.
The Hawks like Antti Niemi, the 24-year-old Finnish goaltender signed this week by general manager Dale Tallon. But if things go as planned and it's Crawford in Chicago with Khaibulin, then Niemi likely will be Crawford's replacement in Rockford to start the year.
All this is assuming the Hawks don't trade Khabibulin.