Time to get real

The habs are done, etc etc. That's great. They were pretty banged up (Lang and Markov were big parts of that team - Thanks Grabovski!) You don't win it all in the first round. Here's the last bit of Habs stuff and then it's on to the next round.

The Bruins are already on preparing for the next round so I would have written this earlier but I had that piece on Ironhead and Stay Hungry yesterday that I am actually pretty proud of since it's the first post I've written that even flirts with journalism.

Time to get down to business.

The next team the Bruins face will be battle tested. The next team we face will have beaten an nhl team in a best-of-seven series. They won't have swept. They won't have faced a team with some of the best players missing. (Though we are missing sturm and it hurts). They will be a little more beaten up. Here are the possibilities:

• 7th-seed New York Rangers: up 3-2, playing Sunday. When they score they beat Washington. Lundqvist is a great goalie, Tortorella is losing his mind, and Avery is a joke. Their top scorer is a three-way tie between Naslund, Gomez, and Dubinsky, who all have 1g 2a across the stat line. Their fantasy stud is either Henrik Lundqvist, 3 wins, or Sean Avery, 24 PIMs. No one has scored more than one goal. They play the Caps at home in MSG next, and I could see them taking the series then.
  
• 6th-seed Carolina Hurricanes: down 2-3, playing Sunday. Cam Ward won a conn smythe in 2006 when they won the cup and they've got some of the same roster. Then again, we've got some of those guys, too. Top scorers: Joni Pitkanen (3a) and Chad LaRose (2g 1a). Ryan Bayda and Eric Staal also have 2 goals. Their fantasy stud is Cam Ward or Chad Larose. I haven't heard of Larose either. They play the Devils in Carolina next, and Brodeur might be too much for them to overcome. This has been a great series, though, I suggest you watch it.
• 4th-seed Pittsburgh Penguins: beat Flyers 4-2, waiting for the next round. Dominated today with 5 unanaswered goals, otherwise it was a very even series with the flyers. Marc-Andre Fleury is playing very well, as is Malkin and Crosby. way better since Gonchar's been back.
  

Whoever the Bruins draw for the second round, it'll be a little while until they start again. The team will be tougher than the last so let's hope they can get over the scrapes and bruises they endured at the hands of laraque and co. I don't expect anything easy from here on out, but I also didn't see Thomas re-signing here so what do I know?

I know this:

GO BRUINS!