So the Maple Leafs and Capitals joined the Canadiens, Wild, Ducks, Canucks, Blues and, yes, Islanders out on the golf course for the long summer.

Accompanying the Rangers and Bruins in the final eight are the Penguins, Senators, Blackhawks, Red Wings, Kings, and Sharks. The vintage fans are surely delighted that half the teams remaining (NY/Bos/Chi/Det) are Original Six squads. With all four teams matching up against each other, clearly they will be thrust into the limelight.

The blog's first-round picks went a lukewarm 5-3. Even more disappointing, the teams who won the 'Battle of the Guardians' went an impossibly-bad 1-5-2. Coming back for round two, perhaps these guardians can restore some order.

With the well-represented Isles now out of the picture, I have a clear mind for round two. It all starts tonight ...

Not only is GoDaddy a user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing template, it also delivers the no-holds-barred honesty that drives you to get off your keyster and BLOG. And though 262 days feels like an eternity, you can only imagine how long the last 2,203 days have felt.

It was April 20, 2007 when the top-seeded Buffalo Sabres eliminated the overmatched No. 8 seed Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. The next 2,000+ days would be filled with plenty of losses, fledging attendance numbers, and even an announced move to Brooklyn. But lost in the shuffle of all these negatives were some quality draft picks, some personnel gambles that paid off bigtime, and finally a colossal hot streak that resulted in a playoff spot and a long-awaited chase for the Stanley Cup.

How long this chase will last is certainly up for debate. The Isles had an outside chance to climb as high as the No. 5 seed in the final weeks, but a lackluster last couple of games pushed them down to the disadvantageous 8-slot. They ...

But before that page gets completely turned, let's put a nice bow on the NFL season.  I have to be honest...sitting there watching the postgame celebrations on television, I really just had one thought rolling through my mind endlessly: "......the f'ing Giants....."  Of course it had to be them.  Six months ago, the whole lockout process created a feeling of uncertainty across the league.  Every team would be affected in some way (positive or negative) and there was a feeling that a....curiously-flawed....team may potentially hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February.

If you were looking for a team that seemed flawed in the preseason, you looked no ...

As a matter of fact, the general product probably knows more than they even want to about this matchup.  After 12 days, I think it's safe to say that everyone is in full 'Let's just play the damn game already' mode.  So I will approach this preview that most readers have already had their fill of pregame information--whether it be from ESPN, newspapers, magazines, or.... Maya Angelou?

So with that in mind, maybe it's just best for me to ask some of my own questions.  They may be realistic, hypothetical, rhetorical, playfully-hateful, who knows?  The hope is they will lead me to a reasonable, unbiased (yeah right) prediction fro Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.  Les'go...

This is the first Sunday in about five months with no NFL football.  You know what that means...

LET'S GET RRRRRRREADY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEE!

The second-biggest night on the wrestling calendar kicks off the road to Wrestlemania.  The Rumble is great in so many ways, and well worth a posting.  Thirty men, one winner.  The main event of Wrestlemania awaits.  A quick breakdown of what to expect tonight.

First off, the pre-Rumble matches are underwhelming to say the least.  CM Punk should dispose of Dolph Ziggler, as I don't think the latter is quite ready to carry the burden of The Guy on Raw.  I expect one of the behemoths to unseat Daniel Bryan for the SmackDown title.  Cena vs. Kane? ...

Come one, come all, to the official preview of the AFC and NFC Championship games.  You can't escape the Giant excitement here in New York.  Listening to sports talk radio, you'd likely hear about 30% of the conversation about the potential San Francisco forecast on Sunday, and the other 70% about how the Giants are about to make mincemeat out of the 49ers.  The confidence is brewing, and the G-Men have certainly backed it up over the last month.  

But before the local game, the AFC Champion will be crowned up in Foxboro.  The Ravens and Patriots are two worthy candidates, and they will settle it all at about 3pm.  Should be real fun, so let's just get down to it...

The Line: Patriots by 7

Former Jets Involved: S. Ellis/J. Ihedigbo/D. Woodhead/B. Belichick (Patriots)

-Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963

I had that written down on Monday.  With so much to write concerning football over the previous two days, I was more in the holiday mindset.  January 16th was to be a day of rest in America, honoring the life of King.  I thought about trudging on and still writing the column, but then I realized that MLK's birthday wasn't the only anniversary for me to celebrate that day...

-Bart Scott on January 16, 2011

With these two celebrations in play, it was abundantly clear that Monday was to be a day of reflection, not labor.  So when Tuesday rolled along, I was revved up and ready to go.  That was, of ...

Saturday football was a bit of a bust.  In the 'only people outside of Cincy and Houston who care are gamblers' matchup, the Texans were able to pull away from the Bengals.  Sure, the game was a bit more competitive early on than the 31-10 score indicated.  And J.J. Watt made a ridiculously athletic play to swing the game.  But in the end, 31-10 speaks for itself as Houston was just plain superior.

After that came the shootout in New Orleans.  Both for picking reasons and rooting interest, I was on Detroit for the upset.  For the life of me, I don't know how they didn't cover.  The first half could not have gone any better.  7-0 at the end of the first (that's 17.5-0 in Vegas terms) and the Lions looked even more unstoppable on offense than the Saints!  Maybe they wouldn't win, but the cover looked to be in the bag.  Sure, New Orleans scored right away in the second quarter to tie it up.  But when the Lions responded right back with an 87-yard drive, I ...