Kudos to the Predators for starting the off-season off right – they announced a contract extension with Wade Belak today.

My top 10 keeper league left wingers list is now out. Toughest decisions – putting Rick Nash and Alex Semin on the list. I really wanted to include some sleepers and younger guys, but I couldn’t bring myself to excluding either of Nash or Semin. Both are overrated (for very different reasons), but if you want to win your pool at some point in your life, they are worth owning.

The fight for the third overall spot behind Ovechkin and Kovalchuk was also one I debated quite a bit.Check out the article to see who won out. I’d love discussion/feedback/criticism/loud noises. We had some great discussions about my top 10 defensemen list last week.

Justin Bourne weighs in with his thoughts on Washington’s quick playoff exit.

I tend to update the ramblings throughout the day, so even if you read them earlier in the morning/afternoon, chances are there is new stuff to check out.

RJ Umberger… prophet? Check out his thoughts on the Capitals playoff chances from a month ago.

Tampa Bay has received permission to speak with Steve Yzerman about the vacant GM position. Interesting…

Hart finalists – Henrik Sedin, Alex Ovechkin, and Sidney Crosby. Surprised there are no goalies in there, but personally, I like it that way. Goalies are put in a position to be the MVP, and you could probably make a case for at least 8-10 goalies being the most valuable players to their team.

The DobberHockey picks for the second round will be released this afternoon.

Jaroslav Halak tonight (hell, the past three games)…  indescribable, unutterable, indefinable, beyond words, ineffable, inexpressible, beyond description, incommunicable, amazing, astounding, bewildering, breathtaking, extraordinary, impressive, marvelous, miraculous, spectacular, staggering, startling, striking, stunning, stupefying, stupendous, wonderful, wondrous.

Use twitter? Follow myself (@angus_j) and Dobber (@DobberHockey) on it!

Before the season started, I compiled a list of 'Fearless Forecasts.' Essentially, it was a list of 10 extremely improbable things that I was predicting to happen in 2009-10. I also asked DobberHockey members to post some of their predictions, and with Montreal's big upset last night, one poster in particular comes away looking like Nostradamus. DobberHockey member 'Stone' wrote this before the season began: "Montreal sneaks into the playoffs in their last game and beats Washington in round 1." Not too shabby, my friend.

Dobber’s 2010 Prospect Report – read all about it here! You can buy it now, and it will be available for download on June 1st. Support the site! Matt Bugg’s famous 2010 Mock Entry Draft will be included as well. The guide will be available in French as well! Check out the link for that version here.

Check out DobberHockey's three new t-shirt designs!

I am going to nominate an 'X-factor' for each Western Conference team today, and will do the same for the Eastern teams in Friday's ramblings. Dictionary.com defines an X-factor as an important element with unknown consequences." In pro sports, X-factors are generally players who fly under the radar but possess an attribute or two that brings them to the forefront during important playoff games. An example of an X-factor during the first round would be Vancouver's Steve Bernier, who finished the series with four goals and numerous bone-rattling checks on members of the Los Angeles Kings. Someone like Pavel Datsyuk wouldn't be an X-factor, as his "consequences" (skill set, abilities, in this case) are far from unknown.

Chicago – Dustin Byfuglien. To the surprise of no one, Byfuglien has been moved back to forward for this series. He was very effective against Luongo and the Canucks last spring, and he had little impact on the Predators series playing defence. He averaged about 10 minutes of ice time per game during the final three against Nashville. Expect him to see lots of time at both even strength and on the power play. Luongo better get used to seeing a lot of #33 in red once again this spring!

San Jose – Marc-Edouard Vlasic's name doesn't get mentioned when discussing San Jose's playoff failures, but his level of play tends to take a nosedive once the second season begins. He isn't a big goal scorer (14 in 309 career regular season games), but he has yet to hit the back of the net in 36 playoff games. His goal scoring (or lack thereof) won't be the reason the Sharks get bounced by Detroit, but his defensive zone play very well could be. The Sharks need him to step up and help shut down Detroit's secondary scorers.

Vancouver – the X-factor for this series isn't a particular player, but a characteristic of a particular player. Sami Salo's health is the X-factor to me. The Canucks are essentially a Salo injury away from being extremely thin on the back end. Salo and Edler were tremendous against the Kings, and Sami is one of the soundest defensive defensemen in the game,

Detroit – Nik Kronwall didn't "Kronwall" as many Coyotes in round one as we are used to seeing from him in the playoffs, but expect him to ramp his physical game up against the Sharks. San Jose's forwards are going to be very leery about rushing the puck up his side of the ice if he can lay a big hit or two early in the series.

Thanks again to the awesome sponsors that helped put together the DobberHockey Playoff Challenge over at Pick Up Hockey. Easton and Cool Hockey both stepped up huge with some awesome, awesome prizes.

Mike Green has scored 23 more goals than any other NHL defenseman over the past three NHL seasons. And in his last 24 playoff games, he has lit the lamp once. Thanks to someone on twitter for this interesting tidbit. To me it seems like he gets away from his game too much in the playoffs. I think at times he is guilty of listening to his naysayers too much – Green isn't a shut down defenseman, he needs to join the rush and take chances. Tonight again, he seemed out of his element. He took two brutal penalties (especially the cross-check on Markov late in the second).

Members of the Vancouver Canucks weigh in with their thoughts on Chicago’s goal song – “Chelsea Dagger.”