The movie Neighbors opened this weekend and I was able to see an afternoon showing on Sunday. It had some funny moments, and as you might expect, not much in the way of a plot. There was however a strong underlying theme throughout. It essentially tried to say that as you get older the activities you partake in inevitably change (less Call of Duty, more taxes…etc)

Which got me thinking. Yes, I don't do a lot of things I used to (turns out eating eight Oreos for dinner misses a number of key food groups on the ol' triangle). But there still a few things I've been able to carry forward from childhood. Namely, fantasy hockey.

There aren't many hobbies that can transition so easily from your teenage years into adulthood, but being a poolie seems to be one of them. Perhaps that is part of the appeal, getting to participate in something that has no expiration date. I don't get to play with action figures any more (it would be awesome, by the way), I have no urge to be shot by a paintball gun, and I haven't had a 17 hour NHL XBOX session in quite some time. But I still wake up every morning and turn to my phone for last nights' box scores. And I don't expect that to change, ever.

Before I get even more wistful, on to today's ramblings…

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New York managed to force game seven, beating Pittsburgh three to one. A lot of the credit needs to go to Henrik Lundqvist who stopped 36 of 37 Penguin shots. I'm sure if the Rangers go on to lose this series the usual tropes of "Lundqvist can't win the big game" will be spread across multiple media outlets. I don't really subscribe to the whole BIG GAME thing, but if I did, game six was a massive one, and Lundqvist was all-world. A series loss will wipe it from our collective memories, but for today, at least, we should be celebrating the king.  

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Some other notable stat lines from this one – St.Louis had a goal and four shots, and looked especially dangerous on the power play. Will anyone be surprised if he plays three or four more years? I don't see the end in sight. James Neal had 7 shots and managed to grab 12 penalty minutes (10 of which came via a late game misconduct when he was playing on "edge", as they say).

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When talking hockey with friends or co-workers I'll often come across those making the assertion that Crosby is protected by officiating and other players. I wasn't around in the 1980s (Ok, I was around, but was still wearing a onsie to bed and eating only soft foods) but from what I understand many felt the same about Gretzky. After watching number 87 these past few years I think that if anything the opposite is true. Crosby takes a beating at times. This year it was Dubinsky in the first round, now it is Boyle, all chasing him around each and every shift.

You'll have a hard time finding a post whistle scrum that doesn't involve someone skirmishing with Crosby. Now, does the Penguins captain go looking for trouble at times? He certainly does. But he is far from a protected commodity. Maybe that will change as he moves into his thirties and we all start to get nostalgic about his greatness and no opposing player wants to be "the guy that ended Sid's career." Today, however, he's just superstar that other teams are attempting to stop, any way they can.

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I was doing some research the other day and ended up looking at Patrice Bergeron's early career stats. They were astounding, actually. I had completely forgotten that he was once a 73 point, 310 shot player back in 2005-06.

While I don't believe he can ever shoot THAT much again (Boston has too balanced of an offensive attack) there are signs that he's becoming a force again in fantasy. This year he ended with 62 points and 243 shots. The second highest shot total of his career. Through 10 playoff games he has 9 points and 31 shots (which equates to 254 over the course of 82 games).

All this together means we have over 90 games worth of data that points to Bergeron as a 3.0 shot per game player. If he can sustain this it could mean big things for his value. The number of 60 point, plus 30, 240 shot players is a short one.

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In any case, whatever the motivation, Spezza is very much in play on the NHL trade market.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) May 12, 2014

Apparently Spezza could be on the move. Similar stories were abound last year, but nothing ended up coming of it. I think it speaks to how far Turris has come in the eyes of Senators' management that they can see themselves parting with Spezza.

My opinion is that finding centermen like Spezza is no easy feat. I know that Ottawa employs their own internal cap number, but in NHL dollars they have plenty of space to work with. Cap geek projects them to have around 21 million in cap space for next season. I by no means believe they should hand Spezza an open cheque book, but perhaps overplaying on a shorter term deal with a higher salary is a prudent move. With Spezza's chronic back issues you have to worry about handing out a long term deal (he is 30 now).

Of course we don't know what has been going on behind the scenes. If Spezza's agent has confirmed he's looking for 6 or more years than I can understand Murray's hesitancy to discuss an extension. He's still an asset that could really help a competitive team and it makes sense to get something in return while they still can.

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Chicago has gone up three to two in their series with Minnesota. I have to admit that the Wild are significantly better than I gave them credit for. They didn't appear nearly competitive enough with the Hawks' talent level last year in a five game defeat. This season, perhaps the additions of guys like Moulson, Pominville, and the continued maturation of Granlund have moved their group forward. You can’t help but wonder if signing Vanek this summer could make them a contender next season.

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Some notable stat lines from this one – Bryan Bickell scored his sixth goal of the post season. They might as well start working on his bronze statue outside the United Center now, get a head start. Patrick Sharp has two assists. He continues to be the NHL's only superstar that no one realizes is in fact a superstar.  Nino Niederreiter had 6 hits, which is notable since I remember pundits complaining he wasn't nearly "physical" enough early in his career. Could be an intriguing side to his fantasy value if it keeps up. 

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The folks over at Arctic Ice Hockey recently posted an article entitled Winnipeg Jets Season In Review: It Could Have Been Worse. One in particular got a pretty good chuckle out of me:

They could have signed David Clarkson. Clarkson has a cap hit of $5,250,000 every year until 2020 and had 5 goals more than Ondrej Pavelec. In 2019 we’ll all have cars that don’t use gas, solved global warming, the Bombers will have found a quarterback and the Leafs will still be paying Clarkson $5,250,000. So the next time you get upset about giving up a second round pick for Devin Setoguchi, be grateful that it wasn’t a big contract to Clarkson.

"5 more goals than Ondrej Pavelec." And to make matters worse Carlyle has been brought back for what could be multiple seasons. Oh to be a Leafs' fan.