I Can't Grow a Playoff Beard

Still can't get rid of a couple of bare patches on my face, so it's a good thing I'm just watching the playoffs, not participating in them. I've already spilled enough ink on the Dave Nonis firing, so if you want my take on that situation, check out my Metro Columns from this week.

As for recent rumours on who the next GM in Vancity might be, I keep hearing people whispering the name Mike Gillis. Gillis is a big name agent who has represented the likes of Markus Naslund, Bill Guerin, Curtis Joseph, Bobby Holik, and Pavel Bure just to name a few. He's a tough-as-nails negotiator who successfully sued Alan Eagleson in the 80's after Eagleson tried to cheat him out of over $4ok of Gillis' injury settlement at the end of his NHL career. He doesn't have any GM experience, but he is very connected and obviously a great negotiator.

But I digress since there's actual hockey being played these days. Here's a few things that have jumped out at me in the first week of the postseason:

• For as much as we talk about the veteran goalies needed to take a team to the promised land, it's a pair of still-wet-behind-the-ears puckstoppers that have impressed me the most. Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fleury have both been fantastic thus far. Price isn't that much of a surprise given his superb play at the World Juniors 16 months ago and his stellar form en route to being named MVP in leading Hamilton to a Calder Cup in his first two months of pro hockey last spring. Plus when guys who played with Dryden and Roy think you're ready to backstop the Habs as a rookie, you're doing something right. Fleury, on the other hand, was a big ol' question mark heading into the playoffs. He was great down the stretch but wasn't exactly consistent in lat year's playoffs for the Pens. But he allowed just 5 goals in a first round sweep of the Senators, and if you watched that series, he was a big reason for the broom.

• Can anyone figure out what's going on in the Sharks/Flames series? I haven't seen ol' Mo flip flop this much since Sihota's days in Victoria. Just when you think one team has the other figured out, the struggling squad rises up and snatches control of the series. San Jose's win in the final seconds in Game 4 makes me believe the real Sharks are back to win the series, but that probably means the Flames will look like the '89 Cup winners in Game 5.

• Unlike the way the Flames came back with Mikka Kiprusoff in game 4, I would leave Dominik Hasek on the bench in Detroit. Hasek hasn't inspired any confidence whatsoever in the past two games, and looks to be a bigger hurdle than the Nashville Predators. Chris Osgood was as good or better during the season, and deserves a chance to prove the same in the playoffs.

• If you think that playoff teams have to manufacture dislike for each other, check out the Avs and Wild. Those dudes should be in the Octagon this Saturday for UFC 83 in Montreal. There is genuine rivalry in that series, and the intensity seeps through the television screen. Advil should jump on board to sponsor this first round matchup.

• As pissed off as Canucks' fans are right now, would you rather be in Ottawa? That team was actually expected to do something this year and they were brushed aside like a bantam team by the Penguins in the first round. If you had to deal one of the big three to shake it up in O-town, who would it be? Alfredsson is the oldest, but arguably the most productive of the bunch right now. Spezza's passing could make an allstar out of an average winger, but some are questioning his fire. And Heatley is a sniper to be sure, but was he even dressed in the playoffs? Chances are they'll stay together, but Brian Murray probably isn't resting to comfortably right now in the GM's chair.

One final thing, for those of you who like your rock 'n roll but haven't played Guitar Hero - get in the game. I went to a GH party a few weeks ago and rocked out in a Bret Michaels' costume. And I'm not alone; I've heard a tonne of NHLers and other pro athletes swapping scores and stories in the locker room. Enjoy the pics, grab an' axe and grind!