I promise there will be no scare tactics, no intimidation, no persuasion and sincerely hope all those suffering from Paraskavedekatriaphobia (Fear of Friday the 13th) make it through this day without walking under a ladder, crossing the path of a black cat or even opening an umbrella in the house.
Don’t worry about cleaning. Friday the 13th is a great excuse because there is a superstition that handling a broom is unlucky on this day, as is changing the sheets, flipping the mattress, or doing the laundry. Hurrah!
Speaking of luck, there are some teams wishing they had just a bit more.
The not so lucky list includes:
The Vancouver Canucks.
Only one team dropped two spots in the NHL lottery and of course, it was the Canucks. In a year where scouts marvel at the top three prospects for the June Draft, Vancouver fell from #3 to #5.
Vancouver Canucks president Trevor Linden was hoping for the luck of the Irish by carrying a 1971 Pat Quinn rookie card to the Draft Lottery proceedings.
Next time Linden may want to hold on to a 1983 Dan Quinn rookie card. After all, Trevor’s luck practically can’t get any worse.
The Washington Capitals.
The Capitals easily won the President’s Trophy and were the clear cut favorites to win the Stanley Cup. Washington has arguably the best sniper, best goalie and best coach, yet they could not overcome their Pittsburgh Penguins demons.
The Penguins took the series in six as they won twice in overtime, all three home games and improved to 8-1 all-time in the playoffs against the Capitals.
Alexander (the great?) still has never advanced past the second round. Oh well, Ovie may have more luck playing in his home country at the World Hockey championship.
The Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds have lost just once in regulation time in their last 31 games, yet trail the Brandon Wheat Kings 3-1 in the WHL final. In addition, the Thunderbirds have outscored the Wheat Kings 12-10 in the series but Brandon needs just one more win to advance to the Memorial Cup.
The Thunderbirds, who have never won a WHL title, could very well be jinxed. Seattle lost each of the first three games to Brandon 3-2 in overtime. Adding to the agony is that the Thunderbirds led each of those games 2-1 in the 3rd period.
Game five will be played tonight in Seattle. Are the Thunderbirds fearing there season will end on Friday the 13th?
Did you know?
The 13th day of the month is more likely to fall on a Friday than on any other day of the week. The pattern of our calendar — days, weeks and months — repeats itself exactly every 400 years. In that 400-year period there are 688 Friday the 13th’s.
The next Friday the 13th will be in January, 2017 followed by October, 2017.
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The NHL Conference semi-finals started off with a bang but the last two games took it down a notch.
Most game seven’s leave hockey fans on the edge of their seats but the Blues 6-1 whipping of the Stars and the Sharks 5-0 skunking of the Predators were baffling as the losing team showed no fire, passion or determination.
The home team is 96-60 (.580) all-time in game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, including 2-2 this year.
There have been 72 post-season games in 2016 with 16 of them needing overtime to decide a winner or 22 %.
The nine overtime games in the Conference semis (36 % of the 25 games) is the most in the 2nd round since the NHL playoffs went to 16 teams in 1980.
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Martin Jones (San Jose), Brian Elliott (St.Louis), Matt Murray (Pittsburgh) and Ben Bishop (Tampa) have not built up a reputation to being the top four goalies in the NHL, yet here they are leading their team to the Conference Final.
Of the four, only Bishop is elite, however, all have excelled at the right time.
Murray, the 21-year-old rookie, will be looking over his shoulder with Marc-Andre Fleury healthy enough to play.
Elliott knows his job is not secure with Jake Allen breathing down his neck.
Jones just established himself this season as a starter after being Jonathan Quick’s back-up in Los Angeles.
This is just another example of teams needing a hot goalie at the right time rather than the best goalie over a long stretch.
Carey Price, Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist are arguably the three top goalies in the league, yet neither has won the Cup.
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I would like to see the Sharks win the West to help shake off their playoff bust reputation, but will pick the Blues because they are a deeper team. Either way, winning two rounds should be enough for St.Louis coach Ken Hitchcock to keep his job for another season.
In the East, many Prince George fans will be cheering for Tampa because Lightning coach Jon Cooper is from P.G., but I suspect the Penguins will win even though Tampa has the experience of a deep run last year.
When Pittsburgh last won the Cup in 2009, it came shortly after the Penguins made a coaching change.
History could repeat itself seven years later.
From the Quote Rack:
An ad in New York City for Delta Airlines has the line “We Go Wherever They Go” over a picture of the Yankees taking the field. So I called up and asked how much two tickets to the cellar would cost me.
Contributor Marc Ragovin of New York
Nyquist wins the Kentucky Derby. Hope confused fans don’t start throwing octopuses at him.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Greg Hardy sent NFL teams details of his counseling sessions—last month’s TV Guide listings of ‘Dr. Phil’.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Tom Brady has published a cookbook that sells for $200. His favorite recipe? “Papa Tom’s Pizza” and it’s not served with Budweiser.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver http://alwaysfunny.com/
And in case you missed it:
Britain’s lawn tractor racing season has started, where competitors ride souped-up mowers. Good drivers? Every weekend they all make the cut.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. He also is the 94.3
radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games. His column appears Fridays on
myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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