2004 PLAYOFFS PICTURE GALLERY

ROUND 1 | ROUND 2 | SEMIFINALS | 2003 PICTURE GALLERY | HOME

ROUND 1

Sens winger Marian Hossa (left) tumbles over Leafs goalie Ed Belfour as he scores the insurance goal. One down, fifteen to go.

Meanwhile (right), a Toronto supporter expresses his disappointment with the officiating.
Last year's winner Clem, shown here with Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies, is confident of winning again.
Late season rental Michael Nylander (left) has carried the Bruins to a 2-0 series lead against Montreal.

San Jose defender Mike Rathje (right) only agreed to this hug from overtime hero Nikos Dimitrakos if his name was obscured. Oops.
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson addresses reporters covering the Playoff Pick'em ahead of Monday's tilt with the Leafs. It says on the board behind him:
Tonight's menu:
-Chicken breast in white wine sauce
-sauteed potatoes
-mixed leaf salad
-milk / ginger ale
Some players grow beards during the NHL playoffs. Apparently not Jarkko Ruutu of the Canucks (left), shown here trying to shave with Chris Clark's skate!

If only they could get along like those San Jose Sharks (right) who are about to hug again by the looks of things. The Sharks are the first team into round 2, as predicted by most of the prognosticators.
More unpleasantness from the Calgary-Vancouver series. The Flames are making life rough for Canucks good-guy Markus Naslund. Vancouver, predicted to go all the way to the finals by Mark, are one game away from first-round elimination.
Ottawa Senators culprits Daniel Alfredsson and Patrick Lalime help each other onto the ice to shake hands with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Senators loss means a catastrophic joint-last place finish for Mark.

Who cares! The playoffs are stupid anyway.

Right: Alfredsson unwinds at home after another disappointing season.


ROUND 2

Jeremy Roenick is determined to avenge the Senators' defeat as the Flyers host the Leafs in the first game of the second round.

Rookie player Jeff (right, with Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies) says the Flyers will get it done. Master prognosticator, defending champion, and leader after the first round Clem picks the Leafs.
A quick shot by Calgary's Marcus Nilson flies over the glove of Detroit's Curtis Joseph to end game 1 in overtime.
Tampa Bay vs. Montreal, Game 3:

Left: Vinny Lecavalier tips a centring pass between his own legs and past Jose Theodore in the last minute of game 3.

Right: Brad Richards, Marty St. Louis, and Dan Boyle jump for joy after Richards scored the OT winner.

Tampa Bay won game 4 as well to sweep the Habs. Too bad too because www.canadiens.com has a splendid photo section.

One cannot help but be moved by the contrast in emotions between Montreal standout Alexei Kovalev (right) and the Tampa Bay equipment guy.
Over half of the entries had Detroit reaching the finals. Duishon, Jeff, Joe S., and Andreas picked them to win the cup. Today, all of them are asking what went wrong. Surely this inelegant goal by Calgary's Marty Gelinas cannot have been the end.

The contenders are down to five: Clem, J-Lon, Mud Hooper, Maritza, and Mr. Chuckle.


Clem

J-Lon
... and then there were two! It's an all Wisconsin battle for Lord Stanley's T-shirt between Clem and J-Lon. Las Vegas has established Clem as a 5-3 ON favourite.

Right: Mats Sundin and the Leafs were a quarter step behind Keith Primeau and the Flyers for most of the six games. Inset: J-Lon will be pinning his hopes on crazy Evgeni Nabokov and the Sharks in the semi-finals.



SEMIFINALS



The Clem got off to a hot start in the Conference finals with Tampa Bay and Calgary both taking the first game of their series. In game two, Danny Markov and the Flyers pegged Freddy Modin and the Lightning back to level. Honours even as they head back to Philly.



Sorry for the sudden end to this year's gallery ... I have been away from my computer ... Sufficed to say that Clem has successfully and brutally defended his title. With his picks, he should have entered something a bit richer than this humble competition.






2003 PICTURE GALLERY