| There's a bit of a break in the NHL playoffs - a time to catch your breath - and then prepare for what would appear to be a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup finals between the Red Wings and Penguins.
The Hurricanes, down 3-0 to the Penguins, have struggled throughout this series after big wins against New Jersey and Boston. True, they haven’t played their best, but at times they’ve simply been run over by the Penguins. The Hurricanes have scored eight goals in three games, the same amount as Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Eric Staal has no goals, and the ‘Canes executed poorly at critical times in the series. No team in 34 years, since the ’75 Islanders, has come back from a 3-0 hole, and only two have come back since 1942. The ‘Canes need a miracle. Meanwhile, the Wings just keep chugging along. Even without Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk in the lineup Sunday, they rolled over the Blackhawks to go up 3-1 in their series. You know the ‘Hawks are in big trouble when you’re asking Corey Crawford to save you in Game 4 of a Conference final. PASSING THOUGHTS Hard to believe that Martin Havlat played in Game 4 for the Blackhawks after being knocked out by Niklas Kronwall in Game 3. Havlat left in the second period and did not return. The Windsor Spitfires claimed their first Memorial Cup championship Sunday with a 4-1 victory over Kelowna. Not so fast on that Kobe-LeBron NBA Final. Among the candidates for the Wild’s head coaching job is San Jose assistant coach Todd Richards. Invites will go out soon for the US Olympic camp Aug. 16-20 in Woodridge, Ill. Team Canada will hold their camp Aug. 24-28 in Calgary. Jose Canseco is in Japan for his mixed martial arts debut. His opponent? A 7-2, 330-pounder by the name of Hong Man Choi. Never understood why people would watch Leno over Letterman. Just saying. QUOTES OF THE DAY “We witnessed probably the worst call in the history of sports today.” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on a roughing call on his defenseman Matt Walker to led to a power-play goal by Valtteri Filppula and a three-goal Red Wings lead.
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