tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Yanks Sweep, Winnipeg & What A Cup Debut!!!

If we could bottle the way the Yankees played yesterday and used it the rest of the season we might be able to plan for a  long trip into October for playoff baseball.  AJ Burnett pitched the way the Yankees would love for him to pitch for the rest of his contract.  After giving up a two-run homer to Josh Willingham in the second inning, Burnett slammed the door and went 7 innings to get his first win on the road since last July in Cleveland.  This was the type of game that Burnett needed to pitch in his last start against Seattle after the Yankees had staked him to a lead.  I kept on waiting for the bottom to fall out, especially after Coco Crisp's 2-out triple in the 5th but Burnett ended the inning quickly.

The other cause for optimism is the continued hitting of Nick Swisher.  Swisher's 3-run homer was the winning margin for the Yanks as it put them ahead 4-2.  Swisher seems to have awoken from his early season slumber and it would be a tremendous boost to the Yankee offense if he can keep this up.  Before the start of the series with the A's there was plenty of concern as the Yanks were going to face three good young pitchers.  The Yanks took it to them and have received outstanding starting pitching of their own.

The Yankees have now won 4 in a row (the first time this year) and find themselves two games in first place in the AL East over their blood rivals, who were swept at Fenway Park by the White Sox.  The Yankees move down to Anaheim to take on the Angels before heading home to face Boston who lead the season series 5-1 over the Yankees.

Friday will be a big night for Ivan Nova as he may be pitching for his spot in the starting rotation.

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I think its great news that Winnipeg is getting a hockey team back.  Hopefully, Mr. Bettman will mark Atlanta off the list for good as this is the second time a team will leave that city.  It was laughable that for the last week and a half  the denials of a move after it had been first reported by a Canadian media outlet.

Two issues that will be interesting to watch: 1.) which team will move to the Eastern Conference to allow Winnipeg back into the West and 2.) whether the NHL will impose some type of criteria for the new franchise as it relates to the number of season tickets that need to be sold.  Stay tuned.

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If last night's Game 1 between the Canucks and Bruins is any indication of what we have to look for in the rest of this series we are in for a treat.  The game was filled with outstanding goaltending and tough physical play.  I certainly thought we were heading to overtime until unlikely hero Raffi Torres put one past Tim Thomas to give the Canucks the Game one victory. 

Both teams power play came up empty and both had 5 on 3 opportunities.  Claude Julien's move to have Zdeno Chara in front of the net on the power play was a good one as this caused problems for the Canucks but the B's still couldn't get one past Luongo.  I'm not sure if Chara will be able to do this throughout the series while playing mega-minutes against the Sedin line.

  I thought Tim Thomas had to make more difficult saves than Roberto Luongo but both showed why they are Vezina Trophy candidates.  The intensity and animosity between the two teams was really evident and has me wishing Game 2 was tonight.  Of course we have to wait until Saturday which is totally ridiculous.  The NHL Playoffs this year have been awesome and Game One of the Finals lived up to the excitement of the early rounds.