Andy B Sports

After last night’s Tampa Bay Lightning game seven win vs the Detroit Red Wings, the NHL quarterfinal round is set.

The top ranked New York Rangers face the Washington Capitals, while the Montreal Canadiens meet the Lightning in the other Eastern Conference battle.

In the Western Conference, the one seed Anaheim Ducks face the Calgary Flames while the Chicago Blackhawks tangle with the Minnesota Wild in this round for the second straight year.

Two predictions: The Anaheim Ducks to win in 6 games vs the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens, who last year swept the Lightning in the first round, to win a far longer series, say six games.

“Outside Mullingar,” performed in superb fashion by a stellar cast at Whippoorwill Hall Theatre at the Armonk Library is an outstanding play produced by the Hudson Stage Company.

Its writer is John Patrick Shanley, who also wrote “Doubt” and “Moonstruck,” among other treasures.

The current showing in Armonk (through May 2nd), directed by Dan Foster, provided a mesmerizing and exciting way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It is an “Irish Moonstruck,” and then some!

The four person cast all made their compelling characters resonate as life, time, money, faith and other “little things” like that manifested.

Sean Hayden as “Anthony” and Susannah Schulman Rogers as “Rosemary” sparkle with more than just chemistry, as their feelings, hopes and past are revealed.

Both Davis Hall as Anthony’s father and Susan Pellegrino as Rosemary’s mother set up the play, revealing history and doing so with humor and pathos.

A question and answer period after the show, which included the cast, director Dan Foster and fellow Hudson Stage Company founders and “Mullingar” producers, Denise Bessette and Olivia Sklar, was most informative.

Tidbits included the ways Mr. Hayden and Ms. Rogers eventually mastered their accents. Ms. Pellegrino talked of working with the legendary Kim Hunter while Mr. Hall did the same, regarding the superb character actor John McGiver.

For more info: http://hudsonstage.com/

Nassau Coliseum

Last night the Eastern Conference 8 seed, the Brooklyn Nets squared their first round NBA playoff series with the East one seed Atlanta Hawks by posting a home overtime win.

Meanwhile though the East “3” seed Chicago Bulls still lead the series 3 games to 2, the “6” seed Milwaukee Bucks stayed alive in that series with a surprising win in Chicago.

Coincidentally the Nets, who long since moved their home games from the venerable Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, got even in their series, playing simultaneously to a Washington Capitals NHL first round game seven victory vs the New York Islanders.

That Capitals/Islanders result not only ended the current Islanders season, but assured no more games at the Nassau Coliseum.

That venue was the scene for three New York Islanders’ Stanley Cup clinching victories. Additionally, the Nets clinched two ABA (that league disbanded after the 1976 season) titles there.

The musical “blues,” though beautiful, relate great sadness if not misery. The same, with very little redemption involved, can be said about the St. Louis Blues hockey team.

As was the case in their first 46 seasons, their 47th season (there was no 2004-2005 NHL season) ended yesterday without a Stanley Cup victory.

For the third straight season this franchise, which has gone longer sans the Stanley Cup than any other without ever winning it, is ousted in six games in the first round of the playoffs, despite having home ice advantage.

Conversely, for the second straight season the Minnesota Wild who “6’d” the Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks, who did the same to the Nashville Predators, will meet in the division final, after winning a first round series, without home ice advantage.

Last year, the Blackhawks who had home ice advantage won in a tough, albeit only 5 game series vs the Wild.

This year again “Chi” has the home advantage, will be favored and will win, say in 6 games.

The New York Rangers and Anaheim Ducks won first round series in less than six games.

Those two series were very competitive. The Rangers’ four wins in the series were all by (2-1) scores as they won in five games vs the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Ducks were the first team in NHL playoffs history to trail at some point of the third period, but win in three consecutive games. They did so en route to a four game sweep of the Winnipeg Jets.

The other six NHL opening round series all will go at least six games.

While as cited the NHL playoffs have been extremely competitive, the opposite and then some is the case in the NBA playoffs.

Five series have teams ahead three games to none and two others stand two games to none.

Only the Spurs/Clippers series has produced wins by both teams and last night the Spurs took a (2-1) series lead with a rout victory.

Only the Washington Wizards’ three games to none lead vs the Toronto Raptors is an upset and it is not a big one.

I will stick with my prediction that the Chicago Blackhawks win their series vs the Nashville Predators in six games. They are favored in game six at home.

Also I will stay with my prediction that the Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks series goes to a seventh game.

I do this despite the fact that the Flames, up three games to two, are favored to wrap up the series in game six at home.

Speaking of home, as usual teams are losing home games in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

After the Tampa Bay Lightning’s comeback win at Detroit vs the Red Wings last night, only four of the sixteen playoff teams, the Flames, Blackhawks, Ducks and Canadiens have not lost a home game.

Unlike the Cleveland Cavaliers and their “double dipping” great player LeBron James (not once, but twice he got to pick his team, each time opting to play in the exponentially weaker NBA Eastern Conference) the San Antonio Spurs’ road to the NBA finals is not only “long and winding,” but truly difficult.

Being in the far tougher NBA West is not the Spurs’ fault. However they can blame themselves for that last night of the regular season loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, which dropped San Antonio from the “2” to the “6” seed.

That result makes the road, (that is the operative word as most likely the Spurs will be sans home advantage in any Western Conference Series) to the finals and the title so much more difficult.

So far in the playoffs, the Spurs got the split in L.A. vs the Clippers, and while that helps, the task of winning three series in the Western Conference appears too tough even for this near great to great Spurs team/franchise to overcome.

Of course it is very early in the baseball season, but I do believe, as I did before the season started, that there is reason to believe the New York Mets will have a good season.

Right now, they are playing great: 9 straight wins, (8-0) at home, and winning against the so called lesser teams, which is not that easy to do.

I also believe their great record in spring training helped. Perhaps this team will do the “little/big things” that it takes to be a contender.

Surely on paper the Mets have a tremendous starting staff led by the returning Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom.

Veteran everyday player, Michael Cuddyer, who played on six playoff teams with the Minnesota Twins, is a big addition.