Western Conference Finals Game Three: Hawks 3, Patrick Marleau 2 (OT) - Mel is deliriously antsy

I should have written this earlier, but I decided to do laundry/watch the Flyers/Habs game/lie around like a sloth this morning & afternoon. This evening Amy & I went out for tapas to celebrate our sixth anniversary. Actually our anniversary was on Wednesday but both of us forgot. Oops. I mean how could I forget - we celebrated our first anniversary on the release date of Revenge of the Sith. Which we ended up seeing on opening night even though I was visiting her while she was studying in England and she doesn't particularly care for Star Wars. That's true love folks.

This will be a briefer recap, as I am as wired as a kid on Christmas Eve. Not only are we on the brink of our first Finals appearance since my sophomore year of high school (*sigh old*), I will be in attendance tomorrow afternoon. I keep thinking of all of the glorious things that I may witness in person, and then I yell at my brain to stop it because I'm sure the Hockey Gods are tapping into it.


- I love overtime hockey - unless my team is playing it. It is so stressful to watch - I think I had a minor stroke every time the Sharks crossed the blue line. My dentist is going to kill me when I see him this summer as the teeth grinding during games has gotten ridiculous.
- Dave Bolland sure made up for those three minors he took eh? That's two breakaways he's scored on in these playoffs. Wonder if we may see him in shootouts more often next season.
- Speaking of penalties - I won't sit here and complain about the calls on the Hawks even though a few were pretty borderline. But if you're going to make ticky-tack calls, you have to make them both ways. If you take out the penalties from the last 20 seconds of Game Two, the Sharks have a 12-6 power play advantage. Kudos to the Hawks' PK unit, but I really really doubt the Sharks have been as angelic as that stat indicates.
- Duncan Keith's TOI last night was 34:44 while Seabrook's was 30:21. I guess this is the time of year to just let it all hang out but Eep!
- God, Dustin Byfuglien is such a beast when he shows up. My brother says he's the Hawks' version of Claude Lemieux. How True.

The longer he plays, the more of a girl crush I have on Antti Niemi. He's so low key and steady. He looks so certifiably dorky it's adorable. The fact he drove the Zamboni in Finland to make ends meet tugs at my heartstrings. Bank on it - if we're hoisting a big shiny thing in a couple of weeks, I'm buying his fucking jersey.

I hope the Blackhawks realize I'm missing two things tomorrow to go to Game Four. I'm getting a bit of shit for skipping my cousin's baby shower - but hey, I bought the baby a Cookie Monster bib ok? We also had tickets to see Imogen Heap tomorrow night, but there's no way I can do a playoff game and a concert and be expected to be even somewhat coherent come Monday morning. I'm not too bummed as we saw her a few months back, but I had to eat $20+ on the Ticketbastard fees and just sold the tickets for face value on craigslist. This will be in all likelihood the last game I attend this season. So, make it count boys - WIN!