LET THE VOYAGE TO THE CUP BEGIN!

Whew!  If you are a diehard hockey fan like I am, this weekend was one for the ages.  The last week of the regular season brought about so many storylines, crazy turns and surprising results that once the smoke cleared, I got the desired results I wanted: Both the NY Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs, AND playing on alternate nights!

So the way it stands now, the NY Rangers kick off their playoff run this Wednesday at Washington (7:30pm), followed by Game 2 on Friday (7:30pm). They return to New York for Game 3 on Sunday, April 17th (3pm) followed by Game 4 on Wednesday, April 20th (7pm). (Games 5-7 I'll update later).

As for Montreal, they kick off their highly-charged playoff run vs Boston on Thursday, April 14 (7pm), followed by Game 2 on Saturday, April 16 (7pm).  Game 3 is in Montreal on Monday, April 18 (7:30pm), followed by Thursday, April 21th (7:30pm).

Keep in mind, we will carry ALL NHL Playoff series so don't hesitate to swing by to check out your favorite team in action!  Of course, we will have great drink specials and promos throughout the playoffs, so check out our website often to see what's going on!

This past weekend was interesting in other way besides sports, mind you.

On Friday, I received some unfortunate news about the untimely passing of a college friend and quite frankly, it threw me for a loop.  We lost touch over the years but thanks to Facebook, we were able to reconnect and were able to drop notes on each other's walls at least once or twice a week.  I actually wished him a happy birthday on Wednesday; It was the last correspondence we would ever have as he passed away suddenly later that day.  Very sad.  Let's just say I wasn't feeling very social that night so I took it off.

Saturday was a whirlwind of activity as I spent most of the day running errands while keeping an eye on the scoreboard.  The NY Rangers were literally playing for their lives in a pivotal game vs their cross-river rivals, the NJ Devils.  The bar had a bit of a buzz to it as NY Ranger fans were glued to the TV's, hoping for a miracle of sorts.  The Rangers did what they needed to do and pulled out a must-win.  Then there was the waiting game as they now had to wait until 7pm to see the Carolina Hurricanes/Tampa Bay Lightning game.  The Rangers needed the Hurricanes to lose in order to qualify for the playoffs.  Once again, the bar had a buzz to it as some diehard Ranger fans returned to cheer on.... Tampa Bay!  It was kinda weird to see but totally understandable in this case.

Tampa Bay gave the Rangers the results they needed and the fans at the bar celebrated as if they won the Cup already.  Pretty funny but hey, you'll take it any way you can get it.  On to the playoffs for the Blueshirts!

Later in the evening we were "invaded" by a group of guys from the Australian Army, in town for a night before heading up to West Point (the military academy).  Some of the guys from the group had been in a few weeks prior and they enjoyed themselves so much that they vowed to return with the rest of the clan.  And they certainly did, much to the delight of the ladies in the bar.  They actually came bearing gifts, a bottle of Australian rum that I promised we'd share with them when they got back to NYC next week.  A very nice gesture.

Sunday afternoon was solely dedicated to the final round of The Masters.  I had about 20 people sitting around the perimeter of the bar and at every available table, totally focused on the tournament and with good reason.  The final round was pretty exciting, with no less than five, maybe even six guys with a legitimate shot at winning the tournament.  It was thrilling and somewhat surreal, with the bar relatively quiet, with only the sound of Jim Nantz and the swinging of golf clubs breaking the silence. An exciting round, a thrilling finish (if there is such a thing in golf) with a relative newcomer from South Africa (Charl Schwartzel) winning it all. If you are a golf fan, you loved what you saw today.

All told, it was a pretty interesting weekend and I didn't even touch on the Yankees/Red Sox series this weekend (Boston took 2 out of 3).  To tell you the truth, I am getting the sense that this rivalry is starting to lose its punch.  Maybe it's just the fact that they are playing so soon in the season but I have to say that I didn't quite feel the usual buzz that usually comes with this heated rivalry.  Maybe it's because of the lowered expectations of the Yankees this season.  Who knows.

There is MUCH to look forward to this week and I promise to bring you more details later today.  Stay tuned for more..


Cheers!
(photos courtesy of AP)