Tuesday games

Wow....four of the eight first-round series ended last night. Well, they didn't really end, but we have four series where one team has a 3-0 chokehold on the opposition. Only once in WHL history (40+ years of it) has a team come back from being down 3-0. For the history buffs, that was 1996 when Spokane came back to beat Portland in the first round.

For that matter, in 90+ years of NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, it has only happened twice - the Maple Leafs did it in 1942 and the Islanders did it in 1975. Bottom line: history shows that if you're not good or lucky enough to win one of the first three, you're not going to be good or lucky enough to win the next four straight. So, Brandon, Medicine Hat, Kamloops, and Chilliwack are heading for the golf course right after the fat lady finishes her encore.

Tough, tough break for the Bruins, who lost with 48 seconds left in triple-OT last night after playing their hearts out. The fourth-longest game in WHL history saw Bruins goalie Mark Friesen make 60 saves and still lose. The Bruins were saying all the right things after the game but I don't know how you come back from that kind of low for tonight's game....I mean, everyone on the team knows the odds of coming back from 3-0 in a series and the fact that they played so well and came so close to being 2-1 instead of 3-0.....has to be tough.

Same with the Blazers, really....they lead 3-1 going into the third period last night before gassing it with three goals against in the third to lose 4-3 to the Americans. How do you recover from that? Guess we'll see tonight. Actually, most Blazers fans probably WON'T see, since Blazers fans decided to show their support for their team by staying home last night. Only 2895 were in attendance last night, and that is the lowest playoff crowd ever for the Blazers. (Attendance is down all over the league this postseason, actually....I'll look at the numbers for attendance compared to the regular season later today or tomorrow).

Seattle has completed a rally from down 2-0 after losing the first two games of their series with Kelowna at home. The Birds won game four last night in Kelowna to knot the series 2-2. The home team has lost every game of that series, so look for Kelowna to win it in seven if that keeps up.

Back East, Calgary thrashed Moose Jaw 8-3 and Regina edged Swift Current 4-3 in OT to take 2-1 leads in their respective series. The Hitmen were 5-for-10 on the powerplay as the Warriors continued their discipline problems in the series.....through three games, they have given the Hitmen 27 powerplays - 10 each in the two Hitmen wins and Calgary's powerplay is working at 40% in those two wins. Clearly the Tribe has to start staying out of the box if they want to win the series.

As for the Pats/Broncos, the Pats pulled out the win despite missing their best forward (Jordan Eberle) and another forward (Brett Leffler) to suspension. Of course, the Broncos were without two of their best defencemen too - the ones that Eberle and Leffler got suspended for hurting. Eberle will be back for tonight's game four, which is kind of a must-win for the Broncos unless they want to go to Regina for game five being down 3-1. The Broncos have now lost six straight home playoff games after last night....they definitely do not want to make it seven straight tonight.