Taking a Flying Leap

February 29th. A special day, but still a lousy time on the sports calendar. Nothing much exciting happening yet in the NHL or NBA. The NFL is non-existent right now. Baseball has barely begun spring training. Even college basketball is still two weeks away from the conference tournaments and then the Madness. I don't feel much like talking about a PGA tournament of also rans at the Honda. So, to commemorate this once every four year mark on the calendar, I thought I'd "leap" onto the grenade of trying to predict all of the scores from the upcoming Saturday night in the NHL. I must warn you that my hockey picks lately have been terrible and that I can't figure out how teams that looked so good at the start of the year (see: Detroit, Ottawa) are falling apart so badly now. Without further adieu, here we go:

Atlanta @ Boston - Boston just destroyed Ottawa and Pittsburgh and while all the talk was about those "good" teams losing, ignored in the matter was that Boston looked great! I'll take the B's 4-1.

Philly @ NYI - after just 4 wins in 19 games to start 2008, the Isles rolled of 6 wins in a row before losses to the Devils and Pens this week. With Philly struggling lately I'll take New York 3-2.

Pittsburgh @ Ottawa - now here's a couple of desperate teams. Pittsburgh looked horrible last night, but Ottawa has looked pretty bad for weeks now. I think the Pens will bounce back and take this one on the road 5-3.

Toronto @ Washington - does anyone have any idea what's going on in Toronto? The GM has written the team off, but I'd like to think that they'll bring all their fans great excitement by creeping into a playoff spot only to break down and miss the dance at the last possible moment. Leafs 3-1.

Tampa @ Carolina - how has Tampa got to be feeling today after Richards chalked up five points in his first game with the Stars? This team went from bad to worse and don't stand a chance down the stretch. Canes 2-0.

New Jersey @ Montreal - This should be a great game between a couple of teams riding high in the standings. I'm interested to see Carey Price handle the pressure of being number one down the stretch and I think he'll do it well. But not well enough on this night when Brodeur goes back home. Devils 3-1.

Nashville @ Dallas - Coming back to Richards' five point night, I sure hope that it isn't a sign of things to come or else Dallas will be unbeatable in the West. Against a pretty weak Preds team tomorrow night this should be a cakewalk. Stars 6-2.

San Jose @ St. Louis - Not much to say about either of these non-descript teams. The Blues are still a back of the pack team and the Sharks are slightly better, but coming off a game against Detroit tonight while St. Louis will have two days rest, I like the Blues to be the better team on this night. St. Lou 3-2.

LA @ Colorado - There sure is a lot of excitement in Denver this week! We'll see how much help they really get out of a guy like Forsberg who hasn't played in far too long though. My guess is he'll be good, but not great the way he used to be. But against the lowly Kings, not much is required. Avs 4-1.

Calgary @ Phoenix - Phoenix has lost their last two against Calgary, but Gretz has them sitting right there on the verge of the playoffs for the first time since 2002. I'd like to think that they'll have a decent stretch run and then lose in the first round again. Desert Dogs in this one, 3-2.

Enjoy the games! I'll enjoy taking a look in on them tomorrow night.