As the Senators and Penguins get ready to open their first round series tonight (7:00 on Versus, CBC and RDS), let's take a quick spin around some of the mainstream media coverage of the series and see if we can't figure out just what the hell Wade Redden and Gary Roberts (pictured) find so funny.Sens Coach Bryan Murray is apparently a big fan of the Golden Rule, thinks his higher-seeded team is the underdog (but not a choking dog), and lets us know where the only place we might be able to catch tough guys Brian McGrattan and Georges Laraque dropping the gloves during the series is, while Don Cherry and Brett Hull are both picking Ottawa to win the series and so is Damien Cox, perhaps because their top line is pretty darn good.
On the Pens' side of things, there are five reasons the Pens can win this series and another five reasons they can lose it, Coach Michel Therrien isn't worried about his own relative inexperience and responds to Murray's comments, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari is happy to remind readers of Ottawa's recent playoff struggles and Murray's career-long playoff struggles, Marc-Andre Fleury had a breakout year and several Pens players have taken up magic (literally). John Buccigross picks the Pens to win the series, and if online chats are your thing, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has their journos scheduled to field your questions throughout the series. Finally, take a walk down memory lane with the Post-Gazette's timeline of Pens' playoff history highs and lows (warning: Capitals fans should probably avoid this).
And after all that, I still have no clue what Redden and Roberts are laughing at. Maybe it's this picture of Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin.




