The New York Islanders just beat the New Jersey Devils in a shootout (after giving up the tying goal with 0.8 seconds left), securing the final playoff spot and sending the Maple Leafs off to compete for tee times with the Montreal Canadiens.

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Still on hockey, the attention for Montreal fans now changes to gutting the house for repairs. Sergei Samsonov will never play another game in the CH sweater, and David Aebischer found himself displaced by Jaroslav Halak. Sheldon Souray may well leave as an unrestricted free agent; Alex Kovalev will be traded if a buyer can be found for his huge contract, bought out if one cannot.

Still, the core of this team is very good. They have a ton of good young talent in Higgins, Ryder, Komisarek, Lapierre, Latendresse, Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Perezhogin, Gorges and Halak. They have some solid veterans like Koivu, Markov, Bonk and Johnson, and some solid role players. What they’re missing is a #1 center and a good mobile defenseman; if they can unload or buy out Samsonov, Kovalev and Aebischer and attract a few free agents, they could resume the form they had earlier this season.

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Pool news: I believe I have 1st place in my hockey pool, but won’t know for sure until tomorrow. I picked up Islanders goalie Wade Dubielewicz last night and he recorded the win in today’s game, but more importantly Ryan Smyth didn’t score the game-winning goal, which might’ve made it close. I’m also creeping up dangerously close to 1st in my basketball pool, but I don’t see how I can make up any more ground (as it’s a roto pool).

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My musical inbox is out of control. My brother is partly to blame, sending me half a dozen new albums to check out, but I’m no better. I keep grabbing new stuff even though I have no time to listen to it.

• apostle of hustle . national anthem of nowhere
• aliens . astronomy for dogs
• bird and the bee . bird and the bee
• brmc . baby 81
• clinic . internal wrangling
• clutch . from beale street to oblivion
• dalek . abandoned language
• dalek . absence
• friday morning’s regret . when lost at sea
• grinderman . grinderman
• in-flight safety . coast is clear
• kings of leon . because of the time
• klaxons . myths of the near future
• low . drums and guns
• marissa nadler . songs iii: bird on the water
• national . boxer
• nine inch nails . year zero
• ted leo . living with the living
• worker bee . divorce your legs

So far I’ve had quick listens to brmc (good), clinic (not so good), grinderman (starts off strong, drifts from there), kings of leon (good), low (not sure yet) and ted leo (also not sure yet).

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Last night, post-apocalypse, we started to purge the old crap out of our apartment. I love the “throwing shit out” phase. LOVE it. It’ll be difficult to stop me now. “Do we really need towels? I mean need them?”

[tags]islanders, maple leafs, nhl playoffs, montreal canadiens, hockey pool, nasketball pool, brmc, clinic, grinderman, kings of leon, low, ted leo, moving[/tags]