Polar Bear Power

It's no secret by now that Pete Alonso has become a slugger superstar for the New York Mets. Earlier this month he became the 2nd fastest player to hit 150 career homers, which he did in 532 games (Only Ryan Howard did it faster). Last night in San Francisco, Alonso clubbed his 10th home run of the year. With that he became the first player in Mets history to hit that many in the month of April.

And we got another week to go in the opening month of the season.

There's something special about Pete and his hitting ability, that's been on display since his rookie season when he clubbed 53 home runs. It went into further display last year when he set the team record for RBI's with 131. He's quickly becoming the next face of the franchise. He's becoming that clutch big bat that comes along once in a while. He's been a big factor into the Mets offense.

Sure he's not doing it alone, he's got plenty of help around him. A guy like Francisco Lindor is a perfect support slugger in the lineup, all great teams have them. They've got a Batman and a Robin. There's really no debate here, the offensive Batman for the Mets is Pete Alonso. He's been in a groove the first few weeks of the season and here's hoping it keeps going. We could be on the verge of another something special with Pete. He's a once in a generation talent at the plate that this team has had in its history.

Kingman, Strawberry, Piazza, Wright. Now you can add Alonso to that list.

Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Preview

The time has finally arrived. We started this journey back in October with 32 teams playing for a chance at hockey's ultimate prize. Now we are down to the final 16. All with there eye on the prize, the Stanley Cup. The opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is here. The opening round is set and here's how we see the series going down

Western Conference:
P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC) Winnipeg Jets
Vegas came out on top in the West with 111 points, while Winnipeg finished with the 2nd wildcard spot with 95. Its safe to say that goaltending advantage in this series has to go to Winnipeg, because Conor Hellbyuck has been his usual pheonminal self. And yes Winnipeg has a huge weapon in 42 goal man Mark Schiefle. But where Vegas has the edge is they are a more well balanced and overall deeper team. Conor might be able to steal a couple games in this series but there isn't really much to breakdown here.

Pick: Vegas in 6!

P2) Edmonton Oilers vs. P3) Los Angeles Kings
Edmonton finished with 109 points, while the Kings were a little further back with 104. Again picking this series comes down to a depth issue. Sure the Kings are a good team as evident by the 104 points on the year. There's plenty of balance in the Kings lineup. But it again going to come down to who's in net. Whether its Phoneix Coopley or Jonas Korpisalo in net for LA, Stuart Skinner has had a much better year over in Edmonton. Oh yeah, and the Oilers had three players crack one hundred points his year. in Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and McDavid. The Oilers are too top heave to be beat in the opening round.

Pick: Oilers in 5!

C1) Colorado Avalanche vs. WC) Seattle Kraken
The defending Cup Champs win the Pacific with 109 points, while Seattle makes its first ever playoff appearance with 100. Good on the Kraken for righting the ship and finding their sea skates in their 2nd year in the league. With McCann, Dunn and Eberle leading the charge and Grubauer solid between the pipes, Seattle was able to clinch its playoff spot. But they are going up against the 2nd best team in all the West, and by the way, the defending Cup champions in Colorado. Rantanen scored 55 goals and MacKinninon hit 111 points. Oh and Georgiev won 40 games his first year in Denver. Colorado is just too good and too playoff tested to be trounced in the first round.

Pick: Colorado in 5!

C2) Dallas Stars vs. C3) Minnesota Wild
Dallas finished one point back in the division with 108 points, while Minnesota came in with 103 to close out the year. Nothing against Minnesota, who's really come along in the last number of years. Krill the Thrill hit 40 goals and 75 points to lead the charge again this year. He's becoming one of the big superstars in the game, helping carry the Wild to new heights. Problem is Dallas is a slightly deeper team and in a physical series as this one is going to be, the edge has to go in favor of the Stars.

Pick: Stars in 7!

Eastern Conference
A1) Boston Bruins vs. WC) Florida Panthers
Boston re-wrote the record books with a 135 point regular season and President's Trophy win, while Florida \got in with 92 points. In theory this is the easiest pick of the entire playoffs. Look Florida is in it for the 5th straight year and are coming off a year in which they ended a long playoff losing drought last year. Verhaeghe hit 42 goals and Tkachuk cracked 109 points. That's all well and good. You now have to face a Boston team that re wrote the record books this year for team dominance. This one is almost too easy to pick

Pick: Bruins in 4!

A2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. A3) Tampa Bay Lightning
We get this for the 2nd year in a row as Toronto finished with 111 points, while the defending Eastern Conference Champs finished with 98. Yes, Toronto had a better record this year. But the thing with the Leafs that worries me is the offense is powered by four guys and the goalteanding hasn't done well in the spring in twenty years. They facing the three time defending Eastern Conference champions and the best money goalie in the game right now come this time of year.

Pick: Lightning in 7!

M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC) New York Islanders
Carolina took the Metro division this year with 113 points, while the Islanders locked up a wild card spot with 93 points. Mat Barzal looks like he's going to be ready to go for New York for game one, but he hasn't played since February. So there might be some rust and gelling issues. And the Islanders lack of offense at times has given fans cause for concern. Carolina's a deeper and more balanced team right now.

Pick: Hurricanes in 6!

M2) New Jersey Devils vs. M3) New York Rangers
The Devils finished 2nd in the division with 112 points, while the Rangers finished with 107. Its going to be a battle all series long. New York looking to build off last seasons deep run, while New Jersey trying to find its footing in its rebuild to dominance once again. The Devils have had a great season, nothing against what's been happening on Broadway. This is going the distance and is going to be a fun series, but at the end of the day the youth pulls it off.

Pick: Devils in 7!

Go New York Go

What a time of year to be a New York sports fan. Look at what's going on in the New York Metro area right now. Both Baseball teams are in full swing, and all five winter sports teams (Knicks, Nets, Islanders, rangers and Devils) have made the playoffs, thanks to the Islanders clinching the final spot in the East Wednesday night. Its the first time since 1994 that has happened.

As a matter of fact, going back to last fall, eight of the nine teams that play in New York made the playoffs, with the Jets the only one that came up short.

Being a sports fan in New York right now is beautiful. Think about what we got (at the time of this writing)

Mets: 7-6 2nd in East (2 back of the Braves)

Yankees: 8-4 2nd in East (4 games back of Rays)

Knicks: 47-35 finished 5th in East (will play Cleveland in opening round)

Nets: 45-37 finished 6th in East (will play Philadelphia in opening round)

Islanders: 42-31-9 4th in Metro Division (will play Carolina in opening round)

Rangers: 47-22-13 3rd in Metro Division (will play New Jersey in opening round)

Devils: 52-22-9 2nd in Metro Division (will play Rangers in opening round)

All the playoffs matches listed for the teams is going to be good, like really good. The fact that we had as good of a sporting year as New York has had this year says a lot. It speaks to how well the teams were built (again save for the Jets too). It has brough a new life to the Metro New York area getting everybody tuned in and going to the arenas. Its making for must see events every night.

Now, will it result in a championship being brought back to the area? It doesn't look too good on paper. But that's on paper, anything can and usually does happen out on the field of play. Knicks have been a very streaky team at times during the year, closing out the season on a two game losing streak that followed a three game win streak. This was a team that made the playoffs two years ago and was bounced in five by Atlanta, and they haven't won a series since 2013. So there's a lot on the line here.

For the Nets, they won three of their final five games, even though this roster looks quite a bit different then it did back in October. This is the 5th straight playoff spot for the Nets, only having one series win in the last four years. They are looking to really build off this rebuild and maybe go on a solid run. So much like the Knicks, there's a lot on the line for Brooklyn too.

The Islanders had to win out to even reach the playoffs, winning three of their final four games to get in. They did, and this was a team that had a 7.6% chance of making the playoffs back in January. They won big games late in the season when they needed to. Even when it didn't look like they had life in their legs.

The boys from Broadway are building off last years success, which was a conference finals loss to the Lightning. So there's still that level of expectation. They added Tarasanko and Kane to bolster that attack and try and get over that hump.

With Jersey, there wasn't much of a expectation with that young core they trying to build. But that group developed faster than some expected and here we sit with them as a playoff team

Records Setting In Boston

Sixty. Three. Wins.

No that is not a typo that actually happened. The Boston Bruins have won 63 regular season games in the National Hockey League. Only three teams have won 60 or more games in a season. The 1977 Montreal Canadiens, the 1996 Detroit Red Wings and the 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bruins are also two points away from setting the single season mark of 133. Oh yeah, and it clinched the Presidents Trophy.

Its hitting rare air in this league. Four teams ever are the only ones to do this. The big question is, can they get it done when it matters most, in springtime hockey?

Lets be honest here, the Lightning faltered in their first round series against the Jackets in 2019. I know that's a rare thing, but still its worth noting. And it also worth noting that winning the Presidents Trophy won't lock in a Stanley Cup Title. It's an award that's been handed out since 1986. Only eight teams that have won the President's trophy have gone on to win the Cup, the last one to do it was Chicago in 2013. So the odds aren't exactly in Boston's favor.

But this Bruins team could be different. Linus Ulmark is having a masterful year and David Pastrnak is a 60 goal man. They can hit you in offensive waves and when they have a lead, the defense is air tight. But we all know that the playoffs is a totally different animal. The best of the best really comes out during springtime. So now we will truly see just how good this Bruins team is as the playoffs get going a week from tonight.