Wait, what?  It's not Friday?  Hmmm...well, since I'm going to be taking a red-eye to Florida to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday on Friday, it's Friday enough for me.  Travis or Ghost might have a links post tomorrow, but I'm checking out early this week...and exchanging 98 degree dry heat for 85 and humid...woo-hoo!

First and foremost today, congrats to Los Suns for beating Los Spurs last night and taking a 2-0 series lead.  I wonder if the new question for the Suns is "S 2 NRNJ?"  Anyways, great job Suns, now go win a game in San Antonio and clinch it when you get back home!

LAST NIGHT'S NHL SCORES:  Bruins 4 - Flyers 1 (Boston leads series 3-0); Blackhawks 5 - Canucks 2 (Chicago leads series 2-1)

Gah, I shaved my playoff beard when the Coyotes were eliminated and now the Flyers can't win a playoff game.  I think it has more to do with losing Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere to injury, but curse you superstition!!!  Chicago meanwhile jumped all over Roberto Luongo and kept putting juicy rebounds in the back of the net (at least for the parts of the game I was watching).  Still a lot of hockey to be played, of course, but if you forced me to make a prediction, I'd say Chicago-San Jose and Boston-Pittsburgh are your conference finals...

After the jump, Keith Yandle gets some international love, another Red Wings non-controversy controversy, Olli Jokinen going to the KHL, and Matthew Lombardi...hockey hottie!

Top-10 Youngsters in the 2010 WC | SchoolYourPool.com Fantasy Hockey | Nhl, Tournament, Season, Team, Like
Some guys that you should be watching as you watch the 2010 World Championships from Germany...Yandle gets some much deserved love...

2010 NHL playoffs -- The top unsung defensemen so far in the playoffs - ESPN
Unlike he gets from Pierre LeBrun...who in fairness may only be discussing defensemen that are still in the playoffs.  Certainly, Yandle had a fabulous series against Detroit and was probably the Coyotes best blue-liner.

Stock Up Or Stock Down? The Rest Of Round 1’s UFA Casualties - From The Rink
From the Rink examines how the playoffs affected the UFAs from the teams eliminated, including the Coyotes...not sure I agree with their assessments of everyone here, but an interesting read.

"Too many men" for Sharks not a big deal - ProHockeyTalk - Hockey - NBC Sports
Started to see stuff about this "too many men" picture early in the day yesterday, and while most Red Wings fans appeared to recognize that it didn't affect the play and really shouldn't have been called, there's a reason the screen cap got made the way it did at some point.  Tin foil hats for everyone!!!

How Not to Play a 2-on-1 - Battle of California
In fairness, this really tells you everything you need to know about the deciding play from game 3 of the Sharks-Red Wings series...and this also kinda starts our whimsy, while still being a bit serious...

Olli Jokinen to the KHL? - ProHockeyTalk - Hockey - NBC Sports
Only whimsy for Coyotes fans really...just remember, GMDM turned Jokinen into Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust and a first round draft pick...that still boggles my mind.

Vancouver paper warns local cabbies about Patrick Kane - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
A very entertaining take on the Patrick Kane incident from this offseason by the Vancouver press...

Hockey for the Ladies: Western Conference Hottie: Matthew Lombardi (Phoenix Coyotes)
Yeah, I don't know what to say...this came up in my Google Alert and I figured it will interest some of you...maybe...

Anyways, enjoy the weekend of hockey, keep posting ideas you have in the comments, and I'll be back for a regularly scheduled links post on Monday!