To be giving away contracts like this, we must be craaaaazy!!

Hoo boy. The Tampa Bay Lightning are doing their damndest to ruin the NHL's pay structure. Again.

Brad Richards' new deal - $7.8M/year for 5 years - makes him the league's second-highest-paid player. And he's definitely not the second-best player in the NHL. Sure, Richards is consistent, can put up points, and is a natural leader, but an elite scorer he is not, and he doesn't deserve close to this amount of money, especially when there's a salary cap around. This is going to really mess things up elsewhere around the NHL; Bryan McCabe was signed to a 5-year, $29 million deal (apparently the Leafs' brass got a hold of whatever Tampa GM Jay Feaster had been smoking), which is more money than he deserves as well. That's $5.8M per season, kids - his defensive partner Tomas Kaberle, who is arguably a better D-man, will earn almost $1.6 million less per year. Wade Redden and Zdeno Chara are also reportedly looking for $7.8M per season, making it impossible for the Senators to sign both; it's possible that even signing one of the two could be out of reach. So Ottawa fans, thank the Lightning for that.

Back to the playoffs, how 'bout those Oilers? And those 'Canes? Should be an entertaining Cup Final...at least, for the people who care. The bulk of North Carolina (outside Raleigh, anyway) will be watching basketball, baseball or soccer, but you can bet that everyone in Edmonton will be paying close attention. So here's my prediction:

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs Carolina - Edmonton in 6
-The long layoff might hurt the Oilers at first, but I'm confident they'll bounce back. In all likelihood, it will come down to special teams, which will pit Carolina's juggernaut of a power play against Edmonton's masterful penalty killing. As much as I like Edmonton, though, I wouldn't mind seeing Rod Brind'Amour win himself a Cup...we'll see what happens.


Also, not to gloat, but just let me point out that I've had some pretty damn good predictions so far...I hope somebody's winning money on these; it'd be a shame not to. I'm particularly proud of myself for beating all of TSN's analysts - even their monkey.

This isn't me getting cocky; I realize that I could easily lose this round, but I'm still 10-4 going into the finals. By the way, I've just read your future in the stars...opportunity will knock tomorrow, but don't let old feelings get in the way of your goals; also, watch out for your death, which will be caused by - sorry, an airplane's in the way of the rest. It's probably not important.