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In case you missed it… this is for memphisBengal:

You want to read a fantastic article about the Southeastern Conference’s recent decision to ban fans (!) at games from facebooking and tweeting, then check out what Michael Kruse of the St Pete Times wrote on Sunday.

Here’s a quote, and when you’re done, come back here and finish reading this simple little blog post.

Many are saying this makes the bosses of the SEC look like fuddy-duddy technophobes — that they don’t “get” new media.

They get it. The language of the conference’s policy suggests they know all too well the high-stakes fight that’s just beginning.

Ok, welcome back. You’ve just witnessed – probably for the 103rd time today – the power of the hyperlink.

It’s the most basic, most fundamental value of the New Media world. And it’s just the beginning of a giant shift in the way news is distributed and how it will be paid for.

Inside that shift, there is a clear divide forming; the ‘those’ and the ‘those-nots’.

On one side, there are teams like the New York Jets – who are fast becoming the poster boys of social media (mostly because they are in NY, many pro sports teams are doing what they are doing.)

For another example, take this story from TechCrunch about a new startup called FanChatter. It has partnered with a few pro teams (Twins, Wild, and others) to set up a way for fans to take photos and video of themselves at a game and upload it to a place where people who work for the team can post the photo/video on the scoreboard (at best) or (at worst) on the web site. It’s basically the exact opposite to the idea as the SEC had.

So when I read about morons at the SEC, or like at the Associated Press, who think they’ll be able to figure out a way to control the flow of this tide, I just laugh at the level of Fear I see on display.

What all this does… the actions of the AP, the SEC, ESPN… is take regular everyday developers like me, and regular everyday users like the guy next to me, and turn us into an army of hackers. All ready to see the latest wall that is built for us to scale.

Their only weapon is enforcement.

And since technology is now the enemy of closed, the future is on the side of the open.

Congrats to the Penguins. And cheers to all Canadians who don’t freak out when someone cusses moments after winning the greatest prize in all of professional sports.

More video… the final seconds / Fleury’s two greatest saves of 2009.

Thanks to degen in the swamp for the links.

CHICAGO: 4-0-0 vs CGY this season.
The last time Khabibulin was playing in a contract year, he lead his team to a Stanley Cup (2004). Well, he’s playing for money again this season, so he’s playing well.  And now he’s playing against the Flames again.  The Hawks are a well rounded team.  They ranked 5th in 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio, with 1.18.  Their power play ended up ranked 12th, at a respectable 19.3% and their penalty kill was 18th at 80.6%.  They are smallish all over, and could be pushed around by a physical Flames team.  But with the injuries Calgary has sustained, the bullying may not be as bad as it could have been.  Patrick Sharp is underrated.  He’s a hard working, natural finisher who kills penalties and plays the power play.  Exactly the kind of guy the playoffs builds stars out of.

TOP QUESTION:  Age.  The Hawks top two players are not yet old enough to drink in the United States.  Toews turns 21 in two weeks, Kane will in November.  How these two handle the pressure will matter greatly.  But at least they don’t have to handle Robyn Regehr.

NEEDS TO WIN:  Their third line.  Dustin Byfuglien, Sammy Pahlsson, and Andrew Ladd make up a great checking line that can score.  Ladd and Pahlsson have cup rings already, and can dominate opposing top lines.  Against a team struggling to score like the Flames, these three could shut down Iginla and turn this series into a short massacre.

CALGARY: 0-3-1 vs CHI this season.
All potential, little production… this Flames team has underproduced all season long.  Right now, it may be injuries that hold them back.  Their top three defensemen (Phaneuf, Regehr, Sarich) all have injuries.  Both head coaches in this series are known for running a tight ship, but these two teams get into some surprisingly wide open play at times.  The Flames will need to control that, as the Hawks are better skaters.

TOP QUESTION: Defense.  Calgary’s pairings for game one look to be: Dion Phaneuf-Jordan Leopold; Adrian Aucoin-Adam Pardy; and Jim Vandermeer-Anders Eriksson.  Without much power play, and without much talent on defense, history has shown that a forward heavy team will fail in the playoffs, no matter how good the goaltender.  Calgary must get steady play and good first passes from this unit.

NEEDS TO WIN: Power play.  The Flames ended the season 0-42 on the PP.  For the season, they converted on 17% of chances, good for 21st in the league.  The skill is there, but a lot of what I saw from their PP units late in the year was action along the perimeter and not enough grit.  If the 2009 Oilers are killing penalties against you, you got problems.

DETROIT: 3-2-1 vs CLB this season.
It’s important to me to be respectful here, because the Wings franchise has turned into a model for all of sports to follow. The Davidsion group and Palace Sports** should be commended for what they’ve done with this organization and also for what they did with the Lightning while they owned that franchise. It’s all too obvious down there now just how important ownership can be. The Wings are defending Cup Champs and the core of that team has returned this year. But it’s just so hard to repeat in pro sports these days. It takes so much more than skill; it takes circumstance, it takes passion. And maybe that’s why the Wings seem to have slept through much of the regular season. And maybe they’ll turn it up now that the playoffs have started. Much talk has been made about how they don’t have to travel far for this series, and how they’re glad they aren’t playing the Ducks. But they better be ready in game one. This is a series that could be epic for both or embarrassing for one.

TOP QUESTION: Goaltending. Even though he shared time with Hasek last year, Chris Osgood was playing at the top of his game for the entire season. This year has been a completely different story. His GAA went up a full goal, from 2.09 to 3.09. And now he’s getting grumpy with the media. I wonder if that long lasting chip on his shoulder is hurting now more than its helping.

NEEDS TO WIN: Desire. The talent is there, obviously. But the question needs to be asked, what is this group playing for right now?

** The Davidson ownership sure is nice, but they don’t own the Wings.   Mike Ilitch/Olympia Entertainment does.  Thanks to brian for informing me of that. And Moreta too.

COLUMBUS: 3-3-0 vs DET this season.
There was a consensus that the Wings were relieved to face the Jackets in the first round. That may end up being a mistake. This is a strong, defense first team, with four powerful, fast lines of forwards. Their wingers play bigger than they are and are tough to play against. Their defense is just big; the starting 6 averages 215lbs – even with Kris Russell’s 180 factored in. Then there’s Steve Mason, the Columbus rookie goaltender and slam-dunk Calder Trophy winner / Vezina nominee. Mason is huge (6′4) and quick, plays aggressive and has the best glove hand in hockey right now. Forget that he turns 21 at the end May. We’ve been waiting for so long for the Blue Jackets to make the playoffs. Finally, they’ve done it. This group doesn’t look like it’s done making history.

TOP QUESTION: Winning game one or two, in Detroit. Just 16-18-7 on the road this season, the Jackets have to find a way to avoid being down 0-2 before they see their own home ice. First round upsets happen every year, especially in the West. This is my best bet. But Columbus will need to find a way to surprise the Wings in one of these first two games to make it happen.

NEEDS TO WIN: Discipline. The Wings had the top power play in the regular season (25.5%) and the skill to carry that success over to the playoffs. So the Jackets will have to keep their games at 5 on 5 as much as possible. They don’t matchup skill for skill against Detroit.

BOSTON: 5-0-1 vs MON this season.
The Bruins are an interesting team. They take care of their own end well, but still gave up an average of 30 shots per game. In games where they were outshot, Boston went 32-6-5 this season. Their offense epidomizes the definition of scoring depth, as 8 of their top forwards have scored 17 or more goals this season. They also get points from the blueline, with Chara and Wideman each recording 50 point seasons this year. And their goaltender looks to be the kind of stopper who plays better in front of a lot of action. Boston is, by far, the most complete team in the East.

TOP QUESTION: Well, execution, I suppose. There really aren’t many weaknesses here. They never lost more than two regulation games in a row this season. Scoring balance, strong defense. Goaltenders playing with something to prove. All they have to do at this point is give the effort and they’ll be playing someone from the West in a month and a half.

NEEDS TO WIN: Passion. Execution.

MONTREAL: 1-3-2 vs BOS this season.
The Habs are best described as one of those perimeter skating teams who succeed early in the season when room on the ice is easy to find, but struggle late when spaces tighten. Starting 24-10-6, Montreal finished up 17-20-5 and in 8th place in the East. And they’ll likely be without their top defenseman and 2nd leading point producer (Markov) for the entire series. There’s a ton of pressure on this team, and hope for this series is mostly drawn from their historical success against the B’s. But this really is a mismatch.

TOP QUESTION: The Habs are the NHL’s soap opera. They’ve got questions everywhere. But their top question is probably how, not when they will implode.

NEEDS TO WIN: Surreality.

VANCOUVER: 2-2-0 vs STL this season.
Both of these teams finished among the hottest in the NHL, each posting a 15-5-2 record down the final stretch. This season, the Sedins finally found a winger to consistently play with: Alex Burrows. The 190lbs winger is gritty, has good hands, and sees the game in the same idiosyncratic way the twins do. Maybe more importantly, he knows how to stay out of their way. The Sedins posted a career high in points (82, each) this season. But the real new star of this team is Ryan Kesler. Still just 24 years old after his fifth NHL season, Kesler made the move from checking line center to a goal scoring winger while playing along side Mats Sundin and Pavol Demitra. Originally the 23rd pick overall, Kesler is as responsible a back-checker as any forward in the game and always seems to have his stick in the right area with or without the puck. I look for Kesler to emerge in the same way Jeff Carter did last season. In 34 post all-star break games, Kesler had 17 goals and 17 assists while playing with Sundin.

TOP QUESTION: Will Mats Sundin’s game elevate even more now that the playoffs have started? The big Swede picked up his play in March (13 points in 15 games) but still needs to be more of a puck controller in the corners and behind the net, where he’s done damage for almost 20 full years now.

NEEDS TO WIN: Improved special teams. In the playoffs, it doesn’t matter what your PP has done in the regular season, it only matters how it’s doing in April and May. The Canucks need to find some instant PP magic – they’ve converted only 6/44 (13.6%) in their last 10 games. On the season, the Canucks ranked 17th in PP and 16th in PK.

ST LOUIS: 2-2-0 vs VAN this season.
It’s unfortunate for the Blues to have to face the Canucks in the first round. St Louis was really looking like they were going to surprise someone with their level of play. In mid-February, they were sitting in last place in the Western Conference. They went 25-9-7 over the season’s second half to end up sixth. These kids are young, young, young and play an exciting brand of hockey. Many think their second-half success will continue against the Canucks, but they face a big, physical defense in their first playoff appearance since 2004. When watching a lot of Blues highlights this season, I’ve seen a lot of soft goals go in for them. I don’t expect Luongo to allow that trend to continue.

TOP QUESTION: Experience. In taking a quick look at their roster, I see only Keith Tkachuk and Andy McDonald have real playoff experience.

NEEDS TO WIN: With just an 18-18-5 road record, the Blues are going to need to steal at least one game in Vancouver to win this series. But if they head back home down 0-2, that’ll be just to big of a hole for a team this young.

PITTSBURGH: 4-2-0 vs PHI this season.
Coaching changes are the theme in the East this playoff season, and perhaps no other team benefitted more from such a change than did the Penguins. Pittsburgh went 18-3-4 from the day Dan Byslma took over (Feb 15) to the end of the season; launching the Pens into 4th place in the East and home ice for their first round series against their in-state, division rivals. The team credits a more laid-back approach as key to their success, and that’s partly because they have a lot of guys on offense who like to freelance.

TOP QUESTION: Production from the wings. The additions of Guerin and Kunitz gave the Pens their two most reliable wingers to play with Crosby. It has also allowed the Pens to use their line of Malkin – Fedotenko – Sykora together more often. Ruslan comes into the series having registered a point in 6 of his last 7 games. Getting both points and solid defense from those front 4 wingers will key the Pens’ fate.

NEEDS TO WIN: No surprise here, Marc-Andre Fleury had a 1.97 GAA and 93.3 save % during last year’s playoffs. He’ll need to be just as dominant again this season while playing behind a team that may not be as well organized defensively. The Pens have a stronger team up front than they did last year, but aren’t as good defensively without Ryan Whitney back there.

PHILADELPHIA: 2-2-2 vs PIT this season.
Jeff Carter is easily the most underrated star in today’s game. Within his own state, he plays under the shadow of Malkin and Crosby, and even on his own team, Carter is #2 to captain Mike Richards. Yet Carter’s 46 goals and 84 points lead his Flyers this season, and his goal tally was second only to Ovechkin in NHL. It was during last season’s playoff run that Carter really established himself as a star and on ice leader for the Flyers, and despite the press that Richards gets as captain, it’s Carter that drives this offense.

TOP QUESTION: Defensive depth. Philly has two good defesemen, but not a whole lot after that. The Pens have two great forwards, and then an interesting combination of grinders and perimeter players (sometimes in the same package, Ruslan!). How Philly balances their lack of depth on defense will be interesting to watch.

NEEDS TO WIN: Special teams. The Pens posted one of the best 5-on-5 goals ratio (1.18) in the NHL this season and in the Flyers two H2H wins this year, their PP was 6 for 13 against the Pens. So Philly will need to take advantage, with the man advantage.

FINAL NOTE: A lot of people are picking the NJ-CAR series as the toughest to figure this year, but this PHI-PIT matchup is a true coin toss. Both teams scored 264 goals on the season and gave up either 239 or 238 goals. Their records are also nearly identical, but while the Pens were racking up wins to finish out the season, the Flyers struggled to an 11-10-1 finish. This should at least be the most entertaining series in the East.

NEW JERSEY: 1-3-0 vs CAR this season.
First things first, this is no longer the boring Devils trap team their reputation still seems to haunt them with. They play a variety of styles now, based on situation, just like everyone else. New Jersey’s problem is simply that they are slow. They learned how to win without Brodeur this year, but also struggled emotionally after Brodeur’s record setting wins in Montreal and against Chicago. Following those two wins, the Devils went 1-6-1 before pulling things back together to finish the season 4-1-0.

TOP QUESTION: Were the last 5 games of their season the real Devils or not? Was it as easy as flipping a switch?

NEEDS TO WIN: Penalty killing. Head to head this season, the Canes PP converted on 7 of 16 chances. Carolina scored 11 total goals against the Devils, so at 5-on-5, New Jersey held the Canes to just 4 goals in 4 games.

CAROLINA: 3-1-0 vs NJ this season
The gang is back in town for Carolina, or at least, that’s the story here. The Canes started the season 12-11-2 and then made the move back to Paul Maurice to finish 33-19-5. Even more impressive was their late season run of 15-5-2 to end their schedule. They became more defensively responsible after Maurice took over, and Cam Ward’s numbers vastly improved. The CP reports, “Ward posted a 19-7-2 record in his last 28 starts with a 2.30 goals against average, a .922 save percentage and three shutouts.”

TOP QUESTION: Scoring depth. After Whitney and Staal, there’s isn’t a lot there. Eric Cole was brought back and had 15 points in 17 games, but only 2 goals.

NEEDS TO WIN: Points from their defense. The Canes’ top four all each had 30 or more points this season. Joe Corvo is a puck mover who can shoot a bit and Anton Babchuk is mostly a shooter from the back end.

WASHINGTON: 3-0-1 vs NYR this season, all four games came before NY replaced Renney with Tortorella.
The Caps learned a lot last season about just how different the second season is in the NHL. They play an up-tempo style, outshooting their opponents more often than not, and are largely composed of veteran skaters. They are also a big group down the middle (center and defense) and will need to play smart against the quickness of the Rangers’ smallish forwards. Bruce Boudreau is a matchup guy and line switcher, so expect the Caps to throw a lot of different looks at the Rangers.

TOP QUESTION:
We know by now this team can score, but no one knows what to expect from their goaltending. It looks like they’ll start with Jose Theodore, but there’s the highly touted 21 year old Simeon Varlamov waiting around for his chance to play. Varlamov has made just 5 career NHL starts. Theodore was brilliant in stretches for the Avalance last season, so he can carry a team. But the Caps will need it from game one.

NEEDS TO WIN:
Soft goals will kill this team. Maybe not in the first or second rounds, but they will need to show they have championship goaltending right away.

NEW YORK: 1-2-1 vs WAS this season, all four games came before NY replaced Renney with Tortorella.
This isn’t yet John Tortorella’s hockey team, but it will be soon enough. Their late season run (12-7-2) was enough to get this team into the playoffs and build fan support for next season. But this team isn’t yet a good fit for the style Torts likes to play. He’s a 4 line guy who needs active, smart defensemen and a team full of players who give everything on every shift and don’t take dumb penalties. There are pieces in place, and Henrik Lundqvist is by far the building block for a system that creates a lot of odd man chances against their own net, but this team is a little fish out of water right now.

TOP QUESTION:
Goal scoring. With just 210 goals for all season, no playoff team scored less this season than the Rangers.

NEEDS TO WIN: The power play. The Rangers are a quicker, harder working team. And those two attributes will get them on the PP. NY had the top penalty killing % in the league this season, so if they can capitalize on a few PP chances of their own, some of these 1 goal games they always seem to play in will tip in their favor.