Sports, Ticket Sales - As reigning champions of the National Football League, the New York Football Giants have some pretty big shoes to fill this season after their shocking upset victory of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Head Coach Tom Coughlin has re-signed with the club and hopes to lead the champs to another title run under the on field leadership of Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning. Below you will find the Giants 2008 schedule and preview of the upcoming season! Home games are in bold. Week 1 Thursday, Sept. 4 – 7 p.m. vs. Washington Redskins (9-7) – After splitting games with the Skins last year during the regular season, the G-Men look to avoid last years 0-2 start by getting out ahead early and taking home their first “W” of the year.   Week 2 Sunday, Sept. 14 – 1 p.m. at St. Louis Rams (3-13) – The Rams just aren’t the same team they were in the late 90’s and the Giants will ride the week 1 win to carry them to victory #2 of the season in as many weeks. Week 3 Sunday, Sept. 21 – 1 p.m. vs. Cincinnati Bengals (7-9) – The Bengals can put up great offensive numbers with their receiving core running circles around most secondary defenses, their main problem is stopping opponents at doing the same thing. This has the potential to be a shootout in the high 40’s but New York will come out on top at home. Week 4 BYE – Early BYE week this year for the Giants, could play into late season fatigue. Week 5 Sunday, Oct. 5 – 1 p.m. vs. Seattle Seahawks (10-6) – The two NFC teams did not meet last year but will battle is out at the Meadowlands in a possible first round play-off preview. Whichever team establishes the run early will have the advantage opening up their passing attack for deep yardage in the 2nd half. Week 6 Monday, Oct. 13 – 8:30 p.m. at Cleveland Browns (10-6) – Here’s another match up that we didn’t see last year. The Browns have the potential to be a playoff caliber team, but it will require wins against teams like the Giants to boost them over the top. In a game that features many lead changes, the Browns squeak this one at with a late FG and hand NY their first loss of the season. Week 7 Sunday, Oct. 19 – 1 p.m. vs. San Francisco (5-11) – Tom Coughlin has his boys ready to go and jumps on the 49er’s early in this one. With a double digit lead after the first quart and a 3 TD lead by the half, Manning and the Giants offense coast to a potential offensive record setting day. Week 8 Sunday, Oct. 26 4:15 p.m. at Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) – This game will be decided by which young QB steps up to the plate first. Big Ben has the home crowd on his side, but last year we saw that Eli’s best games were when he was in the spotlight under pressure. The Giants win on a beautiful last drive ending with a Manning QB sneak, untouched for the TD. Week 9 Sunday, Nov. 2 – 4:15 p.m. vs. Dallas Cowboys (13-3) – The NFC equivalence to the Red Sox vs. Yankees match up is a Cowboys v Giants game. Dallas took both regular season games last year but fell to the G-Men in an exciting 2nd round playoff game. Dallas’s running game is too much for the Giants defensive line and NY falls for the first time at home this season. Week 10 Sunday, Nov. 9 – 8:15 p.m. at Philadelphia Eagles (8-8) – In two low scoring games, the Giants handed the Eagles two losses last season and crushed their playoff hopes. Philly will be hungry at home, gunning for the Super Bowl Champs, especially Eli Manning in the pocket. Defensive pressure leading to turnovers helps the Eagles pull off the upset win. Week 11 Sunday, Nov. 16 – 1 p.m. vs. Baltimore Ravens (5-11) – Baltimore comes in with a mediocre offensive unit, a better then average defensive unit, but below average team chemistry which is why they have trouble putting points on the board. The Giants take advantage of good starting field position and put points up early that are enough for the low scoring win. Week 12 Sunday, Nov. 23 – 4:15 p.m. at Arizona Cardinals (8-8) – The Giants are happy to return to Arizona, the site of where they captured the Super Bowl victory and make sure not to overlook the scrappy cardinals who can quietly put a high point total on the board. However, the Giants are in their element and even though it’s not as special and against a different opponent, win for the second straight time in Arizona. Week 13 Sunday, Nov. 30 – 1 p.m. at Washington Redskins (9-7) – The Redskins are having a solid season and battling for a playoff spot while the Giants are thinking about home field. Washington has learned from their early season loss to attack the Giants special teams, and great starting starts lead to many short but effective offensive possessions and a big Redskin victory. Week 14 Sunday, Dec. 7 – 1 p.m. vs. Philadelphia Eagles (8-8) – The Giants must re-focus after the week 13 loss and have a tough opponent coming in for week 14 in the Eagles. In another close game, the Giants even up the season series at 1 a piece on a dominating afternoon performance by Eli Manning, throwing for over 400 yards and 3 TD’s en route to the win. Week 15 Sunday, Dec. 14 – 8:15 p.m. at Dallas Cowboys (13-3) – The game will decide the division champion and unfortunately for the G-Men, they are outmatched right from the coin flip. Tony Romo comes to play and picks apart a secondary that hasn’t had a week off since their Bye week in late September. Week 16 Sunday, Dec. 21 – 1 p.m. vs. Carolina Panthers (7-9) – The G-Men come out with a statement victory of the Panthers in their last regular season home game. They want to show the rest of the NFL that their loss to Dallas was a fluke and that going into the playoffs they are once again a serious contender. Week 17 Sunday, Dec. 28 – 1 p.m. at Minnesota Vikings (8-8) – The Vikings are well out of the playoffs and the game means little for either team. The Giants rest the majority of their starters but are still able to capture the road victory heading into the playoffs with the 3rd best record in the NFC only behind Dallas and Green Bay The defending Super Bowl Champions certainly has what it takes to make it into the playoffs but like last season, they will need to hit their stride at the right time and use that momentum to push them through the always tough NFC playoffs.

Sports - Heading into last nights game trailing 2-0 in the playoffs series vs. the Montreal Canadians, the Boston Bruins felt the pressure to put on a solid performance or ultimately pack it in for the year. After their 2-1 OT win, they’ll at least be packing their bags for a game 5 in Canada, extending the series for another day with the victory. The win was the Bruins first of the year against the Canadians, and came at home in front of a sellout crowd at the TD Banknorth Garden. “We got the monkey off our back after 13 losses,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien, who was not the coach of the Bruins when Montreal started its 13-game winning streak over a year ago. “The game was a lot like last night’s, but this time Lady Luck was smiling upon us.” For the first time all season, the Bruins took a lead against the Canadians with an early 1st period goal scored in the 7th minute of the game. Milan Lucic found the back of the net on a beautiful shot that was assisted by Marc Savard and Mark Stuart. The Canadians picked up their intensity in the 2nd period and came away with a goal to knot the game at 1-1. Tom Kostopoulos slapped home his second goal of the series 4:26 into the period, the goal was assisted by Bryan Smolinski and Steve Begin. After a scoreless third period, the two teams would skate on in overtime and it was the Bruins who would take advantage of delayed penalty call and put home the game winning goal 9:25 into the extra period. It was Marc Savard who came off the bench as an extra man for the penalty call, and would put home his first goal of the playoffs for the key victory. Dennis Wideman was credited with the assist. “I came on as the extra skater,” said Savard, “When Wideman picked it off, I yelled at the top of my lungs and luckily he saw me.” The Bruins received an outstand effort in goal from Tim Thomas who made 27 saves included several close range shots that came in the overtime. “I knew at one point they were going to beat us,” Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. “We had a couple of really good chances in overtime, but Thomas played big.” The two teams will skate in the 4th game of the series tomorrow night, again at the TD Banknorth Garden at 7:00pm. If the Bruins can win at least one of the next two games, a 6th game will also be played in Boston on Saturday April 19th. Bruins vs Canadiens game 4 tickets are still available for tomorrow nights game!

Sports - In a series that featured a little bit of everything, the Boston Red Sox came out on top winning the final two games against the New York Yankees 4-3 and 8-5 after losing the opening contest 4-1. It wasn’t always pretty, and conditions were definitely not of prime baseball weather, but as always the two rivals battled it out in three exciting match ups, leaving fans with a taste of what’s to come during the rest of the regular season. In Friday night’s game, Yankees starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang hurled a complete game 2-hitter, and stifled Red Sox batters all night while scattered showers rained down on the Fenway faithful in the 4-1 Yankees victory. The two hits he allowed could very easily have been outs. J.D. Drew’s solo homerun that came in the 5th inning was a very catchable ball that RF Bobby Abreau misplayed, and let fall into the Sox bullpen for their only run on the night. The other hit came on a Coco Crisp bunt single in the 9th inning that was a very close play at first. “I felt especially good about this because I threw the ball well here in Boston and never pitched well here,” Wang said through a translator. The big blow for the Yankees came on a homerun by Jason Giambi off of Sox veteran reliever Mike Timlin in the 7th inning. Timlin worked the count full before leaving an 88 mph fastball belt high that Giambi took to dead center field underneath the flagpole at Fenway Park. The blast put the Yankees ahead for good 2-1, and they would add another run the same inning and an insurance run in the 9th. Saturday afternoon’s match-up featured Josh Beckett making his first start at Fenway Park of the year. Beckett, who struggled in his season debut vs. Toronto, looked like he was back in form while working 6 2/3 innings during the 4-3 victory, striking out 5 Yankees batters. Manny Ramirez led the offensive charge with his 492 career homerun and 3 RBI’s on the afternoon. With his next homerun, Ramirez will tie Fred McGriff and Lou Gehrig for 24th on the all-time list. During the 8th inning, the skies opened up and the game itself was delayed for 2 hours and 10 minutes due to heavy rains. The Yankees were up, threatening with two runners on and Alex Rodriguez coming to the plate when the game was put on hold. After the long wait, Jonathan Papelbon came out and overpowered Rodriguez with nothing but fastballs, and retired last seasons MVP with an impressive strikeout. Papelbon would work a perfect 9th to earn his 4th save of the season. “My whole goal was just not to sit down during the rain delay, just keep my blood flowing,” Papelbon said. “I definitely had to stay in the right mind-set the whole time. I never let it go. … I stayed there the entire time. I maintained my intensity.” Mike Mussina took the loss for the Yankees and is now 1-2 on the season. He allowed 8 hits and 4 earned runs during his 5 2/3 innings of work. In last night’s 8-5 Red Sox victory, conditions were very similar to late October playoff weather. The game time temperature was a brisk 45 degrees with winds gusting around 13-15 mph. The elements affected both teams, especially the starting pitchers. Dice-K Matsuzaka walked 6 batters in 5 innings of work, and Phil Hughes issued 3 free passes in only 2 innings before getting the hook from Joe Giradi. Luckily for Matsuzaka, the Sox were able to put up 3 runs in the 1st and 4 in the 3rd providing a big enough lead that would hold up for the win. Dustin Pedroia, Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis, Sean Casey and Coco Crisp each had two hits in the win. Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury both drove in two runs as well. The Yankees didn’t receive much offensive production in this one from the top of their lineup. Spots 1 through 4 went 1-15 on the night, including an 0-5 showing from A-Rod. On the series, Rodriguez was only 2-13 (.154) with 2 strikeouts. Sox slugger David Ortiz sat out Sunday’s game to mentally re-focus, hoping it would help break his early season slump. Ortiz is batting .070 (3-43) with only 1 HR and 3 RBI’s on the year. Boston heads out for a two-game series in Cleveland, the teams first meeting since last years ALCS match up that the Red Sox took in 7 games en route to their World Series victory. The Yankees are off to Tampa Bay to face the Devil Rays before the rivals square off again in the Bronx for two games on April 16th and 17th. The Sox return home on April 18th for a three-game series against the Texas Rangers and a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Tickets are still available for both series!

Sports - Baseball season may have officially started two weeks ago in Tokyo, Japan but for Red Sox fans, this weekend’s series vs. the New York Yankees is what it’s all about. It’s a new year, and for the first time in a long time Red Sox Nation feels like they finally have the edge on the Bronx Bombers. With not one, but two World Series championship rings over the past four seasons, a growing international fan base and an ownership that has made it a precedent to restore and preserve Fenway Park it is very clear why Sox fans are on top of the world. Things in New York have not been so cheery and upbeat. Their 26th World Series championship came way back in the year 2000. Their reign as champions at the top of the AL East is history, just like their former and future hall of fame manager Joe Torre who did not resign with the club after the 2007 campaign. This season will also be Yankee Stadiums last, a new ball park project is well underway and costing the organization almost $1 billion dollars to construct. As the Yankees venture into Boston for the three game series, both clubs boast a mediocre (5-5) record on the year and are coming off of wins last night. The Sox had an offensive outburst in their 12-6 victory over the Tigers while the Yankees received a solid pitching performance from starting pitcher Andy Pettitte in their 6-1 win over the Royals. In tonight’s game, Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholtz will take the hill against Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang. Buchholtz has never faced the Yankees before and looked shaky in his season debut over last weekend in Toronto allowing four runs, six hits and two walks in a 10-2 loss. Wang in 2-0 on the season with an impressive 1.38 ERA, but over his career is only 5-5 vs. Boston with a 4.56 ERA. Saturday’s match up will feature Josh Beckett going against veteran Mike Mussina. The ‘Moose’ struggled in his first start of the season but rebounded with a good second outing and stands with a 1-1 mark heading into Fenway. After last year’s performance, Beckett had high expectations by many to be the ace of his staff but after suffering from back spasms that sidelined him on the DL to start the season, he opened up with a very poor outing vs. Toronto on April 6th in which he allowed five earned runs on three hits, one of which a monster homerun by Vernon Wells, and walked five Blue Jays in the 10-2 loss. The start will be Beckett’s first at Fenway since winning Game 1 of the World Series vs. Colorado back in October 2007. In the series finale, Dice-K Matsuzaka will be on the mound pitching against highly touted rookie Phil Hughes. In his last start, Hughes had some control issues walking 4 Royals and surrendering 6 hits in only 3 innings of work in the Yankees 5-2 loss on April 8th. Matsuzaka has been very good in his previous two outings allowing only 1 run over 13 1/3 innings while striking out 16 in that period. Both clubs have are a little banged up from injuries right now. The Sox placed All-Star 3B Mike Lowell on the 15-day DL with a sprained left-thumb that he suffered against during the Tigers series. Kevin Youkilis will transition back to third for the time being and Sean Casey will fill the void at first. The Yankees were without SS Derek Jeter in the Royals series, he was sidelined with a strained left-quadriceps. He is listed as day-to-day and is unsure about his availability throughout the weekend. It’s only April, but both teams would like to jump ahead in the season series early. In 2005 we saw just how important the head to head match up was when both teams finished with identical records of 95-67. The Yankees were crowned the division champs because of a 10-9 advantage vs. the Sox during the regular season. Some numbers and stats to ponder on heading into the weekend: -New York won last year’s series 10-8, winning eight of the final 10 meetings after Boston had captured six of the first eight games. -Boston’s two big guns have enjoyed success against Yankees pitcher Chien- Ming Wang. Manny Ramirez is 13-for-22 (.591), while David Ortiz is 15-for-30 (.500). Each player has two homers off of the right-hander. -Alex Rodriguez has 37 career HR’s, 99 RBI’s and 168 hits against Boston. Tickets are still available for all games this weekend!

Sports - After rolling off a seven game winning streak, the Boston Celtics hit a wall last night, and that wall was the Washington Wizards. The Wizards controlled most of the action in their 109-95 victory over the Celtics, and became the only team in the NBA to beat Boston for the third time this season. After a dominating opening night performance in which the C’s downed the Wizards 103-83 back in early November, the Wizards have had a spell cast over their Eastern Conference foes that can not leave anyone in beantown feeling good about a possible playoff match up. The Wizards came out runnin’ and gunnin’ early scoring 30 points in the first quarter. Six members of their lineup would score in double digits led by Antawn Jamison’s 27 point performance.  One of his buckets was a high light reel dunk directly over Kevin Garnett on a baseline drive that brought the Washington crowd to their feet. Not too shabby for a 10-year NBA veteran. “It’s just letting the young fellows know I still got it,” said Jamison with a laugh. “I joke with them all the time. For me, it was an aggressive move going to the basket, and I was able to find it.” With the top seed and home court wrapped up throughout the playoffs, a fan might see the lopsided score and think the Celtics were resting starters and just didn’t put in the effort to win. Well, that wasn’t the case in this one, with the big three all playing at least 31 minutes a piece and still in the game late into the 4th quarter. Last night was just a prime example that the hungrier team will feast on the weaker prey and it looked like the Wizards hadn’t eaten in days. “It says a lot to beat them three games to one throughout the regular season,” Jamison said. “I think if the match up was to occur as far as meeting them in the second round or whatever, it gives us the confidence to know that we can match up with them. We’re taking their best shot.” Paul Pierce led the Celtics scoring 28 points on a 10-15 shooting performance from the floor and was 6-9 from behind the arc. Garnett played typical KG basketball in the post dropping 22 and grabbing 14 boards in 31 minutes. Ray Allen was the only other Celtics player in double figures dropping only 13 points on a poor 4-13 shooting display from the field. Coach Doc Rivers was disappointed with the loss but understands that the games result is not a setback by anyone’s standards. “We didn’t play with much intensity, but, honestly, I understand that,” Rivers said. “This is the game I wanted to use minutes with the starters, and I probably will do it one more time. After that, we are just getting ready for the playoffs.” The regular season wraps up mid next week and both the Celtics and Wizards are gearing up for the post season run. The Wizards are looking at their remaining games a little differently then most teams heading into the playoffs because for the majority of the season key members on the roster were injured. Gilbert Arenas missed 66 games due to knee surgery and last night played in only his third game back. He scored 13 points. “A lot of teams are resting their starters because they’re in the playoffs,” Jamison said. “But for us, I think we had too much rest throughout the season. It’s time to get the rotations down, get the chemistry down.” The Wizards are currently 5th in the Eastern Conference standings, two games behind Cleveland for the last home court spot in the first round of the playoffs. As they continue to gel, the Celtics wait patiently to find out who their first round opponent will be, which may not be determined until the very last game of the season. Currently the Atlanta Hawks are in the 8th spot, and the Celtics will see them on Saturday in Atlanta for the two team’s last regular season meeting. When asked about a possible second round match up between the Wizards and Celtics and if the three consecutive losses to them will play into the series Paul Pierce said, “I don’t know—unless you let it get in your head, psychologically. I still feel that we’re the better team. Maybe we can see them in the playoffs, who knows, and go from there.” First round playoff tickets are now available for the Boston Celtics!

Sports - After a two week long, three country hiatus that opened up the Boston Red Sox season, the 2007 World Series Champions were happy to return home and accept their championship rings in front of another sold out Fenway Park crowd during yesterday’s pre-game ceremonies that followed with an impressive 5-0 shutout victory over the Detroit Tigers. The ceremonies included past Boston sports legends such as Bill Russell and Bobby Orr who held their respective championship trophies for all to see alongside the Red Sox 2004 and 2007 trophies. The ceremonial first pitch of the afternoon was thrown out by former Red Sox 1B Bill Buckner. Buckner, the 1986 World Series goat who had been invited to the 2005 opening day ceremonies but elected to not attend, received a standing ovation during yesterday festivities. One member of the Sox who did not actively participate in receiving his ring was starting pitcher Dice-K Matsuzaka. He was too busy warming up in the bullpen while all the excitement was going on throughout the park. “I did feel a little jealous,” Matsuzaka said. “The ring had been put in my locker at some point during the game. I tried it on, and I must say it looked pretty good.” His ring wasn’t the only thing that looked good yesterday, for the second straight start his performance on the mound was very impressive en route to his second win on the season. Over 6 2/3 innings, Matsuzaka only allowed 4 hits and stuck out 7 Tigers. Relief pitchers Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima put up goose eggs in the 8th and 9th innings to preserve the shutout. The loss puts Detroit at a mark of (0-7) on the year, the worst in Major League Baseball. Many had projected the Tigers to be one of the top three teams in the league behind the Sox and Yankees, but right now they are struggling at the plate having only scored 15 runs over 7 games (2.14 per game). “You get angry if people are going through the motions and if they’re not trying,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “But that’s not what’s happening.” No? Well they did commit two errors on the afternoon only a day after they had made three in a game. Their pitchers allowed 12 hits, 6 walks and a balk vs. the Sox and they only managed to squeak out 5 measly singles. On the season, they are batting a pathetic .235 team average. Yesterday’s starting pitcher Kenny Rogers is just as frustrated with these numbers as any veteran player in the league would be. “It’s frustrating. Right now, we’re the worst team in baseball because of the way we are playing, in all areas of the game,” Rogers said. “I wanted to be the guy to turn things around. Every player in the locker room wants to be that guy.” The Sox took advantage of the Tigers struggles early in the game scoring once in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings to put them ahead 3-0. Manny Ramirez almost had an inside the park homerun in the 3rd but it was ruled a triple with a throwing error by Detroit 2B Placido Polanco. The Sox tacked on their final two runs of the afternoon in the 6th inning on an RBI double by Kevin Youkilis that plated Julio Lugo. Later in the inning, J.D. Drew would walk with the bases loaded to bring home Youkilis for the games last run. Youkilis went 3-3 at the plate and is off to a great start batting at a .400 clip through 8 games. Tonight in the second game of the series, Jon Lester will take the hill for the Sox and match up against Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman. Lester is coming off an impressive win over Oakland where he pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings for a victory. Bonderman is (0-1) on the year losing his first start to Kansas City in which he allowed 4 runs and 8 hits over 6 1/3 innings. After the Tigers series finale on Thursday, the Red Sox will welcome the New York Yankees to town for the weekend and their first of 18 games this year. Red Sox Tickets are still available for baseballs biggest rivalry!

Sports - After a grueling 19-day road trip, the Sox are home to play their first game of the year at Fenway. The park got a minor facelift in the offseason; new bleacher seats have been installed, and a new section called the “Coca-Cola” corner replaces some of the old luxury suites built for the 1999 All-Star Game.  These changes push Fenway’s capacity to 39,988. First pitch is at 2:05pm today, preceded by the World Series ring ceremony. Daisuke Matsuzaka will face off against Kenny Rogers.

Sports - Over the past 19 days, the Boston Red Sox have played ten games (three exhibition) in three different countries, against four different teams.  They have already played three “opening days”, traveled 16,000 miles, and still have still yet to take the field for the home opener in Boston. After a day off, the Sox will play the Fenway opener against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.  The Tigers made some impressive offeason moves this year, but have started out 0-5.  The Sox have also had a rough time recently, suffering a sweep by the Blue Jays in Toronto. Matchup: Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-0 2.31) vs Kenny Rogers (0-1 3.00) Daisuke looked shaky at the beginning of his start in Japan, but has been solid since then.  In his 11.2 innings so far he’s posted an ERA of 2.31, a WHIP of .77, and notched 15 strikeouts. Rogers had a great first start, but was stuck with a hard-luck loss by a lack of run support. Both teams had a tough time with their previous series. The anemic Tigers offense batted .208 with 22 strikeouts in their previous series against the Royals.  Sox pitchers have been having issues with home runs; three consecutive games in a row were blown open in the course of one inning. With Matsuzaka on the mound, the Sox look ready to bounce back in front of the Fenway Park faithful.

Sports - The NHL Playoff Matchups are set.  The eight top teams in the Eastern Conference are ready to fight for the chance to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup. 1. Montreal Canadiens vs 8. Boston Bruins The Canadiens have owned the Bruins  recently, sweeping the 8-game season series by a margin of 44-16, and winning the last 11 total games.  The B’s will be getting Patrice Bergeron back in time for game one, which comes at the same time as the Canadiens suffering some pre-playoff injuries.  This may be the edge they need to keep this series competitive. 2. Pittsburgh Penguins vs 7. Ottawa Senators The tag team of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby face off against the faltering Senators.  The former Eastern Conference 1st place team has come up lame recently, but is still nearly the same team that made it to the Stanley Cup final a year ago, and went 15-2 to start the year. The Pens are still the heavy favorites in this series. 3. Washington Capitals vs 6. Philadelphia Flyers The Washington Capitals were essentially dead in the water at midseason.  Alexander Ovechkin led the Caps back into playoff contention, winning nine of the last ten games and locking up the number three seed in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers finished dead last in the East least year.  This year they have been consistent throughoutall season, gaining a number six seed.  The Flyers’ chances looked a bit better against the Hurricanes, who blew their playoff spot in the waning days of the season.  The Caps are the early favorites in this matchup. 4. New Jersey Devils vs 5. New York Rangers Formidable goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist meet up in this Tri-State series.  The Rangers have had more offensive firepower as of late, but the Devils’ D has been solid in the stretch.  Look for low scores and exhausted top lines in this series.  The Rangers hope that Chris Drury will provide some playoff magic, while the Devils look to season finale hero Patrik Elias to provide an advantage in the shootout. The NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs are about to start!

Sports - The Boston Celtics completed the best turn-around in NBA history when they beat the Bobcats 101-78 on Saturday night. The victory topped the previous record held by the San Antonio Spurs from the 1997-98 season. That was the year the Spurs landed Tim Duncan. The Celtics also benefited from the key off-season acquisition of Kevin Garnett to complete their turn-around in 2007-08. Ironically enough the Celtics clinched the top seed in the upcoming playoffs without the help of their three superstars, the Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Leon Powe stepped up with 22 points and 9 rebounds while James Posey added a season high 19 points. The rest was well deserved for the Big Three of the Celtics. With the top seed locked up for the playoffs the Celtics will want their best players to be rested for the 2nd season. Paul Pierce had the night off to celebrate the birth of his baby girl. Boston Celtics playoff tickets are now available for all possible rounds including the NBA Finals.