NHL finals prediction

So the NHL finals are starting on Saturday.

Hayden Panettiere must be Canadian, because she sure loves the Stanley Cup.

I’m pretty stoked they’ll be starting early. If they had waited until next weekend to start, I don’t think I would have watched. Too much time in between the semifinals and the finals.

This promises to be an exciting series. The Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking for a little revenge against the Detroit Red Wings, the team that defeated them in the finals last year.

Interesting trivia: Detroit’s last four Cups have come from, in order, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens in this year’s playoffs have eliminated, in order, the Flyers, Caps and Hurricanes.

I think Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the team will get their revenge this year. Detroit may have more depth, but they need it because their stars aren’t producing (Nicklas Lidstrom is battling injuries, Pavel Datsyuk has disappeared, and Marian Hossa needed two and half rounds to get start performing).

I also think the Pens will be looking for revenge on Hossa, who left the team in the offseason so he could have a better chance at winning a Stanley Cup.

Look for Crosby and Malkin to come out like gangbusters, and to have great series, with Crosby winning the MVP trophy. If the Red Wings win the cup, I don’t know who could win the Conn Smythe there. Maybe Dan Cleary? Who knows?

Prediction: Penguins in 6.

How to write a book

So as I am losing weight and getting a six-pack of abs, I figured this would be a good time to tackle another major bucket list item: writing a book.

I promise not to use "It was a dark and stormy night" as my first sentence.

I know it’s going to be a major challenge, especially since I’m journalist. Reporters tend to write short pieces, and get to the point quickly, whereas novels build up to suspenseful climax.

I have a plot done in my head. I pretty much have the outline of the first chapter and a half done in my head, plus other future chapters. I know who the bad guys are, who the good guys are, where it’s going, what I want to accomplish, etc.

The thing is, I don’t know how to end it. I can’t think of a conclusion to whole thing.

And since it will be designed as a thriller (hopefully), I’m curious on if I should start writing, and hope the end comes to me at some point, or if I should wait until I can think of some way to end it bef0re I start typing.

So if anyone has any advice on this, or anything else to do with writing a book, please let me know.

Thanks for the help.