bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to

Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they give a special NHL playoff edition of Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, where the panel gives their Stanley Cup winner prediction. Bruce Arthur, National Post My thumb is up to the Boston Bruins who I think are going to be the 2014 Stanley Cup champions. Remember last season, there was a thought that Claude Julien would get fired if they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and jeopardy could extend all the way up to the general managers chair and they did what they did. I think theyre in better shape heading into the playoffs then they were last season, when they had a compressed schedule following the Boston Marathon bombings, they were a tired team in the first round and really, more than anything, they have the easiest road to the Stanley Cup Final of any Stanley Cup contender. I think Bostons ready. Steve Simmons, SUN Media It hurts me to say this just because of the history but Im going thumbs up to the San Jose Sharks, who year in and year out disappoint at this time of year, but I look at this team and all that size up front. The move of Joe Pavelski to left wing has really completed this forward group nicely and I think Marc-Edouard Vlasics play at the Olympics taught him that hes a big-time guy now. He can elevate his game and I think that team, with Todd McLellan coaching, can come out of the west and can beat the Boston Bruins. Theyre too big and theyre too fast. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is up to the Chicago Blackhawks because consistency is the hob gobble in little minds and nobody has a littler mind than I do. I picked them at the start of the year, I picked them at the deadline, and Im picking them now because Patrick Kanes going to be back, Jonathan Toews is going to be back, and because the Blackhawks have the best defenceman in the Stanley Cup tournament in Duncan Keith. Dave Hodge, TSN Im going to go through the apparently easy route in the east and say thumbs up to the Presidents Trophy winning Boston Bruins. Sure, they dont win as often as they lose but in this case, this is the best home team in the NHL, lots of playoff experience, theyre obviously good defensively, good goaltending, good special teams and they are reasonably healthy. Then theres that Eastern Conference path to the Stanley Cup Final again, and I think that ends up being the bottom line for my reason to pick Boston. Pau Gasol Spurs Jersey .com) - Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar and New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo were named the NHLs players of the week on Monday. Derrick White Spurs Jersey . They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. https://www.spurslockerroom.com/Luka-Samanic-City-Edition-Jersey/ . After making his All-Star debut in Fridays Rising Stars Challenge, the Raptors sophomore centre wont be sticking around for the duration of the weekends festivities, thinking about the big picture instead. Jakob Poeltl Spurs Jersey .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player. George Gervin Spurs Jersey . Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.T. PAUL, Minn. -- Cam Atkinson and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist, and a Columbus Blue Jackets split squad beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 in a preseason game Tuesday night. Mark Letestu also scored for the Blue Jackets, who got 20 saves from Jeremy Smith. Nino Niederreiter scored for Minnesota, which played its preseason opener. Johansen gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with 1:51 left in the first period, scoring on a rebound after Michael Chaput was stopped on a breakaway out of the penalty box.dddddddddddd Atkinson put a rebound behind Niklas Backstrom at 4:23 of the second, and Letestu made it 3-0 at 7:53 with a wrist shot from the left circle. Niederreiter knocked in a rebound of Charlie Coyles shot for a power-play goal in the second. Backstrom stopped seven shots before being replaced by Darcy Kuemper midway through the game. Kuemper also made seven saves. ' ' '