Jurors suspect Blagojevich was tailoring testimony to them(Photo-Video)

Last year’s jury thought the prosecution’s case against Rod Blagojevich lacked a smoking gun.
This year’s jury called the same evidence “overwhelming.”
What changed?
Rod Blagojevich took the witness stand in his retrial. And the 11 women and one man on the former governor’s jury not only didn’t buy what he said — they thought he was in full spin mode.

Jury forewoman Connie Wilson, 56, of Naperville, said she thought she recognized what Blagojevich was up to when he started picking and choosing details from his personal history. The details appeared to mirror personal information that came out when the judge questioned the jury pool before testimony began, she said.
“I said, ‘Do you remember what he talked about . . . [while testifying about his home] library?’ ” Wilson said she told other jurors during their deliberations. “He pointed to something in the library that pertained to almost everybody on the jury.”
She said jurors started piecing it together.
Over his seven days of testimony, Blagojevich mentioned books, targeting a librarian on the jury; pointed out an interest in music, directing the comment toward Wilson, the former choral director at Holy Spirit Catholic Community in Naperville; and discussed the importance of education, to connect with a teacher, Wilson said. “He even brought out at one point something about Boston, and of course our gentleman was a huge Boston fan,” she said with a laugh, remembering the male juror’s many Boston-themed T-shirts.
That juror, John McParland, was the lone male in the group. He wasn’t having any of Blagojevich’s testimony.
Particularly unconvincing, he said, was the politician’s attempt to explain what he “meant” by comments caught on tape by the government.
“You’re talking in, like, two different languages, then?” McParland said in an interview.
The target-your-audience strategy may work with voters in politics, but it didn’t fly with this group.
It made juror Karen Woj­cieszak, 64, of Tinley Park, downright angry.
“We had heard seven days of Mr. Blagojevich’s ‘blah, blah, blah,’ ” Wojcieszak said. “I don’t care if he grew up poor on the North Side of immigrant parents. We’re all immigrants unless you’re a Native American.
“He really cheated the people of Illinois, or tried to,” she continued. “He took an oath to do what was best for the people of Illinois and he didn’t do it. So we’ll have another governor in jail.”
Even though they believed he was lying, many of the jurors still liked him.
“I almost feel like I’d want to apologize to him, but it’s not my fault, so why do I have those feelings?” said Maya Moody of Hyde Park. “Sometimes I think he was just surrounded by people that just didn’t have the heart to speak the truth to him. It’s either that or . . . that’s just how the political machine in Illinois is, and he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. But, either way it goes, you know, when you look at the law . . . it was all illegal.”
Juror Maribel DeLeon, 45, of West Dundee, described her decision to convict as “heartbreaking,” particularly after Blagojevich, during his testimony, frequently mentioned his love for his wife and two daughters. His testimony did little to sway her views, she said. “His answers weren’t consistent,” she said. “There [were] many times it was clear he lied.”
She said Blagojevich’s own words secretly recorded by investigators were critical in convincing her that Blagojevich tried to extort campaign cash and was looking to personally benefit by trading President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat.
“The tapes were very convincing,” DeLeon said.
Deliberations took nearly 10 days because jurors worked hard to keep their personal feelings about Blagojevich out of their discussions.
“We really followed the letter of the law,” DeLeon said. “We kept going back to that, we were like ‘this is exactly what it says, this is what we’re going to do.’ That’s why it took so long.”
“I believe Rod was out there helping the people,” said DeLeon, who believes Blagojevich became “disgruntled” in office and started looking for a way out. “Everything was a snowball effect and he made poor choices,” she said.
Jessica Hubinek, of Carol Stream, said about 3 p.m. Thursday, on their ninth day of deliberations, she and her fellow jurors had decided: He was guilty of 17 of the 20 counts.
And in the careful, deliberate way they had discussed, reviewed and analyzed the evidence, they wanted to sleep on it and send their final decision to the judge Monday morning, said Hubinek, a 32-year-old librarian and married mother of a teenager.
Rosemary Bennett, 73, of Aurora, said the morning of the verdict she did something she did every morning before that.
“I prayed every morning that the Lord would help each one of us jurors to base our decision of evidence and nothing else,” she said. “It’s easy to judge on preconceived notions.”
While McParland said he feels for Blagojevich’s two daughters, he has little sympathy for Blagojevich.
“It’s hard to feel sorry about him,” McParland said, “because, why are you doing this in the first place?”
Karin Wilson, 48, of Palatine, wouldn’t say whether she voted for Blagojevich in his gubernatorial elections. But this summer, while hanging out with her daughter and 18-year-old son, she’s eager to read about Blagojevich’s first trial, which ended in a hung jury, and find answers to a few questions she wondered about during the second.
“It was the most interesting thing I’ve ever done,” Wilson said. “And the most boring thing I’ve ever done.”
Because Hubinek took the judge’s orders to avoid the media so seriously, she missed a bunch of other big news, too. A colleague asked her late in April if she watched the wedding?
“What wedding?” she said, unaware of Prince William’s royal extravaganza.

In Boston gangster story, a tale of 2 brothers(Photo-Video)

BOSTON—It has all the hallmarks of a Greek tragedy: two brothers whose lives diverge radically—one into an underworld of crime, the other into the upper echelons of state politics—yet whose fates remain inextricably linked.
Generations of Boston residents have watched that story play out in the real-life drama of former Democratic Senate President William "Billy" Bulger and his older brother, alleged gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

At the heart of the story, at least for the younger Bulger, was a fierce loyalty to family and the shared experience of growing up in the working class Irish-American enclave of South Boston, where the line between brawling and bare-knuckled politics was easily blurred.
The two brothers also shared one more thing: a willingness to use whatever power was available to them.
In William's case, that was a savviness for street-smart politics that propelled him into one of the most powerful positions on Beacon Hill, where he earned a reputation for arm-twisting that rarely saw him lose a battle.
For Whitey, according an inch-thick pile of indictments, that power came at the barrel of a gun and a coterie of enforcers.
Whitey's surprising arrest after 16 years on the run to face 19 murder charges this week has again thrust the brothers' story into the spotlight.
It's a relationship that would dog William Bulger throughout his career, ultimately forcing his resignation as president of the
University of Massachusetts system in 2003 after he testified before a congressional committee investigating the FBI's ties to his brother, who by then had been revealed as an FBI informant.
After receiving immunity, William acknowledged receiving a call from Whitey shortly after he fled.
"The tone of it was 'Don't believe everything that is being said about me,'" William Bulger said. "I think he asked me to tell everybody he was OK. ... I think I said I hope this has a happy ending."
Two years earlier, William Bulger had told a grand jury he didn't urge his brother to surrender because he didn't "think it would be in his interest to do so," according to a transcript of his testimony obtained by The Boston Globe.
"It's my hope that I'm never helpful to anyone against him," the younger Bulger said, according to the transcript. "I don't feel an obligation to help everyone to catch him."
Among those pressing William Bulger to resign from his university post was then-Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.
For William Bulger it was a role as defender of his brother that he'd long ago accepted, even as Whitey allegedly disappeared into an increasingly violent criminal netherworld.
In his 1996 memoir "While the Music Lasts," William Bulger described Whitey, five years his senior, as being in "a constant state of revolt," and as "restless as a claustrophobic in a dark closet."
Whitey kept himself in top physical shape, neither smoke nor drank, shunned addictive drugs, and had "an abundance of good humor and a wildly creative talent for impish mischief," his brother wrote.
But William Bulger also said Whitey found himself in trouble with police and once ran away to join the circus—signing on with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a roustabout. The older brother joined the Air Force but had trouble conforming and was later discharged.
"He was just being Jim," Bulger wrote.
William Bulger said that it was around this time that Whitey fell in with a crowd involved in bank holdups and in 1956 was convicted of involvement in three bank robberies and sentenced to 20 years. He served part of what turned out to be an 11-year sentence in Alcatraz.
Four years after Whitey's conviction, William was first elected to the Massachusetts House.
In the years following Whitey's release, William blamed the press for spreading what he called "lurid allegations" about his brother, speculating that some of the "dark rumors" were nothing more than political attacks on him.
As Whitey's criminal activities allegedly turned more brutal, William Bulger rose through the Statehouse ranks. In 1970 he won a Senate seat and eight years later was elected Senate president by the 40-member chamber, a position he would hold for a record 17 years.
Even after Whitey fled in 1995 of the eve of his indictment on racketeering charges, William remained loyal, accusing overzealous prosecutors of buying testimony with promises of early release from prison.
"It has been known for many years that a 'get out of jail' card has been available to anyone who would give testimony against my brother," he wrote.
At the same time, William was earning a reputation as a tough-minded leader who rewarded supporters and punished critics.
Warren Tolman, a former Democratic senator who was among those critics, served briefly under him.
Tolman said that although he often found himself at loggerheads with William Bulger, he felt Bulger treated him fairly and could be "a charming guy" when he wanted.
Still, Bulger wasn't shy about using his political might.
Tolman said after he was able to prevent a transportation funding proposal from passing by a single vote, Bulger, who opposed the measure, used his muscle to flip a vote, forcing the proposal through.
"By and large he got his way whenever he wanted," Tolman said. "You knew that if you took him on it was going to be an uphill battle."
Tolman said he never recalled open discussions about Bulger's brother even his Senate colleagues "certainly knew of the legend of Whitey Bulger."
"I don't think anyone ever realized the scope of the dastardly deeds he's accused of," Tolman said.
Occasionally the lines between politics and the underworld blurred.
In 1994, then-state Sen. William Keating led a group of like-minded liberal lawmakers in an attempt to oust Bulger as Senate president.
Although the challenge failed, the campaign against Keating was fierce. Keating said his supporters from South Boston told him that Whitey had paid people to travel to Keating's district to hold signs for his Republican opponent.
Keating said he had his own brief run-in with the reputed mobster, who approached him and lit into him with a barrage of profanity-laced insults for trying to take down his brother.
Keating, who went on to become Norfolk District Attorney before being elected to Congress last year, said he's friends with a family who lost a loved one to Whitey's violence, according to the indictments against him.
"There's a tendency to glamorize abuse of power and a tendency to glamorize the gangster life, but as a district attorney I was there as they were unearthing the bodies of (Whitey Bulger's) victims," Keating said. "It's not funny and it's not glamorous. It was savage and it was brutal."
In a written statement following Whitey's arrest this week, William Bulger said he wished to "express my sympathy to all the families hurt by the calamitous circumstances of this case."
Then, during Whitey's brief appearance in federal court in Boston on Friday, the aging brothers had a fleeting reunion of sorts. Whitey, now 81, smiled at his younger brother and mouthed the word 'Hi.' William smiled back.


William, speaking briefly to reporters as he left the courthouse, appeared emotional.

Vancouver’s Stanley Cup fate lies between the pipes

VANCOUVER -- Kevin Bieksa got the primary assist on what to date is the most important goal of the Vancouver Canucks' season, maybe the most important in franchise history.
Of course, that could all change in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday in Boston, but for now Bieksa's bank shot-pass off the end boards early in the third period is the assist everybody is talking about. The puck came out to Maxim Lapierre on the left side of the net and the Canucks' third-line center shot it off

of Tim Thomas and into the net to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead that stood the rest of the way.
Bieksa explained the play that led to a win in Game 5 and his feelings now that Vancouver is 60 minutes away from winning the Stanley Cup. Here is what he had to say:
Q: Is putting the puck off the end boards and getting it to bounce out front the best way to beat Thomas when he comes that far out of his crease?
A: Obviously Burr (Alexandre Burrows) scored the big goal in Game 2 in overtime against him, a pump fake and going around. He's coming out far, so the only way to make him pay is to put pucks off the boards and hope they bounce into the slot.
Q: So, that was a set play or were you trying to shoot it?
A: I'm trying just to put it off the wall and hope it got a bounce. Obviously (I'm) not a geometry whiz, so I'm not sure exactly where but I was hoping it would bounce somewhere in front of the net. It bounced to our stick.
Q: When did you guys start talking about doing that play?
A: I can remember trying it a few times in Boston. We talked about it before the series. We have pretty good scouting crew that did a good job of giving us tips on Thomas. He's a good goalie so you have to find ways to cheat and get little advantages. That was one of them.
Q: What does this feel like, being one win away right now?
A: It feels great. We're trying to stay really focused. We've got one big game left. We'd like to go finish it there -- that'd be a great feeling. We've got two kicks left at it, but obviously we want to go finish it there.
Q: Can you talk about the way Roberto (Luongo) responded tonight after all the criticism he came under?
A: He played an unbelievable game for us, and we expected it out of him. It's no surprise. He's a big-time goalie. He's played on the big stage before and succeeded. You can't really blame him for what happened in Boston. It was the whole team that letdown in Boston. You saw the whole team regroup and come back and play strong. He led the charge.
Q: How about the success of your penalty kill tonight, the difference it made early?
A: The penalty kill was strong. The penalty kill was good in Game 4 too. That was one of the bright spots for us. We were good and we continued that tonight. We pressured them a lot and made them work for their chances. I can't remember a whole lot of great looks that they got."

'Daddy, you're so handsome'

It's a miraculous about-face for the history books.

Just six weeks after receiving the nation's first full face transplant, Dallas Wiens, a 25-year-old construction worker from Fort Worth, Texas, appeared in public for the first time yesterday to show off his new features -- which prompted his young daughter to say, "Daddy, you're so handsome."

In footage aired on yesterday's "Good Morning America," Wiens -- who had suffered horrifying burns to his head 2½ years ago when a boom lift he was operating snagged a power line -- was reunited with his 3-year-old daughter, Scarlett, for the first time since his amazing surgery.

Wiens cited Scarlett as the reason he had signed on for the transplant in the first place.

"I could have lived like I was, no problem, if I did not have my daughter," said Wiens, who has been left blind by the accident.

"But I could not bear the thought of her growing up and being asked questions, 'Why does your daddy look different?' And dealing with that all of her childhood."

The devastating accident and the 22 surgeries that followed had left Wiens with a face without features.

All he had was a lipless mouth and a small goatee. He had no nose or eyes, and doctors even smoothed over his eye sockets with skin taken from other parts of his body.

Last March, a team of more than 30 doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists at Brigham and Woman's Hospital in Boston worked for more than 17 hours to build Wiens a new face using one from an anonymous donor that included muscles, nerves and a piece of nasal bone.

They were even able to create the muscles and nerves he needed to make it move.

Wiens also regained his sense of smell, as it was only the outside part of his nose that had been damaged.

Wiens said he cried when he woke up from the miracle surgery and felt his new nose.

The first thing he smelled was hospital lasagna.

"But it smelled really, really good," Wiens said.

Other phenomenal "firsts" for Wiens included blowing his nose and sneezing.

"This new face, it's not who I am. The old face wasn't, either," he said. "Who you are is inside -- it's internalized. It's who you show the world."

Wiens was the second person to undergo a face transplant at Brigham and Woman's Hospital. James Maki received a partial transplant in 2005 after accidentally falling face-first onto an electrified subway rail.

The world's first full face transplant was done in Spain in 2010.

James and Wade score 63 as Heat top Celtics 102-91

Exactly 365 days after losing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at home — his former home in Cleveland, anyway — against Boston, James was on the cusp of losing the upper hand to the Celtics again.

Not this time.

James scored 24 of his 35 points in the second half, Dwyane Wade added 28 and the Heat used a late 14-0 run to pull away and beat the aching Celtics 102-91 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night.

"Feel good about it," James said. "Series is far — far, far, far — away from over. It's really just beginning for us."

James shot 14 of 25 from the field, and logged 44 minutes with no turnovers. Chris Bosh finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which leads the best-of-seven 2-0.

Game 3 in Boston isn't until Saturday night, and the Celtics may be particularly thankful for the break.

Rajon Rondo played through a balky back to score 20 points and add 12 assists for Boston, which got 16 points from Kevin Garnett and 13 from Paul Pierce — who retreated to the locker room for treatment on his strained left Achilles' in the first half. Ray Allen was held to seven points, and left with what he said was a bruised chest cavity courtesy of an elbow from James in the third quarter.

"Being down 2-0 doesn't scare any of us, doesn't make us nervous," Allen said. "It's just an opportunity to come out shining."

Boston tied the game at 80 on a pair of free throws by Pierce with 7:10 left. The Celtics missed their next six shots and Miami pulled away, taking command of both the game and the series.

And for James, it was delicious irony.

May 1, 2010: Cleveland opened the East semis at home with a win over Boston.

May 1, 2011: Miami opened the East semis at home with a win over Boston.

May 3, 2010: Cleveland loses Game 2, the first stumble on the way to falling in the series.

May 3, 2011: James gets what might go down as a breakthrough win — for him and the Heat — over Boston.

"We finally wore them down," James said.

Jeff Green scored 11 and Delonte West added 10 for the Celtics.

Even for a franchise with such fabled history as the Celtics, an 0-2 deficit represents a colossal challenge.

This is now the ninth time Boston has dropped the first two games in a best-of-seven series. In the previous eight, the Celtics prevailed only against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1969 NBA finals.

And it's something this group of Celtics has never faced before, either.

The last time Boston lost the first two games of a playoff matchup was in 2004, when it was swept by Indiana. The current core of Celtics had lost Game 1s four other times before this series, then bounced back to win Game 2 each time, against Chicago and Orlando in 2009, then Cleveland and the Lakers in 2010.

"Nothing we can do about it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We've got a third game and we've got to take care of that. Whatever the past is, it is. They've won two games at home. But we can't allow them to play like this, or it's going to be tough at our place."

To win this series, Boston will need to prevail four times in a five-game span — which it did in the first round against Miami last year, then again in the second round at the expense of James and the Cavaliers in the East semis. So it can be done, but neither James (7-0) nor Wade (5-0) has ever been part of a playoff series defeat after their clubs won the first two games.

"This is a great team we are going against right now," James said. "We're just trying to give ourselves a good chance to win, just try to keep on attacking them, playing as hard as we can defensively, just trying to wear them down throughout the game, but it's a great team."

That's one of the titles the Heat are trying to claim, too.

James won the MVP award in 2009 and 2010, his reign officially ending a couple hours before Tuesday's game when the NBA made the long-expected announcement that Chicago's Derrick Rose was this season's top player.

James' name did not appear on nine of the 121 ballots cast. Wade was entirely left off all but 10 of the ballots; voters were asked to rank the league's best five players.

They noticed.

"At the end of the day, we don't really play this game for individual awards," Wade said. "He has two MVP trophies, which is awesome. I have a finals MVP trophy. Our body of work speaks for itself. What we've done in this game speaks for itself."

James scored 12 points in the third quarter, one more than he managed in the first half, to help Miami take a 72-67 cushion into the final 12 minutes. James then added the first basket of the fourth, but Boston answered with a 13-6 run over the next 4 minutes to knot the game at 80.

The outcome was undecided — momentarily.

That's when Miami's big run began, including a three-point play where James dunked and got fouled after Joel Anthony kept an offensive rebound alive. Mario Chalmers started it all with a 3-pointer — his only points of the night — off a pass from Wade, and Miami was on its way.

"Now the mental discipline begins," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "This thing is just getting started."

NOTES: All-Star guard Chris Paul sat near the Heat bench, with longtime James confidant Maverick Carter. ... Shaquille O'Neal (calf) was out again for Boston, while the Heat said Udonis Haslem (foot) still "isn't ready" to return from November foot surgery. ... Pierce played 33 minutes, giving him 4,259 in his Celtics playoff career, passing Dennis Johnson (4,258) for seventh in franchise history. ... Heat guard Mike Bibby's steal with 41 seconds left in the first quarter was his 100th in 87 playoff games.

NBA Playoffs: Round 2 predictions.

Now that each of the teams have one series under their belt, it’s a little more clear as to what is going on. Obviously, the one huge surprise was Memphis over San Antonio in six games – although I have never heard so many people giving so much chance to a #8 seed before the series began. Still… a #8 over a #1 in six games is pretty incredible.

A few days ago I wrote about the biggest choke jobs in history. In the NBA, the biggest almost certainly was in 2007 when #1 Dallas lost to #8 Golden State.

Both Golden State in 2007 and Memphis in 2011 had 42-40 records. Both won four games to two. Dallas had 67 wins in 2007, San Antonio had 61 wins in 2011. So, I guess you would have to say the Dallas choke was bigger than the San Antonio choke simply because Dallas had more victories during the season.

And, that also underscores how often the playoffs are about matchups. As I mentioned in my choke job post, Golden State had played Dallas three times during the regular season in 2007. They won all three and by an average of 16ppg! So, it wasn’t even as big a surprise as Memphis over San Antonio even though they split during the regular season.

I think the Grizzlies are probably better than most people realized and they did finish the second half the season very strong whereas the Spurs stumbled into the playoffs. So, the stars were aligned and an eight beat a one. What does it mean?

COOL FACTOID: Prior to the San Antonio series, Memphis had never won a single playoff game – having been swept the three previous appearances.

MEMPHIS vs OKLAHOMA CITY

Oklahoma City should have an easier second round opponent than what was expected. But, again, Memphis has proven they are no pushover and with Durant and Westbrook being a little streaky at times, they might be vulnerable.

The two teams played four times during the season and Memphis won three of the four – scoring 100+ in each game. But, it is also worth noting that Kendrick Perkins did not play in any of the games. So, whether his presence on the inside will affect Memphis ability to score in the paint (#1 in the NBA)… it remains to be determined.

Of course, Grizzly fans are lamenting more than ever the loss of Rudy Gay for the season – and who can blame them. But, they have been getting outstanding help from other players and should be able to make this a very competitive series.

My pick: OKC 4-3.

BOSTON vs MIAMI

Everyone knows the actors in this play! The obvious question is whether or not the Celtics “team” can beat the greatest collection of “individuals” of our era. I say no. But then, I’ve underestimated the Celtics before. My opinion is not based upon how good Boston is as much as it is based upon how good Miami is.

The Celtics have collapsed in the second half the season each of the four years this group has been together. But, that didn’t keep them from winning one title and almost a second. So, just because they ended 11-11 doesn’t mean you can draw a lot of conclusions from it. They did, after all, sweep the Knicks in the first round even if a couple games could have gone either way and even though Billups and Stoudemire were injured.

Miami did what they needed to do dispatching Philadelphia 4-1.

The most likely reference that you will hear is that Boston beat Miami 3-1 during the season. But, that has to be looked at in context. Boston was fortunate enough to play Miami twice within the first nine games of the season, winning once at home (+8) and once on the road (+5).

As I’ve pointed out in the past, the Heat were only 9-8 early on while trying to get familiar with each other as well as dealing with a Dwyane Wade injury. From there, they were 49-16 (62 win rate). And, after that, they played the Celtics twice – losing by three in Boston and winning by 23 late in the season in Miami when the #2 seed was at stake.

Miami has the home court advantage and I simply don’t think the Celtics can beat them. The big advantage Boston was to have was inside the paint, but I don’t think that’s going to be all that big of a deal. I think this series is going to be decided on the perimeter and driving to the basket. I don’t think it’s going to be decided by O’Neal vs Ilgauskas or even Garnett vs Bosh. It’s going to be Wade and James vs Rondo, Allen and Pierce. Wade and James are two of the best handful of players in the NBA. Rondo, Allen and Pierce are good, but not nearly that good… and I mean both offensively and defensively.

My pick: Miami 4-2.

ATLANTA vs CHICAGO

The Hawks surprised a lot of people by beating Orlando 4-2 despite a super human effort by Dwight Howard. The big question is whether it says more about Atlanta or more about Orlando. I say it says more about the Magic – that they have tremendous weaknesses apart from Howard. Consequently, I don’t give Atlanta as much credit as perhaps they deserve.

On the other hand, the Bulls were less than impressive against Indiana. They did win in five games, but the first three Chicago wins could have gone either way.

Rose had a good series, but the NBA MVP is going to be held under a microscope and with justification. No PG should be shooting 21 FGA per game! If he continues to do that, THEY WILL LOSE – if not to Atlanta, then to the winner of Boston/Miami. Rose also only hit 7.8 FG per game, so his FG% was sub 40%. That ain’t going to cut it.

Additionally, Boozer was abysmal in the series. His EFF for the playoffs so far is 12.40. Ok, “abysmal” is a little strong, but his season average was 19.85. That loss of production will be devastating unless he recovers. Deng and Noah are playing well. So, they need a little less domination by Rose and quite a bit more production out of Boozer.

Even so, Atlanta is far too skitzoid for me to pick them. They lost to the Bulls in two late-season games by 18 (road) and 33 (home). Plus, they don’t have the leadership necessary to beat Chicago. Not that Hinrich is in the category of Smith or Johnson or Crawford or Horford, but his injury is significant. He’s a glue guy on a team that needs glue badly.

My pick: Chicago 4-1.

LOS ANGELES vs DALLAS

This is a no-brainer. The Lakers are a far superior team to Dallas – assuming two things – no injuries and Bynum plays the way he’s been playing. There is no team in the league that is as talented up front with Bynum and Gasol. Dallas will get taken to the cleaners inside.

Although Nowitzki is great, his game is more of a small forward. He’s not going to bang with Gasol and Bynum – although their willingness to “bang” along with that of Odom and Artest is oftentimes a function of what kind of mood they are in.

The Lakers have been so good that they don’t always feel the need to get down and dirty, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Dallas pulled a couple games out. But I’m a believer that LA can (and will) turn it on when necessary. Now that San Antonio is out of the picture, it’s hard to see how Jackson will be able to convince his players that they aren’t a shoe-in for the finals.

Of course, Dallas has more weapons than just Nowitzki, but if LA plays shut-down defense – which they are capable of – I can’t see Kidd or Terry or Marion or Chandler making any difference. If Caron Butler hadn’t been injured… maybe. Otherwise…

My pick: LA 4-1.

Surging Sabres jump into East's seventh slot

The Buffalo Sabres are making themselves right at home on the road as they scramble for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres improved to 4-1-1 through six games of a seven-game trip by rallying from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits for a 4-3 overtime victory at Boston on Thursday night. The two points moved Buffalo ahead of the New York Rangers and into seventh place in the East -- both clubs have 74 points, but the Rangers have played two more games.
In the West, Phoenix jumped from eighth to fifth by blanking Calgary 3-0. The Chicago Blackhawks, Coyotes and Flames all have 81 points; the Hawks are fourth because they've played the fewest games, while the Coyotes are fifth because they have more non-shootout wins.
Eastern Conference
Division leaders Philadelphia (90 points after Thursday's 3-2 win at Toronto) avenged a loss to the Leafs a week earlier by hanging on for the win at the Air Canada Centre. Brian Boucher made 27 saves as the Flyers, playing without top defenseman Chris Pronger, won for the second time in three days after a four-game losing streak.
Washington (86 points) had the day off. The Caps host Carolina on Friday, trying to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games.
Boston (85 points after Thursday's 4-3 home OT loss to Buffalo) saw a point get away when it couldn't put away the Sabres at TD Garden. The Bruins led 2-0 and 3-2, but couldn't hang on after Nathan Horton put them ahead early in the third. Boston heads to Long Island for a game against the New York Islanders on Friday.
The next five:
Pittsburgh (86 points) is off until hosting weekend games against Montreal on Saturday and Edmonton on Sunday. Coach Dan Bylsma said there's nothing new concerning Sidney Crosby, who's still out with a concussion.
Tampa Bay (84 points) will be without defenseman Pavel Kubina for Friday's game against Ottawa. The NHL suspended Kubina for three games for a hit to the head of Chicago's Dave Bolland during Wednesday's 4-3 shootout win.
Montreal (81 points after Thursday's 4-1 loss at St. Louis) got off to a good start when Jeff Halpern scored midway through the first period, but that was the only one of 28 shots the Habs could get past Jaroslav Halak in their first meeting against their former teammate. The Canadiens fell four points behind Boston in the race for first in the Northeast Division.
Buffalo (74 points after Thursday's 4-3 OT win at Boston) might well have been happy to get one point after trailing 2-0 in the second period on the road against the Bruins. Instead, the Sabres left town with a pair after Brad Boyes scored with 1:16 remaining in overtime. The Sabres jumped over the Rangers and will still be seventh when they take the ice Saturday night in Toronto for the finale of their seven-game trip.
New York Rangers (74 points) can only sit and watch again on Friday. They're off until a Saturday game at San Jose and will be rooting for Washington to beat eighth-place Carolina -- if the 'Canes win, the Rangers will take the ice outside the top eight.
On the outside looking in:
Carolina (72 points) can jump the Rangers and move into eighth place -- if it can find a way to win at Washington on Friday. The 'Canes have lost all four meetings with the Caps this season, but the teams haven't seen each other since Boxing Day, when Washington won 3-2 in Raleigh.
Toronto (68 points after Thursday's 3-2 home loss to Philadelphia) dug too big a hole and couldn't overtake the Flyers -- severely damaging its playoff hopes. The Leafs face a must-win game when Buffalo comes to the Air Canada Centre on Saturday.
Atlanta (67 points) desperately needs to win Friday's home game against New Jersey -- the Thrashers play four of their next five on the road, beginning Saturday in Philadelphia.
New Jersey (64 points) spent Thursday practicing in Georgia before its game at Atlanta on Friday. Coach Jacques Lemaire isn't saying whether he would play Martin Brodeur or ex-Thrasher Johan Hedberg.
Western Conference
Division leaders:
Vancouver (97 points after Thursday's 5-4 shootout win at San Jose) made it 4-for-4 on its road trip by winning after the teams combined for three goals in the final 2:13 of regulation. Cory Schneider may be the best backup goaltender in the NHL -- he was brilliant while making 44 saves through 65 minutes and three more in the shootout. Alex Burrows scored the only goal in the tiebreaker.
Detroit (86 points) called up defenseman Doug Janik from AHL Grand Rapids in case Brad Stuart (ankle) isn't ready to go for Friday's game against last-place Edmonton. The Wings are 0-2-2 in their last four.
San Jose (85 points after Thursday's 5-4 home shootout loss to Vancouver) spent the whole night playing catch-up after falling behind 2-0 the Canucks, and did it well enough to get a point before losing in the shootout. Torrey Mitchell's highlight-reel goal with 2:13 remaining tied it at 3-3, and after Daniel Sedin put the Canucks back in front 24 seconds later, Ryane Clowe got the Sharks a point by scoring his second of the night with 20.3 seconds left.
The next five:
Chicago (81 points) will be spending part of its off-day Friday enjoying one of the spoils of last spring's Stanley Cup Championship -- a trip to the White House.
Phoenix (81 points after Thursday's 3-0 home win against Calgary) moved from eighth to fifth thanks to Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped all 39 shots by the Flames -- 19 of them in the second period. The Coyotes are off until they begin a four-game trip at Anaheim on Sunday.
Calgary (81 points after Thursday's 3-0 loss at Phoenix) wound up with a split of its two games-in-two-nights trip through the Southwest. After Miikka Kiprusoff won at Dallas on Wednesday, coach Brent Sutter opted to use backup goalie Henrik Karlsson, who played well (29 saves on 31 shots) but not as well as Ilya Bryzgalov. The Flames are back home to host Vancouver on Saturday.
Dallas (80 points) has another two weeks at home before having to hit the road again. The Stars welcome Minnesota to the American Airlines Center on Friday for the second game of a seven-game homestand.
Los Angeles (79 points) will use Jonathan Bernier in goal Friday night at Columbus. Coach Terry Murray has said he wants to use both goalies, so Bernier will get the start even though Jonathan Quick was the No. 1 star in Wednesday's 2-1 win at Detroit.
On the outside looking in:
Nashville (78 points after Thursday's 4-0 home win against Minnesota) started a five-game homestand by dominating Minnesota from start to finish. The Predators scored three times in the first 12:32 and limited the Wild to just 19 shots -- only nine in the first two periods. The Preds have a chance to make a push; they 11 of their next 13 at Bridgestone Arena.
Anaheim (77 points) makes a quick trip to Denver for a Friday night game with the struggling Avs, who've dropped out of the race in the West.
Minnesota (77 points after Thursday's 4-0 loss at Nashville) started a four-game trip on the wrong foot by getting whacked in Nashville. The Wild were outshot 24-9 in the first two periods and generated little offense after allowing the Predators to jump to a 3-0 lead less than 13 minutes into the game.
Columbus (71 points) has to rebound after blowing a 3-0 lead against St. Louis in Wednesday's 4-3 loss. The Jackets host Los Angeles on Friday.
St. Louis (71 points after Thursday's 4-1 home win against Montreal) won an emotional game before a full house at Scottrade Center as ex-Canadien Jaroslav Halak beat his former team in the first meeting since Montreal traded him last summer. Three wins in four days have given the Blues at least a pulse in the playoff race.