Category: News

It’s Round 3! The Final Four! The Conference Finals! Winners go to the Stanley Cup Finals, and losers have all summer to say “we were this close…”

Most of us knew that it would come down to these two teams.

Series: San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (2)

My Prediction: Blackhawks in 6 games.

Comments: The playoffs–probably this year more than any–have established that home ice advantage doesn’t really mean anything anymore. At least not since the lockout, and especially between two teams that finish a few points apart. In this case, the Sharks only finished 1 point ahead of the Hawks in the standings.

One thing about the Blackhawks is that they seem to up their game against better teams.beating the Sharks 3 out of 4 times this year. Their 1 loss was by only a goal. However, 1 of their 3 wins was a 7-2 rout, not unlike the 7-1 beating the Sharks took from the Red Wings in Game 4 the previous round.

The point? Though highly competitive, the Sharks sometimes fall apart in games, and the Blackahwks are just the team to take advantage of that.

We got a 7th seed against an 8th seed. This is the first time such a thing has happened in the NHL playoffs (thanks, Lenny).

Series: Philadelphia Flyers (7) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

My Prediction: Montreal UPSETS Philadelphia in 7 games.

Comments: Who would have thought that finishing 7th would have given you home ice advantage in the playoffs? And yet, the 7th-seeded Flyers do.They almost deserve home ice anyway, considering their feat in the previous round, coming back from a 3-0 deficit against the Bruins.

And the Canadiens? Sure, no one really thought they’d make it past the best team in the league (Washington) or last year’s Stanley Cup winner (Pittsburgh). And yet they did. So, beating the Flyers doesn’t seem so far fetched anymore, does it?

I also think that Montreal will win because every so often a team that barely makes the playoffs–the Cinderella team as everyone likes to call them–makes it to the Finals. But like Cinderella’s magical night out on the town, eventually that too comes to an end.

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Whoever wins the Western Conference Finals will win the Stanley Cup. There I said it. Of course they’ll have to beat the winning team from the East, but they will.

Expect the unexpected? Yes! And no! Two series played out as expected, while the other two surprised everyone. Here’s my look back at Round 2 of the 2010 NHL Playoffs.

Series: San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

My Prediction: Sharks in 7 games.

What Actually Happened: Sharks won in 5 games.

Comments: Every game Detroit lost was by only one goal. But the one game Detroit won was a 7-1 rout, thanks in part to a 4-goal, 2-assist performance by Johan Franzen. Suddenly, I’m kind of miss having this card…

Imagine if the whole series had been a series of one-sided stomp-fests, like the Chicago/Vancouver series. Speaking of which…

Series: Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Vancouver Canucks (3)

My Prediction: Blackhawks in 6 games.

What Actually Happened: Blackhawks won in 6 games.

Comments: I told ya so! This may have been the most even match-up in Round 2. When both teams “showed up” to play, the result was a relatively tight, evenly-matched game. But as soon as one team lapsed a bit–POW! Vancouver stomped Chicago 5-1 in Game 1, and Chicago won 5-1 in Game 6. All games in between were won by 2-goal or 3-goal margins.

The Canucks are a good team, but all the Sedins in the world would not have been enough to save them in this round.

Series: Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

My Prediction:Penguins in 5 games.

What Actually Happened: Canadiens UPSET in 7 games.

Comments: Just like no one was expecting the Canadiens to beat the Washington Capitals, no one was expecting this colossal upset either.

Sniff, sniff…what’s that smell?

Oh, it’s the smell of my Jaroslav Halak rookie cards going up in value. Who knew it’d be so pungent?

So, the 8th seeded Canadiens bumped off the Capitals and the Penguins–the two teams everyone was expecting/hoping for in the conference finals (well, everyone except Captain Canuck, of course). Eventually, the Canadiens’ luck will run out–just ask the 1991 Minnesota North Stars or the 2006 Edmonton Oilers.

Series:Boston Bruins (6) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7)

My Prediction: Bruins in 7 games.

What Actually Happened: Flyers UPSET in 7 games.

Comments: The fact that the Flyers won the series wasn’t really an upset. Both teams finished the regular season with 88 points, but the Bruins had 2 more wins. So the teams were pretty even.

What made this series so amazing is that the Bruins went up 3-0 in the series, and that the Flyers won the next 4 games straight. This has only been done 3 times in NHL history, the last time being in 1975!

The Bruins went up 3-0 in Game 7, just like they went up 3-0 in the series. Coincidentally, the Flyers scored the next 4 goals to win Game 7…just like they won the next 4 games to win the series.

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The top two teams in the Western Conference won their series, as expected. The bottom two seeds in the Eastern Conference won too. Who–outside of Montreal or Philly–would have thunk it?

Stay tuned for my Round 3 predictions, which will be posted before the start of the Hawks/Sharks game on Sunday.

There’s still lots of hockey left, with Round 2 starting today. Here are my biased and unscientific well thought-out predictions for the second round:

Western Conference– In the first round, there were no sweeps, and no “real” upsets either–proving how good the top teams in the West really are. The two second round series should prove to be long, drawn-out slugfests.

Series: San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

My Prediction: Sharks in 7 games.

Comments:Despite past, ahem, setbacks, the Sharks made it to the second round. Both of these teams are good. The Sharks were 1st overall in the West, and Detroit would have finished higher than 5th if their team was healthy earlier on in the season. Expect high-scoring, yet close games.

Series: Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Vancouver Canucks (3)

My Prediction: Blackhawks in 6 games.

Comments: All right! A rematch of last year’s second round bout between these teams. The Hawks and Canucks are establishing a nice “love-to-hate-’em” playoff rivalry, akin to that of the Red Wings and Avalanche circa 1996.

The Canucks have the better goalie in Roberto Luongo, and they got the Sedin twins. However, Chicago’s core group of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith finally seem to be clicking. At least one of them contributed in each of the 4 goals scored against Nashville in their Round 1 clincher.

Eastern Conference – A lot of low-seeded teams made it to the Second Round. Oh, and the Penguins. My dream of a Blackhawks/Penguins Stanley Cup Final may come true after all.

Series: Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

My Prediction:Penguins in 5 games.

Comments: How long can Montreal rely on Jaroslav Halak to win them games that they should really lose? Despite his first round heroics, the Penguins have a lot of offensive firepower and home ice advantage–not that either of those meant anything for the Washington Capitals. Still, Pittsburgh didwin the Stanley Cup last year, so do we really need to list reasons why they should–or will–win this series?

Series:Boston Bruins (6) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7)

My Prediction: Bruins in 7 games.

Comments:Who would have thought that finishing 6th would merit you home-ice advantage in the second round? Having the extra game might be the factor that wins it for Boston.

Then again, what hockey fan wouldn’t pee their pants over a Pittsburgh/Philadelphia conference finals? So, maybe I’ll predict the Bruins as the winner, but secretly hope that the Flyers win instead.

Best playoffs ever? If everything keeps up like it did in the first round, then the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will go down as the best postseason in hockey history. We’ve had shutouts, fluke goals, upsets and surprise heroes. And that was only the first round!

Here’s a quick look back at my first round predictions–and how things actually turned out:

Series: San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (8)

My Prediction: Sharks in 7 games.

What Actually Happened: Sharks won in 6 games.

Comments: Craig Anderson made life hell for the Sharks, standing on his head and making it look like the 8th-seed Avalanche might actually win the series. But despite a fluke goal loss in Game 3, the Sharks did not choke. They might save that for the next round, though.

Series: Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Nashville Predators (7)

My Prediction: Blackhawks in 5 games.

What Actually Happened: Blackhawks won in 6 games.

Comments: When the lazy and uninspired Blackhawks showed up, they lost. When the “real” Blackhawks showed up, they won–even managing to shut out the Preds twice.

Do you hear that sound?

It’s the sound of my Antti Niemi rookie cards going up in value.

Series: Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. Los Angeles Kings (6)

My Prediction: Kings UPSET in 6 games.

What Actually Happened: Canucks won in 6 games.

Comments: OK, I was wrong about this one. The series was pretty even until Vancouver drubbed L.A. 7-2 in game 5. But you gotta admit, it did look pretty good for the Kings for a while.

Series: Phoenix Coyotes (4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

My Prediction: Red Wings UPSET in 6.

What Actually Happened: Red Wings UPSET in 7.

Comments:We all knew the Red Wings would win–it would just be a matter of how many games. Hats off to the Coyotes, though, as they put up a good series against what is still one of the best teams in the NHL.

Series: Washington Capitals (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

My Prediction: Capitals SWEEP in 4 games.

What Actually Happened: Montreal UPSET in 7 games.

Comments: No one got this one right. No one. Sure, now you say that you knew all along that the Canadiens would win, but the only person to actually say it was the guy who writes for Canadiens.com.

Well, there are upsets, and then there are UPSETS. The Caps had the best record in the regular season. The Caps have Alexander Ovechkin. How they managed to flub this one is beyond me.

Then again, the Sharks have been doing that for years.

Perhaps the Caps are the new Sharks…

Series: New Jersey Devils (2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7)

My Prediction: Flyers UPSET in 6 games.

What Actually Happened: Flyers UPSET in 5 games.

Comments:Thank you Flyers for ending the Devils season a game sooner than I predicted. You’ve done all of hockey a favor.

Series:Buffalo Sabres (3) vs. Boston Bruins (6)

My Prediction: Bruins UPSET in 6 games.

What Actually Happened: Bruins UPSET in 6 games.

Comments:  This is the only playoff series where I got the number of games right. Fortunately, that was the one I needed to get right to win a contest for an autographed Adam Oates card.

Series: Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Ottawa Senators (5)

My Prediction: Penguins SWEEP in 4 games.

What Actually Happened: Penguins won in 6 games.

Comments: With Sidney Crosby scoring 14 points in 6 games, how could the Penguins lose?

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It is interesting to note that in the Western Conference, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeds won–and the 4th-seeded Coyotes almost won too. However, in the East the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeds LOST, with the 4th-seeded Penguins being the only favorite to win. That says a lot about the strength of the Western Conference, leading me to believe that the eventual Cup winner will be from the West.

So far, I am 6 for 8–or 75% right–in my playoff predictions.

I’ll post my Round 2 predictions later today (but before the Sharks-Red Wings game).

 

The 2010 NHL Playoffs are a scant 6 days old–not even a week!–and yet what will probably be the craziest goal of the postseason has already been scored. For those of you who did not stay up to watch the Sharks / Avalanche game go into overtime, you need to see this video:

That’s right, kids...the San Jose Sharks somehow found a way to lose this game, despite firing 51 shots on net and limiting the Avalanche to a meager 17 shots. Sad that a defenseman as great as Dan Boyle would inadvertently knock the puck into his own net. (And for those of you who are too young to get all the “Steve Smith” references flying around, check out this video.)

Looking at the first round so far:

Pittsburgh / Ottawa – The Pens lead the series 2-1. So they won’t sweep, but no one doubts that they will win the series. Evgeni Malkin scored a pretty sweet goal yesterday, rushing end to end, dishing it to a teammate and then scoring on the rebound  (video here).

New Jersey / Philadelphia – Yesterday, Dan Carcillo scored the winner in OT to give the Flyers a 2 games to 1 series lead. Flashes of brilliance like this is why I liked Carcillo as a player (past tense).

Washington / Montreal – Series tied 1-1. Another assumed sweep, the Canadiens surprised everyone to win Game 1, and almost had Game 2 in the bag before the Caps battled back to win it in OT–Nicklas Backstrom scored 3 goals, including the winner.

Buffalo / Boston – Another tied series (1-1). I have not watched much of this series, but predicted that the Bruins will win in 6 games. Having won Game 2 on the road, the Bs can pull of an upset.

San Jose / Colorado –  Avalanche lead the series 2-1, thanks to Dan Boyle scoring in his own net.

Detroit / Phoenix – The “Desert Dogs” have a 2-1 series lead. But having the series lead doesn’t mean squat when it is against Detroit.

Chicago / Nashville – Don’t pay attention to Nashville wining the first game 4-1–the last 2 goals were empty-netters. In Game 2 last night, Antti Niemi and the Blackhawks shut out the Predators 2-0. Perhaps this will quell those critics who are anti-Antti Niemi.

Vancouver / Los Angeles – Series tied 1-1. This is shaping up to be an exciting series. Both games have been won by a score of 3-2, and both games have gone into overtime. You can’t get much closer than that.

Only six days old, and already we’ve seen lots of sudden-death overtime, a crazy fluke goal, a hat trick and a couple of shut outs. This is shaping up to be one hell of a postseason.

Every hockey blogger wants to sound off on the Stanley Cup Playoffs–and I’m no different. So here are my thoughts on how Round One will go down.

Western Conference – Wow, look at that. Four Western Conference teams who were golfing last year at this time made it to the postseason in 2010.

Series: San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (8)

My Prediction: Sharks in 7 games.

Comments: The playoffs seem to come with a elf-destruct button for the Sharks each year. Somehow, they manage to be a kick-ass team during the regular season, and then blow it come April. Since the lockout, they have not finished with fewer than 99 points in the regular season. And since the lockout, they have not made it to the conference finals, either.

But the Sharks won’t get eliminated yet. Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson will make this a long, hard fought series, but the Sharks will prevail.

Series: Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Nashville Predators (7)

My Prediction: Blackhawks in 5 games.

Comments: For years, the Blackhawks and Predators have fought tooth and nail to be the “not worst” team in the Western Conference. Kind of like the two dorkiest kids in class picking on each other to show everyone else who the cooler kid is. A few years later, and both are contenders.

Well, the ‘Hawks are contenders, anyway. They have a lot of goal scorers–Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Kris Versteeg and Troy Brouwer have all scored 20 or more goals this season. Only 2 players on the Predators–Patrick Hormqvist and Martin Erat–can claim that.

Series: Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. Los Angeles Kings (6)

My Prediction: Kings UPSET in 6 games.

Comments: I like the Canucks, but goaltender Roberto Luongo has been off his game since the Olympics (where he was very much “on” his game for Team Canada.). The Kings–another team who has turned things around this year–beat the hell out of the Canucks 8-3 a few weeks ago. This series won’t be as easy as that one game was for the Kings, but the playoffs are about upsets. This will be one of them. Speaking of upsets…

Series: Phoenix Coyotes (4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

My Prediction: Red Wings UPSET in 6.

Comments: Though we really can’t call this an upset, can we? Sure, the Coyotes finished the season higher in the standings, but we know that they are really the underdogs here (pun intended). Remember, the Red Wings lacked many of their best players throughout the season due to injuries.

While the Coyotes are way better than they were last year (I fondly recall how red Gretzky’s face would get during a ‘Yotes loss?) they have the misfortune of playing against a healthy Red Wings team.

Eastern Conference– Buffalo and Ottawas are in back in the playoff mix this season. And Montreal got to be the (un)lucky team to squeak in at 8th place. Sucks to be them.

Series: Washington Capitals (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

My Prediction: Capitals SWEEP in 4 games.

Comments: Alexander Ovhechkin. Nicklas Backstrom. Mike Green. Alexander Semin. Brooks Laich.

Need I say more?

OK, then how about I mention that the Capitals had the best record in the NHL, while the Canadiens haven’t really established who their number one goalie is.

Series: New Jersey Devils (2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7)

My Prediction: Flyers UPSET in 6 games.

Comments: I don’t care for the Devils’ style of play. Somehow, they will manage to play boring hockey, even in the playoffs. Fortunately, the Flyers went 4-1-1 against the Devils this year, so winning another 4–even as the lower seed–does not seem far-fetched.

Series:Buffalo Sabres (3) vs. Boston Bruins (6)

My Prediction: Bruins UPSET in 6 games.

Comments:  The middle of the regular season seemed so long ago, but weren’t the Bruins in 1st place at one time this year? Weren’t there predictions of a “Bruins vs. Blackhawks” final?

A bit hasty, eh?

But I’m still picking the Bruins to pull an upset here. Sure, Sabres goalie Ryan Miller proved that he’s a world-class goalie in the Olympics, it’s just the team in front of him that I’m not sure about.

Series: Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Ottawa Senators (5)

My Prediction: Penguins SWEEP in 4 games.

Comments: Pens vs. Sens. Yeah, I had to say it.

The Penguins have a lot of firepower up front–namely Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin–and last season, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury proved that he could perform in high pressure situations. Oh, and the Penguins are the defending Stanley Cup champions too. Yeah, they lost a few players between then and now, but right now they just need to worry about getting past the Senators. Which they will. Easily.

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Last year, I correctly picked the series winners 12 out of 15 times–an 80% success rate. Hopefully, I’ll be just as good this year with my picks so I can retain bragging right–and win Captain Canucks’s playoff contest on Waxaholic.

Upper Deck was granted a licensing extension with both the National Hockey League and the NHL Players’ Association on Thursday (press release here)

This is surprising, given Upper Deck’s recent legal troubles. First, they were sued by Konami for making counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards. Upper Deck settled out of court on January 10 of this year. In early March, Upper Deck settled out of court with Major League Baseball after being sued for copyright infringement.

Then again, Upper Deck–through their exclusive licensing arrangement–has grown the hockey card hobby within the past 5 years. You can find hockey cards in Wal-Mart and other chain stores, and rookie cards–though sometimes hard-as-hell to find–do retain their value for the most part.

And though the company does a lot of things that piss off hockey card collectors (short prints, sticker autographs, and such), they do for the most part make great products.

Has any company innovated sports card collecting as much as Upper Deck over the past 20 years? Upper Deck has vastly improved sports trading cards, including better photography, better printing and that little hologram on the back to thwart counterfeiting (ironic, huh?)

Still, part of me would have liked to see what would happen if another company was given the license, like In The Game or Topps. ITG could go back to making “real” hockey cards, and Topps could go back to making “real” O-Pee-Chee sets.

Meanwhile, Upper Deck is copping a smug attitude on their blog, acting as if a shared exclusive with Panini won’t hurt their business. Here are some of the more quote-worthy bits–along with my commentary:

But this time around we’ll be sharing the stage with Panini America, maker (for the most part) of collectible stickers.

“Maker…of collectible stickers”? Sounds a bit condescending, as if stickers are not real collectible items. Upper Deck glosses over the fact that Panini owns Donruss, which has been making sports cards since 1981. Plus, Panini owns the Score, Leaf and Pinnacle brand names. Those, along with Donruss, all have some degree of equity with hockey card collectors.

In fact, due to some of our grassroots campaigns to grow the hockey card market, the powers-that-be at the league offices figured it was time to open things up to allow for two hockey card manufacturers since the audience continues to grow.

Or maybe the “powers that be” saw Upper Deck lose millions of dollars in two out-of-court settlements and decided to not put all their money on one pony.

Will opening things up to include more than one licensed hockey card manufacturer be the best move for collectors? We’ll all have to take a wait-and-see approach, but Upper Deck is comfortable with the arrangement.

Do we really believe that UD is comfortable with going from the only game in town to having to actually compete for our hobby dollars?

Are we nervous about the competition? Not in the least. In fact, we say: “Bring it on.”

This sounds cocky. Cocky, but believable. Upper Deck should be nervous about having to TRY for the first time in 5 years. But when UD does try, they usually succeed.

Final thought: One company having exclusive rights to make NHL trading cards is bad. At least with two companies, they’ll try to one-up each other–and the collectors will come out on top.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Italian card manufacturer Panini was granted a license to make NHL trading cards starting next season. Beckett had two different stories on the matter:

Panini adds NHL license

NHL Executive Dave McCarthy: ‘This Was a Difficult Decision’

For the better part of the past two decades, Panini has manufactured hockey sticker albums in the U.S., Canada and Europe. They also purchased the Donruss company, strengthening their position as a major player in the trading card market. Currently, they have exclusive rights to make trading cards for the National Basketball Association.

This is great news for hockey card collectors. For the past 5 years, we have lamented the fact that Upper Deck had a monopoly on both the NHL and NHLPA licenses. Whereas Upper Deck had to try to be competitive with the other major sports, they had pretty much cart blanche when it came to hockey. For example, a pack uf Upper Deck baseball cards costs $3 and have 18 cards so as to compete with Topps. On the other hand, Upper Deck hockey cards also cost $3, but only have 8 cards. And let’s not forget redemptions, sticker autographs, mismatched jersey swatches, and all the other things that fans have perennially complained about. Upper Deck had no real competition when it came to hockey, so why would they even try?

Panini getting a hockey license gives Upper Deck a reason to try. This fall, Score hockey cards will return for the first time in over a decade (Score is one of the brand names owned by Panini/Donruss). I never thought I’d look forward to buying Score hockey cards again.

Likewise, going up against an established hockey card manufacturer like Upper Deck gives Panini reason to do their best too? Who will have better looking cards?

Who will offer more cards per pack at a better price? Which brand will offer the best inserts? Autographs? Other incentives to collect?

Competition is a good thing, my friends.

However, there is some bad news in this. Thus far it has been implied that no other companies will be granted official hockey card licenses.

That is a shame, as In The Game is deserving of such a license. In the past 5 years, ITG has made hockey cards despite not having a license from the NHL or NHLPA, instead focusing on retro-themed sets, upcoming prospects or international competition. (Really, what else can you do if you can’t show current players or NHL logos?)  ITG seems to be the only company that really knows–that really cares–about hockey. Unfortunately, they don’t have the “up front” money to be taken seriously by the League.

In a perfect world, Panini, Upper Deck, In The Game and Topps (remember them?) would all be granted licenses to make official NHL trading cards, and collecting would return to the hockey card utopia that was the 1990s.

A few odds and ends that I want to mention…

War Room: This week, I will be on “The War Room” on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Since Wednesday is the trade deadline, “Got ‘Em! Need ‘Em!” is being bumped to Tuesday. But just for this week. For those of you who have XM Radio, the show is on Channel 204 at 10 AM CST. And if you don’t, I have an archive of my radio appearances here.

New Members: Thanks to David Jameson, Mariner1 and Wax Wombat for becoming the newest “Puck Junkies.” This blog now has 34 members.

Welcome to the Blogroll: I’ve added a few hockey blogs to my reading list. The Real DFG, maintained by Tim, is a blog about hockey cards and the Pittsburgh Penguins. A Little Chippy, maintained by Katherine, is a blog that focuses on the Chicago Blackhawks, but also touches on cards and collectibles.

New Blogs: The hockey card blogging niche just got a little bigger, with Open Ice Hits and Drop the Gloves! adding their two cents on the hobby. I’ve also linked to them from my blogroll.

Free Hockey cards March 2: The Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins will all give away free hockey cards at their respective home games on Tuesday, March 2. The first 10,000 fans at each game will be given a pack of Upper Deck hockey cards that contains 5 exclusive cards of that particular team. Anyone who finds themselves with an extra set they’d like to trade, please contact me.

Art Show: On an unrelated note, those of you in Chicago may be interested to know that I am curating an art show called Art of Play, which is about video games, traditional games and toys. Want to know more? Check out the show’s website.

And finally…due to the art show I’m curating, as well as final projects in my two grad classes, I may be a bit scant on posts over the next two weeks. Once I get this show, a final paper, a final presentation, a final photography project and a final website behind me, I’ll be back to doting over this site like I normally do.

Congratulations to Canada’s Olympic Hockey Team–and their fans–for winning the gold medal on Sunday.

Yes, I wanted USA to win. And they came close. Very close. But in the Olympics, close gets you the silver…

Nonetheless, it was a great game. It was a great tournament. Many close games. Many upsets. Many competitive teams. Borrowing from my Star Trek metaphor, if the 2002 tournament was “Wrath of Khan,” then this was “First Contact” all the way.