With their season over, members of the Anaheim Ducks' AHL affiliate are being restricted from returning home by their home country. Petri Kontiola and Petteri Wirtanen, both trying to return to Finland for the offseason, have been placed in quarantine in Helsinki after arriving at the airport amid concerns over swine flu.

The two forwards were singled out as Europe tightens it's borders to prevent against the spread of the deadly strain of influenza. It is a metastasized version of the virus that typically orginates in hogs but is now an airborne virus transferable among humans. While the virus hasn't spread among the United States, several European nations have instituted travel restrictions to all of North America.

Officials with Kontiola and Wirtanen's team, the Iowa Chops suggest that this is a simple mixup and that the players are healthy. Members of teams named after a pig are no more susceptable than anyone else. More on this as it develops.

Tonight, the Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers in Game 7 of their first round series by a score of 2-1. Both teams put forth a strong effort but the Capitals would come out on top thanks to 39-year old veteran Sergei Fedorov. With about five minutes to go in the third period, Fedorov opened a time warp to 1997. His current self then traded places with his 27-year old persona from 12 years ago in front of a sellout crowd at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. Fedorov then went on to score the game winning goal for the Capitals, who won a Game 7 for only the second time in their franchise's history (the first was in 1988, before anyone in Washington knew the Capitals existed). The following is video of tonight's game winning goal.

In other news, the 1997 Detroit Red Wings have lost their battle for the Stanley Cup against the Philadelphia Flyers in five games. The Flyers will be presented with their belated trophy tomorrow morning in Phildelphia. However, experts fear that when Eric Lindros' name is carved on the Stanley Cup, the world as we know it will instantly implode into itself and cease to exist.

In the playoffs, everyone and their dog loves to write and talk about who the pressure is on. "Oooh! The Rangers are up 3-1. Pressure's on them!" "Oooh! Caps forced Game 7! Pressure's on them!"

Let's all chill out for a minute here.

This is sports, right? (It is.) In sports, doesn't Game 7 mean that the loser goes home and has to wait until next year? (It does.) So then how the hell is the pressure on any specific team? They're all screwed if they lose. It's not like one is going to get a free pass or get off scot free from their fans and the media. No team is going to go, 'well, we gave it our best shot and since there wasn't any pressure on us, we're alright with losing'. And then the media/fans accept that as a valid reasoning.

There are two Game 7s in the NHL tonight involving four teams. You can bet that whichever two lose are really going to be feeling the heat from the home fans or, if they're the vistiors, upon returning home. Let's examine each one, shall we?

So the Sharks and Ducks squared off last night in Game Six in Anaheim. If you haven't heard, that one didn't end well for the Sharks. They were eliminated with a 4-1 defeat but hey, at least they're taking it well given all their experience in the field of Incredible Playoff Choke Jobs. Oh, they're not? You don't say.

But probably the most interesting part of the game came two seconds in when Joe Thornton and Ryan Getzlaf fought off the opening face off, trying to inspire their respective teams. Well, it's hard to say either one of them did anything inspiring, since I didn't see a fight. Yeah, they dropped the gloves. But after that it was a lot of circling, clutching and grabbing. Maybe they were just practicing their ballroom dancing skillz. So guys, next time you try to get the blood flowing with a good ol' donneybrook remember to, um, you know, fight. 

I swear on everything that this is not photoshopped. ESPN.com actually thinks Donald Brashear is cute right now. 

And if you read this before they figure out what's going on, go to ESPN.com and type up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, enter. It's amazing. If you're into My Little Pony.

UPDATE: Yeah, it's gone now. But that was awesome... I mean... Sparkly... While it lasted!

When it comes to the category of Sports That Endanger the Lives of Their Specators, there are very few than can hold a candle to hockey. At a hockey game, you can get covered in shattered glass, have a player show you their new knuckle, get in the way of a ricocheted 90mph slapper or be attacked by a coach or player. Ah, yes. There's really nothing quite like it.

In football, you're really too far away to have anything other than maybe a field goal casually float your way (although they have nets to protect folks from those). Baseball fans bring gloves, so they're generally protected unless a bat or feral cat gets loose. The NBA is pretty mundane outside of the Malice at the Palace and golf, well, for as much as the patrons try to squeeze as close as they can to the action, rarely get hit. 

And then there's NASCAR. I don't think there's anything that could frighten even the toughest person quite like sitting in the front row for one of those. If you watch the minor league races, the first few rows are generally empty. Yeah, it's one of the few sports where people don't want to sit in the front row. Take yesterday's race. On the final turn, Brad Keselowski was in second and tried to pass Carl Edwards on the inside. Edwards, in his finest "I'm going to win this race or die trying" moment, tried to block Keselowski. Well, turns out Edwards didn't realize that Keselowski had started to creep along side of him and, well, I'll let the video explain the rest. 

From Glen Sather's letter to Gary Bettman:

Because of the way the glass is installed, the patron sitting behind Coach Tortorella (the gray-haired, bearded man in the white T-Shirt) could literally scream into the coach's ear.  According to Rangers trainer Jim Ramsay, one patron was screaming at the team, in graphic language, about whether Dan Girardi and Marc Staal have a sexual relationship.  This was within earshot of several children seated nearby.  Several other fans also made repeated homophobic remarks.  Moreover, Mr. Ramsay reported that he and other bench personnel were spit on by one or more "fans" as they yelled through the gaps in the glass.

Seriously, Washington. Just because your hockey team is finally good doesn't mean you can go turning Philly South.

And look, so what if Dan Giradri and Marc Staal do have a relationship? Who are you to judge?

(Cue the outrage from Philadelphia.)