The 2007 NHL Hockey Playoffs - Steppin' It Up for the Stanley Cup

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I am surprised that nobody has started a thread this late in the season! Lots of excitement, good stories and bad stories. Pittsburgh Penguins = Great Story…Crosby revitalizing the team and Mario finding a way to keep the team in town. Chris Simon = Horrible Story for obvious reasons. A great season unless your a fan of the Flyers, Coyotes, Kings (which I am a fan of), Blackhawks and especially, Oilers.

NHL Standings.

BUT, as some of you know, I am a fan of SoCal teams…therefore, I am also a Ducks fan. I love our chances in the first round…especially against Minnesota (most probable), or even Calgary in the first round. The second round seems a little scarier…Nashville and San Jose stand out to me as being quite capable of taking out the Ducks, but I am sure they are just as scared of losing to the Ducks…almost a tossup. Detroit? Not scared of Detroit. Maybe because the Ducks swept those guys out a few seasons ago. Dallas? Nope. Ducks can beat those guys in 5 or 6. Vancouver? Nope. Not enough playoff experience with the Sedin brothers…not a deep enough team.

The Ducks had a great run in the first half of the season, then SOME teams got wise to them and were able to beat them later in the season. I love the the size, speed and grit or the second line of Penner, Getzlaf and Perry, and I think this is the line that the Ducks chances will either be a feast or famine throughout the playoffs. Many other teams have a hard time containing these guys and still have skilled defensemen to handle the first line of Selanne, McDonald and Kunitz. Five (almost 6) 20+ goal scorers in those 2 lines, and I haven’t mentioned the defense yet. Tons of playoff experience in Neidermeyer and Pronger, plus additional scoring punch, with additional support from Beauchemin. Giguere has been a solid goaltender in the playoffs, with very few off games. Bryzgalov is one of the best backups who would not be a backup on most other teams.

A complete team for the Stanley Cup? Quite Possible. A complete team to emerge out of the West? Now that’s an entirely different question. Answer: Whoever stays the healthiest…but that’s just wishful thinking. Whoever comes out of the West might be knocked down a peg or two with injuries and fatigue…the Western playoffs will be a bare-knuckle, bar brawl compared to the shooting gallery known as the Eastern playoffs. The East is hoping that the West contender has been reduced to a pile of human rubble that the East can take advantage of. Buffalo, Pittsburgh or Ottawa strike me as teams that can steal it from the West should injuries become a factor…otherwise, I see a healthy Western team having no problem containing whatever these teams can dish out. I am rooting for Pittsburgh to come out of the East, just to see more of Crosby and because Pittsburgh is a feel good story. Would love to see to “fowl” teams (Ducks v. Pens) making it to the finals. Of course, I may be blowing smoke in the orifices of other fans, so…what teams do you see or want to see hoist the Cup?

2

The Ducks are a good prediction - they have a lot of guys who know when to turn up the intensity.

NJ and Calgary also seem like they’re well-positioned. NYR seems like a good darkhorse bet.

I see DET and SJ and Ottawa choking as usual.

3

Anybody want to give me a better reason than Lou Lamoriello why they fired their head coach when only 5 points out of the conference lead and winners of 4 of 5?

4

Because he likes to? I mean it’s not the first time he’s done this. See Robbie Ftorek. But I just don’t understand this move, the Devils had their struggles a few weeks ago but it seemed to me that they were a result of injuries. And with the exception of Gomez, everyone is back now.

As for my Leafs, they need to win out. It’s as simple as that. And with games against the Flyers, Islanders, and Canadiens, there’s a possibility of that happening. I just hope that it doesn’t come down to a shootout on Saturday night versus Montreal with the winner making the playoffs.

5

My Hurricanes are in the same boat. Win every game, and hope.

6

If it does then the Habs are in. The Leafs will need to beat them in regulation to make the playoffs.

West:

I see Anaheim coming out. They have just an excellent defense core, quality forwards, and goalies who have been there done that.

SJ - watch Thornton disappear once again. He is Canada’s answer to Yashin/Zetterburg.

DET - See Zetterburg above, add Datsuk (there is Y in there somewhere, just not sure where?)

NAS - I like them, I love kariya, but just don’t see the Goalies doing it for them. Admittedly I know little about Mason and umm…see?

Van/Cal - Is having a great goalie enough? Sure could be.

East:

Umm, ugh. I don’t know. I hate the bloody Sens. Alfreddson just stinks as a leader. Buffalo, well I really hate the City of Buffalo, but that is neither here nor there. Don’t think they have the cajones, but having home ice advantage will help. Those fans are loud.

So that brings us to Pitt and NJ. NJ always dangerous, Brodeur is the best goalie maybe of all time (debatable yes). Pitt, which Fleury do we get? The guy before that goal off the US player at the world juniors? Or the crushed soul who is only beginning to recover now?

I see Crosby showing us just how good he is, and Roberts could be the key. He can be an animal in the playoffs.

So ANA-PITT in the Cup final. ANA wins it.

7

Thought I’d pop into mpsims and see if the NHL thread was up yet.

As a Detroit fan, I sure wish theyd start making it easier on themselves. With the season nearly over, the Wings are in position to take the Presidents trophy again. Whoop-de-doo. That’ll likely earn them a spot vs. Calgary and I don’t see that ending well. They’re just the sort of team that’s made for a Cinderella bid: a gritty style, a top notch coach, and a goalie that can get hot for long periods. Fourth seed and a match up vs. Dallas would be much easier. Detroit regularly pounds on Dallas. Their leadership is questionable with a so-so coach and a captain prone to hissy fits. They also have a knack for choking in the second season.

That said, I do like the squad Illitch has put together. Their trades (Bertuzzi and Calder) were for players I wanted them to sign in the off season and have added actual grit to a team lacking it. Their defense is still deep with Lidstrom, Schneider, Chelios, Markov, Lilja, and Lebda. Their forwards are just as deep. As stated, Bertuzzi and Calder add grit to help them when they have to play dump and chase. They have the best net pest in the league in Holmstrom. Draper, Maltby, Franzen, and Calder are terrific defensive forwards. Zetterberg plays hard every night. If Datsyuk can actually start doing something in the post season, they may make a deep run.

The problem lies in the goalies. Strong netminding is the most important thing to have in the post season, and I’m just not sure that Detroit has it. Hasek can be great, but he can also be a tempermental flop artist prone to walking out of the net at the worst possible times. Osgood is solid but can give up a softy.

Enough about Detroit. Now to the rest of the NHL.

I’m still just not sold on the Ducks. Yeah they have Pronger and Neidermayer. Yeah they have Selanne, and yeah they play a tough physical game. I’m just not impressed. Beyond the big two on D they have O’Donnell and not much else. The forwards aren’t much deeper. The physical game can hurt just as much as help if you spend the game in the box. It’s going to come down to Giguere and Bryzgalov and their penalty kill.

For what it’s worth, I’m not sold on the Sharks either. Maybe it’s a strong anti-Cali bias on my part. That team runs on Thornton. Shut him down and those Sharks won’t swim.

Can Nashville finally make it deep into the cup run and earn some respect? I don’t think so. Too many years as also rans have made them chippy and penalty prone. I just can’t see them putting together the discipline to make it all the way.

I like Vancouver and Calgary out of the west. It all comes down to the netminders. Luongo and Kiprusoff can dominate games. All you really need to win with those two is one goal and Vancouver and Calgary have the talent to get that goal with Vancouver having the most offensive power.

I don’t know as much about the east, but I see much that is underwhelming. The Penguins are talented but (too?) young. Ottawa is in much the same position as San Jose and Nashville in the west: loads of talent but they’ve just never put it together. The Lightning and the Canadiens just seem like first round victims to me, and the Rangers aren’t tremendously deep and are further burdened by Sean Avery, who I think hasn’t realized that he can get off the ice for a break without going into the penalty box.

The east comes down to New Jersey and Buffalo. New Jersey has Brodeur and that’s enough to make them a cup contender. Buffalo has a fast offensive system that’s hard to contain and Ryan Miller to back them up.

As far as teams I want to see hoist the cup? Detroit obviously, but I’d love to see Minnesota win it. They have some of the best fans in the league and I think it’d be great if they were rewarded with the cup. I love the way Buffalo plays the game with speed and energy. I think it’d be great if Detroit and Buffalo went head to head in a wide open fast paced final.

Still, defense and goaltending win championships. I’ll go with Vancouver or Anaheim (I’m willing to admit that my doubts on Anaheim may just be in my head)out of the west and Buffalo or New Jersey out of the east with the Cup going to the Western Conference this year.

On preview. Queuing, don’t paint Zetterberg with the brush as Datsyuk. Zetterberg was flat out the wings best player in the playoffs last season and was the teams best player throughout this season. He plays great offense and strong defense. Zetterberg is a team leader in every sense of the word. Datsyuk has never put together a strong post season, even when the team won the cup in 2001 and he was playing on a line with Brett Hull.

8

I think the Oilers will build on their playoff run last year and…

<sob>

9

Guys, don’t count out Ottawa in the East. They’ve very quietly put together an incredible season – they’ve lost only 6 games in regulation since December 22(they’ve also lost 5 shootouts and 2 overtime games in that period). They have the second best offense in the league and the East’s third-best defense. If Martin Gerber hadn’t have blown the 2 games he played against Buffalo, Ottawa would actually be ahead of the Sabres in the East.

Now, they’ll have a tough road. In all likelihood they’ll have to play New Jersey and Buffalo in the second and third rounds(the only way this won’t happen if one of them gets upset, and what with the weak teams making up the lower seeds, I don’t see this happening). They also have a well-deserved reputation for choking. But they’ve had to eat several large servings of humble pie recently, and losing their cocky attitude can only help them come playoff time.

10

I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t been following the NHL like I promised myself I would this year–first full season I’ve been back, I’ve got a house, a TV, and beer. . . and I don’t keep tabs on how things are going.

Granted, my beloved Devils had a great start, and then had a run of bad luck later on, but apparently have had a so-so tail end of the regular season.

Obviously I don’t have much to add to this thread except:

GO DEVILS![sub]::cough cough::[/sub]

Tripler
As you were.

11

I realize that, I’m making the assumption that the Habs either lose to the Rangers or Bruins and fall a point back. Then the point is valid.

12

Go Sharks!
I’m gonna be pissed if the do choke, but if Thornton does “disappear,” we’ve got three other lines that can beat you.

13

Prior to the firing, the Devils had won 4 of 5.

Lamiorello simply wants to be the guy who gets the glory if the Devils win; this has been done before. It never works.

My picks at this point would be Ottawa and, as boring a choice as it is, Detroit. Ottawa is certainly a better team than New Jersey and probably slightly better than Buffalo; the East could come down to Buffalo having home ice advantage in a Game 7. Yes, Ottawa’s choked in the past. Forget it. Every season’s different.

In the West I pick Detroit because they’re simply the best team, by far, IMHO.

14

Well I’m a Red Wings fan, so I refuse to bother analyzing the playoffs cause the outcome is obvious.

But actually I rea-he-heeally(Get it? he wears a Wings Jersey :slight_smile: ) hope that we don’t fall into our old trap of worrying about our big rival(this year Nashville) and cock up the first round.

If we don’t, I love to see an original six team win it, but that leaves only Montreal and the Rangers in order of preference.

15

Except when the Devils won the Cup after Larry Robinson was named coach on March 23.

16

I agree. I’ve been a Wings fan forever, but I’ve been wanting Nashville to take the division so Detroit gets the 4 seed. I’m also still pissed they signed Hasek again.

That said, Go Wings!

17

I realize this is nigh on blasphemy considering where I live, but I’ll be sort of disappointed if the Leafs make it at the Habs expense. I’m no Montreal fan, but Toronto hasn’t played like they deserve to be in the post-season, and they don’t have a lot of prospects of making it very deep, either. As long as Montreal or Toronto get past Ottawa, I’ll be happy with their performance. :smiley:

Unless Calgary folds like a cheap deck chair, they’re in, so at least there’ll be four Canadian teams in.

18

Yeah, but that time, the Devils were in a free fall, and the players hated the current coach. This move makes no sense at all.

19

The Pens will take it all.

20

Not with that defence, I’m afraid. Pittsburgh is exactly the kind of team Ottawa has feasted upon in playoffs past: great forwards, weak defence, questionable goaltending. It’s the teams with All-Star goaltending that give us fits.