The second season gets underway on Wednesday, with four series getting underway.
My predictions for the first round are as follows:
[ul]
[li]The Sharks in six[/li][li]The Blackhawks in five[/li][li]The Canucks in six[/li][li]The Coyotes in seven[/li][/ul]
And in the East:
[ul]
[li]The Capitals in five[/li][li]The Devils in six[/li][li]The Sabres in seven[/li][li]The Penguins in six[/li][/ul]
I’m pulling for: Hawks, Kings, Caps and Pens. But I’m pretty sure they won’t all get out of the first round. (ok, one of them is a bit weak)
I’m looking forward to heading to a good bar with plenty of TVs!
Sharks in 4
Blackhawks in 5
Canucks in 6
Coyotes in 7
Capitals in 5
Devils in 6
Sabres in 6
Penguins in 7
My predictions are going to be more of a crap shoot than usual cause I really haven’t paid much attention to hockey this year. Of course that won’t make them any less wrong then they’ve been in years prior, so here goes.
Eastern Conference: I just don’t see any upsets happening this year. Montreal fails every year. The Flyers still play idiotic penalty based hockey and Chris Pronger still can’t stay out of the damn box. Ryan Miller is just too damn good of a goalie. Ottawa? See Montreal. Too me, there is just too great a division between the haves and the have nots in the east.
Washington vs. Montreal: Montreal will win one game which will be enough to tease their fans into believing before the hope gets crushed out of them. Washington in five.
New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers are dumb and Brodeur is someone who I never bet against. I think this is the one that could be an upset, but it’s a big “could.” Devils in six.
Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins: My money is on Miller going on a tear here. Buffalo in four.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators: This will be another yawner of a series. The Pens are just too good and Ottawa is just not. Penguins in four.
Western Conference: Should be some good series going on here. The season was tight till the very end and there are some really good young teams looking to make a name for themselves. Unfortunately I think the West will beat itself out of Cup contention.
San Jose Sharks vs. Colorado Avalanche: Will this be the Sharks year? Will this finally be it? Will they finally shake their reputation as choke artists? I have to say no. I just think they don’t have it mentally. I think they certainly can, but I just don’t think they will. Colorado in seven. If it makes Sharks fans feel better, with my track record I’m probably helping them by betting against them.
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators: I’ll put this simply. I hate watching Nashville play hockey. It is now and has always been boring, lousy, garbage hockey. I also hate those bloody whistles that come out when Tootoo is on the ice. Thusly this prediction is based upon nothing more than pure hatred. Chicago in five. I just hate them sooooooo much.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Los Angeles Kings: I’m going to bet on youth again. If Luongo were putting up better stats, I wouldn’t. But he hasn’t. Dude’s been mortal this year and the West is too tight to have a mortal goalie in the playoffs. Kings in six.
Phoenix Coyotes vs. Detroit Red Wings: I didn’t think the Wings would even make the playoffs this year. Riddled with injuries. Offensively stagnant. Defensively porous. The first two improved. The last one? Not so much and it’s kind of the important one. If the Wings find the magic switch that they used last year to straighten up and play right, they could take this series in five games. I just can’t see them doing it. Tippett is a sharp coach and Phoenix is a young team on an unbelievable run. I think it will continue. I hate to say it, but Phoenix in six.
Washington v. Montreal
Every inch of me says that Washington is going to steamroll to the stanley cup finals but that never seems to happen and their goaltending is only slightly better than Ottawa and Pittsburgh - at least in terms of goals against anyhow. Their offence is top notch, however. I’m not sure someone can’t come along and lock down the Caps offence (Jersey, perhaps) but Montreal isn’t the team. Halak wins one, Caps in 5.
New Jersey v. Philadelphia
Secretly, I think Jersey is the team to beat in the East and will walk over the Flyers in fairly short order. Big Parise fan and now he has someone decent to play with. Thing is, Philly beat the Devs 4 out of 5 times so we may see an upset here. Probably not though, 6 games to NJ.
Buffalo v. Boston
Buffalo has the best goaltending in the NHL but I’m not totally convinced of their offense. All of the regular season games were close though and good goalies have lost in the playoffs when the offense gets cold. Continued Heartbreak in Buffalo, Boston 7.
Pittsburgh v. Ottawa
Pittsburgh has the names and the experience to take this even though Fleury has been lackluster pretty much all year but I happen to think he’s a grant fuhr, however, who is just as good as he needs to be. They aren’t finals bound this year but they DO beat this ottawa team in 6 games.
San Jose v. Colorado
They split the season series, but I have to believe that San Jose can stave off their yearly collapse for ONE series. I am not sold on San Jose but they HAVE to win the first round series, no? San Jose in 6.
Chicago v. Nashville
I’ve not been terribly impressed with Chicago recently but they do have a ton of horses and I even think their goaltending is solid despite what everyone seems to say. They also have solid defense. I think last years experience will really help but I think they have all the requisite pieces to AT LEAST make the conference finals. Chicago in 5
Vancouver v. LA
Van has two strong lines and theoretically strong goaltending although Bobby Lou has been mediocre by his standards this year. That said Van has won 3 out of 4 in the series though the were waxed by LA their last meeting. LA has pieces but no experience and I believe that matters. It’s close though Van in 7
Phoenix v. Detroit
Detroit is only a 5 seed but they were like a 9 or a 10 not too long ago. I am a strong believer in momentum - especially when it’s sustained. Jimmy Howard has good numbers but he is young. Every fibre of my being wants Phoenix to win but I happen to think Detroit goes a long way…again. Detroit in 7 games.
Oilers win the draft lottery and will pick first overall, followed by Boston, Florida, Columbus and New York Islanders
(1) Capitals vs. (8) Canadiens
Montreal may have the advantage in goal here, but it’s not enough of an advantage. Henrik Lunqvist wasn’t enough to derail the Caps last season despite him standing on his head and the Rangers getting a free win courtesy of Theodore. Montreal just doesn’t stand a chance.
Washington in five
(2) Devils vs. (7) Flyers
The Flyers may have had the season series, but two of the games came before Emery was hurt, and the last two came before Leighton went down. Throw all that out of the window. Despite the Devils’ inability to shutdown their opposition’s best players since the lockout, Jersey takes this one on the strength of their massive advantage in net.
New Jersey in six
(3) Sabres vs (6) Bruins
I am not a big fan of the Sabres at all – not enough gamebreakers at forward and a weak blueline – but the Bruins aren’t a very good team at all, especially with Savard out. Rask is going to get shelled in this one.
Buffalo in five
(4) Penguins vs (5) Senators
Never in the history of the NHL has their been such a mismatch in a 4 vs. 5 first-round series. Or, at least, that’s the impression that one gets. The fact is, Pittsburgh was only 3 wins better than Ottawa this year, and the season series was split. Crosby has always had trouble against Ottawa’s shutdown pairing of Phillips and Volchenkov(2 goals in 17 career regular season games against Ottawa). On the other hand, Ottawa is going to have to use two of Sutton, Karlsson, Carkner and Campoli to match up against Malkin. Sutton and Karlsson is the most likely pairing. Look for Ottawa to try and keep Malkin off the the score sheet by keeping him pinned in the defensive zone. It seems that Spezza is going to draw duty against Crosby so that will mean that Fisher will be matched up on Malkin. Don’t be surprised to see a Fisher-Kelly-Cullen line put together against Malkin, especially when Ottawa has the last change.
This will not be a short series, and I can’t go against my team in a close series.
Ottawa in six
(1) Sharks vs. (8) Avalanche
I may mock Thornton’s terrible play in the playoffs, but even I recognize a gimme when I see one. Colorado’s been in a freefall since they led their division in the first quarter of the season. No real surprise there; they’re a young team who was playing over their heads a bit. The team will continue to improve next year, but they don’t stand a chance against San Jose. Besides, everybody knows that the second round is the Shark’s nemisis.
San Jose in five
(2) Blackhawks vs. (7) Predators
It’s really too bad that Nashville can’t spend to the cap. They have a frightening crop of young talent and if they could surround it with some high-quality veterans they’d be, well, the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago may have a big question mark in goal but they’ve got more than enough to take down the Predators. Look for the likes of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter to make life miserable for Chicago’s star forwards.
Chicago in six
(3) Canucks vs. (6) Kings
This series comes down to goaltending, I think. Neither team’s goaltender has played particularly well lately and whoever finds his game may decide the series. I know that lot of people are saying that the Canucks got lucky to draw LA, but my gut is saying something else.
Los Angeles in seven
(4) Coyotes vs. (5) Red Wings
I’m not a huge believer in momentum, but in Detroit’s case there’s a good reason for their late run: they finally got healthy. I’m not sure if I see them returning to the finals, but they’ll have more than enough to dispatch a young team in their first playoff series.
Detroit in six
Washington in 5
Devils in 6
Penguins in 6
Sabres in 7
Sharks in 4
Blackhawks in 6
Canucks in 6
Red Wings in 5
I loooooooove this time of year. For my money there is no better playoffs than those for the Stanley Cup. The history of the trophy itself is fascinating, and the battle the players have to go through to get to the final is unparalleled in sport. Can’t wait.
Putting my two cents in:
EAST
CAPS
BOS
OTT
NJ
WEST
SJ
CHI
VAN
PHX
San Jose 4
Colorado
Chicago 5
Nashville
Vancouver 5
Los Angeles
Phoenix
Detroit 7
Washington 5
Montreal
New Jersey 6
Philadelphia
Buffalo 6
Boston
Pittsburgh 5
Ottawa
ABout to start if off 
Looking at the Western conference is kind of surprising.Colorado(at the very bottom) and Detroit are the only teams with halfway recent Stanley cups. Blackhawks have a Cubsian drought, and San Jose, Vancouver,Nashville, Phoenix(Winnipeg), and L.A. have never won.
Someone might be making history.
I’ll be back later with my bracket.
For the moment, I just wanted to say
LET’S GO PENS!!!
So glad the playoffs are finally here. :):p:D
And that is why Sens fans call him Stone Hands Kelly.
And old friend of mine is going to the game tonight. I am sooo freaking jealous.
Ooooo, that third Ottawa goal made me laugh. Brilliant!
Even Stone Hands couldn’t miss that one.
Sweep, my ass.
Better post now, games have started. Rysto is last years champ at this. Wing, Flyers, Devils, Sharks and Canucks all in six. Caps in a sweep. Penguins and Hawks in five. Buffalo in seven.
There’s just something about the Sens that turns Marc-Andre Fleury into a sieve. The Ruutu goal was just appalling. It made me happy and all, but holy moly, there’s no way that shot should beat an NHL goalie. Or an OHL goalie.
I’m not going to be surprised if Ottawa can pull this off.
Anyway, my prediction is the Canucks beat the Caps in the Finals. I know, I’m the only one who believesd in the Canucks. They are the sleeper team, you’ll see.
So I guess my predictions for the first round are:
East - Washington, New Jersey, Buffalo, and Ottawa, who I’d have picked anyway
West - San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver, and Detroit
Then, Washington will beat Ottawa, New Jersey will beat Buffalo, Detroit will beat San Jose, and Vancouver will beat Chicago.
Then Washington will beat New Jersey and Vancouver will beat Detroit.
Then Vancouver will beat Washington.
You read it here first.
We’ve got different paths, but this is exactly my pick.