Now we enter the time of year when I basically get nothing done in the evenings because it is the greatest couch potato time of the year, the Stanley Cup playoffs!! There is nothing to match the intensity and drive for this quest. Man do I love seventh games, overtime goals and guys putting themselves on the line. It’s awesome.
Go Kings!! (Front row, upper level seats for all the Kings home playoff games,thank you very much)
Go Sabres!!
And if they meet in the finals …I DON’T KNOW!!!
Well, of course, it wouldn’t be the playoffs without the Blackhawks not being in them…
so now I’ve turned my post season allegiance to…
EDMONTON! Woo!
:: doing dance, falling into a stupor ::
mmm…Doug Weight…dreamy…
:: wandering off to dream about hockey ::
jarbaby
C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!!!
WOOO!
Of course, they’ll probably lose in the first round like always…
Let me add a hearty Go Wings!!
The Kings are going down fast and hard.
I know us Southerners don’ know nuthin 'bout hockey.
But we DO know it when our Hurricanes get their first ever spot in the playoffs!
Yee-ha! Let’s go 'canes!
Red Wings!
Red Wings!
Red Wings!
Lets take a look at the opening round for the playoffs, and make some predictions.
Eastern Conference:
NJ Devils vs 8. Carolina Hurricanes.
If the 'Canes win a game it will be a miracle.
Devils in 4
Ottawa Senators vs 7. Toronto Maple Leafs.
One of the harder series to call. Ottawa has been a great team in the regular season, but are too soft up front and have a goalie with no playoff experience. CuJo can and has stolen series in the past.
Toronto in 7.
Washington Capitals vs 6. Pittsburgh Penguins.
Caps have home ice here by winning the worst division in hockey. Caps have Ollie and the Pens have Mario. This is the time where I’ll give offence the benefit over goaltending.
Pens in 6.
Philadelphia Flyers vs 5.Buffalo Sabres
This series will come down to the goalies, both Czechs and both good. However, Cechmanek has no playoff experience and the Sabers have been good since the trade deadline.
Sabres in 6.
Western Conference:
Colorado Avs vs 8. Vancouver Canucks
Even if the Canucks didn’t have injury problems they would not win.
Avs in 4.
Detroit Red Wings vs 7. LA Kings.
Wings swept the Kings last year. However, getting Potvin has helped the Kings and losing Blake hasn’t hurt.
This will be closer than it should be.
Wings in 6.
Dallas Stars vs. 6. Edmonton Oilers
Here we go again. Since the Oilers upset the Stars in 97 and the Avs in 98 they are always predicted to pull off an upset win. The Stars have only lost 3 games (I think) to the Oilers since the 97 playoff loss. The Stars are on a 13 game unbeaten streak and continue to set defensive records (8 straight games allowing 1 goal or less), and for an “old team” they have not been outscored in the third period in 23 games (also an NHL record). I hope my Stars bias isn’t showing too much 
Stars in 5.
St. Louis Blues vs 5. San Jose Sharks.
Another difficult series to call. Both teams started strong and then nose-dived in the later part of the season. Injuries played a part in both teams demise, but they should be back to full strength. Goalies are again the important piece of the puzzle. Turek has to overcome his choke in last years playoffs, and Nabokov is another goalie with no playoff experience.
Blues in 6.
i am 99.9% positive that the 'Canes met the Boston Bruins in the playoffs two years ago.
Go Kings!!
Go Sabres!!
Ah, yes. The greatest time in all of sports is upon us. Can you believe more Americans prefer the farging NBA to this?
Ask Falcon who I’m rooting for. Hint: It’s the team that’s bringing the Cup back to where it belongs. Hint 2: It’s the team that bitch-slapped her team out of the Stanley Cup Finals in four a few years ago (and maybe will do so again, if Washington can avoid that deer-in-the-headlights look they always get when they play Pittsburgh).
The Cup is to Hockeytown as Peanut Butter is to Jelly. 
The NBA eludes me. Why spend 2.5 hours watching a game when you really only to watch the last 5 minutes.
Hockey town? Bah! Detroit has only won a few Stanley Cups. Toronto thinks that they are the center of the hockey universe (they have more Cups and the Hall of Fame). I would dare say that Montreal is probably more deserving of the title Hockey Town than Detroit. The history of the Canadiens is remarkable.
The Candiens made it to the finals every year in the 1950’s (usually bitch-slapping Detroit around) and won 5 Cups in a row.
And where was hockey town in the 1980’s? IIRC the Wings played infront of more empty seats than people for several years before Yzerman was drafted.
And yet…couldn’t quite get a handle on the Blackhawks this year…and they’re not even IN the playoffs
May Chris Chelios break all of your hearts like he broke ours that traitor. And I mean that in the nicest possible way
jarbaby
“Go Duc—”
*
“Go Canucks!”
(not really rooting for them, but I thought I should squeeze it in before they’re actually eliminated, which should take about as long as it take to type this…)
[sub]Aside to a certain cute Caps fan: Yeah, I’ll cheer for yer Caps, but, quite frankly, against Mario and Co., welll…sit back and enjoy being on the outside looking in with me…[/sub]
[sub][sup]ahem[/sub][/sup]
Go Pens!! ← look, even the smilie is in the right colors!
I’m not rooting one way or the other, but if I have to make a pick, we may have another Stanley Cup parade in a parking lot on 16W, and Tripler insufferably pleased with himself for at least a month…
There’s no denying Montreal is the town where Stanley lives. It broke my heart recently when the Yankees passed the Canadians for the team with the most titles in their respective sport.
Still, Detroit has more Stanley Cups than any other U.S. team. (Only Toronto and Montreal have more.) They’ve been serious challenger for the Cup for almost 10 years now. There are die hard hockey fans all over the city and even though the attendance was low during the Dead Wings era people still loved hockey in this town. Besides, if some advertising geek wants to call it Hockeytown, noone is going to stop them. People just picked up on the phrase and went with it.
By the way. Game 1 - Wings 5 Kings 3 Go Wings!
Let’s go Devils!.
That’s all I’m gonna say . . .
Tripler
And I skate for my own intramural team with the red, black, and white.
I didn’t see this at first. Sorry, lurk. I may be on the east coast for the Cup when it gets to Jersey. When it does, I’ll host a party on the Jersey Shore. . .
Tripler
I would be high for 2 months!
Milo? Sweetie?
BITE ME. 
(Although, I will agree on the deer-in-the-headlights comment. We can sweep Pitt in the regular season, but in the playoffs? HA!)
Tripler, giving me another reason to like him
I’m biased, I grew up in NJ and, not liking basketball (not like there’s really a team to root for), and since NY lay claim to both football teams (even though their shared stadium is in NJ!), I gotta go with the only home team I have.
Go Devils!
I had to sneak away from studying and work for a bit to so Go Stars! They are going back to the finals where they belong and taking the Cup. It’s rightfully theirs ya’ know…