NHL PLayoffs

[ThreeRivers]

East

1. Capitals vs. 8 Rangers
2. Flyers vs. 7 Sabres
3. Bruins vs. 6 Canadians
4. Penguins vs. 5 Lightning

West
1. Canucks vs. 8. Blackhawks / Stars
2. Sharks vs. 7. Kings
3. Wings vs. 6. Coyotes
4. Ducks vs. 5. Predators

How do you guys see these playing out?

I love these

[RobertoScalia]

I think the Pens got pretty lucky, because I'm not too sure about their chances of passing the first round if they face a team with a great goaltender and they don't have Crosby. Fortunately for them though, they got Tampa and Roloson who aren't exactly the cream of the crop.

Also the Ducks and Preds series should be interesting. Ducks and their absolutely astounding offense, versus the Preds and Pekka Rinne. Interesting match-up because the Ducks' greatest strength is their offense, while their greatest weakness is their defense. As for the Preds, their greatest strength is their d and goaltending, while their greatest weakness is their lack of offense. Should be interesting.

But, in the case that the Hawks do lock up 8th place, that will by far be the series to watch. Don't think anybody will argue that one.

[ThreeRivers]

I agree Ducks / Preds should be interesting, but I think the Ducks take it.

It appears James Neal might be out for the pens too (left in the first period of the Islanders game for x-rays and never returned / not playing tonight). If the pens go into that series with no Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Cooke, and Jeffrey I don't think they will survive. Lecavalier has looked like him old self as of late.

Edit: Nvm looking like Neal will be ready, I'm still not that confidence

[RobertoScalia]

I agree on the Ducks, Corey Perry's been so great and if he can continue in the playoffs there's few teams that can beat the Ducks.

As for the Lightning/Pens game, I think the result all depends on Roloson. If he can be a even "pretty damn good" goalie, the Lightning can win the series.

[JasonTerrell]

I am going to go with Canucks over Bruins

[ThreeRivers]

I'll go Canucks over Caps

[RobertoScalia]

Canucks over Rangers or Flyers.

[FlyinTooFast]

In the east, all of the lower seeds have had a lot of success against the higher ones.

East

1. Capitals
2. Flyers
3. Bruins
4. Penguins

West

1. Canucks
7. Kings
3. Wings
5. Predators

[Rocketman]

Oh snap two of the teams I am pulling for in the West are playing each other in the first round. One side we got the Anaheim Ducks who have in my opinion the league MVP Corey Perry, an awaken healthy giant in Ryan Getzlaf and a time machine version of the Finnish Flash. On the other you have Nashville who is led by Darth Vader on skates in Shea Weber, probably the most under appreciated D-man in the NHL Ryan Suter and Vezina Trophy candidate Pekka Rinne in the first round. Blood will be shed and I love it.
Plus to all those people that just because I am Canadian should go for a Canadian team is outright nuts. Yeah I am going to go for Vancouver who is led by the Swedish twins and their other best player outside Luongo is an American in Kesler. In the East you got Montreal where you got a province that has tried multiple times try to separate from Canada. Like c'mon now.
Sorry Tom I have no time to do a proper NHL preview. Not enough time.

[RobertoScalia]

Ryan, don't worry man as an another out-of-town man (born and raised in Italy), I understand the will to root for your own country's teams when they're playing.

Anyway I gotta agree with you on the Preds-Ducks series, that's bound to be an awesome series. As I referred to earlier, the Ducks have a tremendous offense like you said led by Perry, Getzlaf, Selanne, and a player u forgot btw Bobby Ryan. Against the Preds and one of the best Ds in the league led by the players you just mentioned. Offense vs Defense, gotta love it.

Guys we're all forgetting about the biggest one here though, VANCOUVER VS CHICAGO!!!! winners? I gotta go with Vancouver in 6.

[JasonTerrell]

Perry is definately the MVP imo....Vancouver and Chicago should be an epic 7 game showdown...but in the end this year the Canucks are too good and are tired of losing to the same team all the time lol.

[FlyinTooFast]

I think the Canucks are the obvious favorite here.

[ThreeRivers]

I really think Boston has a tougher series than many are anticipating

[Twister]

I wrote a preview and a predictions piece that should be coming out tomorrow.

Definitely some interesting matchups to be sure!

Twister

[Nimrod]

[b][u]Eastern Conference[u]

#1 Washington over #8 NY Rangers
#5 Tampa Bay over #4 Pittsburgh
#2 Philadelphia over #7 Buffalo
#3 Boston over #6 Montreal

#1 Washington over #5 Tampa Bay
#2 Philadelphia over #3 Boston

#2 Philadelphia over #1 Washington

Western Conference

#1 Vancouver over #8 Chicago
#4 Anaheim over #5 Nashville
#2 San Jose over #7 Los Angeles
#3 Detroit over #6 Phoenix

#1 Vancouver over #4 Anaheim
#3 Detroit over #2 San Jose

#1 Vancouver over #3 Detroit

Stanley Cup Finals

Vancouver over Philadelphia

[Twister]

[b][u]Eastern Conference[u]

#1 Washington over #8 NY Rangers
#5 Tampa Bay over #4 Pittsburgh
#2 Philadelphia over #7 Buffalo
#3 Boston over #6 Montreal

#1 Washington over #5 Tampa Bay
#2 Philadelphia over #3 Boston

#2 Philadelphia over #1 Washington

Western Conference

#1 Vancouver over #8 Chicago
#4 Anaheim over #5 Nashville
#2 San Jose over #7 Los Angeles
#3 Detroit over #6 Phoenix

#1 Vancouver over #4 Anaheim
#3 Detroit over #2 San Jose

#1 Vancouver over #3 Detroit

Stanley Cup Finals

Vancouver over Philadelphia

My article is up now. If you have any feedback please let me know.

Nimrod, I don't like the Wings chances against the Sharks. They just haven't inspired confidence lately.

I don't even having them beating the Coyotes. I think Tippett will have his team ready this time!

Vancouver is the trendy pick, but if Luongo can't win it this year...what does that say about him come playoff time? What does that say about the Sedin twins?

Same with San Jose. They know their window is closing. It's almost now or never!

Twister

[Rocketman]

Wow Darth Vader on skates setting the tone by trying to put Selanne through the boards within the first minute of the Preds and Ducks game.

[Rocketman]

Darth Vader with lightsaber errrr big shot from the point. What a start.

[ThreeRivers]

Great way to start series
God I love Orpik... clean hit too

[JimBiringer]

All the games have been great so far. A couple of OT games. Like I wrote in my preview pieces. The player to watch is Chris Pronger. If he is not healthy and cannot play in this series, Buffalo has a good chance to win the series as we saw last night. Miller will steal games only the Sabres need to do is score goals. Montreal has a legit shot to beat Boston. They beat the Bruins 4 out of 6 times in the regular season and Boston's confidence may not be the greatest in the playoffs since blowing that 3-0 series lead. Should be a great weekend of games.

[ThreeRivers]

A little late but these were my honest picks (don't have to believe me)


#1 Washington over #8 NY Rangers
#5 Tampa Bay over #4 Pittsburgh
#2 Philadelphia over #7 Buffalo
#6 Montreal over #3 Boston

#1 Washington over #6 Montreal
#2 Philadelphia over #5 Tampa Bay

#1 Washington over #2 Philadelphia

Western Conference

#1 Vancouver over #8 Chicago
#4 Anaheim over #5 Nashville
#2 San Jose over #7 Los Angeles
#3 Detroit over #6 Phoenix

#1 Vancouver over #4 Anaheim
#3 Detroit over #2 San Jose

#1 Vancouver over #3 Detroit

Stanley Cup Finals
Vancouver over Washington

[RobertoScalia]

chances are you will be wrong in 1 of the 8, not bad lol

[ThreeRivers]

Kind of disappointed in Stamkos thus far he has been COMPLETELY invisible. I know its his first playoffs and he'll have many more, but so far it appears the only TB player who isn't laying down is St Louis (he's had a great series)

[RobertoScalia]

Well this happens more often then people like to think, I mean if you look at the year that the Pens won the Cup, Malkin was a much bigger presence on the ice then Crosby the entire playoffs, now a couple of years later and some people forget that Malkin's even on the same team. At the end of the day, it will probably be the same the first time that Tavares sets foot in the playoffs, and probably the same for Hall whenever the Oilers get it together which should happen soon enough seeing as they got their second consecutive first overall pick this year.

[ThreeRivers]

Well this happens more often then people like to think, I mean if you look at the year that the Pens won the Cup, Malkin was a much bigger presence on the ice then Crosby the entire playoffs, now a couple of years later and some people forget that Malkin's even on the same team. At the end of the day, it will probably be the same the first time that Tavares sets foot in the playoffs, and probably the same for Hall whenever the Oilers get it together which should happen soon enough seeing as they got their second consecutive first overall pick this year.

No offense, but Crosby had 31 points and 15 goals (most in NHL) in that playoffs. Was leading the playoffs in points / was actually going for the goal record of playoffs until the SCF. Now Detroit shut him down (shadowed Zetterberg / Lidstrom / Rafalaki on him). I think their focus on him allowed Malkin to have a big series, but before that Sid was having an amazing post season.

1st Round vs Flyers
6 games, 8 points 4 goals
2nd Round vs. Capitals
7 games. 13 points, 8 goals
3rd Round vs. Hurricanes
4 games, 7 points, 2 goals
SCF vs. Det.
7 games, 1 goal, 3 points (only bad series statistically)

[JasonTerrell]

Malkin killed the Canes in that series

No offense, but Crosby had 31 points and 15 goals (most in NHL) in that playoffs. Was leading the playoffs in points / was actually going for the goal record of playoffs until the SCF. Now Detroit shut him down (shadowed Zetterberg / Lidstrom / Rafalaki on him). I think their focus on him allowed Malkin to have a big series, but before that Sid was having an amazing post season.

1st Round vs Flyers
6 games, 8 points 4 goals
2nd Round vs. Capitals
7 games. 13 points, 8 goals
3rd Round vs. Hurricanes
4 games, 7 points, 2 goals
SCF vs. Det.
7 games, 1 goal, 3 points (only bad series statistically)

[Rocketman]

Right now the Montreal police is investigating the Boston Bruins for stealing 2 games in Montreal.

[ThreeRivers]

Malkin killed the Canes in that series

Yea he did, but Sid pretty much single handily beat the Caps
That playoff went different player every round coming up big

Flyers- Fleury won it
Caps- Sid won it
Hurricanes- Malkin won it
Detroit- No one really, was a grind it out series

[ThreeRivers]

Chicago is fighting their way back in this lol

[RobertoScalia]

Yea lol, I only looked at the Detroit series, and forgot about the fact that he killed everybody else lol. Anywho, Chicago is absolutely shocking me and somehow fighting their way back into this.

As for Boston, well this is a strongly competed series, as many expected it to be. I don't think anyone thought that Montreal was gonna be able to take this series easily.

[JimBiringer]

How bout Nashville beating Anaheim and shutting down Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Nashville moving on to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. A bunch of game sevens tomorrow night and of course Boston Montreal game 6. Going to be great games.

[RobertoScalia]

Nashville showed that good defense and goaltending will beat good offense most of the times. Ryan, Getzlaf, and Perry are one of the top lines in hockey overall, but they just couldn't get through the great D of Nashville, of course led by Shea Weber, and the goaltending of Pekka Rinne. Tomorrow night will be very busy for me though, two great games in Buffalo-Philadelphia, and Vancouver-Chicago. Gotta say I'm pulling for Buffalo and Chicago to complete the upsets, and Montreal to win so as to force yet another game 7 lol.

[RobertoScalia]

Did anyone see the canuck-preds game last night??? Pekka Rinne made some RIDICULOUS saves, most of them in overtime. Not sure why Luongo was in a butterfly for the gw goal though, I mean all the guy had to do was roof it and Luongo wouldn't have stood a chance. Great game though, I think this series might turn out to be a lot closer then most people thought it would be

[RobertoScalia]

Alright so the eastern conference playoffs are so far looking completely one sided. Boston, as I actually kinda saw coming, is beating Philadelphia 2-0, and I don't see Philly turning it out this year the way they did it last year. Tampa on the other hand is surprising me, they're beating Washington 3-0, and I didn't think that Roloson had it in him to beat the Capitals lineup 3 times to be completely honest.

As for the western conference, well those are quite a different story. San Jose has won 2 very tight games, and looks to keep the momentum going in Detroit. Meanwhile, Pekka Rinne has been PHENOMENAL in his starts against Vancouver practically stealing a win for his team last time the two met in Vancouver. They are currently tied at 1, and in the middle of their game 3. Can Pekka Rinne and Preds actually pull this off?

[RobertoScalia]

Tampa has completed the, what I thought, unlikely sweep of the Caps, and imo Boudreau's firing is probably going to take place sooner rather then later. Meanwhile Boston has taken a 3-0 series lead, and personally I don't see them blowing it this year, Thomas is too good.

[FlyinTooFast]

I told you all Boston can compete with Philadelphia.

[RobertoScalia]

After seeing the first round challenges Philly had with Buffalo I had a feeling that Boston might be too much for them to handle. They have just as good goaltending as Buffalo, probably even better, and can actually score on a consistent basis. Also, I strongly doubt they will blow this one, Tim Thomas is too good this year to lose 4 straight games, especially not in the playoffs.

[FlyinTooFast]

Yeah, I expect Boston to win tonight. I think they'll beat Tampa in six, but lose in the finals... in six

[RobertoScalia]

I think they beat Tampa, in 5 or 6. But it'll be interesting to see who they face, Vancouver's been having a tough time against teams they should be beating easily. I'm not too sure whether they can beat San Jose the way they're playing right now, but San Jose's gotta end the series ASAP, and get some rest to get ready for the Vancouver series.

[FlyinTooFast]

San Jose better close out the series in a hurry because Detroit has the ability to take the series.

[FlyinTooFast]

Nashville is playing good hockey right now.

[FlyinTooFast]

Patrice Bergeron with yet another concussion. This could be a devastating blow if he can't return in the next series.

[Rocketman]

Long live Shea Weber's beard. I hope Nashville keeps winning so we can see that thing go beyond out of control.

[Rocketman]

I told you all Boston can compete with Philadelphia.

No Pronger and goalie = no dice for Philly. Philly looked lost when Pronger got hurt.
I know some may say Lidstrom may be the best D-man in this recent era but I am not sold on it especially what Pronger has accomplished, the value he brings to a team and what teams have done after he been traded.

[RobertoScalia]

I still have to go with Lidstrom the man is 40 and is dropping as many points as he did when he was in his mid 20s. Not many defensemen can say that. Not going against Pronger's ability, there's no doubt he's a great d-man but I, personally, still have to go with Lidstrom. I also agree on the fact that Pronger's absence was a very determining factor in Philly's elimination, and I am wondering what Philly's gonna do in the near future to try and get that goaltending situation under control. Something that comes to mind would be getting Vokoun, and keeping him until BOB is ready to take over.

Also totally agree on the Shea Weber statement, I would love to see Weber's beard grow out of proportion. Kinda have him have that beard that they show on the 82-0 Flyer commercial, which I haven't seen lately lol

[FlyinTooFast]

No Pronger and goalie = no dice for Philly. Philly looked lost when Pronger got hurt.
I know some may say Lidstrom may be the best D-man in this recent era but I am not sold on it especially what Pronger has accomplished, the value he brings to a team and what teams have done after he been traded.

I think Boston wins easily even with Philly having Pronger. He's awesome, but not enough to win a series by himself. The goaltending was awful. Their defense was awful. Boston has a lot of underrated skill players.

[FlyinTooFast]

I still have to go with Lidstrom the man is 40 and is dropping as many points as he did when he was in his mid 20s. Not many defensemen can say that. Not going against Pronger's ability, there's no doubt he's a great d-man but I, personally, still have to go with Lidstrom. I also agree on the fact that Pronger's absence was a very determining factor in Philly's elimination, and I am wondering what Philly's gonna do in the near future to try and get that goaltending situation under control. Something that comes to mind would be getting Vokoun, and keeping him until BOB is ready to take over.

Also totally agree on the Shea Weber statement, I would love to see Weber's beard grow out of proportion. Kinda have him have that beard that they show on the 82-0 Flyer commercial, which I haven't seen lately lol

They're two different animals that get the job done. I feel Pronger's value is more on the defensive end with his size, even though he has a lot of offensive ability. He has toughnees and grit that can't be taught. Lidstrom is a hell of an offensive contributor, but has been on some really good offensive lines. He's not as great of a defender as Pronger, IMO... Pronger owns more because of what he can't control and that's his size. His skill to go along with that size is what has made him a HOF caliber player.

[RobertoScalia]

Well Tom you said it yourself, Pronger is a definite defensive force and that's something Philly clearly lacked in the playoffs this year. I'm not saying that Boston doesn't take the series, cause chances are they still would, but I am gonna say that IMO they don't sweep Philly the way they did.

[RobertoScalia]

Can't believe the Red Wings turned the series around and forced a game 7....Vancouver must be thrilled lol. Predictions? I say Detroit wins 4-3 in regulation.

[FlyinTooFast]

Can't believe the Red Wings turned the series around and forced a game 7....Vancouver must be thrilled lol. Predictions? I say Detroit wins 4-3 in regulation.

To be honest, I am not surprised. Detroit is the better team IMO