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OK – all bets are now off!!
The top three seeds in the Eastern Conference – say goodbye!
The top three seeds in the Western Conference – still alive! In the East, the
fourth seed advanced to the second round. In the West, no such luck. It all
makes for some great hockey in the next round!
As far
as I’m concerned, with one, or
possibly two exceptions, the Stanley Cup is up for grabs! Without sounding like
your favorite reality show, eight teams are left, who will be eliminated in
Round 2? I’ve got a feeling we’re in for a lot more drama in this round, so
let’s go!
EASTERN
CONFERENCE
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Montreal
Canadiens
Headliner:
The most storied franchise in hockey still managed to pull off an NHL first –
they became the first 8th seed ever to overcome a 3-1 series deficit
to win in 7 games. The defending Stanley Cup Champions will have their hands
full in this one.
How they got here:
#4 Pittsburgh defeated #5 Ottawa in 6 games, #8 Montreal upset #1 Washington in
7 games
Impressed with:
Pittsburgh – Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar; Montreal – Jaroslav
Halak, Hal Gill, Mike Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec (or was that Jaromir Jagr? Ask
Jose Theodore for an explanation)
Need to see more from:
Pittsburgh – Ruslan Fedotenko, Tyler Kennedy, Marc-Andre Fleury; Montreal –
Sergei Kostitsyn
Pittsburgh wins if:
Marc-Andre Fleury becomes the
goalie he was last spring. So far I haven’t seen enough consistency from him to
expect this team will defend their title. Luckily, he hasn’t had to be stellar,
yet, and the team’s scoring prowess has made up for it. To be fair, the
Penguins knocked off an Ottawa Senators team playing without 75% of their top
scoring line, and still the series went to six games. Had it not been for a
great 3rd period, where Crosby admitted they had to get desperate, it
could have gone the distance.
Montreal upsets if:
Jaroslav Halak can continue his stellar play against Sid and company. We’ve
seen this movie far too many times in the past, especially with this franchise.
Montreal has historically relished the underdog status, and has proven many
times before they can get it done when the games and series are on the line.
Even though they placed 8th, they have players who have been there
before – Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek. Halak’s
performance in round 1 has already been compared to the Ken Drydens and Patrick
Roys of the past. The Forum Ghosts seem to have convinced the Hockey Gods that
the Habs are worthy of a 25th championship – be afraid Pittsburgh, be
very afraid! I never expected them to get by the high flying Washington, but
now I have a real feeling about this one, given what I’ve seen so far.
Prediction:
Canadiens in 6
Boston Bruins vs Philadelphia
Flyers
Headliner:
The Big Bad B’s go up against the Broad Street Bullies in the most unlikely of 2nd
round match ups.
How they got here:
#6 Boston upset #3 Buffalo in 6 games, #7 Philadelphia upset #2 New Jersey in 5
games
Impressed with:
Boston – Tuukka Rask, Miroslav Satan, Mark Recchi; Philadelphia – Brian Boucher,
Claude Giroux, Mike Richards
Need to see more from:
Boston – Marco Sturm; Philadelphia – Blair Betts
Boston wins if:
Marc Savard can be effective in his return from injury to add to an already
pretty good Bruins attack. Rask will need to outplay Boucher in net as both
teams can score enough goals to win.
Philadelphia upsets if:
Boucher can continue to be a brick wall. The Flyers need to find a way around
“the big Z”, Zdeno Chara. Not an easy task, but Chara’s only asset is his
size. Teams have proven in the past he can be shut down with physical play –
something Philadelphia is a master at. The team will have to do without Jeff
Carter and Simon Gagne, but with Chris Pronger still healthy it shouldn’t be too
hard to overcome. Again, I have a real feeling about these teams who were
playing playoff hockey long before the playoffs even started. It seems to me
all of the teams who had to fight their way in are the teams who are determined
to stick around and make some noise.
Prediction:
Flyers in 6
WESTERN CONFERENCE
San Jose Sharks vs Detroit Red
Wings
Headliner:
This is where we separate the men from the boys.
How they got here:
#1 San Jose defeated # 8 Colorado in 6 games, #5 Detroit upset #4 Phoenix in 7
games
Impressed with:
San Jose – Joe Pavelski, Dan Boyle (Game 3 of the Colorado series
notwithstanding); Detroit – Jimmy Howard, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk
Need to see more from:
San Jose – Evgeni Nabokov, Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton; Detroit – Daniel Cleary,
Kris Draper – perennial stalwarts in the playoffs must be better
San Jose wins if:
To use a cliché – their best players are their best players. Dany Heatley and
Joe Thornton have yet to bulge the twine, so if they could ever get going, look
out. Goalie Nabokov will now face a much more potent attack than the Phoenix
Coyotes, and a much hungrier team. He can no longer be “just OK”. He will
need to steal some games for the Sharks to make it out of the 2nd
round.
Detroit upsets if:
They get the contributions from most of their team like they did in round one.
Jimmy Howard, the fine young rookie goaltender, will need to be great,
especially if the Sharks wake up on offense. But who are we really kidding
here? – the Sharks barely made it out of round 1 alive while the Wings keep on
truckin’…while it’s true Detroit has played a lot of hockey the last few years –
there is a reason why they have – they’re just damn good. I don’t think Nicklas
Lidstrom is ready to retire just yet.
Prediction:
Red Wings in 6
Chicago Blackhawks vs Vancouver
Canucks
Headliner:
The rematch these two teams have been waiting for. The word on the street is
when Roberto Luongo and Patrick Kane were shaking hands after the Olympics, Kane
said to Luongo “see you in the Stanley Cup Playoffs”. Well, here we are.
How they got here:
#2 Chicago defeated #7 Nashville in 6 games, #3 Vancouver defeated #6 Los
Angeles in 6 games
Impressed with:
Vancouver – The Sedins, Mikael Samuelsson, Roberto Luongo; Chicago – the usual
suspects – Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp
Need to see more from:
Vancouver – Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond; Chicago – Dustin Byfuglien, Troy
Brouwer
Chicago wins if:
Byfuglien can get back into Roberto Luongo’s kitchen like he did last year and
allow Chicago’s top forwards to register points. Antti Niemi, still a bit of a
question mark after a shaky first round, even after registering two shutouts,
will have to match Luongo save per save. Shutting down the Sedins and
Samuelsson will be key. Not that they’ll want to look past the task at hand,
but Chicago still has one more rematch they’ll be playing hard for – the Detroit
Red Wings.
Vancouver upsets if:
The Canucks equal the Hawks’
offensive output, and stay disciplined. The Kings tried hard to get them off
their game in round 1 (and almost succeeded). While it’ll be nice for Western
Canada to see if they can get to the final four, I just don’t think it’s going
to happen, but it will be a long, hard battle as both teams seem to have
benefitted from a year of experience.
Prediction:
Blackhawks in 7
More Puckin' Around...
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