[Lizard King]

The playoffs deserve their own thread I think. The matchups are all set, predictions, thoughts on any of the first round matchups anyone?

Here's the matchups and who I see winning (bold).

AST

1 Montreal vs. 8 Boston
2 Pittsburgh vs. 7 Ottawa
3 Washington vs. 6 Philadelphia
4 New Jersey vs. 5 NY Rangers

WEST

1 Detroit vs. 8 Nashville
2 San Jose vs. 7 Calgary
3 Minnesota vs. 6 Colorado
4 Anaheim vs. 5 Dallas

In the East, the Ott/Pitt mactch is interesting, if the real Ottawa shows up it could go either way but I dont think they have the goaltending to hold up against Pitt's offence. Montreal shouldnt have problems with Boston, especially since Boston's physical play might be limited not wanting to draw many penalties plus Montreal's speed will give them problems all series. Philly is lucky to be in the playoffs, the Caps are on such a high right now I think they'll take that with them and put Philly to bed. NJ/NY is a toss up, two good goalies, but with Brodeur you always have a chance, especially in the playoffs I give NJ the nod.


As for the West, its such a tight conference, and since I hardly ever get to see western teams play its hard to give a good analysis. I like Detroit, SJ or Anaheim to make the finals. The SJ/Cal matchup is the most appealing of the first round, Im going to keep a close eye on that one. I guess its true the west is the best..we'll see.

[cferneyh]

The playoffs deserve their own thread I think. The matchups are all set, predictions, thoughts on any of the first round matchups anyone?

The Habs are in, the Leafs are out, and you still have a Leafs related avatar.....admit it LK, you are a closet Leaf fan.....

Gimme:

MTL
PIT
WAS
NYR
DET
SJ
COL
ANA

[laliber]

Montreal
Pittsburgh
Washington
New Jersey

Detroit
Calgary
Colorado
Anaheim

[thedarkcanuck]

MTL
PIT
PHI
NYR

DET
SJ
ANA
COL

[The Darkest Canuck]

in the west:

Detroit
San Jose
Anahiem
Colorado


which would set up two very nice second round matchups:

Detroit & Colorado (always fun to watch, and we haven't seen it a while now)

and then San Jose vs. Anahiem...the two real heavy weights of the West IMO, even though the Ducks didn't have the best record, they're still the defending champs, and they are going to be hard for anyone to elimante...and the Sharks have been SO dominant down the stretch that I can't even imagine them not going to the finals...BUT, if there's a team out there that can stop them, i think Anahiem would be it...

and then in the East

Montreal
Pittsburgh
Washington
New York

once again, we weould be left with two very attractive conference semi-final matchups:

Montreal vs. New York, can't complain about original six teams squaring off in the postseason, it doesn't get much better than that.

And then we'd have the NHL's wet dream...Pittsburgh vs. Washington! Crosby vs. Ovechkin! Two division champions going at it for the right to advance to the conference finals...no doubt it would be a memorable series regardless of the outcome...

so those are just my initial thoughts, everything can change so quick now though.

my darkhorse from the West is Colorado (or Minnesota if they beat the Avs), with my one in a million lognshot being the Predators.

my darkhorse in the east is New Jersey, even though i don't think they'll get past the Rangers, and my long shot is the Senators regaining their composure and playing at the level that they're capable of.

[kleh]

habs
pens
caps
rangers

wings
sharks
wild
stars

sens crash and burn will probably continue but that has the potential of being one of the best series this year, same w/ wild/avs

boston vs montreal is just classic for the post-season

if anyone's interested ill set up a hipbase group on the cbc/hnic site

[grimes]

The playoffs deserve their own thread I think. The matchups are all set, predictions, thoughts on any of the first round matchups anyone?

The Habs are in, the Leafs are out, and you still have a Leafs related avatar.....admit it LK, you are a closet Leaf fan.....

Gimme:

MTL
PIT
WAS
NYR
DET
SJ
COL
ANA

I was at the game in Montreal last night and it was crazy how many people we wearing "Leafs Suck" and "Losers since '67" and similiar shirts. It's almost a little sad that they seem to hate the Leafs more than they like their own team. And it just screams of effort. Oh well, best of luck in the playoffs to Habs. I'd rather see them win it all then have the Cup go to another hockey hot-bed like Anaheim or Raleigh. I'm not sure I like their chances though. Whoever wins the east will be in tough against the western champion. My picks are:

Montreal
Pittsburgh
Washington
Rangers

Detriot
San Jose
Colorado
Anaheim

And I'll take the Sharks over the Penguins in 6 in the finals...

[Drez7]

East....

1. Montreal vs 8. Boston
2. Pittsburgh vs 7. Ottawa
3. Washington vs 6. Philadelphia
4. NJ Devils vs 5. NY Rangers

West...

1. Detroit vs 8. Nashville
2. San Jose vs 7. Calgary
3. Minnesota vs 6. Colorado
4. Anaheim vs 5. Dallas

East Finals: Montreal vs. Washington (Price/Huet Showdown!)

West Finals: San Jose vs. Colorado (Special Teams will be difference maker!)

Cup Finals: Montreal vs. Colorado (Theodore gets a shot at old mates...Forsberg/Foote addition to Sakic, Smyth, Stasny, Hejduk, Liles, Wolski, Brunette, Svatos will get it done!)

Another Cup for...



A Detroit-Pittsburgh Cup Final would be awesome! If the Caps could somehow get in there it would be great to see AO in the clutch.

Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

[ryan93]

I was going to wait until tomorrow before making my predictions, but what the hell, here they are. I'm not too confident they'll pan out as well as last year, when i was 14/15 (i picked the Sens to beat the Ducks).

1. Montreal vs. 8. Boston
2. Pittsburgh vs. 7. Ottawa
3. Washington vs. 6. Philadelphia
4. New Jersey vs. 5. NY Rangers

1. Detroit vs. 8. Nashville
2. San Jose vs. 7. Calgary
3. Minnesota vs. 6. Colorado
4. Anaheim vs. 5. Dallas

Unlike last year though, i'm not very confident in those picks. The Alfredsson & Fisher injuries were a deciding factor in the PIT/OTT series for me, not to mention the Sens goaltending situation going up against Crosby, Malkin, Hossa, Gonchar, Sykora & company.

Washington has all the momentum going into the playoffs...i actually saw a stat on tv today that since Bruce Bodreau stepped behind the bench in November, the Caps have 81 points, trailing only Detroit & San Jose, who have 83 & 82 respectively. Still, i'm just going with a hunch in Philly.

San Jose should beat Calgary, but if Kipper can get hot & the Flames can shut down Thornton, i wouldn't be surprised at all if the Flames came out on top.

Minnesota have a great team, but i like the way Colorado is playing. Peter Forsberg is going to be a force, and Joe Sakic looks like he's getting back in form.

Anaheim/Dallas will be an interesting series...i thought Dallas was a favorite, especially after the deadline, but they have struggled the last few weeks, although they have been better the last 4 games. Dallas are my favorite team in the West, so i'll be rooting for them, but i think Anaheim will just be too much. Hopefully Richards & Riberio will be good to go (both have missed the last 3 games), the Sergei Zubov injury leaves a huge hole.

[tommygunn]

I'm not too confident they'll pan out as well as last year, when i was 14/15 (i picked the Sens to beat the Ducks).

You had your Rangers beating the Sabres as well, if I remember correctly.

[j-monster]

Montreal will take out Boston... too much firepower for the Habs.

Pittsburgh will blow out Ottawa... same as above for the Penguins, plus too many injuries and complete loss of form for the Sens... oh how the mighty have fallen...

Washington over Philly... I hope, anyway, that one is really close, but I think Alexander the Great will carry the Caps by the Broad Street Bullies.

New Jersey over the Rangers in a seven-game snoozefest... defense anyone????

Detroit over Nashville... too many weapons for the Red Wings.

San Jose over Calgary... the Flames will test the Sharks, but the addition of Campbell plus Big Joe at his usual best makes the Sharks a scary team.

Colorado over Minnesota... mini-upset special as the Avs pretend it's 2001 again and ride Forsberg, Sakic and Foote into the 2nd round.

Anaheim over Dallas... defending champs win a close one.

After that? I don't know, the first round will be interesting, but round 2 will feature some REAL close matchups, I can't call them right now.

[laliber]

What I have always liked about the start of the playoffs is 1 of 16 teams wins, and in doing so, some lucky city gets a great spring ride leading up to dancing and drinking with Lord Stanley... (then I imagine the headline caption the next day)

Montreal -- Vingt-Cinq Mother F**kers !!!
Boston -- we did it without Orr
Pittsburgh -- we did it without Lemieux
Ottawa – WHAT DID WE JUST DO?????
Washington -- Ovechkin/Obama in 08
Philadelphia -- look ma no Teeth
NJ Devils -- look ma no Stevens
NY Rangers -- forget Messier, Jágr’s da shit

Detroit -- al a Lindstrom sans Yzerman
Nashville – (no caption required, the Preds are going nowhere)
San Jose -- The Real Teal
Calgary -- IGGY IGGY IGGY
Minnesota – TRAP TRAP TRAP
Colorado -- Sakic Scores in OT
Anaheim – a well rested Niedermayer sets up a well rested Teemu...
Dallas -- upon further review, Hull’s foot (never mind)

[direwolf74]

EAST:

1 Montreal vs. Boston
2 Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa
3 Washington vs. Philadelphia
4 New Jersey vs. NY Rangers

WEST:

1 Detroit vs. Nashville
2 San Jose vs. Calgary (gotta go with my heart on this one. GO FLAMES!!!)

3 Minnesota vs. Colorado
4 Anaheim vs. Dallas

[EPenguin10]

East....

1. Montreal vs 8. Boston
2. Pittsburgh vs 7. Ottawa
3. Washington vs 6. Philadelphia
4. NJ Devils vs 5. NY Rangers

West...

1. Detroit vs 8. Nashville
2. San Jose vs 7. Calgary
3. Minnesota vs 6. Colorado
4. Anaheim vs 5. Dallas

East Finals: Washington vs. Ottawa

West Finals: San Jose vs. Colorado

Cup Finals: San Jose vs. Ottawa

A bit of wishful thinking for Ottawa...I know. But I think they can bounce back...

San Jose has rounded into form in the second half, Marleau is 'back', Thornton his usual self, Nabokov playing his best and Campbell just seems to fit, I think they take it all...

[sean.bonner]

Dark horse prediction....