[TLB]

ok, here goes nothing.

Tampa in 6
New Jersey in 7
Toronto in 6
Boston in 6

Detroit in 5
San Jose in 6
Vancouver in 6
Dallas in 7

This is the most wide open I think I've ever seen the playoffs. Any team that made it really has a chance to go far this year. I predicted many series would end in six or seven games because of how wide open it really is and the plethora of goaltender inexperience.

About Calgary/Vancouver....the way the media is pegging this one, Vancouver is looking like the underdog, which is fine by them. It will be very interesting to see how the Flames respond to not being the underdog. Kiprusoff is a good goalie but is really having a Jiggy-type of year. He played nowhere near the amount of games Turco did last year, yet is receiving a large amount of credit for breaking Turco's GAA record (I know I'd have a better chance at beating it if I played half the games Turco did). Cloutier is actually coming around and has had good success against Calgary, and coming in on a six game winning streak doesn't hurt either. Iggy's on a tear and is going to have to continue it for any hopes of Calgary moving on to the next round. Granted, Rucinsky & Sanderson ain't no Bertuzzi, but they do add a totally different dimension and the team chemistry has definitely benefited. Vancouver has been forced to play a team game, relying on four lines instead of always looking to Bertuzzi & Naslund to turn things around.

And before I get flamed for being a Canucklehead, I'm not. I'm just a fan of hockey who happens to live in Vancouver (my favorite teams are first Edmonton, then Colorado). It'll be a fun series to watch, and remember, the two times Vancouver made it to the Cup final, they beat Calgary in the first round. And the year Calgary won the Cup, they beat Vancouver in the first round so regardless of who wins the series, the team that does might be in for a long ride!

[sherpahigh]

ok, here goes nothing.

It'll be a fun series to watch, and remember, the two times Vancouver made it to the Cup final, they beat Calgary in the first round. And the year Calgary won the Cup, they beat Vancouver in the first round so regardless of who wins the series, the team that does might be in for a long ride!

We remember the losses to the nucks all too well. That's part of the motivation for kicking their asses.

I agree, it's going to be a great series to watch. 7 years without them in the finals and this city hasn't been this pumped in a long time. Go Flames!!

[CanuckCourage]

Yep I see where you're coming from Tony. I also get why the media is trying to make the Flames the fav , teams thrive on adversity and with the whole Bertuzzi incident they can make the underdog case . However when you compare lineups and playoff experience , it's hard for the media to make a believable case. Vancouver has extensive playoff action, and without a doubt more offense and a very solid defense. I agree with you that Kipper can't be made out to be a Vezina trophy candidate or anything else on the basis of 38 games, but he has played spectacularly and been the sole reason (of course Iggy too) the Flames are in the playoffs. I guess the great thing about only playing 38 games is he should be fresh for the playoffs. :lol: Calgary tends to have some brutal defensive lapses and Kiprusoff has bailed them out numerous times , but with the likes of Naslund,Sanderson,Rucinsky,Sedins and Morrison...Those mistakes I think will prove very costly. With the Nucks winning , 6 in a row (I think ) they are flying . Can't wait for the series to start , should be some great hockey !

Now for the predictions

Tampa over the Islanders in 6
Boston over Montreal in 6
Toronto over Ottawa in 7
Philadelphia over Jersey in 7
Detroit over the Nash in 5
San Jose over St. Louis in 6
Dallas over Colorado in 6
Calgary over Vancouver in 6

[grooveless touque]

Awesome...so now we have 6 people who have made their picks known! Just for fun - since I gave up on the Hipbase hockey pool after a month - I'll make it a little competition with 1 point for getting the winner right and a bonus point for getting the number of games needed to win right...but only if you picked the right winner. You won't get credit for picking 6 games if the wrong team won.

Maybe this is finally something I can win!! If anybody has any suggestions feel free to voice 'em

About Kiprusoff's beating Turco's record - it's true that Kipper played 30 games less than Turco, but he was injured TWICE during the season. If he can actually be injured, miss weeks of hockey, then come back and be even better than he was before you left, I give him all the credit in the world. You would have thought his GAA would have gone up after he sat out for weeks. It's not like he was on a tropical island sipping pina coladas, you know he was pushing himself as hard as he possibly could to get over a serious injury.

A lot of people here and on other boards I'm a member of have said Ottawa can win the series. I am a huge Sens fan, I got the jerseys and the flags and everything, but I am willing to admit Toronto's just the better team this year. I wish like HELL we'd met up last year, because the Sens could have finally proved they can beat the Leafs in the playoffs. It's a bloody great tragedy to have them come up this year.

I am finally ready to call the Dallas-Colorado series...I like Colorado more, and I think they have a wonderful lineup, but I gotta give the edge to the Stars in this one. More experience and more depth. Let Aebischer find his legs in this series and he'll be ready for next year's playoffs.

I don't think Calgary has the advantage at all...I think they can win, but they are definitely the underdogs. I mean, their grandparents were on the ice the last time the Flames made the playoffs. None of them have any experience and they are riding a huge emotional wave into the playoffs...Vancouver is a tried and tested playoff team with a terrible goaltender. I want Calgary to win, but Vancouver is definitely the heavy hitter here. I mean, come on, they didn't win their division and take the final six games of the season after taking a pounding on the Bertuzzi front by being a second rate team. I just maintain Dan Cloutier will choke like a dog on a chain this time, and every other time, in the playoffs. He's not a Cup contending goalie. Let the sparks fly over that one

[TLB]

Good points Mark, I definitely see what you're saying. Kipper played great, don't get me wrong. He had several saves that could easily make the plays-of-the-year list, bailed their inexperienced defensemen out on more than a few occasions, and provided a much needed boost to the team's confidence everytime he was in the lineup. Sutter knew exactly what he was getting when he picked him up from SJ.

The injury time definitely helped him re-focus and come back healthier, enabling him to continue on his torrid pace (in contranst to running off 38 games played without injury). Turco played about 60 games last season and kept the numbers up, which IMO is always harder to do.

Calgary's commitment to team defense and their goal of obtaining a playoff birth also played a big part in Kipper's success. They shaved over 50 goals off of their team total goals against, ending up with a rank of 3rd lowest goals against in the NHL this season (and Kipper only played half the games, so such a large difference must say something about the entire team's committment to defense).

As for Cloutier, I'm not trying to knock anyone here. It's easy to sit here and second-guess everyone in the league. But I'm also not going to get into a flamewar over him because others totally disregard what he's done in his career, opting only to slag him in order to "let some sparks fly". He's in the NHL for a reason and so is every other player.

[grooveless touque]

Well I personally have no qualms belittling Cloutier because my own team - the Senators - are in the grips of a goaltending controversy right now, and nobody says boo about Lalime having a better playoff record than Cloutier. Cloutier is too easily rattled by a softie. Lalime's problem is not that he's rattled, it's that he simply lets in about one soft goal per game. Most of the time, when you have a talented team, a goal makes much of - if not THE - difference in a game. He maintains his focus after he knows he's blown it...he just needs a little more stability in his performance. In one game he will make half a dozen game-savers, then let somebody chip it over his shoulder from a bad angle.

And I do see where you're coming from with your defense of Turco - it's true that he played 30 more games than Kipper...in fact, I heard someone on Sportsnet say Turco played 70, not 60, games. Don't know if that's absolutely true myself. But it's hardly worth arguing about...we're talking about two immensely talented goaltenders here whose performances have worked wonders for their team. Doesn't really matter whose name is in the record books. I just tend to hold the KIpper in a higher regard, personally, because a) he's a newbie who was destined for obscurity before Sutter picked him up, and b) he's not playing for the Dallas Stars.

[sherpahigh]

I think Tony was addressing Mark's comments about Kipper being injured.

[grooveless touque]

My bad :oops: I thought he was replying to my post immediately before his...

[TLB]

I was mainly replying to Mark but my comments regarding Cloutier were in response to the last couple lines of Groove's post.

[D-man]

Come on now, what's with all the arguing? We all know that this is the year of the Leafs. They've got the offense with the Skyline, not to mention the awesome one-two punch of Sundin-Mogilny. Then there's the solid defense stemming from Leetch among others. To cap it all off, Belfour is at the top of his game right now. What more do we need?

Offense + Defense + Goaltending = Leafs win the cup

[clearlyentranced]

Come on now, what's with all the arguing? We all know that this is the year of the Leafs. They've got the offense with the Skyline, not to mention the awesome one-two punch of Sundin-Mogilny. Then there's the solid defense stemming from Leetch among others. To cap it all off, Belfour is at the top of his game right now. What more do we need?

Offense + Defense + Goaltending = Leafs win the cup

Exactly! Leafs all the way.

[farmerdan]

I don't really have anything intelligent to add but.....
GO LEAFS GO!!!
:thumb:

[ShannonW]

Too many leafs fans on this board.

....go sens go... ?

i'll go hide now!

[prz]

ok here are my picks

TB over NYI in 5
Mtl over Bos in 6
NJ over Phi in 6
Tor over Ott in 7

Det over Nsh in 5
SJ over STL in 5
Cal over Van in 6
Dal over Col in 7

[clearlyentranced]

Too many leafs fans on this board.

....go sens go... ?

i'll go hide now!

ahah!! speaking of the sens, if anyone wants the song called "Three cheers for Ottawa" (A song that makes fun of the sens) message me and let me know.