[cferneyh]

The Ducks have already started whining too. In today's Herald there were whiney comments from Selanne and Carlyle about the way the Flames play. If they think the Flames were tough to play in the regular season, I think they are gonna get bounced pretty quickly.

I ended up loading up on Stars in the office pool. I'm not sold on Turco but there were just too many question marks out there to risk getting a guy who might not be playing by the third game of the series. I was tempted to take Kipper but I've got him in a different keeper pool so I didn't want to set up the chance of getting burned twice by an upset.

Man, I love the first round of the NHL playoffs!

[cferneyh]

Michael asked JR if can still play the game, and he said he "dominated" the last 10 games.

The definition of "dominated", by JR:

10GP, 1G, 3A, 4PTS, and his team goes 4-6.

Poor JR. I think he's trying too hard to stay relevant. Instead he and Guerin were co-winners of the "We Stole Our Paycheques This Season" Award.

[sherpahigh]

They were one lousy goal away from a Stanley Cup in '04

And Gelinas might have in fact scored that goal in Game 6.

ugh... don't remind me.

Every year there are upsets, most of which just don't make sense when comparing the two teams in the regular season. I don't know, for me i just have a feeling Anaheim will take this one. The Flames have the best goaltender & defense in the league, and they've shown they can get it down in the post season in the past. The one thing which really worries me about them though is their offense. If they are to go deep again, Jarome Iginla is going to have to take this team on his back. The Ducks are one of the best teams in the league the last few months, and no i don't think they are as good a team as the Flames, but they are certainly no pushovers. Scott Niedermayer is playing IMO the best hockey of his career right now, and he's the leader of this team. JS Giguere is playing like the JS of a few years ago, and Teemu Selanne is playing like a 25 year old. He's been dominant since the Olympics, and with Scott is their leader. Rob Niedermayer is playing well right now and is always a great defensive forward, as is Todd Marchant. Andy McDonald is playing very well right now (85 points), and Lupul has developed into a good goal scorer. They also have some great youngsters in the likes of Perry, Getzlaf and bring a lot of speed & energy to the line-up. It should be a good series, and yeah, i'm going with the Ducks.

I agree the Flames aren't as offensively talented as Anaheim, and if you give the Ducks too much room to skate, they'll burn ya. But while the majority of the Ducks' offence comes mainly from three or four players, the Flames are currently getting scoring from everywhere. If you were playing the Flames in '04, it was all about shutting down Iggy and Gelinas, but the Flames have a lot more depth this year, and Iginla doesn't have to score every night for the Flames to win. And like I said in a previous post, Calgary has proven all year long that when they're on their game, they can shut down any top offensive line in the NHL. I'm not worried about the Flames at all.

I totally agree. Iggy doesn't have to carry the offence these days, they're getting scoring from all over. With Phaneuf out there pounding guys left and right and potting goals from the blue line, kipper stabing pucks out of the air and the rest of them grinding away, I have faith in the Flames and think they have what it takes to go deep again.

Go Flames!!

[sherpahigh]

[direwolf74]

Haha, those are classic!

[tommygunn]

The Blues won the Draft Lottery.

Here's the order:

1. St. Louis
2. Pittsburgh
3. Chicago
4. Washington
5. Boston
6. Columbus
7. NY Islanders
8. Phoenix
9. Minnesota
10. Florida
11. Los Angeles
12. Atlanta
13. Toronto
14. Vancouver

The rest to be determined by the playoffs.

[das_hips]

As a Sens fan (yes 'cferneyh', they do exist), I am almost certain that the Senators will advance gleefully through the first round. The second round will put them up against the Flyers (on the assumption, of course, that Philadelphia will take the series, much to the disagreement of many a Sabres fan on the base), and that won't be an easy series. The Philadelphia series will indeed be decided on Emery's play. If Emery plays the way he did in March, and the earlier parts of the campaign, I'm not concerned at all. Again, running on my predictions, Ottawa will face New Jersey in the Conference finals. This one will go six or seven games, ultimately ending in an Ottawa win.

Ottawa versus ?...

My Eastern Conference predictions are:

Ottawa VS Tampa Bay -- Ottawa in five
Carolina VS Montreal -- Carolina in six
New Jersey VS New York -- New Jersey in five
Buffalo VS Philadelphia -- Philadelphia in seven

Second Round

Ottawa VS Philadelphia -- Ottawa in seven
Carolina VS New Jersey -- New Jersey in five

Eastern Conference finals

Ottawa VS New Jersey -- Ottawa in six

Hasek won't be able to play in the Tampa series, and that shouldn't even be a concern. Emery has provided enough evidence that he is a solid goalie. The last skid the Senators were on was the result of the absence of Redden, Chara, and Phillips. I can't think of another team that provides such presence in their top three D-men (I'd throw Meszaros in there as well, and have an even tougher time finding a more solid two line defence crew).

Of equal concern is the Senators ability to score goals. While this team is essentially the same team that lost to the Leafs on a seemingly annual basis, I'm gong to pull out the ol' "This team is different" cliche out of the hat. But as cliched as it is, I've never seen Alfreddson play the way he has (just such a damn fine player), and Spezza and Heatley are new to this team, and realistically, the playoffs as well, while entering them with incredible momentum. Havlat couldn't have come back at a better time, Fisher is playing damn well, and I suppose we can expect the same out of Vermette, Smolinski and Schafer.

Perhaps it's just capital optimism, but I am sure of at least the Conference finals, even if Emery plays mediocre; if Emery plays great, it'll be Ottawa in the Stanley Cup Finals, with Detroit.

[cferneyh]

While this team is essentially the same team that lost to the Leafs on a seemingly annual basis,

Seemingly? It wasn't seemingly. It happened. Four times.

Nevertheless, good luck to you and your Sens. I've got three of 'em in my keeper pool (Spezza, Heatley, and the guy who I think will never play another NHL game: Hasek), so I need them to do well. :thumb:

[Corpse]

I'm hopeing it will be Sabres Vs Calgary. (if das-hip can be a homer so can I). Calgary is my son's team so it'll be a nice little compition at home.

[senschic]

I can't wait for the game tonight! Let's get these playoffs started!

GO SENS GO!!

[Douglas]

Finally. The last playoff hockey game I saw was in Shanks south (Calgary), game 7 of the finals. I sat in disbelief with a bloody nose watching the Lightining carry the cup away. I need some new memories. Go Flames! Go Avs! Go all the Canadian teams!

[senschic]

Yeah the cup needs to go back to Canada. Florida thats just not right...

[The Darkest Canuck]

ROOM FOR ONE MORE!



"Hear me say...

One more
Chance to believe in
That you can even the score
One more
Place at the table
There's always room for one more
One more
Chance to believe in
That you can even the score
One more
Place at the table
There's always room for one more
ROOM FOR ONE MORE!"

GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO! GO HABS GO!

[Douglas]

So DK who are you pulling for? :lol:

[brian1175]

GO SABRES !!!!