East
1 Montreal Canadiens vs 6 Philadelphia Flyers
The Canadiens were the biggest disappointment out of the winners in the 1st round. 7 games to the Boston Bruins. Carry Price is the real deal though and without him they would not have won the series. A shutout in game 7! Wow. The Habs are fast and #1 in the pp. With great goaltending they can beat anyone.
The Flyers had a tough match-up with the young guns of Washington. Semin, Backstrom and Ovechkin were all over these guys and they found a way to win. Biron proved the Sabres that he was a #1 goalie as he looked calm in game 7. #2 pp was the Flyers.
In the regular season battle Montreal owned Philly 4-0. But this Flyer team is playing great. They are hitting, scoring and getting good goaltending.
I don’t think anyone can stop Daniel Briere (6 goals and 11 pts in 7 games!).
My 1st upset goes to my Flyers in 6 games.
2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs 5 New York Rangers
Ottawa was the worst playoff team playing a young, fast, and talented Penguin team. And NY did exactly what I said in proving too much offense for Brodeur to handle by himself.
Lundqvist was nominated for the Vezina and Malkin will be nominated for the Hart. This series could go either way. I think Lundqvist is going to see what kind of power this Pittsburgh team has as they will shoot a lot of rubber his way. The Rangers have assembled a good team as well. But Jagr isn’t the same Jagr of the past. Adding Drury and Gomez helps a lot but they need Avery to be his annoying self in order to beat the birds. Fluery is ready to make a statement that he is ready to go to the next level.
Here’s an interesting couple of stats:
- Pittsburgh ranked fourth in the league on the power play, with a 20.4% success rate. New York ranked 22nd at 16.5%.
- Pittsburgh ranked 23rd in the league in penalty killing, with an 81.0% success rate. New York ranked sixth at 84.6%.
The series will be close as they were 5-3 in the regular season battles but Pittsburgh will be too tough for the Rangers. Penguins in 6.
West
1 Detroit Red Wings vs 6 Colorado Avalanche
This series has the most history. The epic battles of the Wings and Avs have been fantastic and this series will be a great one too. Forsberg and Foote add needed Colorado playoff depth and experience. Detroit seems to be ready to make a run.
What I question the most is the Red Wings goaltending. Will Hasek be ready or will Osgood need to be the starter? Either way both these guys have enough experience to do the job but will they? On the other side, Jose Theodore looks amazing playing his best in years. The difference will be this…Colorado has more depth in their forwards. Hedjuk, Forsberg, Sakic, Stastny, Smyth, and Wolski will be difficult to stop.
Another upset in the making the Avalanche in 6.
2 San Jose Sharks vs 5 Dallas Stars
This won’t be the best series to watch but it will be close. It will be a war and when the dust settles many will be shocked. This goalie battle will be interesting. The favourite has to be the Sharks and why wouldn’t they be? Nabokov is a Vezina trophy candidate. Thorton is a top player. Marleau and Cheechoo cause major problems when playing well. With Campbell they have barely lost. Roenick is a playoff vet who produces. Clowe has been a pleasant surprise.
The Stars are very similar to the Flames. Hard working, hard hitting and hard to beat. This blue collared team is hungry and ready to make some noise. Turco has to get the playoff monkey off his back and will have the chance to this series. Captain Morrow should be the leader on this team. Richards is making his $ so far and Modano just seems to never die (great draft pick).
I was not impressed with the Sharks vs Calgary and wondered if they were going to lose. If Kipper played better in game 7 the Sharks would be cleaning up their lockers.
Going with my 3rd upset here…Stars in 7.
So my predictions have 3 out of 4 series with major upsets. You might laugh now but may I remind you again I was 8 for 8 in round 1 and last year I picked the Cup winner before the playoffs started with the Ducks.
Of course I could be wrong but I doubt it.
2 comments:
I went into these playoffs saying the final 4 would be Sharks/Ducks & Penguins/Habs. Well 1 is out but still believe 3 of 4 will be in their respected East/West final.
Well went 4 for 8 on 1st round.. my worst ever! Said Nashville would beat Detroit, Anaheim would beat Dalas, San Jose would beat Calgary (sorry Rob), and Minnesota would beat Colorado in the West. In the East, Montreal would beat Boston, Pittsburgh would beat Ottawa, Flyers over Capitals (teaches you Caps to take out my Canes!), and Devils over Rangers. Obviously my worst side was the west... can see since I follow the East.
For this next round I see it being Pens and Habs out of the east. Pens should beat Rangers in 6 or less and Habs especially if their D/Carey holds should beat Flyers in 5 (both hold the season wins which to my mistake have held true in the playoffs). Detroit/Colorado I see the older, but more skilled Detroit winning (especially if they keep watch on fatigue on their goalies) in 5, while San Jose who has just figured out how to play as a team (I called the last series with them being down 2-1) should be able to frustrate Dallas with little problem (Turco has been winning games but didn't win the series for Dallas, Ducks forgetting to show up won the series for them)in 6 or less.
I know that I am going against most of Canada by picking the Flyers. But the fact remains that the Flyers have just as many Canadians on there team as the Canadiens do. To me Philly looks better as a playoff team. I think they are having problems with Montreal's speed. But in game 3 if Hatcher didn't take a 5 min major the score would have been 3-0. Price didn't play well but I think he will bounce back in game 4 but playing in Philly is tough.
I can't believe I took Colorado over Detriot. I didn't know Forsberg was hurt. Oh well. Can't be perfect every time.
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