NHL Rd 2 PLAYOFF 2009 Kempner Predictions

Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6)

The Hurricanes needed 7 games to beat the playoff experienced New Jersey Devils. The line of Chad LaRose/Eric Staal/Ryan Whitney are firing on all cylinders. Can they keep it up? Facing Martin Brodeur is no easy task and they got to him. The way the Hurricanes won game 7 was impressive but so disappointing for the Devils.

The Bruins on the other hand had full control over the struggling Habs. Backed by Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara these Bruins are tough to beat. Offensively, they look good. But let’s not forget that these Hurric

anes have Stanley Cup experience. Cam Ward can take over and win games. I am banking on the Cup experienced team to win these series. There will be two ways the Hurricanes will come into this series: 1. Exhausted, battered and bruised from New Jersey. 2. Just getting warmed up and ready to battle.

I believe the rest will be a set back for the Bruins.

Prediction: Carolina wins in 6

Washington Capitals (2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (4)

This series will have the most hype, excitement and battles. What else would you want? Crosby vs Ovechkin. All the yapping about celebrating after a goal means nothing now. Either one will be celebrating exuberantly when they score in the playoffs. The Caps showed a lot of confidence and resilience coming back from down 3-1 vs the Rangers. But they will need to play better to beat the former Stanley Cup finalists. Semin looked incredible and will need to be incredible to help support Alexander. The guy people seem to be forgetting is Malkin. He led th

e league in scoring and will be causing the Caps major match-up problems. This hard fought battle will result some great games. But I think it will come down to goaltending and Fluery has the nod over the rookie Varlamov. I still believe Pittsburgh is winning the Cup and the Caps aren’t looking the greatest.

Prediction: Pitts wins in 6

Western Conference

Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Anaheim Ducks (8)

The Red Wings look great making the Blue Jackets look inexperienced. The Ducks on the other hand, surprised us all as they quite handedly took out the President Trophy Sharks. This series starts with many questions. Will the Ducks come hitting hard and throw the Red Wings a monkey wrench in their plans? Is t

his just going to be another day in the office for Detroit? Who’s going to have the better goaltending? Can Hiller handle the amount of shots the Wings are going to throw at him?  Both these teams are loaded with Stanley Cup experience. What’s exciting is the amount of young guns involved as key players in this series. The defensemen in this battle alone will be hall of famers. Remember this is Brian Burke’s old team. He did wonders by signing Scott Niedermayer I think the Ducks will give the Red Wings a run for their money but Osgood isn’t a 2 time champ for nothing.

Prediction: Detroit in 7

Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (4)

The last time these guys met Vancouver won 4-0 but the third period had a line brawl. It should be explosive with Burish and Byfuglien as Burrows, Bieska and Mitchell cause problems as well. Coach Vigneault and coach Quenneville don’t get along either.

The Sedin twins need to keep producing and the RPM line needs to score a few goals as well. The line that is flying but needs to chip in a goal or two is the Berrnier/Raymond/Wellwood line. With the Blackhawks, Toews is on fire winning games with his goal scoring. Kane and Sharp need to step it up with some goals in order to win this series. They have good goaltending that will keep them in games as Khabibulin has one a Cup already. Luongo is playing really well and I could see a low scoring affair. Vancouver looks to get Salo, Sundin and Mitchell back healthy. The rest seems to have been in their advantage this time but we will see tonight how they come out to play.

The Canucks are blessed to have home ice as the Canucks are now on a 15-1-1 streak at home including the playoffs.

Prediction: Vancouver in 5

NHL PLAYOFF 2009 Kempner Predictions

If you're Canadian, you know that the NHL playoffs are here. It’s hard to do any kind of work or get much sleep as the anticipation for playoff hockey is growing. It’s always better when your team actually makes the playoffs (right Brian Burke) and it’s great to see many Canadian teams in the hunt. Let’s break down the 1^st round match-ups.

Western Conference:

1. San Jose vs 8. Anaheim

The Sharks are the president trophy winner while the Ducks barely stayed in the playoff hunt. Many are predicting the Ducks to upset saying that the Ducks is a hard-hitting team and San Jose is a bunch of goal scoring pretty boys. I think the biggest difference will be in goal. Nabakov vs Hiller? Nabakov every time. Dan Boyle is amazing on the blue line. To me the Ducks are too inconsistent.

Prediction: The Sharks in 6.

2. Detroit vs 7. Columbus

There would be no one debating this series if Detroit had good goaltending but Osgood and Conklin have not been stellar but subpar. The Blue Jackets are green as this is the 1^st postseason experience in the 9 year team history. The Red Wings on the other hand are the Stanley Cup champs and have a combined 1,793 games of playoff experience. Steve Mason has been incredible as a rookie. He will be in the talk for the Vezina. The Red Wings added Hossa to their roster this off season. I was going to pick the Blue Jackets but Mason is a rookie and remember Carry Price last year going into the playoffs and had a hard time with the jump into a 7 game series.

Prediction: Detroit wins in 5.

3. Vancouver vs 6. St.Louis

Did you know that the Blues are the hottest team in the league since January? This calls for the upset right? No way! The second hottest team since January is the Canucks. The Blues came out of nowhere and are going nowhere. Yeah I know Boyes, Backes, Berglund have been great as well as Chris Mason in net. But the Canucks are ready for a run and it starts with the lowly Blues. Sundin is going to earn some money finally and the twins are going to get a pay raise plus Luongo is a STUD (his playoff GAA is 1.77). Burrows and Kesler are made for the playoffs.

Prediction: Canucks in 5

4. Chicago vs 5. Calgary

Here’s the facts: #1. The Blackhawks are on fire right now and Calgary is struggling. #2 The young guns of Chicago have never seen a playoff game. Calgary is filled the veterans who have been on long playoff runs. #3 Calgary is banged up and who’s really going to be playing 100%.

Khabibulin has already beat Calgary in the playoffs when he won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay.

Prediction: Chicago is winning this series in 6.

Eastern Conference:

1. Boston vs 8. Montreal

The Bruins were 23 points ahead of the Canadiens this year also the season series was 5-0-1 in Boston’s favour. I am cheering for the Habs but unless Carry Price can stand on his head and they get some consistent scoring from Kovalev, Tanguay, and Koivu. Chara is a beast and Boston had 6 20 goal scorers.

Prediction: Bruins in 4 

2. Washington vs 7. NY Rangers

The Rangers have zero 30 goal scorers on their team and Capitals out scored the Rangers by 68 goals this year. Drury and Gomez need to step up and Lundqvist need to stand on his head to beat the Caps. The interesting playoff factor is the pest work of Avery and Marc Staal can they get Semin and Backstrom off their game. I don’t think Theodore has to be dominate for them to win this series. The Caps are going to pepper Lundqvist and he can’t save everything.

Prediction: Capitals in 6.

3. New Jersey vs 6. Carolina

This is a tough match-up.  The Hurricanes have been playing playoff must win hockey to make the playoffs will they be able to keep it up? These goalies both have Stanley Cup experience. The playoff experience both of these teams have is outstanding. I think it’s going to come down to two things New Jersey’s top 6 forwards and goaltending.

Prediction: New Jersey wins in 7.

4. Pittsburgh vs 5. Philadelphia

This is a rematch of last year’s conference finals. What a series and potentially the best in the 1^st round. A month ago I would be saying Philly hands down but the Penguins have come on really strong as of late taking home ice advantage. It’s going to be a hard-hitting affair. Penguins won the season series 4-2. Crosby and Richards don’t like each other. As much as I don’t like this pick I believe the Penguins will come out on top. For the Flyers to win the series Biron needs to be amazing.

Prediction: Penguins in 7.

So there you go in all it’s glory! I hope you enjoyed the analysis and predictions. I am not going with my heart but my head. So I will be cheering against many things I am predicting.

If I need to pick and Stanley Cup final and winner I would be taking Pittsburgh over San Jose. But I am cheering for a Philadelphia lose to the Canucks! 

Who will win the NFC North Division?

I know it's April and before the NFL draft which can change everything but I thought this would be interesting to post for all you NFL followers out there.

Who's going to win the NFC North this year?

Chicago

I know there is a lot of hype with Chicago and Cutler. Granted it's pretty legit. With Orton they were 9-7 and Kyle didn't play all the games. With no WR's they almost won the division. I could see them winning a game or two more with Jay at QB. Can their defense hold up? Getting older but these guys have all the experience. Forte and Olsen will be better with Cutler around.

Minnesota Vikings

They got all the talent at every position except one...QB. T.Jackson if he's the man he better improve and not turn the ball over. There is a reason why they got Rosenfel to compete and or back him up. I think the win the division if they get good QB play. Their defense is great and AP is amazing.

Green Bay Packers

2 years ago in the NFC championship game marching down the field in OT vs the Giants to go to the Superbowl. What happens? INT by Favre. I say all that to say this one game away from the Superbowl the next year Favre retires and wants to come back the Franchise says no Aaron is now our guy. They are nowwhere close to the record they needed to be. Is it Rodgers fault? No he played better than Favre did and would have. The defense let them down! If they can go back to form and with that #9 overall pick select a DE who will have immediate impact then they are winning the division. They have some great offensive weapons and need to improve their running game.

Detroit Lions.

0-16 to winning the division. No way. Well the Dolphins were 1-15 and won their division last year. Here's the difference they got the Big Tuna as GM. Granted Detroit has changed leadership. But they traded for Chad Pennington. Drafting Stafford is a good move but there is no way he's going to be as poised as the veteran Pennington. Even if he plays as well as Matt Ryan does he doesn't have the weapons. Calvin is a stud and Kevin Smith is pretty good but this team is rebuilding and this draft is crucial for them. 5-11 at best.

Who's going to win??? I am hoping for the Packers, it could be the Bears but I am thinking the Vikings unless the QB play is subpar then either Packers or Bears will take it.

Culter - Orton Trade

The Jay Culter fiasco is finally over…or is it? Today the Chicago Bears offered the Denver Broncos the most they were going to get.

Denver receives:

QB Kyle Orton

2009 1^st round pick (12^th overall)

2010 1^st round pick

2009 3^rd round pick (#84 overall)

Chicago receives:

QB Jay Cutler

2009 5^th round pick (140th overall)

I think there would have been a lot of interest for Jay Cutler. This kid has a great arm and is young. I am surprised that people would give up two 1st round picks, a 3^rd and a starting QB. Now we have heard for years and years the thing the Bears are missing is a stud QB. People are going to say how great the Bears are going to do now; a possible NFC contender but maybe a given division title. Hold the horses for a moment. I will tell you that the Vikings, Packers and Lions will have something to say about that.

The Broncos got so much for the disgruntled Cutler. Here’s a team who was on the rise. With Cutler they had the #2 offense in the league. Now their defence needed to be addressed. So Brain Dawkins signs with them at safety and they have the #12 overall pick to help that D out. Josh McDaniels was an idiot to try and trade Cutler to get the one hit wonder in Matt Cassel. Not only does Cassel not get traded to the Broncos but Cassel goes to the division rival the Kansas City Chiefs. As a result of that they lose Cutler. Not a good offseason for Denver.

Did the Bears win this deal or did the Broncos? Immediately you must say the Bears win this deal but only time will tell if the Broncos actually win with how those draft picks pan out.

Kyle Orton is no Jay Cutler but he’s no slouch either. This guy wins. In his 1^st year as a starter he put up decent #’s when healthy with subpar WR’s. Now he inherits Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Brandon Stokley. His value has to go up. Cutler on the other hand, definitely has his work cut out for him. Lloyd, Hester, and Davis aren’t very good at all as a WR core.

Many people are speculating that Denver will package up their two 1^st round picks in this years draft to move up the draft board to get a QB. Well they probably won’t get Stafford but the guy I would be targeting is USC QB Mark Sanchez. I wonder if they could get either unless they trade up. There are a few teams looking for a QB. Those teams ahead of Denver could be Detroit, St.Louis, maybe Seattle, and San Francisco.

I think they should keep Orton, his college system will be like the Denver system under coach McDaniels, and use #12 and #18 for major help on the defensive side of the football.

Who wins the deal? I am leaning on the side of the Broncos. Don't get me wrong San Diego is winning the division but the following year if Denver drafts right this could be a good trade for them.

What do you think?

Fantasy Value:

J.Culter, B.Marshall, and E.Royal all go down slightly.

K.Orton, M.Forte, G.Olsen all go up slightly.

Of course I could be wrong but I doubt it.

Two points I need to add:
1. If Orton, as unhealthy as he was, led the Bears to a 9-7 season I must assume that Cutler will at least win two more games. 11-5 is a good record and division winner or at minimum a wild card birth.
2. The signing of Orlando Pace doesn't hurt. I think the Rams think he was done and they released him but the Bears disagree because they signed him for 15 million over 3 years. If the Bears are correct then this will help BIG time.