So this is when it will be extremely clear to everyone that my vast knowledge of hockey is much smaller than everyone else’s knowledge. I can’t give you much about player depth or awesome history that gives some teams more of a push than others, and I have a couple biases that will definitely affect my predictions, but I believe all my predictions have at least some merit.
The West
LA Kings vs. Vancouver Canucks
I think this match up will be much closer than most would assume a one seed versus eighth seed might be. While Vancouver won the President’s Trophy for a second year in a row and has something to prove after losing last year, the Kings managed to tie them in the regular season 2-2. Vancouver won their last match up on March 26th and is entering the playoffs after finishing the season with 2 wins, while LA lost their last 2 games, which put them in their current position. The Canucks also have the potential return of Daniel Sedin to look forward to. On paper, it looks like Vancouver has a cake walk in front of them for the first round, but I think LA will fight to redeem the downfall that ended their season. While I believe Vancouver will inevitably take the season, even though I would much prefer to see LA moving on, LA will definitely make it interesting.
Vancouver in 6.
San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues
While San Jose is coming in off a strong regular season finish, I really don’t think it will be enough to propel them into the second round of the playoffs this year. St Louis is the higher seeded team, also coming in off a win, and was undefeated against San Jose in the regular season. The two teams haven’t met since the beginning of March, which might help San Jose consider this an extremely clean slate and a fresh start. Overall, however, I think San Jose might just be a bit of a road bump for St. Louis and nothing more.
St. Louis in 5.
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Phoenix Coyotes
Another pairing that should be close, a higher seeded team against a higher point scoring team. Both teams finished the season on a winning note, but Phoenix finished much stronger with 5 wins compared to Chicago’s one win. Also, while Chicago has the higher point value, Phoenix won the regular series season 3-1, most recently on February 11th. With the last game between these two teams being two months ago, it will definitely be an interesting matchup, but I see the third seed Phoenix Coyotes moving on to the second round.
Phoenix in 6.
Detroit Red Wings vs. Nashville Predators
I think this series will be the closest of the Western Conference. The two teams are only 2 points separated in the standings and split the regular season series 3-3. The ball is slightly in Nashville’s court, however, because they won the last regular season matchup, and not too long ago, on March 30th. According to some sources, the Red Wings are not to be count out, but as I mentioned earlier, I’m not the one to ask for the details about those types of opinions. I don’t think Detroit will pull out the victory overall, but they will definitely put up a very strong fight in this series.
Nashville in 7.
The East
Ottawa Senators vs. NY Rangers
Some might say it would be pretty obvious that the Rangers are taking this series and moving on, but I don’t think it will be quite that simple. Sure the Rangers are the top ranked team in the East, sure they have a solid defense and offense, but against the Senators, they lost the regular season series 3-1. Both teams ended the season on a losing note and both teams need to step up their game a bit if they really want to keep going in the playoffs. The Rangers definitely have the step up, but Ottawa won’t just role over and play dead.
Rangers in 6.
Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins
As the current Stanley Cup Champions, the Bruins better make it past the first round this year. Both teams finished the season with 2 wins, but the Capitals unfortunately pulled off the victory for their regular season matchup 3-1, most recently winning on March 29th. Both teams have reasons to be confident going into the first round, but both teams have been shaky lately too. The Bruins have been two different teams on the ice and the Capitals have a lot of questions in a very critical role, their goalie. This will definitely be one of the more interesting matchups this round, but I’m going with the home team pride and the Bruins will be moving on to the second round.
Boston in 7.
New Jersey Devils vs. Florida Panthers
The Devils are entering the post-season on a very high note, coming off six wins with a 102 point season. The Panthers managed to hold onto the third seed and also finished on a winning note, but I think the Devils will take this series. The Panthers won the last time these two teams met, but that was two months ago back in February and left the regular series split 2-2. The Devils have the players, the points, the goalie, and the drive to take this series and continue on to the second round.
New Jersey in 5.
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburg Penguins
While this should be a very close series, the Penguins have a few important legs up on the Flyers. By clinching the 5th seed, they have the home ice advantage, which is probably more important in this series than in any other, and even though they lost the regular season matchup 4-2, they won their last game of the season, beating the Flyers 4-2 on April 7th. Now that they have Crosby back and settled in, the Pittsburg Penguins have a little more of a surge on their side than the Flyers do.
Pittsburg in 7.
Everyone owes me 5 bucks and some awesome wine if all these predictions are right.
No comments:
Post a Comment