...is here! With the last game played yesterday, the shortened regular season is over, and it's time to get to the games that really matter. Important stories this season (that I can remember): - John Tavares of the NYI emerges a superstar, and leads the Isles into the playoffs. - Martin St. Louis becomes one of the oldest players to ever win the scoring title. He's 37 I think. - Sidney Crosby leads the NHL scoring race then breaks his jaw from a shot and loses the crown in the last month of the playoffs. - Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow, both long time captains of their teams, get traded to Pittsburgh. I hadn't followed the NHL too closely this year, so my predictions will probably be way off, but here goes... Western Conference Chicago vs. Minnesota Chicago is the crown jewel of the NHL this year, having only lost 6 times. Minnesota added Parise and Suter this past year and are significantly improved because of it. Still, I can't see Min taking this. Prediction: Chi-town in 6. Anaheim vs. Detroit Anaheim is a rough and tumble team. Detroit has a bunch of aging skilled players. Though the Duck's top players are arguably better than the Wings, I think Detroit has a more balanced team top to bottom. This should be a series that goes all the way to game 7. Prediction: The Ducks take this in 7. San Jose vs. Vancouver San Jose has done all sorts of choke jobs in the past, and there's nothing on this team that tells me it will be any different this year. Vancouver made some good moves at the deadline and acquired Derek Roy to help their center situation. Vancouver, IMO, has more depth. Prediction: Vancouver in 6. St. Louis vs. Los Angeles The Blues players made significant strides this year, and added all star defenseman Jay Bouwmeester this year at the deadline. Still, the Kings are a deep team, and one that is built for the playoffs. But most Stanley Cup champions have a let down season after they win it all, and this year will be no different. The Blues have youth on their side, and added experience. And they are hungrier. Prediction: St. Lou in 5. I'll do the Eastern Conference later.
Western Conf. Chi(1) vs Minn(8) - 'hawks too tough, too talented. Wild may steal one game at home. Chicago in 5. An(2) vs Det(7) - Ducks simply too much for geriatric Red Wings. Anaheim in 6, max. Van(3) vs SJ(6) - Good matchup. I see a back & forth series going to Game 7. Picking Sharks to win in an upset. StL(4) vs LA(5) - Another tough one. Teams are very similar. Looking for Blues to win with superior D. STL in 6. Eastern Conf. Pitt (1) vs NY Islanders(8) - Pens have too much firepower, even without Crosby, who's back now.... Pitt in 5. Mont(2) vs Ott(7) - Don't know nuch about either team. Calling an upset. Sens in 6. Wash(3) vs NY Rangers(6) - Ovi's hot streak continues. Caps in 6. Bos(4) vs Tor(5) - B's spoil the Leaf's playoff party. Bruins in 6.
Always been a Martin St Louis fan, so glad he won the scoring race (even though Crosby was injured). The little guy that could. He went from a nothing being cut by teams to a future Hall of Famer. Great story. Chi/Min - Chicago in 5. C'mon. Ana/Det - Anaheim in 6. This isn't the Detroit of old. Van/SJ - Canucks in 7. Tough series to call, could go either way. Similar teams. SJ could easily win in 7 too. StL/LA - LA in 7. This will be the nastiest, hardest series in round 1. LA gets it on their experience and better goal tending. Pit/NYI - Pit in 6. I think the Isles will surprise, Nabakov has been lights out, but it's still the Pens' series. Mtl/Ott - Ott in 7. Yeah, upset here I think. The Sens play a hard game. Was/NYR - Capitals in 7. NYR won it in 7 last year 1st round. Caps have been on fire though. Tor/Boston - SWEEP Bruins in 4. C'mon. Plus Boston dominated Leafs all season long.
The Blues have won a couple in dramatic fashion, which I have unfortunately been unable to see or hear due to lack of TV and radio reception. But, hey! So far so good!
Am glad the Blues took both home games. Now if they can just steal one of the next two in LA, they'll be in a really good position. Need to start putting a few more biscuits in the basket, though. Am surprised at Sharks leading Vancouver 2-0 and heading home. Could this be a surprise sweep? The Canucks so far continue to disappoint in the playoffs. Also surprised to see NYI even up the series w/ the Pens. I figured they'd win on game, but not on the road. Especially after the blowout in game 1.
Nice to see the Sharks finish up the Canucks. That means the Blues won't have to face the Blackhawks right away if they somehow manage to get past the Kings. But that's not looking too promising now that LA has gone up 3-2 in the series. Still, every game has been a one-goal game. This series has been SO tight. The Blues need more scoring, but Quick has been pretty solid in net. Well, it's do or die for the Blues on Friday. Looking for Chicago, Anaheim, Boston, and Ottawa to finish out their first-round series in the next game. Hoping the Caps get back on track against the Rangers. Hoping the Blues send it to at least a Game 7.
Nautica, I forgot to ask you, how was the LA St. Louis game you went to? I've been to more than two dozen games, but have yet to splurge for playoff tickets. Mostly because my Flames have been out of them for 3 years but also because I'm a cheap bastard and tix are like 3x the price of the regular season.
It was Game 1, which the Blues dominated (mostly), so it was outstanding until 32 seconds left in the game when the Kings tied it up. And then the atmosphere when totally out of the building. And then built up again as the Blues crunched the Kings into the boards and played well at the beginning of OT. And then the place was silent with dread when Shattenkirk took a double-minor for High-Sticking. At that point we felt cursed. How is a team supposed to weather a four-minute penalty kill in Sudden Death OT!?! And then Steen scored shorthanded on the wraparound after stealing the puck from Quick, and the place went APESHIT!!!!!!!
Red Wings with an upset over the 2nd seeded Ducks! I'll be watching the Toronto Boston game tonight. Don't really care about the Washington New York game. It's hard to decide who to cheer for between Toronto and Boston. Toronto is a Canadian team, but Boston beat the shit out of the pussies on the west coast two seasons ago and did hockey itself a favor by making sure no team could dive and embellish their way to a championship. Ahh fuck it, screw Canada. What have you done for me lately, Toronto? Go Bruins!
If you haven't felt cursed since the late '90s or so, you aren't paying attention. . . . No. I'm long since ready to see the Red Wings go the way of the dodo, but I wouldn't wish a Chicago sweep on even them.
Dayum! I just checked the Game 7 details from the Boston/Toronto series: So the Leafs are up 4-1 with a bit over 10 minutes remaining, and up 4-2 with less than 90 seconds remaining, and they manage to put two in to tie it up, force OT, and win in OT?!?! That's amazing! I'd better watch SportsCenter to see the highlights! Must've been a hell of a game to see in person...unless you're a Leafs fan! Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/gameflash/2013/05/13/32606_summary.html#ixzz2TEFswvt6
Holy shit, that was some wild ass action tonight on CBC! When Toronto went up 4-1, I thought for sure it was over. But I guess the ol' bear still can give 'er. Just stunned silence on the part of the Toronto fans who were in that plaza by the tens of thousands. They had this one slip through their fingers. Toronto pretty much collapsed when the Bruins made it 4-2 as they started to pour the pressure on. Patrice Bergeron with the dagger! If you didn't tune in, you missed one of the best games of the past few years.
And with that, Round 2 is here! My summary and predictions: Western Conference San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings Sharks are coming off a sweep of the pussies from Vancouver, and will be well rested. Kings are banged up from the previous series against Nautica's beloved Blues. I think Sharks will take the first game, but LA's physicality will wear them down. The Shark's best players are not used to a slugfest, and Darryl Sutter's teams thrive in those types of games. It'll be interesting to see how the refs call this, as they let a lot of stuff go in the Boston/Toronto series. If they let the boys play, I expect the King's to take it. I'll be watching this one intently. Kings in 6. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings The Wings are coming off a pretty big upset over Anaheim, and Anaheim was a tough, physical team. Jimmy Howard is playing extremely solid from the games I've watched him play, and Detroit's Datsyuk and Zetterberg are playing like leaders right now. Minnesota was never really a huge test for the Hawks, and this series should be pretty close. Most people are predicting a Blackhawk's triumph, but I'll go against the grain here, because I think these two teams are a lot closer than their regular season records indicate. Red Wings in 7. Eastern Conference Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators The Sens are coming off a huge upset of Montreal, but the Canadien's star goalie was hurt for the last two games. Ottawa won in 7. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, have much more offensive firepower than the Habs do, and the only reason the Islanders were in it for 7 was due to the Penguin's star goalie doing a choke job before being replaced by Vokoun. If Pittsburgh goes back to Marc-Andre Fleury, I expect it'll be another 7 game series. Ottawa plays a much more disciplined and controlled game than the Islanders did, so the Pens will have their hands full. I think this series comes down to goaltending and defense, and Sens have the advantage there. My gut says Penguins win it, but my head says Ottawa may take this one. Tough to predict, but my dad is a pretty big Penguins fan, so I'll make an effort to try and watch this with him. Penguins in 7. Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers This is a couple of years in a row that Ovechkin and co. have done a choke job in the playoffs, and I predict changes coming to the team due to their no-show against the Rangers. Boston is coming off one of the most epic comebacks in recent memory, and will be pumped. I didn't watch the Washington vs. New York series at all, so I don't really know how the Rangers are playing. I will probably only tune in for bits and parts of this series, as I have other series to watch. As I've only seen Boston play, I will go with the physical edge the Bruins play with and predict a Boston series win. The Bostonians certainly deserve to go deep due to all that shit they went through with the bombings. Bruins in 5.
Western Conference San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings Sharks keep it interesting, but LA prevails on toughness, better goaltending. Kings in 6. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings Detroit blew their wad in the first round. Chicago is too skilled, too deep. Red Wings won't get swept, but they really won't ever contend either. Blackhawks in 5. Eastern Conference Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators I didn't see the Eastern Conf teams as much this year, but my gut tells me the Pens have too much firepower for the Sens. Pittsburgh in 6. Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers I don't care for the Rangers, and Boston proved they still know how to win last night. Goaltending keeps NY in it, but the Bruins advance. Boston in 6.
Yup-ironically now I have to cheer on the Bruins given my hatred for Ottawa. I've got this hatred for the Sens based on that the team should never have been based there in the first place. Send'em to Hamilton where they deserve a team.
So, down to the conference finals, we have the Penguins, Blackhawks, Bruins, and Kings, ie the last four Stanley Cup champions. This is going to be good!
Gonna pick Bruins over Pens in 6 or 7, and Kings over Blackhawks in 6 or 7 as well. No easy games left!
