Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs will be underway by the time you receive this week’s edition. The first round opened on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, depending on seeds. This is always a fun time of year for hockey junkies like me and even the casual fan. Now we’re playing for all the marbles. For those now in the know, you may be wondering why the Pens didn’t win the division, or fell behind someone with fewer points than they had. Allow me to explain.
There are three divisions in each conference and the three division winners get the top three seeds in the conference. The remaining five teams then decide seeds four through eight. So, for the third year in a row, your Penguins will be the fourth seed and, really, it doesn’t really make that much of a difference in the playoffs until you get to a game seven. And even that doesn’t seem to matter, as the Pens won the Stanley Cup on the road two years ago in Detroit against the Red Wings. It’s much like the NFL playoffs where the team that is playing the best, not necessarily the best team, that gets on a roll and threatens for a title. So, without further ado, here is the breakdown of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs by conference.
Okay, right out of the gate, we’ll talk Pens, with the fourth seed, and Tampa Bay with the fifth seed. Both teams won their games at home over their opponent. That might be crucial in a game seven, which could happen in this series. But, the playoffs are about goaltending. If you have a strong goaltender, your chances are imminently greater than if you don’t have one. After a slow and shaky start, Marc-Andre Fleury has been on a tear, much of that in the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The character on this team has been what has elevated it to the point where it is now, and the tremendous coaching done by Dan Bylsma and his staff. The second highest point total in the history of the franchise, all without the franchise/captain and Geno. That, alone, is impressive
Tampa Bay brings some firepower with Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier. But the goaltending may be suspect with Dwayne Roloson. The Pens need to get their power play on track and everyone needs to contribute as they have been. It is being said that the Pens can’t go very far without Crosby and that may be true. However, this is only round one and the Pens have home ice advantage. Something tells me this is going to six games. I don’t know why I can’t shake that. So it is.
Pens in six
Okay, here we go top to bottom. Number one seed Washington against number eight seed New York Rangers. I heavily dislike both teams for obvious reasons. Even though this is the second season Washington has been the number one seed, yet Alex Ovechkin has yet to demonstrate he can carry a team in the playoffs. He ended up with the same number of goals as Crosby had when he went down with his concussion. Last year I predicted Montreal would take them down in seven games, and they did.
There is something about a number eight seed getting into the playoffs and playing with nothing to lose. While I am no fan of the Rangers, I do not like the Capitals that much more. So, we’re going with the undergod, just for fun!
New York Rangers in seven
Number two Flyers against the number seven Sabres. This one will be interesting. Again, a team we all love to despise, Philadelphia, and a team that can be pesky as all get out in Buffalo. Philadelphia has been limping along and could be ripe for the picking. This is another one where you probably cannot go wrong either way, yet I keep getting this feeling that the lower seed is going to take care of business. That’s why we’ll go with the underdog, again.
Sabres in six
Number three Boston against number six Montreal. Two of the Original Six teams from the beginnings of the NHL, and one of only two Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where hockey is more important than life and religion. That being said, Montreal upset Washington last year in the first round, then beat the Penguins in seven games last spring, in Pittsburgh. Boston always seems to be there, looming, and will cause some problems for whomever they play. This one is too tough to call, but we have to make a decision. This time, we’ll stay with the favorite, mainly due to Boston’s goaltending with Tim Thomas.
Bruins in seven
Western Conference
Okay, we don’t get much detail from the other conference, so we are going to go with reputation and tradition on these picks, and a few surprises along the way.
Number one seed Vancouver against number eight seed Chicago. Ahhhhh, the number one seed, and the other Canadian team, versus the defending Stanley Cup champions. This, alone, makes this series intriguing. Chicago had to sell off, trade, or outright lose a number of players from last year’s championship team. Vancouver has the Sedin twins (Henrik, Daniel) and goaltender Roberto Luongo. They are the favorite to win it all, and with good reason. Do the champions show up, or are the Canucks going to be too much for them? I will go with the odds here.
Canucks in six
Number two San Jose versus number seven Los Angeles. San Jose always is a prohibitive favorite during the playoffs, but they somehow manage to blow it somewhere along the way. Los Angeles is always a player, but they haven’t been center stage since Wayne Gretzky played for the Kings in the late 80s and early 90s. Two California teams, on the coast, and only one can move on. We will go with the experience.
Sharks in six
Detroit, the number three seed and Phoenix the number five seed. Well, the Red Wings are there again. They never seem to go away. Phoenix can be kind of an unknown. The experience goes with Detroit in this series and they may likely take it, but we are going to go bold with this pick and go with the underdog
Coyotes in seven
Anaheim, the number four seed against the number five seed Nashville. Much like in basketball, two seeds so close together represent nothing more than a wash. Either team could take this series. Even though Nashville is not that far from Pittsburgh, it is in the Western Conference. Here is another dish of irony. During the 2005 lottery, the last two picks came down to Anaheim and Pittsburgh for the right to draft Sidney Crosby. Had the ping pong ball bounced differently, Crosby would have been a Duck and a product of Los Angeles. Knowing him the way we do, that probably would not have been a good fit. I also feel Nashville is drastically underrated, which is why I am going with the lower seed in this series.
Predators in six
Matt Kenseth won the Sprint Cup series race in Texas Saturday night, breaking an unusually long winless streak, which seems to be the norm this season with winners who have gone a couple of years without winning a race. This Sunday, the circuit travels to Talladega, Alabama, the longest track in the series at 2.66 miles and one of only two tracks (Daytona) that is a plate track – this is a restrictor plate placed on the carburetor to regulate air intake and limit horsepower and lower speeds. This can be a very exciting race this weekend.
There are three divisions in each conference and the three division winners get the top three seeds in the conference. The remaining five teams then decide seeds four through eight. So, for the third year in a row, your Penguins will be the fourth seed and, really, it doesn’t really make that much of a difference in the playoffs until you get to a game seven. And even that doesn’t seem to matter, as the Pens won the Stanley Cup on the road two years ago in Detroit against the Red Wings. It’s much like the NFL playoffs where the team that is playing the best, not necessarily the best team, that gets on a roll and threatens for a title. So, without further ado, here is the breakdown of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs by conference.
Okay, right out of the gate, we’ll talk Pens, with the fourth seed, and Tampa Bay with the fifth seed. Both teams won their games at home over their opponent. That might be crucial in a game seven, which could happen in this series. But, the playoffs are about goaltending. If you have a strong goaltender, your chances are imminently greater than if you don’t have one. After a slow and shaky start, Marc-Andre Fleury has been on a tear, much of that in the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The character on this team has been what has elevated it to the point where it is now, and the tremendous coaching done by Dan Bylsma and his staff. The second highest point total in the history of the franchise, all without the franchise/captain and Geno. That, alone, is impressive
Tampa Bay brings some firepower with Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier. But the goaltending may be suspect with Dwayne Roloson. The Pens need to get their power play on track and everyone needs to contribute as they have been. It is being said that the Pens can’t go very far without Crosby and that may be true. However, this is only round one and the Pens have home ice advantage. Something tells me this is going to six games. I don’t know why I can’t shake that. So it is.
Pens in six
Okay, here we go top to bottom. Number one seed Washington against number eight seed New York Rangers. I heavily dislike both teams for obvious reasons. Even though this is the second season Washington has been the number one seed, yet Alex Ovechkin has yet to demonstrate he can carry a team in the playoffs. He ended up with the same number of goals as Crosby had when he went down with his concussion. Last year I predicted Montreal would take them down in seven games, and they did.
There is something about a number eight seed getting into the playoffs and playing with nothing to lose. While I am no fan of the Rangers, I do not like the Capitals that much more. So, we’re going with the undergod, just for fun!
New York Rangers in seven
Number two Flyers against the number seven Sabres. This one will be interesting. Again, a team we all love to despise, Philadelphia, and a team that can be pesky as all get out in Buffalo. Philadelphia has been limping along and could be ripe for the picking. This is another one where you probably cannot go wrong either way, yet I keep getting this feeling that the lower seed is going to take care of business. That’s why we’ll go with the underdog, again.
Sabres in six
Number three Boston against number six Montreal. Two of the Original Six teams from the beginnings of the NHL, and one of only two Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where hockey is more important than life and religion. That being said, Montreal upset Washington last year in the first round, then beat the Penguins in seven games last spring, in Pittsburgh. Boston always seems to be there, looming, and will cause some problems for whomever they play. This one is too tough to call, but we have to make a decision. This time, we’ll stay with the favorite, mainly due to Boston’s goaltending with Tim Thomas.
Bruins in seven
Western Conference
Okay, we don’t get much detail from the other conference, so we are going to go with reputation and tradition on these picks, and a few surprises along the way.
Number one seed Vancouver against number eight seed Chicago. Ahhhhh, the number one seed, and the other Canadian team, versus the defending Stanley Cup champions. This, alone, makes this series intriguing. Chicago had to sell off, trade, or outright lose a number of players from last year’s championship team. Vancouver has the Sedin twins (Henrik, Daniel) and goaltender Roberto Luongo. They are the favorite to win it all, and with good reason. Do the champions show up, or are the Canucks going to be too much for them? I will go with the odds here.
Canucks in six
Number two San Jose versus number seven Los Angeles. San Jose always is a prohibitive favorite during the playoffs, but they somehow manage to blow it somewhere along the way. Los Angeles is always a player, but they haven’t been center stage since Wayne Gretzky played for the Kings in the late 80s and early 90s. Two California teams, on the coast, and only one can move on. We will go with the experience.
Sharks in six
Detroit, the number three seed and Phoenix the number five seed. Well, the Red Wings are there again. They never seem to go away. Phoenix can be kind of an unknown. The experience goes with Detroit in this series and they may likely take it, but we are going to go bold with this pick and go with the underdog
Coyotes in seven
Anaheim, the number four seed against the number five seed Nashville. Much like in basketball, two seeds so close together represent nothing more than a wash. Either team could take this series. Even though Nashville is not that far from Pittsburgh, it is in the Western Conference. Here is another dish of irony. During the 2005 lottery, the last two picks came down to Anaheim and Pittsburgh for the right to draft Sidney Crosby. Had the ping pong ball bounced differently, Crosby would have been a Duck and a product of Los Angeles. Knowing him the way we do, that probably would not have been a good fit. I also feel Nashville is drastically underrated, which is why I am going with the lower seed in this series.
Predators in six
Matt Kenseth won the Sprint Cup series race in Texas Saturday night, breaking an unusually long winless streak, which seems to be the norm this season with winners who have gone a couple of years without winning a race. This Sunday, the circuit travels to Talladega, Alabama, the longest track in the series at 2.66 miles and one of only two tracks (Daytona) that is a plate track – this is a restrictor plate placed on the carburetor to regulate air intake and limit horsepower and lower speeds. This can be a very exciting race this weekend.
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