2009-10 NHL playoff thread

Figured we should start one for the run to Lord Stanley's Cup and leave the other thread open for pertinent league matters, draft talk, etc., etc.

Playoff picks anyone? My first-round picks...

EAST
Caps over Habs in 6
Devils over Flyers in 6
Penguins over Sens in 5
Sabres over Bruins 7

WEST
Sharks over Avs in 6
Hawks over Preds in 7
Yotes over Wings in 7 (I know, I'm insane)
Kings over Canucks in 6

Also, apparently Tomas Plekanec had something to say about the Capitals.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/04/caps_fire_back_at_plekanec.html

 

I'm not sure I've ever seen a first-round that looked this devoid of upsets. The only one I can even try to make a case for would be Flyers-Devils, and that's one hell of a stretch, considering Philadelphia's goaltending armageddon.

Heck, if any of the lower seeds/underdogs manages to even win two games, I'll be stunned. I just really think these look like some monumental asskickings.

/Not counting the hilarity that is (5) Red Wings vs. (4) Coyotes
//now watch four or five lower seeds win

 

<b>EAST</b>
<b>Caps over Habs in 4 --</b> Theodore has played better than most will give him credit for, and I think the Candiens will be done in by the long push they had down the stretch. Their biggest hope is for the Caps to struggle to flip the switch from regular season walk to post season crunch time.
<b>Devils over Flyers in 6 --</b> Brodeur has struggled come playoff time the last several years, but did have another strong regular season campaign, but I still have more confidence in him than I do Boucher. I see a lot of 4-3 games in this series.
<b>Penguins over Senators in 6 --</b> Sens flew under the radar for most of the year, but loss of Kovalev will be just too much for them to over come against the Penguins who figured out how to win it all last year.
<b>Sabres over Bruins in 5 -- </b> Similar to the Habs, the Bruins had to exert far too much down the stretch to make it in, and missing their best offensive weapon still, they will have trouble beating Miller. Although Touka Rask proved he is no slouch either this year, putting up better nembers than Miller in Save% and GAA, and carried them down the stretch. Will be a boom and bust series, I think it will be the Sabres that boom and the Bruins that go bust.

<b>WEST</b>
<b>Sharks over Avs in 7 -- </b> Sharks always struggle out of the gate in the playoff, and the Avs clearly hit the skids the last couple of months, but there is still plenty of talent in Colorado to make this a series and enough youthful exuberance to not realize they are supposed to be swept away. But I think the Sharks do eventually pull this one out in what will be a lot more difficult of a series than it should be.
<b>Hawks over Predators in 6 -- </b> This will be a nasty, physical series but the Hawks overwhelming offence will carry them through, and Niemi will silence a lot of critics.
<b>Red Wings over Coyotes in 6 -- </b> The run for the Coyotes finally ends. The Red Wings have just been far too hot down the stretch to go out in the first round. After struggling for the first three quarters of the season, no team was better over the final 20 games.
<b>Kings over Vancouver in 6 -- </b> My big upset of the first round, and I'm not convinced it is that big of an upset. I've liked the Kings since the preseason to make some noise this year. Will be another high scoring set judging by how both starting goalies played down the stretch, but I do like the Kings depth up front and on the blue-line a little better.

 

Good topic.

My picks are:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Washington over Montreal in 4: too much offence for the Habs to keep pace

Philadelphia over New Jersey in 6: On paper the Devils look like a Cup winner, but something doesn't seem right and the Flyers tend to give them fits like few others

Buffalo over Boston in 6: Low-scoring series and Ryan Miller is best player on the ice

Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5: Loss of Kovalev really hurts Ottawa in a high-scoring series

WESTERN CONFERENCE

San Jose over Colorado in 5: Sharks can't lose in the first round again, can they?

Chicago over Nashville in 4: Too much firepower for the Blackhawks; Niemi better than most think

Los Angeles over Vancouver in 6: Just a hunch that the Canucks may overlook the Kings

Phoenix over Detroit in 7: Ok, so I'm crazy. Again, playing a hunch here. Detroit may have spent too much in the race to get in and Brzygalove is capable of stealing a game or two.

FINALS: Chicago over Washington

Washington (the reincarnation of the Gretzky Oilers of the 1980s) scores three or more in every single game BEFORE the finals.

 

Struggle? Yea, I'd struggle too if I had lost more than 200 man-games to injury.

 

List of the last 15 Stanley Cup champions:

1994--Team from United States
1995--Team from United States
1996--Team from United States
1997--Team from United States
1998--Team from United States
1999--Team from United States
2000--Team from United States
2001--Team from United States
2002--Team from United States
2003--Team from United States
2004--Team from United States
2005--Canadian businessmen
2006--Team from United States
2007--Team from United States
2008--Team from United States
2009--Team from United States

This is why I predict this year's Stanley Cup champions will be either the Capitals, Devils, Flyers, Penguins, Sabres, Bruins, Blackhawks, Sharks, Avalanche, Red Wings, Predators, Coyotes or Kings.

 

I just wish it wasn't so damn tough to score a couple of tickets to a Caps playoff game.

 

Varlamov didn't play enough this season to get into a real groove. I'm not sure he was even a legitimate option. Caps don't need Theo to play at a Giguere in '03 or Kiprusoff in '04 level. They just need for him to play solid, limit softies, and give the offense a chance to work. Caps won't win a bunch of 6-3 games in the playoffs, but they're capable of winning 4-3.

 

I did some basic counting yesterday which is still difficult for me and realized after the Olympic break the Wings played at a winning fold above that of the '96 season when they won 62 games.

 

Hopefully at least one Canadian team makes to the second round.