Playoff Predictions (or "How the Penguins will win the Cup")
[u]First round predictions:[/u]
[b]Eastern Conference[/b]
(1) Boston vs. (8) Montreal
Boston in five. Bruins exorcise some demons of losses to the Habs in past playoffs.
(2) Washington vs. (7) New York
Washington in seven. Lundqwist makes it a series, but the Caps eventually overpower the Blueshirts.
(3) New Jersey vs. (6) Carolina
Carolina in six. The Canes enter the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league. The Devils? Not so much right now.
(4) Pittsburgh vs. (5) Philadelphia
Pittsburgh in five. It won't be 4-2, 4-2, 4-1, 2-4, 6-0 like last season's matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals, but it will still be over in five closely-matched tight games.
[b]Western Conference[/b]
(1) San Jose vs. (8) Anaheim
San Jose in five. The games in this all-California showdown will likely be on so late that folks on the East coast may be able to catch Sharks-Ducks live OT hockey when they wake up for work the following morning.
(2) Detroit vs. (7) Columbus
Detroit in five. Steve Mason will stand on his head for one win, but the Blue Jackets don't have the playoff experience to match up with the Red Wings.
(3) Vancouver vs. (6) St. Louis
Vancouver in seven. The Blue Notes may be able to make this a series for a while, but when the chips are down, Luongo will come up big.
(4) Chicago vs. (5) Calgary
Chicago in six. Welcome to the playoffs, Kane and Toews. The kids help knock former Blackhawk bench boss Mike Keenan out of the playoffs.
Re: Playoff Predictions (or "How the Penguins will win the Cup")
Okay, that first round was somewhat bland with only one upset out of 8 series. I'll make up for it with upsets across the board in this round.
[u]Second round predictions:[/u]
[b]Eastern Conference[/b]
(1) Boston vs. (6) Carolina
Carolina in six. The chemistry between Staal and Cole from their last Cup run is back after the deadline deal to re-acquire Cole. Plus, we know that Cam Ward is capable of a magical playoff run, and his play between the pipes during the past month shows that he is starting to feel it again.
(2) Washington vs. (4) Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh in six. We thought the Pens and Flyers hated each other in round one, but the Pens and Caps truly despise each other. I've heard of a "love triangle" before, but this series has a "hate pyramid" between Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, and Semin. Don't let the friendly-looking hijinks between Geno and Alex at the All Star Skills competition fool you.
[b]Western Conference[/b]
(1) San Jose vs. (4) Chicago
Chicago in seven. In 05-06, the Sharks won in the quarters and lost in the semis. In 06-07, the Sharks won in the quarters and lost in the semis. In 07-08, the Sharks won in the quarters and lost in the semis. Sensing a pattern here?
(2) Detroit vs. (3) Vancouver
Vancouver in six. In football, they say that if you can't decide between two quarterbacks, you may not really have any quarterback at all. In hockey, if you can't decide between two goalies, you may not really have any goalie at all. Roberto Luongo trumps the two-headed Osgood-Conklin monster.
Re: Playoff Predictions (or "How the Penguins will win the Cup")
[u][b]Eastern Conference Finals[/b][/u]:
(4) Pittsburgh vs. (6) Carolina
Pittsburgh in seven. Two of the hottest teams down the stretch. Staal brother vs. Staal brother. Fleury vs. Ward. They take it the distance with the Pens taking it on home ice in game 7. Even though they eliminated the Devils back in round 1, the loss to New Jersey in the last game of the regular season will come back to haunt them, since game 7 would have been in Raleigh had they been able to pull out game #82.
[u][b]Western Conference Finals[/b][/u]:
(3) Vancouver vs. (4) Chicago
Chicago in six. The Blackhawks are officially back in Chi-town after a game 6 clinching win at the United Center sends them to the Stanley Cup Finals (they clinched the previous two series away from home). Khabibulin and Havlat have great games in the deciding contest in front of the raucous home crowd.
Re: Playoff Predictions (or "How the Penguins will win the Cup")
[u][b]Stanley Cup Finals:[/b][/u]
(4) Chicago vs. (4) Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh in six. A rematch of the Finals following the 91-92 season, which was the last time the Blackhawks made it to the Finals and the last time the Penguins hoisted the Cup. Both teams made successful coaching changes during the course of this season. Both teams struggled with long playoff droughts throughout much of this decade, enabling them to obtain multiple young top three draft picks who are living up to such a lofty status so far in their careers (Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Kane, Toews) with a few veterans sprinkled in as well (Gonchar, Guerin, Kunitz, Campbell, Havlat). I think the difference will be between the pipes, where the Penguins have a legit #1 goaltender in Marc-Andre Fleury, while the Blackhawks starts have been split evenly between Khabibulin and Huet. I think Fleury will use the experience he gained in the playoffs last season to take the next step and become a champion. Although Khabibulin has won a Stanley Cup before with Tampa, that was 5 years ago and he is not the same guy now at age 36. Malkin will win the Hart Trophy as MVP of the regular season, but Crosby will win the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs.
Re: Playoff Predictions (or "How the Penguins will win the Cup")
I certainly hope so. The Steelers have miles to go before they awake and the Penguin NHL playoff experience are the only light in the sky until then.
Re: Playoff Predictions (or "How the Penguins will win the Cup")
[quote=RuthlessBurgher][u]First round predictions:[/u]
[b]Eastern Conference[/b]
(1) Boston vs. (8) Montreal
Boston in five. Bruins exorcise some demons of losses to the Habs in past playoffs.
(2) Washington vs. (7) New York
Washington in seven. Lundqwist makes it a series, but the Caps eventually overpower the Blueshirts.
(3) New Jersey vs. (6) Carolina
Carolina in six. The Canes enter the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league. The Devils? Not so much right now.
(4) Pittsburgh vs. (5) Philadelphia
Pittsburgh in five. It won't be 4-2, 4-2, 4-1, 2-4, 6-0 like last season's matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals, but it will still be over in five closely-matched tight games.
[b]Western Conference[/b]
(1) San Jose vs. (8) Anaheim
San Jose in five. The games in this all-California showdown will likely be on so late that folks on the East coast may be able to catch Sharks-Ducks live OT hockey when they wake up for work the following morning.
(2) Detroit vs. (7) Columbus
Detroit in five. Steve Mason will stand on his head for one win, but the Blue Jackets don't have the playoff experience to match up with the Red Wings.
(3) Vancouver vs. (6) St. Louis
Vancouver in seven. The Blue Notes may be able to make this a series for a while, but when the chips are down, Luongo will come up big.
(4) Chicago vs. (5) Calgary
Chicago in six. Welcome to the playoffs, Kane and Toews. The kids help knock former Blackhawk bench boss Mike Keenan out of the playoffs.[/quote]
Got the winners correct in 7 out of 8 series in the first round (and the only one wrong was the 8th seed over 1st seed upset in Cali).
Re: Playoff Predictions (or "How the Penguins will win the Cup")
[quote=RuthlessBurgher][u][b]Eastern Conference Finals[/b][/u]:
(4) Pittsburgh vs. (6) Carolina
Pittsburgh in seven. Two of the hottest teams down the stretch. Staal brother vs. Staal brother. Fleury vs. Ward. They take it the distance with the Pens taking it on home ice in game 7. Even though they eliminated the Devils back in round 1, the loss to New Jersey in the last game of the regular season will come back to haunt them, since game 7 would have been in Raleigh had they been able to pull out game #82.
[u][b]Western Conference Finals[/b][/u]:
(3) Vancouver vs. (4) Chicago
Chicago in six. The Blackhawks are officially back in Chi-town after a game 6 clinching win at the United Center sends them to the Stanley Cup Finals (they clinched the previous two series away from home). Khabibulin and Havlat have great games in the deciding contest in front of the raucous home crowd.[/quote]
Wow...7 out of 8 correct after round one, and 3 out of 4 correct after round two...
The last few predictions are the important ones, though.