The East is set: 1 Ottawa vs 8 Islanders 2 Devils vs 7 Boston 3 Tampa Bay vs 6 Washington 4 Philly vs 5 Toronto Ottawa will take NYI out in 5, NJ will do the same to Boston but it may take 6. The other two are tougher. I'd like TB to win with a young team and the Bulin Wall, but something tells me the Caps pull the series out. Philly had better beat banged up Toronto so hockey fans everywhere but T.O. can party like rock stars. The West is dependent on three games, maybe two. Detroit wins vs. Chicago or match what Dallas does vs. Nashville they get the 1 seed. Minnesota beats C-Bus and they get 6 seed and play Vancouver. I'm operating on the assumption Vancouver beats LA and grabs the 3rd seed. I'm anxious to see what kind of game we see in Denver today. A fight, send a message fest, or a tame, rest guys and don't tip your cap game. It's Avs-Blues barring a "miracle" in Vancouver. Personally, I'd rather the Avs play the Blues than the Wild. I'll post predictions when everything's set.
I hope the Senators give the Islanders such a horrific beating that the Isles pull out before they even reach the 4 game elimination point. Ok, I hope for a sweep and a shutout each game.
Dallas clinches 1st seed, Detroit 2nd with their OT loss in Chicago. 3 and 4 still up in the air. 1 Dallas v 8 Edmonton (56356th time) 2 Detroit v 7 Anaheim 3 Van / Col v 6 Minnesota 4 Van / Col v 5 St. Louis
Holy Jamie Storr Batman! LA beats Vancouver! Actually for Avs fans, it gives them IMHO a scary ass opponent in the Wild. I'm in the minority when I say this, but that's a tougher series for them than the Blues. But still. Predictions for round one and beyond: East: Ottawa 4 NYI 1 NJ 4 Bos 1 Wash 4 TB 3 Phi 4 Tor 2 Ottawa over Wash NJ over Phi Ottawa over NJ West: Dal 4 Edm 1 Det 4 Anh 3 Col 4 Min 2 St.L 4 Van 2 Something about Vanouver only getting 1 of 4 points in the last two vs. Phoenix and LA tells me they may not be ready to make a run. Dal over St. L Col over Det Dal over Col Final: Dallas over Ottawa in 6
Avs win their division for the 9th straight time, Foresburg gets points title, and Vancouver chokes big time and has to play St. Loius instead of Minnesota in the first round.....hahahahahahaha.
What the hell is it with Dallas-Edmonton Hey..I predict the series will go 7...like always. Ottawa hasnt beaten the Isles in the last 2 games they've played! hehe Islein 6 Let's go islanders!
Yeah, but Ottawa has 21 wins, 2 losses, and 7 ties in the last 30 games versus the Islanders. Ottawa is six.
I'll only comment on the east because I don't get to see enough of the west to make an educated evaluation... Ott over NYI in 5 NJ over Bos in 6 Phi over Tor in 7 TB over Wash in 7 Ott over TB in 6 NJ over Phi in 6 Ott over NJ in 6 As a Devil fan, Ottawa scares the crap outta me. They play like the Devils except they have snipers. I think Lalime is ready to shine and I don't see them choking this year. I think Toronto is crap and only Belfour can/will keep the series with Philly close. I'm not a fan of Cechmanek, I don't care what his stats say, I don't think he is a top 10 goalie and they won't beat the Devils until they get a top goalie.
Lets see if the Leafs have their thug like tactics ready this year. Of course Philly has their thug like fans so I guess it evens out. Ottawa scares you? I dunno. They scared a lot of teams until it came to playoff time. Maybe this is the year though.
West: Dallas vs Edmonton 4-3 Detroit vs Anaheim 4-1 Colorado vs Minnesota 4-2 Vancouver vs St Louis 3-4 East: Ottawa vs NY Islanders 4-1 New Jersey vs Boston 4-0 Tampa Bay vs Washington 2-4 Philadelphia vs Toronto 3-4
When the Devils have played them this year, Ottawa was doing the things exactly the way the Devils do things: stuff the neutral zone, win the puck and spring a quick counterattack. I can't remember seeing a team play the Devils in that way, beating them at their own game. It opened my eyes and impressed me.
Bets Hey people i'm taking bets! How many injuries will those ****ing goons roberts and tucker cause in the playoffs?
Re: Bets Hopefully lots, at least against Philthydelphia. My guess is the wuss Flyers and their "tough guy" Donna Brashear will spend the series avoiding those two, then at least one of them will get caught with his head down by Nolan instead. One can only hope. TOR over PHI in 6 TB over WSH in 7 NJ over BOS in 6 OTT over NYI in 5 TOR over OTT in 7 NJ over TB in 4 NJ over TOR in 7 DAL over EDM in 7 DET over ANA in 5 COL over MIN in 6 STL over VAN in 6 STL over DAL in 7 COL over DET in 7 COL over STL in 6 ...and... COL over NJ in 5 in the Finals!
Ahh ok. Interestingly enough, to beat the Rangers, just get a lead and trap the rest of the game. Smooth sailing from there. Rangers will just try to dump and chase and never realize how futile it is.
ssssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee Though I really do think the Wild will give them fits for the first 4 games or so.
Of course I'm a homer, but I think the Wild are probably the team that a lot of teams wouldn't want to play in the 1st round. Take a look at the record this year against Dallas/Detroit/Vancouver/Colorado & some of the other top teams .... Wild have played them close to even all year. I think the Wild are 1-2-2-0 this year vs. the Avs, and every game save for one (Avs won 4-2) has been decided by a goal. Wild have to pull off the upset in CO; they've never won there. Regardless of who wins -- I think this certainly should be one of the more entertaining & hard-fought 1st round matchups. Never bet against Jacque Lemaire
Re: Bets I'll be the first one to say that Toronto is a team of thugs (the unskilled players, at least), but to include Roberts among that group is just about the dumbest thing I've read on this thread (and there's been plenty to go around). That being said, the Leafs are old but the Flyers are shyte. It'll be a long series and one of two things will happen: a) The Leafs' advanced age will catch up to them; or b) Cechmanek will prove himself as the back-up goaltender that he rightfully should be, while Belfour shines in front of a crap defence. Whoever wins will do it in 7 messy games.
Damn, the infernal "fixed your post" rejoinder! If only I could have learned how to counter this, after the 1st 1,000,000 times this was been used on BS....
Believe it or not, it's the first time I've tried it, but I've been an admirer of the "fixed your post" move for some time. Anyhow, good luck to the Wild. It should be a good series, but I'd have to go with the Avs experience over anything that Minnesota can throw at them.
Malaga-man, certainly the Avs are favored, as well they should be. I really would have liked to play Vancouver...we've had some absolute wars with them this year. But this should be a great series to watch, and as I stated earlier, I think this series & the impending Leafs-Philly bloodbath will be the two series to watch in the 1st round.
Ottawa - Islanders Sens in 4. The Islanders backed into the playoffs and have the worst goaltender of the 16 teams left. The biggest knock against Ottawa is their supposed lack of playoff success. The thing is the Sens were one game away from the conference finals last year. Ottawa won the Presidents trophy the old fashioned way -- they earned it. The Isles will try to play this one physically, but Ottawa will not turn it into a street fight like T.O did last year. Zdeno Chara is the most underrated d-man in the league. The Sens will be a tough team to beat. New Jersey - Boston NY in 5 - Boston will go as far as Joe Thornton takes them. Unfortunately for Bruins fans I can't see that being too far this year. Not enough goaltending and not enough depth to get past the payoff suited Devils. Jersey is Team Trap and they play the evil system better than anyone else in the league. The Devils scare the hell out of me - they could win cup. Tampa - Washington Caps in 7 - This could be the most interesting, if not entertaining, series of the first round. I basically see it as a toss up, but I like the Caps veteran experience pulling out a long one against the upstart Lightning. Fortunately for Bolts fans (they do exist somewhere right?) I don't see the lightning pulling a Carolina. Tampa's best years are yet to come. Philly - Toronto Leafs in 6 - Does anyone remember last year's playoff? This is basically still the same Flyers team that scored twice against the Sens in five games. Sure the Leafs are banged up, but they are downright healthy as compared to last year. Love them or hate them you can't deny the Leafs will play with intensity and will make any opponent go through hell to defeat them. The play wide open, no trapping, no sitting on leads, full on, in your face, Old Time Hockey. They also have more talent than most people give them credit for. It says here the Leafs win this easier than some think. WEST Dallas - Edmonton Oilers in 6 - Yes. At the trading deadline the Oil were only four points clear of 9th place. After the stress of the deadline passed they played their best hockey of the year. Dallas is a great, great team -- start studded from Turco out. I just see this as this year's upset. Detroit - Ducks Detroit in 4 - The Ducks did a great job to get back to the playoffs and are better than many give them credit for. However...They're playing the Wings. They're screwed. Cujo always plays well in the first round, I can't see the Ducks winning a game. Colorado - Minnesota Colorado in 5 - I'll give the Wild a home ice win. The biggest loser in the Canucks final weekend chokefest was the Wild. Had they drawn the Canucks I would have been tempted to pick them to win. Quick! Name 5 Wild. Exactly. System hockey can get you to the playoffs, but you need a true game breaker to do any damage in them. Marian Gaborik is not ready to be that player. Vancouver - St Louis Canucks in 6 - This is a much better draw for the Canucks. St. Louis plays a wide-open style and are less likely to shut down the big line. St Louis tends to disappear in the playoffs and, well, Chris Osgood. So long as Cloutier can stop the dump in's, the Canucks should be just fine. Quick run down of the rest of the playoffs: 2nd round Ott - Was Ott in 5 NJ - Tor NJ in 7 Det - Edm Det in 5 Col - Van Col in 6 3rd round Ott - NJ NJ in 6 Det - Col Col in 5 Final Col - NJ NJ in 6