What are your calls for Round 1? I don’t follow the East teams much, so I’m pretty much guessing. And don’t hate me for my Flames prediction… they did the opposite of what I thought in all 4 rounds in 2004, so I’m hoping that trend will continue this year. We need Regehr back!
Boston vs Montreal – Boston in 6 (sorry Al)
San Jose vs Anaheim – San Jose in 6
Washington vs NY Rangers – Washington in 5
Detroit vs Columbus – Detroit in 7
New Jersey vs Carolina – Jersey in 6
Vancouver vs St. Louis – stupid Vancouver in 6
Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia – Pittsburgh in 5
Chicago vs Calgary – Chicago in 5*
*As usual, this depends on which Flames team shows up. This could go to 7, but there would have to be a complete flip of how they played out the last part of the season. Go Flames!
These were my thoughts before the first set of games:
SJS vs ANA – Sharks in 7 -> Anaheim is going to make this a difficult and boring series but San Jose will prevail.
DET vs CLB – Wings in 6 -> I think the Blue Jackets will challenge Detroit, I just don’t think they will win it.
VAN vs STL – Canucks in 5 -> I think the Blues have already had their playoffs, which was their amazing run into the postseason, I think they will bow out without giving Vancouver too much trouble
CHI vs CGY – Calgary in 7 -> the hometown boys can do it, it`s just a matter of whether they bother to or not
BOS vs MTL – Bruins in 5 -> I foresee the Habs becoming quite bloodied in this series
WAS vs NYR – Rangers in 7 -> The Rangers can play a very physical game that I think may win them this series
NJD vs CAR – New Jersey in 6 -> Like the Blues, I think Carolina’s good run leading in to the postseason will be the end of their success even though Broduer has been shaky down the stretch.
PIT vs PHI – Pittsburgh in 6 -> What most are thinking may be the most violent series of all; the Pens have the skill and will take it.
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So a couple of my thoughts already look stupid after the first game of each series:
- St.Louis has proven they are going to give the Canucks some difficulty; they came to play in Game 1.
- Washington absolutely dominated the physical aspect of the game against the Rangers
- neither Anaheim or San Jose looked ready to play… it’ll be interesting to see what the mood/energy in like in Game 2
- the Flames not having Regehr and playing Erikkson 20+ minutes could seal the series for the energetic Blackhawks
my predictions for my hockey pool as I saw things before teams started stinking it up (no games, just series winners):
SJS vs ANA – Sharks – additions of some veteran players should help them get over the hump
DET vs CLB – Wings – can’t stop a steamroller with a playoff ghost and a rookie goaltender
VAN vs STL – Blues – I just hate the canucks, and the Blues have been playing ridiculously well down the stretch.
CHI vs CGY – Flames – as others have said, which team will show up? if they don’t bother this will be done soon.
BOS vs MTL – Canadiens – I can’t put down Boston, no matter how overwhelming the odds look.
WAS vs NYR – Rangers – you can’t count on Jose Theodore as your playoff goaltender… not anymore.
NJD vs CAR – Devils – a rested Brodeur scares the hell out of me.
PIT vs PHI – Penguins – much like SJS, they added old grit to their young talent to help take that next step.
So to summarize so far:
SJS (Josh, Dave, Al), ANA ()
DET (Josh, Dave, Al), CLB ()
VAN (Josh, Dave), STL (Al)
CHI (Josh), CGY (Dave, Al)
BOS (Josh, Dave) MTL (Al)
WAS (Josh) NYR (Dave, Al)
NJD (Josh, Dave, Al), CAR ()
PIT (Josh, Dave, Al), PHI ()
Interesting to see that Josh picked all favorites, and Al has uber-confidence in the underdogs picking 4 out of 8 to win their series!
Ha, I did! Not much of a “prediction”, eh?
I am just hoping that your asterisk is right!
And those of you going to the game to night, cheer hard!!! The boys can totally tie this up!
Tallies:
Al 2-6
Josh 6-2
Dave 4-4