2nd Round Update

So the games I starting to heat up. Games 2-3 in Rangers-Sabres were really good contests, very closely fought. Again, knowing I'm a huge Rangers fan, I continue to be in awe of the Sabres, even though the Rangers won yesterday. Sabres just have a lot of poise and consistency. I'd love to see the Rangers pull the upset, but it's going to take some effort. I do believe from what I see, that the winner of this series will go on to the finals. I can't see either of these teams losing to either the Senators or Devils.

Out west, Detroit-San Jose, as predicted, is an extremely even matchup. With the contest tied, it'll be interesting to see if Detroit can get home ice back by splitting in San Jose. I believe they will.

Anaheim took back control of its series with a win in Vancouver last night. It feels to me like that series is all but over. Luongo always gives the Canucks a chance, but the Ducks simply seem to have more firepower in the offensive and defensive zones.

Second Round

Congrats to the Canucks, the last team to join the second round of the playoffs. A great game last night. It was entertaining and hard fought. The Canucks looked good in those original uniforms, too. They've had a lot of outfits over the years.

Anyway, it's on the Round 2. Here's my picks (I got 7 of 8 correct in the first round)

Rangers-Sabres: I'll start with the series most important to me, the diehard Rangers guy. I'm going to go with my head over my heart in this. I've said all year I think the Sabres are the best team in hockey, and so I'm going to pick them in 5. Yes, the Rangers have played very well since late February. But the Sabres haven't exactly sat back on their laurels. They seem, to me, to be the team of destiny, having come close last year and worked hard throughout the year this time around. Strong goalie, great skaters. I think the Rangers have come on like gangbusters, and appear to have struck a good balance between defense and offense, and they, too, have a great goalie. In a way, they remind me of Buffalo last year. If they lose, I'll look forward to next year and admire them for having grown as a team. But I hope they prove me wrong.

Devils-Senators: I'm going to take the Senators in 6 in this series. Maybe it's an anti-Devils thing, but I just don't think this team is that good. They are very consistent and very defensive oriented. But at this point of the playoffs, I believe, you start to need consistent attack alongside the defense and the Devils haven't shown that all year. They are still a solid team. I just don't think they have all the elements. And I believe Brodeur showed signs in the first series of tiring. The man played an outrageous number of games this year, and sure, he's in shape, but he's also 34, 35 years old, by far the oldest of the goalies in the east and second to Hasek. What helps both Brodeur and Hasek are the defensive systems favored by their teams, which limit shots by the opponent. Devils and Detroit also excel at blocking shots. But I think the Devils are about to find out they need more balance. The one caveat is the inexperience of Sens goalie Ray Emery. But he was pretty good in the first round and I think he's got another round in him.

Red Wings-Sharks: This should be a great series. Offensive-minded teams with great goalies and for Detroit, experienced defense. I think the latter helps the Red Wings reach the conference finals. I'm picking the Red Wings in 7. Sharks have firepower to penetrate and get shots at Hasek, and I think they'll win some games here. But Detroit has a great balance to their team in skating ability and defensive system. They can really frustrate an opponent. I look for some overtime games in this series and a closely fought contest.

Ducks-Canucks: I think the Canucks did all they could to beat the Stars. Luongo is good for at least a couple of games. But I'm picking the well-rested Ducks in 5. The one thing the Stars-Canucks series showed is that Vancouver is a poor offensive team, with essentially one line (the Sedins). The Ducks should clamp down on the twins better than the Stars, and they have much better firepower than the Stars did. If you watched the entire Canucks-Stars series (as I did; almost every game was on Vs), you had to come away with the impression that the Canucks were fortunate to have won. Overall, in my mind, anyway, they were outplayed and outshot by the Stars. They just happened to win with two huge overtime victories and an extremely fine goalie in Roberto Luongo.

So for me, it's Sabres, Senators, Red Wings and Ducks in Round Two. What are your picks?

Cup Update

Canucks-Stars meet tonite in Game 7 to close out the first round of the playoffs.

Quick re-cap for me. If Canucks win, I will have 7 of the 8 series correct, missing only Ottawa-Pittsburgh.

I had Detroit in 5 (it took 6), Ducks in 5 (on the mark), Sharks in 7 (took only 5), Rangers in 6 (took only 4), Devils in 7 (took 6), Sabres in 5 (on the mark).

Playoff matchups for Round 2 look like:

Sabres-Rangers
Devils-Senators
Red Wings-Sharks
Ducks-Canucks/Stars winner

Those are some fine matchups. More on them once they're set, along with predictions.

Let's Go Rangers!

Had to get that out. Been waiting to say it for an awful long time. The Rangers simply took care of business last night. A very good sign for a team that until the last 20 games of the season had a penchant for making things hard on themselves, especially in the 3rd period. This time, they played tough.

But the Rangers look like they'll have a much tougher foe in the next round, either Ottawa or Buffalo.

And I'll say this about Buffalo again. They may be not beating up on Islanders as much as you would think, but they are a far superior team, and they are good. Fast and strong, and most important, relentless. The score last night wound up 4-2 with an empty net goal, but the Islanders rarely got opportunities in the last period. The only one was the replay disallowed goal, which seemed to be a tough call.

Devils took back home ice in their series with bigtime road overtime win. They're not done yet.

Good games tonight, looks like.

Playoff update

Big games tonite with Tampa Bay having a shot (and it's on VS.) at grabbing a 3-1 series lead over Devils.

Rangers can clinch tonight at home against the weak-D, weak-in-goal Thrashers.

And the Predators face the Sharks in San Jose, trying to avoid the dreaded 3-1 deficit.

Vancouver took care of business to go up 3-1 on Dallas; good series. I'm impressed with Vancouver. They have a great goalie and though not a lot of offense, keep finding ways to win, even when they're outplayed.

Minnesota avoided the sweep, but you gotta like the Ducks to wrap that one up in 5 in Anaheim.

Calgary won the first game at home against Detroit; it will be interesting to see whether they can tie that series up. Having seen Detroit's dominance in first two games at home, I have a hard time believing they will lose this series.

Disappointing to me to see Ottawa beat Pittsburgh, but they are just a little bit more experienced and maybe hungry. That series is getting rougher; Game 5 should be quite interesting.

The early games

Good playoff action so far. The Penguins-Senators match Saturday was a remarkable game. Yesterday's was much rougher and less artistic.

The Stars and Canucks continue to play close, tight-checking games. I haven't caught Rangers-Thrashers yet, but I like the results.

It will be interesting to see how Buffalo handles a little adversity, having dropped Game 2 at home. I would expect the Sabres to bounce back and return the favor on Long Island.

Anaheim and Detroit are looking very good taking care of business. I've been surprised at how different Calgary is from the team that battled the Lightning to Game 7 three years ago. Kiprusoff is just as good, but the team intensity that the Flames brought in 2004 is nowhere near the same. In 2004, it was all speed all out for 60 minutes. These Flames don't have the speed and get stupid penalties. Of course, it's only been since last year that the refs started calling obstruction penalties through the neutral zone, so it's possible the Flames are not getting away with stuff they did three years ago.

And Devils/Lightning are knotted up, as are San Jose and Nashville.

First-round picks

OK, I'm not going to try to go all the way through to the CUp yet, just the first round, but here's who I like and why:

Western Conference

Detroit over Calgary in 5: I think the team that forged the best record in the West is tired of being bounced out early, and though Kiprosoff is a superb goalie, Detroit should be able to take the Flames in what should be a low-scoring series.

Ducks over the Wild in 5: Though the Wild compiled 100 points, I think the Ducks are built for the playoffs, and their veterans should show them the way and the importance of getting quickly through the first and second round of playoffs.

Canucks over Stars in 7: I love this series. Good defensive teams, great goaltending. I think Luongo, in his first playoffs if I'm not mistaken, should come up a bit bigger than Marty Turco, who has some playoff demons to overcome. I think Turco will play well, but the Canucks will win out.

Sharks over Predators in 7: Label this one the speed series. I like both of these teams, but I do think the Sharks have the momentum and goaltender edge right now. Should be a great series.

Eastern Conference

Rangers over Atlanta in 6: I have to go with my favorite team. I think their goaltending is stronger and they've played awfully well defensively since February. With the veterans leaders they have, I believe they can overcome Atlanta's strong offense.

Devils over Tampa Bay in 7: This could be a quicker series, except Tampa can get feisty, so I give them a couple of wins at home. But the major difference here is goaltending. Tampa doesn't have it, and Devils have the best, right now, as well as a stifling defensive system. Dull to watch, but good for at least a first-round win, I think.

Sabres over Islanders in 5: I'm being kind giving the Islanders a game here. I think the Sabres have been waiting for this series for a while; they could have won the Cup last year but for a couple bounces in the series against the 'Canes, but they've been focused and are strong is all aspects of the game.

Penguins over Senators in 7: Another great series between two strong skating, non-trap, offensive teams. Both have some questions in goal, with first-time playoff goalies. I like the Pens if only because it would be great to see their young core step up, and veteran Gary Roberts helps them tremendously.



So that's my picks. How about yours?

In search of Lord Stanley

Well, it won't start till Wednesday, but the Stanley Cup playoffs are finally here. The Islanders snatched the last playoff spot in the East with their shootout win over the Devils on Sunday, and the Flames locked up the last spot in the West when the Avalanche fell short against Nashville on Saturday night.

There are some great matchups on paper: Pittsburgh-Ottawa in the East and Nashville-San Jose in the West are the most intriguing. The West had 7 teams with more than 100 points. Most folks seem to believe Lord Stanley's Cup will go to a team from the West, but I wouldn't count out the President's Trophy winner Buffalo. They have a lot of giddyap, and a chip on their shoulder from losing to 'Canes in last year's Eastern Conference final.

I'm going to post my 1st round playoff predictions here Wednesday and challenge y'all to answer back with your own thoughts.

Final playoff push

A lot of great hockey last night. Penguins-Senators on HDNet was a most entertaining game. Pens won it with a goal with less than 10 seconds left in the game on Ottawa's home ice. That prevented the Senators from clinching home ice advantage against the Penguins, as the two teams have locked up the 4th and 5th spots in the East. The Pens are at home against the Rangers, while Ottawa is in Boston for the final game; if Ottawa wins, they get home advantage.

Judging from last night's game, though, the Pens will have to be considered favorites. Ottawa allowed Zdeno Chara to leave as a free agent, and they miss the big guy on D. I like Pens offensive consistency and their young goalie (Marc-Andre Fleury) more than I like the Senators' offense and goalie Ray Emery.

Rangers clinched playoff spots for themselves and Tampa Bay by defeating Montreal at home, 3-1. Only question left is which team will finish 6th and get the more favorable matchup with Atlanta Thrashers and which will wind up 7th and meet the Devils, whose goalie Martin Brodeur broke Bernie Parent's 35-year-old record for wins in a season, with his 48th. Brodeur has had a great season, with 12 shutouts. And Devils defensive style will make them a tough go for either Rangers or Lightning. Rangers play in Pittsburgh on Saturday, while Tampa Bay plays at home against Florida tonight and then at Atlanta on Saturday.

In the West, the Avalanche won last night and Calgary lost, leaving slim hopes for Avs to squeak by Calgary. They must win at Nashville and hope Calgary loses to Edmonton before both teams meet Sunday in their season finales. If Avs win and Calgary loses before they meet, the Sunday game will mean playoffs or out for one of them.

'Canes go down

No defending the Stanley Cup for the Hurricanes. They blew a 2-goal lead in Tampa Bay and lost, while their opponents for the last playoff spot, the Canadiens, Maple Leafs and Islanders all won. So the 'Canes are out.

Did they overachieve last year? Sure.

What did they learn this year? Well, they certainly learned that the presence of veterans (last year, if you recall, they brought in Mark Recchi and Doug Weight) helps a lot. This year they managed to bring in Anson Carter, a journeyman winger at best.

They also learned that with a young starting goalie in Cam Ward, there would be ups and downs. And in the very competitive Eastern Conference, it made a difference. The 'Canes didn't have a horrible year. They just weren't good enough to make the playoffs. Neither will the Colorado Avalanche in the West, despite a decent season.

It will be interesting to see if the 'Canes can build off of this season and not panic.

With two games left, the playoffs are looming and I look forward to it. There are many intriguing teams in it this year. I can't wait to see Buffalo and Pittsburgh in the East and San Jose and Vancouver in the West. And, of course, my colleague Scott's team, the Red Wings, is quietly locking up the best overall record yet again. A great defensive team, as anyone who has watched them play will attest. Whether they have enough offense to hold up for the playoffs will be the thing to watch.

'Canes in trouble

Even with a huge come-from-behind win in Florida, the 'Canes are in a world of trouble trying to make the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The defending Cup champions are two points out of the 8th playoff spot currently held by Montreal, with Toronto 1 point ahead of them as well. All 3 teams have 3 games left.

Problem is the 'Canes have the toughest schedule. Tomorrow night will be key. 'Canes play in Tampa, while Montreal and Toronto are home, respectively, against Boston and Philadelphia, 2 teams eliminated. Tampa, of course, is in its own pitched battle against the NY Rangers for 6th position; the Lightning currently trail the Blue Shirts by 1 point.

It's crazy out there. Rangers are on the road against the Islanders tomorrow and can clinch a playoff birth with 2 points. They have beaten the Islanders 3 straight times, all by 2-1 scores.

It may be tough, as Caniac Michelle says, to have to root for a hated opponent. But you have to be cheering on the Bruins and Flyers to pull upsets tomorrow, while hoping the 'Canes have one last blast of '06 Stanley Cup fire in them.