Day: April 29, 2010

There’s still lots of hockey left, with Round 2 starting today. Here are my biased and unscientific well thought-out predictions for the second round:

Western Conference– In the first round, there were no sweeps, and no “real” upsets either–proving how good the top teams in the West really are. The two second round series should prove to be long, drawn-out slugfests.

Series: San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

My Prediction: Sharks in 7 games.

Comments:Despite past, ahem, setbacks, the Sharks made it to the second round. Both of these teams are good. The Sharks were 1st overall in the West, and Detroit would have finished higher than 5th if their team was healthy earlier on in the season. Expect high-scoring, yet close games.

Series: Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Vancouver Canucks (3)

My Prediction: Blackhawks in 6 games.

Comments: All right! A rematch of last year’s second round bout between these teams. The Hawks and Canucks are establishing a nice “love-to-hate-’em” playoff rivalry, akin to that of the Red Wings and Avalanche circa 1996.

The Canucks have the better goalie in Roberto Luongo, and they got the Sedin twins. However, Chicago’s core group of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith finally seem to be clicking. At least one of them contributed in each of the 4 goals scored against Nashville in their Round 1 clincher.

Eastern Conference – A lot of low-seeded teams made it to the Second Round. Oh, and the Penguins. My dream of a Blackhawks/Penguins Stanley Cup Final may come true after all.

Series: Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

My Prediction:Penguins in 5 games.

Comments: How long can Montreal rely on Jaroslav Halak to win them games that they should really lose? Despite his first round heroics, the Penguins have a lot of offensive firepower and home ice advantage–not that either of those meant anything for the Washington Capitals. Still, Pittsburgh didwin the Stanley Cup last year, so do we really need to list reasons why they should–or will–win this series?

Series:Boston Bruins (6) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7)

My Prediction: Bruins in 7 games.

Comments:Who would have thought that finishing 6th would merit you home-ice advantage in the second round? Having the extra game might be the factor that wins it for Boston.

Then again, what hockey fan wouldn’t pee their pants over a Pittsburgh/Philadelphia conference finals? So, maybe I’ll predict the Bruins as the winner, but secretly hope that the Flyers win instead.

Best playoffs ever? If everything keeps up like it did in the first round, then the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will go down as the best postseason in hockey history. We’ve had shutouts, fluke goals, upsets and surprise heroes. And that was only the first round!

Here’s a quick look back at my first round predictions–and how things actually turned out:

Series: San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (8)

My Prediction: Sharks in 7 games.

What Actually Happened: Sharks won in 6 games.

Comments: Craig Anderson made life hell for the Sharks, standing on his head and making it look like the 8th-seed Avalanche might actually win the series. But despite a fluke goal loss in Game 3, the Sharks did not choke. They might save that for the next round, though.

Series: Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Nashville Predators (7)

My Prediction: Blackhawks in 5 games.

What Actually Happened: Blackhawks won in 6 games.

Comments: When the lazy and uninspired Blackhawks showed up, they lost. When the “real” Blackhawks showed up, they won–even managing to shut out the Preds twice.

Do you hear that sound?

It’s the sound of my Antti Niemi rookie cards going up in value.

Series: Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. Los Angeles Kings (6)

My Prediction: Kings UPSET in 6 games.

What Actually Happened: Canucks won in 6 games.

Comments: OK, I was wrong about this one. The series was pretty even until Vancouver drubbed L.A. 7-2 in game 5. But you gotta admit, it did look pretty good for the Kings for a while.

Series: Phoenix Coyotes (4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

My Prediction: Red Wings UPSET in 6.

What Actually Happened: Red Wings UPSET in 7.

Comments:We all knew the Red Wings would win–it would just be a matter of how many games. Hats off to the Coyotes, though, as they put up a good series against what is still one of the best teams in the NHL.

Series: Washington Capitals (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

My Prediction: Capitals SWEEP in 4 games.

What Actually Happened: Montreal UPSET in 7 games.

Comments: No one got this one right. No one. Sure, now you say that you knew all along that the Canadiens would win, but the only person to actually say it was the guy who writes for Canadiens.com.

Well, there are upsets, and then there are UPSETS. The Caps had the best record in the regular season. The Caps have Alexander Ovechkin. How they managed to flub this one is beyond me.

Then again, the Sharks have been doing that for years.

Perhaps the Caps are the new Sharks…

Series: New Jersey Devils (2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7)

My Prediction: Flyers UPSET in 6 games.

What Actually Happened: Flyers UPSET in 5 games.

Comments:Thank you Flyers for ending the Devils season a game sooner than I predicted. You’ve done all of hockey a favor.

Series:Buffalo Sabres (3) vs. Boston Bruins (6)

My Prediction: Bruins UPSET in 6 games.

What Actually Happened: Bruins UPSET in 6 games.

Comments:  This is the only playoff series where I got the number of games right. Fortunately, that was the one I needed to get right to win a contest for an autographed Adam Oates card.

Series: Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Ottawa Senators (5)

My Prediction: Penguins SWEEP in 4 games.

What Actually Happened: Penguins won in 6 games.

Comments: With Sidney Crosby scoring 14 points in 6 games, how could the Penguins lose?

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It is interesting to note that in the Western Conference, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeds won–and the 4th-seeded Coyotes almost won too. However, in the East the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeds LOST, with the 4th-seeded Penguins being the only favorite to win. That says a lot about the strength of the Western Conference, leading me to believe that the eventual Cup winner will be from the West.

So far, I am 6 for 8–or 75% right–in my playoff predictions.

I’ll post my Round 2 predictions later today (but before the Sharks-Red Wings game).