20030407   

Michael considered fate at 18:51   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

Hockey! Hockey! Hockey!

My good pal Chris chimes in on the outlook of this years NHL playoffs. Is he crazy? Is right? Leave a comment and let us know.

------------ ROUND 1

EAST
(1) ottawa vs (8) new york islanders
okay, so the isles have won 1 game in ottawa in the last 6 years in ottawa, and that was march 15th. and they never, ever beat the sens. and they are battered and bruised and injured. but can't they overcome the senators knowing that they have such an advantage when they play at home in the playoffs? good LORD, no.
SENATORS 4, ISLANDERS 0

(2) new jersey devils vs (7) boston bruins
the bruins are 20-28-8 since december 1st, which is worst among playoff teams. they're lucky they made the playoffs at all. the devs have lost 20 games all year. they're going to win the stanley cup. the teams HAVE played close games against each other, but when you get into a best-of-7 series, martin brodeur vs. steve shields is a mismatch. and that's just where the mismatches begin.
DEVILS 4, BRUINS 1

(3) tampa bay lightning vs (6) washington capitals
ahhhh the lightning are finally in the playoffs again. the lightning have a lot going for them, espeically that nikolai khabibulin is 12-1-4 in his last 17 starts. good enough for me.
LIGHTNING 4, CAPITALS 2

(4) philadelphia flyers vs (5) toronto maple leafs
the last two seasons, the flyers have been a 1st-round casualty, scoring just 13 goals in their 6-game loss to buffalo in 2001 and a PATHETIC TWO goals in their 5-game loss to the sens last year. TWO $#$!*#$@! goals in five games. but what is going to make this year different? last year, they played a team partly coached by roger neilsen, thus they were a trapping team. the leafs have a horrible defense, which actually got worse when they acquired 400-year-old phil housley. philly, on the other hand, grabbed all kinds of scoring talent. the leafs grabbed owen nolan, who fits perfectly into toronto's scheme of being penalized 14 times per period. there are going to be piles and piles of goals scored in the series, i don't care who's in net.
FLYERS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2


WEST

(1) dallas vs (8) edmonton
AGAIN?!?! 6 times in 7 years?!?! this is why the NHL is great, because if not for the playoffs, no one in the entire city of dallas would even know what country edmonton is in. anyway, these teams have played tons and tons of close games over the years, and once again, it will be a close series, which will go 7 games. but between dallas's awesome home record and marty turco's new goal-against-average record (1.72), there's no way the oilers are going to get past the stars. too bad. if they could ever NOT play dallas, they'd go somewhere.
STARS 4, OILERS 3

(2) detroit vs (7) anaheim
detroit must be getting used to going to the los angeles area for the playoffs, 'cept this time they're going a little east towards anaheim. now, there are a lot of similarities between the mighty ducks and the world series champion angels. they both play in anaheim. they both are full of players that not many people can name. they both hand out those incredibly annoying "thundersticks" to their fans. but without a rally monkey, there's no way the ducks will get past the wings. can david eckstein skate?
RED WINGS 4, MIGHTY DUCKS 1

(3) colorado vs (6) minnesota
colorado stole their 9th straight division title from the canucks on the very last day of the season. don't be surprised, though, if the wild make their playoff debut with a win in colorado. but the avalanche are just too seasoned and just too good for the no-name wild. but the wild will win their division next year. trust me.
AVALANCHE 4, WILD 3

(4) vancouver vs (5) st. louis
the 'nucks just shat away all their momentum by getting shut the hell out by the kings on the last day of the season. they have questions surrounding the health of dan cloutier. and while everything was sunshine an puppydogs for the canucks just a few weeks ago, everyone up there is starting to sweat. and the blues... well, they've got this guy named chris pronger who missed almost the whole season who is just getting into playing shape. last i heard, he's pretty good. he won something called the hart trophy a few years ago. and isn't it ironic that the team that had goalie problems ALL YEAR only to recently answer them is now meeting one who just had their goaltending questions appear? this will absolutely stun the folks in the pacific northwest, and will also be the only upset of the first round.
BLUES 4, CANUCKS 2

------------ ROUND 2

EAST
(1) ottawa vs (4) philadelphia
welcome back to ottawa, flyers. remember how the sens got into your head last year? they haven't left. the trap is going to swallow all that firepower right up, and the sens are going to cruise right by the flyers without a problem. defensively speaking, the flyers don't have an answer for marian hossa. there's no one playing for toronto as talented as hossa is, and he will feast on the flyers in this series.
SENATORS 4, FLYERS 1

(2) new jersey vs (3) tampa bay
this is where the inexperience of the lightning will start to show. the devils--who are so well built right now that it's kind of scary--will pick apart the young lightning. they have a lot of talent, but the 'ning are only going to take about 20 shots a game in this series. that won't get it done against marty brodeur.
DEVILS 4, LIGHTNING 2


WEST
(1) dallas vs (5) st. louis
these two teams are very similar. both have big, seasoned defensemen. both have quick, fleet-footed scoring forwards. both have steady, consistent goalies. and they will wear the hell out of each other. this will be a 7-game series, but the difference will be the little extra time the blues had off before the series. they'll shock another western power.
BLUES 4, STARS 3

(2) detroit vs (3) colorado
the bad news for the red wings in this renewal of the rivalry is that repeated-offender brian marchment is now a member of the avs. odds are, marchment will elbow pavol datsyuk or some other guy he's way too big to pick on in game 1 and spark all the hatred that makes this the bitterest rivalry in the NHL. it's always entertaining, but marchment is the catalyst for this series to turn ugly in the first period of game 1. detroit, though, is better where it counts, because when emotions on the ice run high, patrick roy's game suffers while curtis joseph's game excels.
RED WINGS 4, AVALANCHE 2

-------------ROUND 3

EAST
(1) ottawa vs (2) new jersey
the flyers didn't have an answer for marian hossa, but the devils have a book of answers. what the sens won't have an answer for is the steadfastness of scott nedimeyer and scott stevens. the one upside to ottawa distruction in this series is that patrick lalime will get the experience he needs to be a future stanley cup winner. the devs will pick apart the sens piece by piece, and this series won't be close.
DEVILS 4, SENATORS 0


WEST
(2) detroit vs (5) st louis
once upon a time, steve yzerman ended the blues' season with a wrist shot in overtime of game 6 in detroit. that was a few years ago, when there was a guy named wayne gretzky playing for the st. louis blues. since then, the blues have had a detroit-sized chip on their shoulder. and they haven't knocked out--or even come close to knocking out--the wings since. last year they were handled easily in 5 games. well, this year will be little different. poor chris osgood is going to be shelled by his old team, against whom he is now 0-4.
RED WINGS 4, BLUES 1

---------FINAL

(2) new jersey vs (2) detroit
hard to handicap this series without making reference to the wings' pounding in 1995. but the teams play roughly the same styles as they did 8 years ago. long story short--brodeur steals the show again. conn smythe goes to joe nieuwendyk.

DEVILS 4, RED WINGS 2.