Wednesday, April 29, 2009

NHL Playoffs Round 1 Review

I got 50% right in round one... picking Washington, Pittsburgh, Detroit & Vancouver to win!

I must confess that it is a bit embarrassing to be a Calgary Flames hockey fan this week. Once again they have been ousted from the playoffs in the first round. They have not won a Stanley Cup playoff series since going to the finals in 2004… and before that they had not won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989. Ouch! Of course, its not quite as bad this week to be a Flames fan as to be a San Jose Sharks fan… a great team just cannot seem to win in the playoffs. First overall and the class of the league most of the season and then out in the first round to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Ouch! In the next round, I think Detroit will beat Anaheim, though the Ducks seem to be putting it all together at the right time, and it would be great to see them beat the Red Wings. Vancouver will probably further add to a Flames fan’s misery by disposing of Chicago.

In the East, it also had to be embarrassing to be a Montreal Canadiens fan. That they lost to Boston was not totally surprising but to be swept in four straight – Ouch! I still think Boston is not an overpowering team and I think Tim Thomas is too much of a floppy goaltender (no style) to pick them to go much farther, but… they keep winning. I think they’ll have a tough time with Carolina and Cam Ward who is playing so well in net for the ‘Canes, though because they went seven games with New Jersey, I’ll pick Boston to win in seven over Carolina.
Pittsburgh looked decent taking out Philadelphia, and I think they match up well against Washington who came back fairly impressively on NYR. Crosby and Malkin vs. Ovechkin will be fun to watch, though I think the Penguins will probably ice the Capitals in five games, maybe six.

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