Tonight marks the beginning of the NHL’s 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Like everyone else, I’d like to make my predictions for the 1st round. Before breaking down each series, I have two things to say. Firstly, I don’t hate any of the Canadian teams, however, I don’t like Vancouver, Montreal, or Ottawa’s chances. Secondly, I’m far more interested in the Western Conference series than the Eastern Conference series. This means two things. 1- I won’t be getting much sleep for the next few weeks. 2- I’ll be on Twitter a lot and look forward to talking Playoffs with all of you!
Washington Capitals (1) vs Montreal Canadiens (8)
I read about Tomas Plekanec’s quotes from the other day. I don’t understand why he’s playing these silly games, but whatever. He better bury a few goals on Washington or egg will be on his face, goatee and turtleneck. Sure, Montreal probably has the edge in goaltending, but Theordore’s play this year has been pretty good. Honestly, I don’t think Montreal has any chance in this series. Even if Jaroslav Halak plays like he did at the Olympics, Washington will be too much for Montreal’s slow defence. Alex Ovechkin has something to prove and Nickolas Backstrom is fresh off his best season in his young NHL career.
Verdict: Washington in 5 games.
New Jersey Devils (2) vs Philadelphia Flyers (7)
This series could go either way. On one hand, you have a legendary goalie in Marty Brodeur versus 3rd-stringer Brian Boucher (advantage Devils). On the other hand, you have Ilya Kovalchuk/Zach Parise versus Danny Briere/Jeff Carter/Mike Richards/Simon Gagne and more (advantage Flyers). I like Philadelphia’s defence a little more than New Jersey’s, too. And because Chris Pronger has a strong reputation for helping teams over the hump in Playoffs, I have to side with the Flyers as my upset team in the East.
Verdict: Philadelphia in 7 games.
Buffalo Sabres (3) vs Boston Bruins (6)
Boston’s well documented scoring troubles and Buffalo’s all-star goalie Ryan Miller combine for a tough challenge for the Bruins. In addition, the Bruins announced the possibility of Marc Savard’s return to the team no earlier than in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Given the challenges Boston has faced this year (off years for certain players and injuries), making the Playoffs is a considerable feat. I don’t think they have any chance against the well oiled machine that is the Buffalo Sabres. On a slightly different note, it should be interesting to see which rookie proves most valuable to their respective teams between Tyler Myers and Tuukka Rask.
Verdict: Buffalo in 5 games.
Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs Ottawa Senators (5)
This is a tough match-up for the Ottawa Senators when you consider a 6th place finish would have put them up against the Sabres, a team they’ve dominated for years. The obvious storyline for this series is goaltending: Brian Elliott versus Marc-Andre Fleury. As a fan of the Senators, I’m under no illusions, Pittsburgh will win this series, the question is how many games will it take. SensChirp (a blog I respect) believes Ottawa stacks up pretty closely with Pittsburgh. Some of the points are valid, but I’m not sure Ottawa’s defence is that much better than Pittsburgh’s, nor do I believe Ottawa can out-coach the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Verdict: Pittsburgh in 6 games.
San Jose Sharks (1) vs Colorado Avalanche (8)
I really like the Colorado Avalanche and no, I didn’t think they’d come remotely close to making the playoffs prior to the 09-10 season starting. Having said that, I see the Sharks experience and grit over-powering the young Avalanche. The Avalanche strike me as a team very satisfied with their season whereas the Sharks have known all year that their Playoff results is what really matters. I like some of the role players San Jose has acquired between last season and now (guys like Jed Ortmeyer, Scott Nichol, Niclas Wallin, etc…). I believe these guys, along with Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle and Rob Blake will be difference makers in this series. Also, I’m concerned for Colorado that star goalie Craig Anderson might be a bit burned out from his first regular season as a starting goalie.
Verdict: San Jose in 6 games.
Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs Nashville Predators (7)
Most of us could make a living from underestimating the Nashville Predators. And although the Predators are a team built so well for the Playoffs, I simply cannot bet against the Chicago Blackhawks. People will question the Hawk’s goaltending and while it’s been suspect at times this season, I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It’s easily the weakest part of the Hawks roster, but that’s easy to say when you look at their forwards and defence depth. Chicago’s hurting with injuries to their defence, but I believe their talent up front will carry the load in this series. I look for Patrick Kane to lead the way in points and clutch plays.
Verdict: Chicago in 6 games.
Vancouver Canucks (3) vs Los Angeles Kings (6)
Alright Canucks fans, don’t hate me for saying this, but I think the Kings are going to beat the Canucks. Don’t get me wrong, this is the best team (by far) the Canucks have put together in years. But with all the pressure on them, their injuries at defence and Roberto Luongo’s inconsistencies, I don’t have a good feeling for the Canucks. I know the Canucks beat the Kings three times this year, but I think the Kings move pucks better and faster than Vancouver and have a quick transition game that will burn the slower Canucks defence. I know Jonathan Quick’s play recently hasn’t been good, but I don’t see that as a factor in this series. Simply put, the Kings are loose and Vancouver know they need a solid post-season run this year.
Verdict: Los Angeles in 7 games.
Phoenix Coyotes (4) vs Detroit Red Wings (5)
This might be the most intriguing 1st round match-up this year. Like I said with the Avalanche, I believe the Coyotes are satisfied with their season and won’t have the same drive the Red Wings will. Ilya Bryzgalov shed his reputation of burning out down the regular season stretch from previous years, but I can’t help but wonder if he’s at all fatigued from this season. He’s finally gotten used to playing 60-70 regular season games per year, but that’s without playoffs. I think Detroit are too strong and too experienced for the young up-tempo Coyotes. And with Jimmy Howard’s play over the second half of the season, he looks poised to have a great Playoff performance. I don’t like betting against this Phoenix team, but dislike betting against Detroit even more.
Verdict: Detroit in 6 games.
There you have it. These are my 1st round predictions. What are your predictions?
Stay classy, NHL Playoffs.
Follow me on Twitter or become a fan of Stayclassy.net on Facebook.
PLEASE JUST ONE GAME.
Just one.
I have Washington in 5 also.
PLEASE. I beg LIFE to make this happen.
EAST – Caps in 4, Sens in 7, Devils in 5, Sabres in 6
WEST – Sharks in 5, Hawks in 5, Kings in 6, Wings in 4
Fuck I can’t wait… I like your calls Burg’ but Have to go for my Sens.. I too, am I worried about our Defense and Goal tending, these might just hinder us, but I am looking for the upset!
Habs fans need to wake up and smell the coffee. If they actually beat the Caps, I will buy a Canadiens T-Shirt and wear it to a Sens/Habs game next season… Glad to know that I will be keeping my money in my pocket on this one.
There has been a lot of talk about the #ThrowTheSnake in ‘Yotes territory, very cool idea… But when they are losing (its inevitable) , I’d like to see someone crack out the brown t-shirts and create a “Skid-Mark” in the middle of the whiteout. Now that would be funny!
SC!
Nooo not you too, is there nobody left that has faith in our team the most sensible honours now go to mantooth :p seriously though the Pens haven’t looked anything out if the ordinary all season and we’ve played pretty well against them before and yes they may have the edge on paper but the Sens seen to have that extra playoff grit in them. Elliott I will haunt you down if you screw this up and believe me he does not want me going after him. All I know is that they have to win tonight or else I’m going to fail my final 2moro
NICE, GO KINGS!!!!
To further explain why metricjulie – a die hard Habs fan – only wants Montreal to win one game, see this link: http://www.metricjulie.com/2010/04/the-habs-leafs-bet-with-toronto-mike/.
@ Jove – Go Kings indeed.
@ Sens18/19 – When I look at the top 4 seeds, I think the Sens could beat Buffalo and New Jersey. They got a bad draw in Pittsburgh. The Pens depth in center will kill most teams, Senators included. I’ve learned to never underestimate how good Crosby can be. Sorry to let you down. Good luck on the final!
@ Mantooth – I’m in for Operation: Skid-mark.
Crosby is gooood real good but he just has zero luck against the Sens. It’ll be a tough series for sure but we won’t roll over so easy. They gave deep skilled centers, we have deep lines that are just as effective. Again I believe it’ll all come down to goaltending and whether Elliott is able to hold his grounds (I don’t have a good feeling about him though)
@Sens18 – We are great at shutting down Crosby. Phillips and Volchenkov are pimps at that… Its Geno that I think we need to worry more about.
@ mantooth but see Malkin had been having an off year and he’s injured and he usually doesn’t wake up in the playoffs until later rounds. Plus we have Sutton to take care of him, he’d like to join the Volchenkov and Phillips pimp club too ;)
@ Sens19 – Welcome back. That Sens18 person was creeping me out :P … Just wanted to add a little asterisk onto your Sutton joining Volchenkov/Phillips club… that being ** for the rest of this season. We all know he’s going back to the Islanders on July 1st.
Sorry, but Sutton takes a few too many needless penalties, and paired up with Karlesson, is a good complement for each other. But I find they get too many odd-man breaks against them. That is mostly due to Erik’s tendency to go deep in the offense zone. Clouston should scale that back this series.
@burgundy lool yes I’m back! Why the isles in particular, does he really like that team?
@mantooth agreed but his needless penalties usually scare off the opposition and makes them play on their heels, apparently bylsma is trying to wear all our D phtsically using Kunitz think sutton can take care of him? And agreed about odd man rushes against but man do I love what karlsson does offensively sometimes, will this game please start already???!!!
@Sens19… Is Sens18 your alternate ego? Kinda like Garth Brooks / Chris Gaines, Miley Cyrus / Hannah Montana, or David Bowie / Ziggy Stardust?
Habs can’t lose the opener on my bday. And at least Theodore had a sense of humour about the whole thing.
@mantooth sure haha and yes my alter ego is as crazy and overly optimistic about the Sens as I am :p
@ C – I appreciated Jose’s comments. And as someone who’s never really liked Plekanec, his soft play (most of the time), or how overrated he is, I really appreciated Jose’s humour. Would love to see Jose lay a shutout in games 3 or 4!
Who do u have winning the cup?
@ Josh – Yikes… normally I refrain from Cup predictions before the 1st round is over, but if I had to pick at this moment, I’d say Chicago.
No way Chicago wins the cup!!
Sharks or Caps are taking it
Ummm, for anyone keeping track, it appears I went 5 for 8 in the 1st round. Yikes… but it’s not like anyone else picked the Habs either!
@ Mantooth – Great comment. You’d better make good on that T-Shirt comment… I’ve kind of told everyone about it.
Stay tuned for my 2nd round predictions!
i had faith in the habs and they went on
montreal does not have a slow defence look what they did to Washington with there defence owning Washington’s.
the way the habs played against washington they cauld go even further if they wanted to.
@ Tommy – I was very, very wrong. Mind you, I’ll say that Washington did not move pucks very well and made it easy to block shots (which MTL did a great job on). I don’t want to take anything away from Montreal though. They played a great series. The Pittsburgh-Montreal series should be a ton of fun to watch. I assume you believe Montreal can take out the Penguins?
My shoe tastes awful right… talk about foot in mouth! But seriously, who had any Habs in their playoff pools? And how many are cursing the Caps!
I will hold up my end of the bargain!
Hilarious – definitive case of foot in mouth! Nice work, Mantooth.
Sharks are going all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!