The Price is wrong

How's that for a headline?

Carey Price doesn't look like that super composed goalie who shutout the Bruins in game 7. He looks more like a 20 year old rookie goaltender who is in unchartered territory. He allowed a couple of softies against the Flyers last night and despite a nice comeback attempt, the Habs fell to Philly. Jaroslav Halak took over and was solid in the third. Had it not been for a bone head five minute major penalty from Derian Hatcher (a guy who knows a thing or two about bonehead penalties) it wouldn't have even been close.
Montreal missed a great opportunity early on in the first when they had a full two minute 5 on 3 and couldn't muster a goal. It was a relatively unspectacular two man advantage altogether. Their powerplay clicked on the Hatcher major penalty and they need to build on that. After having the best PP in the NHL during the regular season, they've been a so-so 7 for 47 this season. That is of course counting the two they scored last night. Take that out of the picture and they were at 10.8 percent before that PP. They need their PP and a consistent Carey Price to win this series.
I say you go back to Price. You don't know what you're going to get but if he's on, he's proven he can win a game on his own. You need to restore his confidence and for their sake, hopefully he will be on his game again.

The Penguins aren't just a spectacular offensive team, but are playing a very sound defensive game right now and it's a huge reason why they won game 2. That combined with the solid play of Marc-Andre Fleury. After a rough start the series in which he surrendered a 3-0 lead to the Rangers, Fleury has played very well and his team has provided just enough offense. The 2-0 final score of game two is of course very deceiving. It was a 1-0 game for most of the game until the Adam Hall empty netter. Both games have been very close. The Penguins have a 2-0 series lead but have not run over the Rangers by any stretch of the imagination. New York should be pumped up playing at MSG and need a strong start, only this time have to hold on to their lead.

The Dallas Stars have taken a 2-0 series lead again on the road against a favoured team. Clearly, we've underestimated this team. Though Sergei Zubov wasn't the same player in game two that he has been over the past 10 years, he made a great pass to set up the third Stars goal. He adds a new dimension to the Stars blueline: a defenceman that can chip in and join the rush and create plenty of chances. He's going to get more comfortable as time goes on after being out for about three months. Brad Richards is really beginning to fit into their lineup and Mike Ribeiro is having the type of playoffs that actually warrant his huge contract extension. Brenden Morrow is a true leader and turning into one of the game's better power forwards.
On the other hand, the San Jose Sharks have been less than impressive. Despite Ron Wilson's claim, his captain definitely needs to be better and cannot hop over point shots. As Marleau was during the regular season, he's a minus player again in the post-season. They needed Evgeni Nabokov to stand on his head during the regular season to win games and he has been rather ordinary of late. It seems as though they can't win unless he's spectacular, which is asking a lot of a guy who started all but five games during the regular season.

Something is wrong with Jose Theodore. He hasn't been the same goalie against Detroit that he was during the regular season and in the first round against Minnesota. He was sick in game one and may have been feeling the effects of it in game two as well. Colorado has shown it's holes defensively and wasn't really in the game two very long. They are a much better team at home (27-12-2 vs. 17-19-5 during the regular season) and they will be welcoming some home cooking with open arms (or is it mouths?). They are banged up and could use a boost from Peter Forsberg should he return. But haven't we heard that a thousand times before?

After a light schedule of games (or game I should say) last night, we have three tonight. It feels like the first round again!

Tom Kostopoulopadalabososlapooulos?!?!?!?!

I think I misspelled his name. Oh right, it's Kostopoulos. What a game in Montreal. How about old Jimmy Dowd with the slapper that beat Price in the first? Talk about unsung heroes. Those two are about as unsung as they come. Of course, the most skilled players were the best players on the ice. Alexei Kovalev and the Kostitsyn's were fantastic last night.

Faceoffs late in games can be extremely crucial and it showed last night as Montreal's tying goal was scored right off the faceoff on a beauty wrister from Kovalev. The winner by Kostopoulos was scored off a broken play as a result from a faceoff. If the Flyers are practicing today John Stevens certainly has the team working on faceoffs (though it's unlikely they are practicing after a seven game series and only one day off in between, generally they have optional skates this time of year. In fact, I just confirmed that they did have an optional skate.)

Kovalev had an up and down series vs. Boston, but he was spectacular last night. He was easily the best player on the ice and when he's in a grove he's very dangerous. He's one of those players that is so fun to watch, even when he doesn't have the puck. He's always lurking in the shadows and seems like he might break out at any moment.

The Western semi-final kicked off with a bang. Detroit and Colorado played a crazy first period before settling down, as the Avs nearly climbed all the back from a 4-1 deficit. Jose Theodore was not at the top of his game and it may have been due to his apparent illness. Either way, he cannot be faulted for the second Detroit goal from Dan Cleary, who's wrister hit Theodore in the shoulder, bounced high in the air over top of him and slid in the net. That was about as fluky as they come.

Henrik Zetterberg's goal was magnificent as he made the Avs defence look silly. What did I say about Colorado's blueline?

It's nice to see Johan Franzen grab all the headlines after his two goal performance. He scored a quiet 27 goals and is a very solid defensive forward. He epitomizes the Red Wings (or their forwards at least) in many ways. He goes about his business quietly, scoring goals when counted on while playing a strong defensive game.

Chris Osgood was a bit shaky for parts of the third period, but the crowd got behind him and he made a game saving stop on Milan Hejduk who was wide open from point blank range. Colorado proved that no lead is safe against them as they have plenty of offensive ability up front to create several chances. Had Peter Forsberg not been a late scratch because of a groin injury, they may have stolen this one. Colorado hasn't had any problem winning games when Forsberg is in the lineup. It's never a question of Foppa's ability but his health instead. His return or absence could be the difference in this series.

Another two games on the sked tonight as the other two series' get started. No channel flipping either as one goes at 7, the other at 10. It's a shame last night's games had to overlap like that because both were fun to watch. Thank god for PVR's!

Round 2 predictions

Was I the only one wandering around aimlessly without any hockey last night? After 14 straight days of at least one playoff game (and up to five some days) there was a break in the action. It was quite a downer I must tell you. I was forced to watch the NBA playoffs, which I suppose isn't the worst consolation but in no way as exciting as the NHL's second season. Maybe it's the Canadian in me, maybe it's the fact that I grew up playing the game, spending countless hours on the ice and in front of the TV watching it but there is nothing as exciting or intriguing as the great game that is hockey. Didn't I say in my first post on this fine blog that I would never wax poetic about the game itself? Well, I just did I guess. That's what one night off will do to you I suppose.

Here are my thoughts on round two:

(1) Montreal vs. (6) Philadelphia

It wasn't so easy for Montreal, but they got by Boston as everyone predicted. Philly on the other hand was a bit of a surprise winner for many as we all seemed to jump on the Washington bandwagon after their great finish to the regular season. This will certainly be an entertaining series full of scoring chances and goal scoring. Both teams have plenty of depth up front and have the two best power plays from the regular season. Philly's was equally as effective as it was during the regular season, but Montreal's went flat against Boston scoring only three times on 33 chances. We know of course that one round is too small a sample size to judge their power play, but special teams can become a huge factor in a playoff series. Montreal needs their PP to be effective to move on past the Flyers. Montreal has one of the best defensive pairings in the league with a healthy Mike Komisarek to go along with Andrei Mark0v. Komisarek hits, blocks shots and can chip in offensively when needed. He might be the best defensive defenseman in the league and can be a difference maker in the series if he can contain the likes of Mike Richards, Daniel Briere and company. The subplot of Briere vs. Montreal, the team he turned down a very lucrative offer from will be an interesting one and one that the Montreal fans and media will certainly enjoy. Expect the Bell Centre faithful to give Briere the very warmest of Montreal welcomes.

This series might come down to goaltending (surprise surprise). Martin Biron was magnificent at times against Washington and horrible the next. I'm not convinced that he is a top tier NHL goaltender, nor will he ever be. Does this sound like a broken record for the Flyers? Not since the days of the Ron Hextall eighties edition have they been secure in net to take them all the way. Montreal on the other hand has a long history of legendary goaltenders. Carey Price had a roller coaster first round. He was spectacular until game 5, had two rough outings then came back strong in game 7. That much we can expect from a 20 year old goalie, but I will take my chances with Price any day over Biron.

Habs in 6.

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (5) New York

What a matchup Pittsburgh vs. Washington would have been? It was not to be and I need to get over it, I know. Pittsburgh-New York is a nice trade off for the American networks: two of their top players vs. their biggest market team. The Penguins won't find it so easy to score on Henrik Lundqvist as they did on the Ottawa Senators, but they should have just enough fire power to get by. Marc-Andre Fleury was about as solid as you could ask for in the first round, but again playing the Senators is no great barometer right now. Sean Avery will do his best to get under his skin, not to mention Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh has a pretty effective pest of their own in Jarkko Ruutu which should make things interesting. The Pens also have one of the best intimidating heavy weights with George Laraques but that hasn't stopped Avery in the past. This won't be easy for Pittsburgh, but I've been with them since the very beginning, so I'm going to stick with them through this as well.

Pengs in 7.

(1) Detroit vs. (6) Colorado

As I said yesterday, it's not quite the same rivalry it once was, but the history doesn't hurt the intrigue of this series. There are plenty of stars on this team, not to mention future hall of famers (Sakic, Lidstrom and Hasek are sure things, Forsberg should be there too in my books). Chris Osgood seems to have taken the reigns over as number one goalie after Hasek's two dismal performances in Nashville. The Red Wings seem to win regardless of who's in net. Each goalie notched 27 wins during the regular season and both had goals against average's just about 2 per game. Jose Theodore was fantastic vs. Minnesota and needs to be this time around if the Avs want a chance to make it to the conference finals. Colorado can score with the best of them and when Theodore is on his game he is tough to beat, but one area of concern with the Avs is their blueline. Detroit is fantastic on the forecheck where guys like Franzen, Cleary and Draper are at their best, they have two of the most skilled forwards in the game with Datsyuk and Zetterberg (both are some of the best two way players in the game as well) and a player man consider "the best player in front of the net" in Tomas Holmstrom. It won't be like the late nineties, but it will be fun nonetheless.

Wings in 6.

(2) San Jose vs. (5) Dallas

One team pulled off the biggest upset of the first round, the other avoided the biggest upset of the first round. As much as I ragged on the Ducks yesterday for their poor showing in the first round, Dallas deserves a share of the credit for their play. They capitalized on the chances the Ducks afforded them with. Their powerplay was excellent going 10 for 38, their defenseman stood strong against the big Ducks forwards and Turco didn't repeat any of his poor playoff performances. The Stars will again miss Sergei Zubov and are now without Philippe Boucher after he went down with a strained hip. Zubov may return at some point during the series and Boucher's return is uncertain. Turco and the Stars now very young blueline (sporting three rookies with Matt Niskanen, Nicklas Grossman and Matt Fistric) will be counted on to shoulder the load and will have a tough time containing the Sharks. Joe Thornton did not disappear in the first round and Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo both made an impact after disappointing regular seasons. Ryan Clowe and Joe Pavelski played like all-stars vs. Calgary and probably won't be as effective throughout the rest of the playoffs, but can certainly provide some much needed secondary scoring. And how about Jeremy Roenick? Scratched in game 6, he comes back and has maybe the best game of his hall of fame career. I've always been a big fan of JR for both his style of play on the ice and his personality off it. He's become a role player now, but has a very good chance of finally capturing a Stanley Cup. The struggle against the Flames might have provided the Sharks with a wake up call or on the other hand exposed some of their flaws. After this series is over, we will have a much better indication of where this team is. It will certainly be close and the Stars are no after thought, that is for sure.

Sharks in 7.

Off to round 2

The first round of the playoffs certainly did not let down. Three game seven's, one that ended in most dramatic fashion in overtime and only one sweep. Every series was close right to the end with the exception being the Penguins-Senators series and the Rangers-Devils was a bit of a dud as well. Every other series was exciting and full of intriguing story lines.

Overall, I scored a 62.5 on my first round predictions. C level material I know and nothing to be proud of. Not horrible either. I guess I need a copy of the pictured book. I had a tough time picking between New Jersey and New York. I wasn't huge on the Rangers offensive abilities, but man did they prove me wrong? A balanced attack from three solid lines. It wasn't just the star players such as Jagr, Shanahan or Gomez, but their younger guys like Dubinsky, Dawes and Callahan as well. Henrik Lundqvist held the fort like he always does and the Devils lack of scoring ability killed them. It won't be the same facing the Penguins however. Both teams have had plenty of time off, so both teams will be equally rusty.

The Flyers and Capitals were close right to the end and needed even more time to decide a winner. I wasn't off the mark when I said this series could go either way. Philly did a very good job containing Ovechkin for the first five games, but he broke out in game six and almost single handedly brought the Caps to the second round. This is just the beginning of things to come for the Capitals. Karl Alzner will be a fantastic addition to their blueline next year. The captain of this past year's Canadian world junior championship winning team should be NHL ready by next season. He's a good puck mover, but not flashy and very reliable in all situations. He should fit along nicely with the gambling Mike Green. This team will also get Michael Nylander back who missed most of the season due to injury. They have about 20 million dollars in cap space and a portion of that will go towards re-signing Cristobal Huet - or should anyways. Both Huet and Olaf Kolzig are UFA's. Though Huet let in a few softies in the series, he was very good overall and made several huge saves in game 6 after the Caps went down 2-0. Those saves kept the team in the game and enabled them to have a shot at coming back from two goals down, which they did of course. Mike Green, Shaone Morrisonn and Brooks like are restricted free agents and all in line to get raises (especially Green.) They have all the right pieces in place, it's just a matter of time before this team is contending for the Stanley Cup every year.

As for the Ducks, they have to go down as being nearly as disappointing as the Senators this season. They weren't as bad as the Senators in the regular season, but they only showed up in two playoff games and nearly blew both of their leads in each win. Stanley Cup hangover? Maybe, but it just goes to show how hard it is to repeat as Cup champions even when you have basically the exact same team that won it for you the year before. You have a big target on your back, but more importantly, you can't make so many bone head mistakes and take so many dumb penalties as they did. To a certain extent, you need a share of lucky bounces and have everyone clicking at the right time but some credit needs to go to the Stars who were simply the better team from the opening face off. They will give San Jose a run for their money, that is for sure.

It's a tough call to make between which series was better: Philly-Washington or San Jose-Calgary. The Philly series was loaded with skill, speed and excitement, while the San Jose series was filled with rough, crushing hockey, not to mention two of the better all around players in the game in Iginla and Thornton. While calling the Flyers-Caps series I actually thought Gord Miller might blow out his larynx at any moment. Every game seemed like a nail biter, filled with scoring chances and Miller was into every second of it. I'd have to give the edge to the Flyers series, but not by much. If the second round is half as exciting as the first round, we will still be in good shape.

The Flyers are the better all around team and certainly deserved to win their series, but it would have been tons of fun to see the Penguins and Capitals go at it in the first round. Crosby and Malkin vs. Ovechkin and Semin? Man, that would've been a great series, but New York-Pittsburgh and Montreal-Philly matchups aren't so bad either. Out in the west, Detroit and Colorado renew their old rivalry, while Dallas and San Jose play one another in the playoffs for the first time since 2000 (the Stars won that 2nd round matchup 4-1 in case you were wondering). A lot will be made of the Detroit-Colorado rivalry, but only a handful of players are left from the team's that fought it out annually in the Western Conference. Though with Osgood, Forsberg and Foote back in their respective teams after long absences, who knows? Osgood might be so inclined to take on a different French-Canadian goalie: Jose Theodore.

Ottawa is done

That's right, the Senators are finished and we shouldn't be surprised at all after that dismal finish to end their season. They seem to be everyone's favourite whipping boys today, so I won't go overboard in abusing them. The problem here is the core of the team is locked up long term which will make it very hard to make changes. Wade Redden is an unrestricted free agent and it might be time to waive goodbye. Bryan Murray could use some extra cap space to lock up Andrej Meszaros long term and a possible buyout for Ray Emery. Cory Stillman, Mike Commodore, Shean Donovan and Chris Kelly among a few others are all unrestricted free agents as well but the Senators are locked into Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson, Fisher and Phillips. They will have a new coach, but after the midseason change, that method proved unsuccessful for this club.

Getting rid of Ray Emery might be one major factor in reshaping this team. I don't think it's fair to blame one player for the demise of an entire team and Emery isn't solely responsible for the collapse, but it's no coincidence that the team's struggles coincided with Emery's problems. He proved last year that he has the ability to be a very solid NHL goaltender, but not with the Ottawa Senators. He might fit in better in a smaller market outside Canada, where less attention is paid to hockey and he doesn't have to answer questions about why he is always late for practice. I'm not blaming the Ottawa media at all for his demise, but Emery might have some success in a place with less pressure to win.

The injuries late in the season hurt this team, but they came after the team began to crumble. Their best players were invisible vs. the Penguins. Heatley and Spezza combined for two assists and a -9 for the four games. Those two put up plenty of points during the regular season, but this team could never come together all at the right time after their great start. If it wasn't one thing it was the other.

It's quite clear that this team does not have the makeup to win a Stanley Cup and it will be interesting to see what kind of changes Bryan Murray makes in the offseason. His job isn't in jeopardy yet as he's only been the GM of this team for a season, but if things don't change soon he might not be in Ottawa much longer. One thing is clear, of all the disappointing season's in Senators history, this has to be the most brutal of them all.

The Rangers won a game and Sean Avery wasn't a factor. That's a first for this series. Last night's game was easily the most exciting of the four so far in this series. Martin Brodeur looked frighteningly human. If the Devils bow out early in the playoffs, I think it's safe to say that Lou Lamoriello has some rebuilding to do with the team in front of Brodeur as well as behind him. It's understandable that Brent Sutter would want to start Brodeur as much as he possibly could during the regular season especially after the rough beginning the Devils had this season, but after three straight early exits, it might be time to give him more time off. Most importantly, the team lacks much scoring ability up front and the defense is a group of relative no-names. The Devils will have some cap room and although it's never been Lou's style, he might be best served to go out and pick up some offensive help in the free agent market. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, this series is not over. Let's see if Sutter and Brodeur can work some magic and reel off three straight.

This Red Wings-Predators series is starting to look alarming like their first round series of four years ago. Detroit wins the President's Trophy and of course are seeded number one in the west, while Nashville fights off a late run by Edmonton to claim the eighth spot in the west. Detroit comes in as the overwhelming favourite and takes the first two games at home, though not by a wide margin. Nashville comes storming back at home and takes the next two games to even up the series at 2-2. Sound familiar?

In 2004, Detroit won the next two games. Might that happen again? There's a good possibility and if it does I will be a bit weirded out. The Senators are disappointing, the Devils don't have enough in front of Brodeur and now this?! History is certainly repeating itself or we are in some strange NHL playoff time warp...either way.

Back and forth she goes

As soon as it looks like the Sharks are one game from elimination, they go nuts late in the third period and score twice to win it all. Most importantly for their sake, their best player (who's taken some criticism in the past for not performing in the playoffs) steps up and scores the winner. This series just took a very interesting turn and possibly a huge shift in momentum. This series keeps shifting back and forth and is easily the most intriguing of all the first round matchups. It was the right decision by Mike Keenan to go back to Miikka Kiprusoff and Kipper responded. The Flames' 10 shots on Nabokov were pretty pathetic and despite the fact that they gave up a third period lead, they never really deserved to win last night's game.

I think it's safe to say that the Ottawa Senators are done. If they couldn't pull out the victory in game three after Daniel Alfredsson returned, there's no chance they can do it in game four and even win one game. They did come out very strong in the first (due in large part to that awesome gladiator dude who cheered them on at the beginning I'm sure....seriously, what on earth was that?) but could only muster one goal on Marc-Andre Fleury and then imploded in the third after the Penguins busted out of the gates to start the final frame.

The Penguins should scare the rest of the East right now. Their best players are putting up tons of points and Crosby & Hossa seem to be finding some chemistry. When you have two number one lines that can produce like that, look out. If you can contain Crosby's line, then Malkin's line will step up and vice versa. Although they are beating a depleted and rather pathetic team right now, the Penguins are a scary team right now for any opponent. A lot of that has to do with Fleury who has been excellent in goal in this series and down the stretch for the Pens. Goaltending was the one question mark for a lot of doubters, but Fleury is playing like the goalie most expected him to be when he was taken first overall in 2003. The pieces are falling into place right now for Pittsburgh.

Anaheim finally realized that the 2008 NHL playoffs are underway, though there were some scary moments in the period after Brendan Morrow scored twice to bring the Stars to within two and the Ducks gave up a 4 minute powerplay. The Ducks PK held strong, but after it looked like they were going to run away with game 3, they let Dallas back in the game which is not a convincing sign if the Ducks have any shot at winning this series. They gave themselves a chance at least and if they can play a strong 60 minute game, they certainly have the ability to beat the Stars.

Last night's game between the Habs and Bruins was quite an indication of how different these two teams are. Montreal can win in a variety of ways: by outscoring their opponents 7-5 in an offensive juggernaut of a game or sitting back and playing a conservative game and letting their goalie do most of the work after they get a lead. Boston must have thought they had the Habs right where they want them, but Carey Price shut the door right in their faces. A lot of that has to do with Boston's lack of skill and scoring ability up front. They work hard and have lots of grit and desire, but simply not enough talented players. Without maybe their best all around offensive threat in Patrice Bergeron out most of the season, they have struggled to score and will continue to do so until the necessary changes are made to bring in more skilled players. It's been a nice turnaround season for the Bruins, but they once again don't appear as though they will make it past the first round.

As the Capitals and Flyers headed back to Philly, we knew were in for a treat for game's 3 and 4. Washington will be in this series until the end, but I have to wonder whether their fortune has run out on them. Cristobal Huet needs to steal a game for them at some point in this series and he hasn't shown any indication of having that ability so far. Philly out shot the Caps by a wide margin and need their best players (i.e. Ovechkin) to really break out. After Ovechkin broke out late in game 1, he hasn't been his usual explosive self. He was pointless in game 2 and had one assist last night, but wasn't in the game the way he normally is. This series is not over yet, but game 4 can be the turning point in a series and the Caps have to be better on Thursday.

What a comeback

You're probably thinking that I'm talking about my own comeback after a two day absence, but no I'm talking about the Calgary Flames. It appeared as though they were done just 3 and a half minutes in, but Iron Mike pulls Kipper and Cujo holds the fort the rest of the way. The Flames get some very, very generous bounces and come all the way back and Nolan scores the winner late in the third. That series has easily been the most enjoyable to watch so far. It seems like we never know what we're going to get and last night's game was a true indication of such. What a sight it was in Calgary again with all the red jersey's that filled the Saddledome. There's nothing like playoff hockey in Canada - I'm talking about you Montreal - and fans across the country do it best of course. Let's see what Ottawa fans can do tonight as the team needs a big boost to have any shot at coming back. They have one with the confirmation of Jason Spezza's health and the possibility of Daniel Alfredsson's premature return would give them a huge shot in the arm.

Getting back to Calgary, there's no question that you go back to Kiprusoff in game four if you're Mike Keenan. The Flames would've been out of the series had it not been for his performances in game's one and two. He's your number one and they need him to win this series. Although Joseph was solid after the Sharks jumped out to their lead early, he's not going to win you this series - not at his age.

That monster hit by Cory Sarich on Patrick Marleau seemed to spark something in the crowd and in the Flames as well (contrary to Ron Wilson's belief, it was a clean hit). If the Flames go on to win this series, that hit will forever be remembered by Flames as the turning point in that game and the series. You have to hand it to Patrick Marleau for getting right back up and into things. He was already bleeding from another run in and was out on the next shift with blood all over his face. How about that camera angle we saw live during that hit. CBC surely got lucky, but as an audience watching on television, it felt like we were right there.

It's turning into an interesting series between the Rangers and Devils. Sean Avery has been in x factor in each of the three games - scoring in the first two and pestering Martin Brodeur all game yesterday. The NHL just passed a rule today because of Avery's screening method in front of Brodeur as they aim to protect goalies against such a play. I have to hand it to Avery though, it's a pretty creative way of messing with a goalie, while playing within the rules. It's also a testament to Martin Brodeur and his focus in goal. He can brag about how forwards need to invent new ways to screen him and take him off his game. It appeared at one point during game three that the Rangers were close to running away with this series but the momentum shifted in the Devils favour and they were able to capitalize on their chances. A bit of a lucky overtime winning goal by John Madden didn't hurt either.

The Bruins came out strong on home ice and finally beat the Habs for the first time in what must seem like decades. Boston came out crashing and banging like the Canadiens did in game one and didn't back down the entire game. This might be the only one the Bruins win because Montreal will come out stronger in game four. The series certainly isn't over, but if the Habs win the next one it sure will be.

Martin Biron is the most inconsistent goaltender in the NHL it seems. He was great yesterday, but wasn't very good in game one. You never know what you're going to get with him and the Flyers need reliable goaltending to have a shot in this series. You can't bank on containing Ovechkin every game, though the Flyers did a great job frustrating him yesterday. The Capitals certainly won't walk away with this series as Philly has played them very well in the first two games. It looks like this is going to be a back and forth series and likely will be decided in seven games.

Out west, the Ducks continue to make me look stupid. After picking them to win the Cup they have taken bad penalty after bad penalty and don't have a strong enough PK to justify and of those calls. J.S. Giguere has simply been okay, certainly not what he's been in the past, but the blame has to be taken by the team that plays in front of him. They look slow and are constantly caught flat footed, thus resulting in taking plenty of penalties. The Ducks should be using the extra day off wisely to regroup. Anaheim has been the worst of all the sixteen playoff teams so far, with having little to play for late in each of the third periods in which they have played. This might be the best thing for the Maple Leafs, as Damien Cox pointed out, if they want a chance to snatch Brian Burke. Then again, Burke might want to prove what he built in Anaheim was no fluke and stick around another couple of seasons.

How 'bout those Habs?

It was a very entertaining night for hockey all around. Let's get things started in Montreal.

Sergei Kostitsyn scores 34 seconds in and his elder brother Andrei scores one just 98 seconds later. What a start for the Habs and what a reaction by the Montreal crowd. Even on television, you could feel the electricity running through the building. Habs fan or not, it was pretty enjoyable to watch the crowd's reaction to their team. Though they finished first in the east, you still get the feeling that Montreal is a bit of an underdog in this whole thing (certainly not against the Bruins, but in the grand scheme of the playoff picture) because of where people expected them to finish at the beginning of the season. Outside of Alexei Kovalev, they don't have any real "star" players up front, but they compensate by having one of the deepest teams in the league at forward. Not only did they show their flair and scoring ability last night, but they were surprisingly physical and were not scared to play "playoff hockey". At some points they were even a bit dirty - exhibit A: the Andrei Kostitsyn hit on Zdeno Chara a few feet away from the boards from behind. Boston was outmatched from the drop of the puck and after last nights contest, it's hard to imagine them winning a game in this series.

The game of the night was the Calgary-San Jose contest. Neither team showed any sign of fatigue after coming in on the second leg of a back to back. The 2-0 score doesn't indicate how exciting this game was. Evgeni Nabokov was very good yet again for the Sharks and made two spectacular saves. I liked the one late in the third on Owen Nolan better. His back was twisted around the right post and slides/dives across to make the glove save. Nolan couldn't believe it nor could CBC announcer Mark Lee who thought it was in. It was hard to see what happened at first, but the replay showed how magnificent a stop it was, especially considering the timing of it all - towards the end of the 3rd and had it gone in, the Flames would've been down by a goal with 5 minutes left to play. Miikka Kiprusoff was outstanding at the other end stopping nearly twice as many shots, but his misjudgment on a Joe Pavelski wrister through the five hole was costly. NHL goaltenders really do have the toughest job in pro sports. One little mistake amidst over 40 saves can decide a game. This series will be high on drama and excitement it seems. It will be interesting to see if the Red Mile is in full effect on Sunday and can spark the Flames. It should be a great game.

So much for the prediction of the Ducks repeating as champs. It's over, all over!

No, not even close. Maybe this is what the Ducks need - a wake up call (a Duck call if you will...sorry I couldn't resist). It's simple: stay the heck out of the penalty box. Okay, maybe that's not so simple for the most penalized team in the league but the answer is pretty straight forward. All four Dallas goals came via the powerplay as the Ducks took stupid penalties and were killing them off (or trying to) for most of the first two periods. They were behind early and couldn't regroup until the 3rd when they took just one late in the period of little consequence, but it was too late by that point. Brendan Morrow had 3 points and was very good. He continues to impress. He's the captain and consistently been their best forward throughout the season. Kudos to Dallas for capitalizing on their chances early and often, especially after a pretty dismal finish to their regular season.

Detroit played their usual steady self in their first playoff game: jumping out to a first period lead, solid on the forecheck without taking too many chances and sitting back a bit to wait for their opportunity to pounce on Nashville and deliver the deciding blow. Detroit got a couple of fortuitous bounces, but the better teams seem to capitalize on those chances, which is the difference in winning games. Nice little play from Datsyuk and Zetterberg on the game winner (even if they got a break from a blown offside call) as the Wings need the best from these two to be successful in the playoffs. Dan Ellis was very good between the pipes for the Predators and he will have to be every night to give Nashville a chance of hanging around in this series.

Ovechkin makes his playoff debut as the Caps and Flyers get things started tonight, finally. Three games at 7 will make for some nice channel surfing. It should be another great night.

Not a bad debut

Before I begin, I just want to point out how easy it is to to get ahead of ourselves after the first playoff game. People start jumping on bandwagons like no tomorrow and off others just as quickly. That's not to say that winning game one isn't important. According to The Hockey News, the game one winner has a .689 chance of winning the series - based on playoff history. Team's have a .868 winning percentage after going up 2-0. We can say this: there's a lot of pressure on Minnesota, Ottawa, San Jose and New Jersey to win game 2.

Let's start out in Pittsburgh, where the Pens cruised over the Senators. There weren't many surprises here. Pittsburgh jumps out to an early lead, courtesy of Senator killer Gary Roberts and never look back. Ottawa didn't seem to recover, as they had their chances to score. Marc-Andre Fleury didn't have to make any miraculous but was solid earning a shutout. Ottawa had two extended 5 on 3's but couldn't generate much. They are in a serious funk right now and without Daniel Alfredsson, it's unlikely they will break out of it.

The Rangers offense produced better than expected and although they won 4-1 the final score is a bit flattering as the game was much tighter than it indicates. New York added their 3rd with under 3 minutes to go (courtesy of the league's biggest pest Sean Avery) and their 4th was an empty netter. The Rangers second goal came courtesy of a Martin Brodeur mistake in which he was unable to cover the puck in the crease and Ryan Callahan jumped on the opportunity. All the Brodeur doubters out there will surely jump on the chance to criticize Marty, but he will come back ready for game 2. As I stated in my preview, this will be a long series.

The best game of the night belonged to the Wild and Avalance - the matchup of the Western Conference's non-pluralized nickname teams. A penalty shot, late in the 3rd of a tie game? Pretty high tension to say the least. This series won't end anytime soon, but Minnesota can't go back to Colorado down 2-0. The Avs were 27-12-2 at home this season and like all Denver based teams, love playing at home because they use the thin air to their advantage. Jose Theodore was very good last night. It might be a bit of a stretch to say he stole the game, but Theodore held the fort while Minnesota was making their comeback.

Certainly the biggest surprise of the night was Calgary's win over San Jose. The Flames out muscled the Sharks in a very physical game and were as quick out of the gates as a thoroughbred. They caught San Jose by surprise and Mikka Kiprusoff was his old self making 37 saves. The Sharks are talking about getting more traffic in front of Kipper, but when he's on his game he seems unfazed by everything. Kiprusoff doesn't seem like a question mark anymore.

What an effort by Jarome Iginla on the game winning goal. After stealing the puck off Brian Campbell, he charges down the ice with reckless abandon and Campbell right on his back. He gets to the net and Stephane Yelle (Stephane Yelle of all people) puts it in. The goal was all Iggy and vintage Iggy at that. This team might, just might have a chance if their stars (Iginla, Kiprusoff and Dion Phaneuf) can keep this up and they dominate physically. My guess is Calgary will be tired after playing such a physical game last night and San Jose comes out guns a blazing. This might be the motivation the Sharks need to take it to the next level or the beginning of a collapse. That definitely is getting ahead of ourselves. Either way, we will find out tonight!

Some awards and further predicitions

I have to hustle to get the rest of my thoughts/predictions in on the rest of the playoffs because I wrote on my first round thoughts, so let's cut the crap and get right to it.

According to my first round picks, we'd have Montreal play New Jersey in the second round and Pittsburgh play Washington (Oooooooooo, the thought has me drooling). New Jersey simply doesn't have enough scoring to match Montreal. If Montreal scores early, Jersey won't be able to catch up. While Washington is on an amazing roll, Pittsburgh has been very good all season. If Fleury can keep up his solid play, the Pens have the edge, but barely. That would leave Pittsburgh and Montreal in the Eastern final and we'll go with Pittsburgh. The Penguins are young, but so are the other good teams in the East and it's time for Crosby, Malkin and Co. to take the next step.

In the west, Detroit would play Colorado and Anaheim takes on San Jose. It's not the same rivalry it once was between the Mile High city and the Motor city but this would still be an intriguing series. Detroit is simply the better team and takes this series. Anaheim and San Jose is very hard to call. Though Nabokov has been great all year, you can't bet against Giguere. Anaheim is playoff tested and have all the returning parts, while San Jose can never get past round 2 and lack a dynamic scorer upfront. The Sharks have no one who can go up against Anaheim's blueline besides Thornton. The Ducks take it, which sets up a rematch of last year's Western final. This is another close one, just as close as last year's conference final, where it seemed like one mistake could decide the series. Detroit is hungry and ready to prove all their doubters wrong, but Anaheim gets by them again.

That leaves us with Anaheim and Pittsburgh in what will be a short series. Anaheim will punish and frustrate the young Pens. This will be a major learning experience for Pittsburgh, the same way losing to the Islanders helped the Oilers in '84. Giguere reclaims his Conn Smythe trophy, while Crosby does indeed lead the playoffs in points.

Let's all keep in mind here how wide open the NHL is this year. There are three teams that have a good a chance as any to come out of either conference (Montreal, Pittsburgh and Washington in the East - Detroit, San Jose and Anaheim in the west). Let's hope for a great playoffs, at the very least better than last year's disappointing Stanley Cup tournament.

Regular season award time!

Hart: Alex Oveckin
There's no doubt now that the Caps have made the playoffs. It should be unanimous really.
Runners up: Jarome Iginla, Martin Brodeur

Vezina: Martin Brodeur
He's the best, simply put.
Runners up: J.S. Giguere, Evgeni Nabokov, Roberto Luongo (I know that's three but I couldn't leave anyone of those guys off)

Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom
He's also the best, simply put. Led all defenseman in points and plus/minues, he does it all.
Runners up: Zdeno Chara, Dion Phaneuf

Adams: Bruce Boudreau
I've stated before that season to season turnarounds shouldn't necessarily equal coach of the year honours, but the Caps record with Boudreau is too remarkable to ignore. Why the heck haven't they locked him up long term?
Runners up: Barry Trotz, Guy Carbonneau

Calder: Patrick Kane
Though I don't think he'll have the best career of this year's rookies, nor is he the best player of the rookies right now, but he's had the best season. His teammate Jonathan Toews would have won it had he not been injured and had Carey Price been up the entire season he might have won it.
Runners up: Nicklas Backstrom, Jonathan Toews

Selke: John Madden
He seems to get ignored year in and year out, but players always talk about how tough he is to play against. Voters seem to like offensive numbers for this award which makes no sense at all, but Madden put up a solid 20 goals which is great production from a checking centre.
Runners up: Ryan Kesler, Patrick Rissmiller

Lady Byng: Who cares? Not me.

Playoffs tonight

So it technically wasn't tomorrow. It was today, the day after tomorrow. Work related issues prevented me from doing so. That's useless information for most. On to the western conference.

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Nashville

It's interesting to note how many people seem to be writing the President's Trophy winners off this post-season. Could it be because they have finished first overall three of the past four seasons, but have yet to win the Cup or even make it to the final in any of those seasons? (The year they didn't capture it, they finished tied with Buffalo but the Sabres won it because they had more wins). Could it be because they faltered down the stretch, while San Jose picked up the momentum in the west and appeared to be its top team? Could it be some concerns over injuries? It's a combination of all those factors of course. We seem to fall in love with the hottest team at the moment and forget who did what during the first half of the season. Facing some of the adversity that the Wings did face might have been the best thing for this team.

Nashville deserves a ton of credit for getting into the playoffs, as I've mentioned before. Everyone wrote them off, but with some solid goaltender from Dan Ellis (seriously, Dan Ellis? Yeah, Dan Ellis), a strong and developing blueline, depth up front with some vets (Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont) and young emerging stars like Alexander Radulov the Predators have been competitive and hard working every night because of Barry Trotz and his staff. Although Trotz may not receive any, he certainly deserves a lot of credit for keeping this team competitive while losing a large chunk of his team amidst a terrible ownership mess.

Having said all that, the Wings are too talented, too good in their own end and in net for the Preds to have any hope in this series. Nashville is the type of team that has the ability to make it interesting, but don't expect any Edmonton of 2006 run from this club.

Wings in 5.

(2) San Jose vs. (7) Calgary

Will this finally be the year that San Jose overcomes their playoff failures and takes the next step? That's certainly one of the most intriguing stories of this year's playoffs. Evgeni Nabokov has been sensational this season carrying the load for the Sharks now that he is the confirmed number one goalie after Vesa Toskala was traded to the Leafs (his 77 starts are a testament to such status). The Sharks shored up on defense with the addition of Brian Campbell at the deadline. There's no doubt Campbell has turned the Sharks blueline into one of the strongest from 1 to 6 in the NHL. Joe Thornton is one of the NHL's top five players, as he has been for the past five years. He is their real leader. Forget Patrick Marleau's 'C' on the front of his jersey, Thornton is the unofficial captain of this team and has been since he was acquired from Boston.
The Sharks finished the season 18-4 (the last two losses coming in their final two games with nothing to play for really, the first two wins coming before the Campbell trade).

Calgary meanwhile, have been a .500 team the last 2 months of the season. They had been wildy inconsistent leading up to that point. They won just 4 games in November and lost only 5 in December (3 of those coming in overtime). Mikka Kiprusoff is a big reason for their inconsistency. The usually solid as a rock Finnish netminder has been up and down all season and it doesn't seem like he can be counted on to steal games night in and night out like he has done in recent years. The Flames need him to be that goalie who steals 4 games from the Sharks in order to win this series. That's unlikely right now.

The Sharks are on some kind of roll and deserve a lot of the hype they are receiving as the playoffs approach. One major concern is where the offense will come from beyond Thornton. Big Joe seems to lead the team in every offensive category (even goals, which says more about the Sharks than it does Thornton who is and will always be a great playmaker, but not a dynamic goal scorer). Jonathan Cheechoo isn't anywhere near his Richard Trophy winning self and probably never will be again. Milan Michalek is a reliable winger, but will never be confused with Alex Ovechkin. Joe Pavelski has been a pleasant surprise, but isn't the kind of player who will put up big numbers. That leaves Marleau, who could be the key to the Sharks success. His 19 goals this season were his lowest total since 99-00 and his -19 is unacceptable on a team that won more games than anyone in the league except for Detroit. Having said all that, the Flames aren't much deeper. Outside of their top line (led by Jarome Iginla) they lack punch.

Though I'm not as high on the Sharks as everyone else seems to be, they are still a team that can win a playoff round (or two or even three). They have more than enough to get by Calgary.

Sharks in 5.

(3) Minnesota vs. (6) Colorado

This is an awfully tough series to predict. It's the Devils-Rangers series of the west for me, except much more exciting. Colorado has some star power (even if some of those stars are well past their prime) and Minnesota can put the puck in the net better than any other time in their history. They can score - though not like some of the more elite teams in the NHL - and still play a strong defensive system under Jacques Lemaire. Marian Gaborik is coming off a career best 42 goals and yet still seems to get overlooked as being an elite goal scorer. Brian Rolston scored 30 for the third straight season and is wildly underrated. They have depth at forward to go with Gaborik and Rolston with P.M. Bouchard, Pavol Demitra and Mikko Koivu.

Colorado might be even deeper at forward. Paul Stastny is a star already and seems to do everything well. Milan Hejduk probably won't score 50 goals again, but can be counted on for some key goals. Joe Sakic played just half the season because of injury but is still one of the best players to ever play the game. This was the first season since 97-98 that Joe didn't average a point a game, but you can never count a player of his caliber out. He's done everything during his hockey career (I actually can't think of one thing he hasn't done - 2 Cup rings, a Conn Smythe, a Hart Tropy, an Olympic gold) and will have something to say in this series. Ryan Smyth plays some of the ugliest hockey in the world, but is hard not to love. Peter Forsberg is a total wild card. His 14 points since signing with the Avs have been impressive to say the least, he gives the Avs quite an edge if he's healthy and playing well. Foppa (if healthy) and their proven playoff performers gives the Avs the edge offensively.

Both teams are solid in net. Nicklas Backstrom didn't have the type of season he did the year before, but plays a very steady game. Minnesota's improved offense has something to do with that while they haven't focussed on defense the same way they used to. Jose Theodore has been a complete shock to everyone in Colorado, even himself I'm sure. Can you say contract year? When he's focussed the way he is now, he can be fantastic. I'd still rather have Backstrom because I know exactly what I'm getting, but Theodore has the ability to steal a game if he's playing like his old self (or new self, as long as he doesn't play like his in between self).

Minnesota has the better blueline, but without Nick Schultz (lost to injury because of an emergency appendectomy) the Wild aren't the same defensively. Schultz doesn't put up points, but he is very responsible in his own end, extremely valuable on the penalty kill and simply one of the more reliable stay at home defenseman in the league. He helped turn Brent Burns into a terrific offensive defenseman and he will be missed by both the Wild and Burns. Colorado is okay on defense. Scott Hannan is solid. John-Michael Liles can provide some offense and is playing for a contract. For an offensive d-man, Jordan Leopold doesn't seem to put up many points. His career high 33 in 03-04 haven't been closed to matched while in the middle of two injury plagued seasons. Adam Foote helps the team immensely. He lightens the load for Hannan and allows Liles to create more offensively. Minnesota might have the better blueline, but the loss of Schultz can't be underestimated.

I keep going back and forth, but ultimately I have to go with Colorado. It's hard to go against names like Sakic, Forsberg, Stastny, Smyth, Foote and Hejduk. I wrote in the Wild at first, then erased it and took the Avs. Then went back to the Wild, but I'm settling on Colorado once and for all.

Wi....errr, Avs in 7 (seriously this time, Colorado.)

(4) Anaheim vs. (5) Dallas

The quest to repeat begins and Anaheim has a very good chance to do so. On paper, they have almost exactly the same team, but better. Their two "retired" leaders came out of "retirement" (I'm convinced they knew they were coming back, but just wanted some time off). Their two young studs (Getzlaf and Perry) are older and better (though Perry likely won't play in this series). They do have Selanne back (and playing well) and their insurance signing of Todd Bertuzzi hasn't turned out to be anything special, but he has shown streaks of his old self. Doug Weight as a number 2 centre is a concern, but they have other centreman (Todd Marchant, Ryan Carter, Sami Pahlsson) who can help out. They don't score a ton of goals, but they are built for playoff hockey and can grind it out and score as many as necessary in the big games. The combination of Pahlsson, Rob Niedermayer and Travis Moen are maybe the best checking unit in the league. They will give the Stars' forward fits.

Dallas has a lot depth up front. Modano is in the twilight of his career, but isn't counted on by the team the way he once was. Brad Richards is simply the most overpaid player in the league, but that's not his fault. He's a nice player and a guy who is a proven playoff performer, but after his remarkable 5 point debut with Dallas, he hasn't seemed to fit in. The Stars have juggled him between centre and the wing and have tried numerous line combinations, but can't bring out the best in him since that first game. Mike Ribeiro has busted out of nowhere, but needs to prove himself over a longer period of time, especially during the playoffs - a time where he has done very little (8 points in 24 games). Brendan Morrow is as committed and hard working a player you will find and has quite a scoring touch for such a player. Niklas Hagman and Jere Lehtinen are both very responsible two ways wingers, who can score a bit too.

Both teams are strong in net. J.S. Giguere might be the second best playoff goalie in the league. He single handedly got the Ducks to the final in 2003 and could have won the Conn Smythe again last year. In 45 career playoff games, Giguere has a 1.95 GAA, a .929 save percentage and 6 shutouts. Not the same can be said for Marty Turco, though he did a lot to prove his critics wrong in the Stars seven game series loss to the Canucks last year. He was terrible the previous two playoffs before last year and has a career 11-18 record. They are very different goalies this time of year and Giguere has the clear edge.

No one in the NHL can match Anaheim's blueline. They have two of the top three defenseman of the past 10 years. Both are sure fire hall of famers and two of the best to ever play defense. Those of course would be Joe DiPenta and Kent Huskins. Come on, we all know who they are. Mathieu Schneider has added an entirely different element to the team as well. A third offensive threat on the blueline, who can step in on the powerplay whenever needed. This is a much bigger question mark for Dallas. Sergei Zubov is out indefinitely after sports hernia surgery. He's their anchor at both ends of the ice and when losing him you are asking a lot of some of their younger d-men in Matt Niskanen and Niklas Grossman. Niskanen has been very good in his absence but asking him and Mattias Norstrom and company to contain Anaheim's big group of forwards.

Anaheim shouldn't have much trouble with Dallas as they try to become the first team since Detroit to win back to back cups and there's a very good chance of that happening.

Ducks in 5.

The playoffs are here, the playoffs are here!

In about 48 hours, my brain will begin to overload with information and excitement. With no clearcut favourite the playoffs appear to be more wide open than ever. The NHL's best young players are in the postseason as well and the two eastern conference clubs containing three of those players could make serious cup runs. There's a very good chance that these two clubs meet in the second round, should they make it that far. The league, the fans, the media and everyone in the hockey world would be ecstatic to see such a matchup, possibly spurning a long rivalry. Oh, what a thought. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though.

We begin in the east.

(1) Montreal vs. (8) Boston

This might be the start of something quite compelling brewing in Montreal. It's safe to say that no one and I mean NO ONE picked the Habs to finish first in the east. Many didn't even think they'd be in the playoff picture (including myself) let alone becoming a serious cup contender. With the league - the east especially - so wide open, the Habs must be taken seriously now.

The goaltending matchup in this series is very interesting. The young stud rookie goaltender without even a full season of NHL experience vs. the journeyman goaltender who took nearly a decade of playing in the minors before solidifying himself as a number one. A frighteningly calm goalie vs. a wound up ball of emotion. A fundamentally sound positional goalie vs. a flopping fish out of water.

Another glaring difference is the team that plays in front of them. One has the highest scoring team on offense, that plays a very wide open with a lot of skill and depth at forward, the other has a fundamentally sound defensive team without much scoring up front, that will bore you to death with the trap.

So can the Bruins contain the Habs? Not a chance. Defensively, the Bruins get a lot of help from their forwards, but not enough to contain Alexei Kovalev and Co. It seems funny to think of Kovalev as a one man wrecking crew, but that's what he's become for Montreal. It's all come together for Alexei this season in Montreal while playing with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn. Those 3 have become the team's top line, while Saku Koivu has had a down season - and now gone for an indefinite period of time with a broken foot. The Habs will certainly miss their captain and the obvious inspiration he provides, but the Habs played well the last week of the season without him and earned the top spot in the east. Bryan Smolinski has stepped in his place and played well, but they need some scoring from the likes of Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder as well. Koivu and defenseman Mike Komisarek's injury status are a major concern for the team, especially in the later rounds as they will surely have to deal with more down the stretch.

Montreal has has proved they can find players to step up and contribute in a big way. Boston will put up a fight, but have had stretches of inconsistency and have a tendency to completely crumble on given days and surrender large amounts of goals. The real key for them is Carey Price and whether he's ready to carry the load. Will he follow in the footsteps of Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy as the next Canadien goaltender to step in as a rookie, without a full season under his belt and lead his team to a Stanley Cup? We will find out in two months. It's quite an impressive lineage nonetheless.

Claude Julien has done a great job in his first season in Boston, which should earn him several more, but Boston will once again bow out in the opening round.

Habs in 5.

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) Ottawa

What a difference a year makes. Last year Ottawa was primed for their run to the Stanley Cup finals after defeating the Penguins with relative ease in the first round. Sidney Crosby was the league's best player at the age of 19, but his team was not ready to compete. This year after an outstanding start, the Senators have fallen so far that winning two games in this series would surprise many. Crosby on the other hand has played well this season, but not quite as dominant as last season and missed 29 games with an ankle injury. His team was surprisingly good without him and his sidekick (though no longer a sidekick, now an equal) turned into an MVP candidate. For the Penguins sake, they need Malkin to continue to play as if he were the lone star of the show. Two star players, playing on two separate lines can be far too much for any team to handle especially the slumping Sens.

I have my suspicions that Crosby stayed out a bit longer than completely necessary to nurse his ankle and prime himself for a long playoff drive. Crosby has a winger in Hossa who can match (or at least come close to) his skill level. The two haven't had much time to play together, but there's no formula to working well with a fellow teammate and that chemistry can be found in an instant. They have two capable goalies in Conklin and Fleury. Although neither is playoff proven, they were both solid in sharing duty down the stretch and there's no better time to prove one's worth at this time of year.

The same can't be said for Ottawa. When Pittsburgh is getting healthy, Ottawa is hurting. It's safe to say that neither Daniel Alfredsson nor Mike Fisher will be back at any point during this series. The league's second highest scoring team has suddenly forgotten how to score and without Alfie (their best player and team leader) and Fisher (their number 2 centre and best checker) it's hard to believe they will find that scoring anytime in the next week and a half. They have two completely incapable goalies. While we talk about goalies who can single handedly win you a game in hockey, Gerber and Emery can single handedly lose you a game. The team backed right into the playoffs and couldn't even clinch the playoffs with a win of their own, but had to rely on a loss of another. The Senators are a mess and will easily become the biggest disappointment of the NHL season after they lose in the first round.

Penguins in 5.

(3) Washington vs. (6) Philadelphia

How's that for a turnaround? The team's that finished second last and last respectively in the Eastern Conference are playing one another in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Very impressive and it shows how quickly things can turnaround in this league. Having drafted the league's top goal scorer in a decade as a consensus number one pick doesn't hurt, but the moves George McPhee made at the deadline certainly helped this team during their late run. Picking up Cristobal Huet for a second round pick and Sergei Fedorov for a not too special prospect were great moves even if they were rentals. That's not to mention their cast of 'supporting characters' including # 1 picks Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green. You can't deny the impact that the coaching turnaround had on this team. Bruce Boudreau has completely transformed this team. He has them believing in themselves and this team seems possessed to win games right now.

Philly on the other hand was not your typical last place finisher. They had a core of young players who were either injured, threw in the towel after an insurmountable start or suffered from terrible sophomore slumps. Mike Richards emerged as one of the top two way forwards in the NHL and Jeff Carter continued his assent to the league's top scorers. Despite his up and down play, the acquisition of Martin Biron has given them a solid number one goalie. Grabbing Braydon Coburn from Atlanta for Alexei Zhitnik was highway robbery. Both were quality deals made by Paul Holmgren during last season that put Philly in a great position for the future and they are paying off now. The package they received for Peter Forsberg was tremendous and they had plenty of cap room to sign free agents (despite Briere's disappointing season). Philly misses Simon Gagne, their best winger who has been out for much of the season with a concussion. They have missed his speed and scoring touch throughout the season and that will show in the playoffs.

Washington is on some kind of roll right now and Ovechkin seems unstoppable. Philadelphia is the second most penalized team in the NHL and with Washington clicking on all cylinders right now, special teams could play a huge factor. That's not to discount Philly's superb powerplay which was second in the league this season.

Huet hasn't proven himself in the playoffs but every game he has played for Washington has just like a playoff game with his team fighting for their lives. Biron's play of late has not been anywhere close to Huet's which could decide this series. Both teams have the ability to score and do so with the man advantage. As we all know, the goalie is a team's best penalty killer and that's just what this series might come down to...or if Ovechkin scores 20 goals. The goalie factor and the Ovechkin factor give the Caps the edge, though this series will be a lot closer than many believe.

Caps in 7.

(4) New Jersey vs. (5) New York

Whoever said Martin Brodeur was only as good as his defense was during the Devils 10 years of prominence was wrong. The defense was superb, there's no denying that, but considering what Brodeur has done this season with this group of no-name blueliners, it's time to start giving Brodeur an extra bit of credit. Paul Martin is their top defenseman. Seriously, Paul Martin. The rest of their blueline consists of Colin White, Andy Greene, Sheldon Brookbank, Karel Rachunek, Johnny Oduya, Vitaly Vishnevski and Bryce Salvador - I know that's eight but they have been in the rotation for most of the season. Now, do you think your average hockey fan can name even two of those players? Not an even close.

Preventing goals won't be the problem, scoring them will. Zach Parise can score a bit, but when he's your best option, you might be in trouble. Brian Gionta has seen a large decrease the past two seasons. He had 48 two years ago, dropped to 25 last year but played in just 62 games and fell to 22 this year while playing in all 82 contests. Patrik Elias at one point in his career appeared like he might be among the league's top scorers every year, but has fallen to the 20 goal area each of the last two seasons.

Surprisingly, the Rangers have not been much better offensively. Jaromir Jagr is now a shadow of himself from two years ago during his revival post-lockout season. Scott Gomez and Chris Drury haven't done a heck of a lot in the offensive department after signing obscene contracts in the offseason. Brendan Shanahan (like Jagr) is in the twilight of his career and though he can still contribute during a playoff run, cannot be counted on as a top line scorer anymore. Both teams are horrendous on the powerplay. Though there is a pretty intense rivaly between the two teams, this has the potential to be a very dull series due to the lack of offense.

One difference maker could be the Devils forecheck which has the potential to cause the Rangers and their defense fits. New York doesn't have a great puck moving defenseman and many of their d-men aren't particularly gifted in their own zone. This could provide the Devils with a share of scoring chances (for the sake of the casual fans viewing pleasure, let's hope so at least).

The forecheck - coupled with the Brodeur factor - provide the Devils with the edge in this series. Brodeur seemed to have tired during the playoffs the previous two years and apparently the goal was to give Martin more rest during the regular season. That never happened, but Brodeur's focus and desire can never be questioned. Even if he does tire later on, he should have enough gas left in the tank right now to get the Devils past New York.

Devils in 7.

The western conference predictions come tomorrow, stay tuned!

Win and they're in (or get to overtime and they're in)

What a fantastic night for hockey Friday. Ottawa loses but gets in the playoffs. Washington doesn't play, but are in much better shape to make the playoffs now then they were to start the day. All they need is a point in their game vs. Florida - the team that ruined Carolina's chances. Boston and Philly are both in the playoffs as well, but with one game to go for several teams, none of the first round match ups have been decided.

With the top spot in the East still up for grabs and the Southeast undecided, there are a variety of ways in which the first round might shape up.

Let's take a look at these possibilities because it is both fun and confusing!

If Philly wins, the Senators will be the 7th seed and take on either Montreal or Pittsburgh. The Pens and Habs are currently tied with one game to play with Pittsburgh having the tiebreaker edge because of more wins. The only way Montreal can grab top spot, is if Pittsburgh loses and they gain one point or if they win and Pittsburgh losses in a shootout or overtime. Bottom line: if Pittsburgh wins tomorrow night, they clinch top spot. The Rangers and Devils will play one another, but home ice is still to be decided. Should Philly gain only one point, Ottawa takes the 6th seed and plays Washington or Carolina. A Caps-Sens first round match up would be a dandy. Should Philly win, they take on the Southeast winner.

Those are just some of the possibilities in the East right now. Those are the highest amount of probabilities my head can take right now. As long as we don't see a Washington-Boston first round series, I will be happy. Washington works so hard down the stretch and excites fans every night, only to play the dullest, listless team in the NHL. They will sit back and trap and take all the fun out of the Caps' game. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here I suppose. Let's just enjoy the action tonight and see how everything shapes up.

The west isn't quite as confusing however. The top 4 seeds have been decided (Detroit, San Jose, Minnesota & Anaheim respectively) but a couple of possibilities remain in the bottom half. Detroit will play Nashville and Anaheim will play Dallas, those are set. If Colorado earns 1 point in their final game against Minnesota, they will play the Wild and Calgary will play San Jose. If Colorado loses in regulation and Calgary wins, Calgary plays Minnesota. The Wild are a good team and can make some noise in the playoffs, but there's no way the Flames want to play the Sharks, maybe the best team in the NHL right now.

Enough with probabilities, let's just play the games. It should be a fun final weekend of the season and an even better playoffs.