NHL Playoff Thread

[RNG187]

well, the playoffs are here.

 

Eastern Conf.

 

1. Washington

2. New Jersey

3. Buffalo

4. Pitt

5. Ottowa

6. Boston

7. Philly

8. Montreal

 

Western Conf.

 

1. San Jose

2. Chicago

3. Vancouver

4. Phoenix

5. Detroit

6. Los Angeles

7. Nashville

8. Colorado

 

predictions?

 

NJ vs Chicago - 4-2 NJ.

 

my reasoning?

 

[Johnson30]

Wasn't Martin Brodeur benched in the Olympics?!?! ;D

 

In my opinion the East is wide open between NJ/PIT/BUF/WAS

 

Washington had a great year, I'm not sure if their Defense will hold up in the playoffs and they have the weakest goaltending of the 4.

 

It comes down to who will have the "Hot" Goaltender, can Brodeur redeem himself? Will Marc-Andre Fleury come through again? Or will Ryan Miller continue to be the leagues top goalie?

 

All I know it's gonna be fun!!

 

Prediction: Sabres over Chicago in 7

[RNG187]

details johnson, details. ;D he wasn't benched, he wanted a break to enjoy his last olympic games, and wanted a good view without having to sweat so much. besides, what other goalie in all of hockey internationally has ever had more than 600 wins, period. hmm? i love my marty, he's the tiger woods of hockey.

 

i see washington getting past their first round opponent, then it becoming difficult for them. they had a great year against their division, which was VERY weak this year. they still did amazing against the rest of the league, but vs pit/buf/nj they weren't so hot. pitt hasn't had a good year, yeah they're the 4th seed but i can't see them getting past was, buf, or nj.

 

can we agree that ottowa, montreal, boston, philly/nyr, don't have much of a shot in hell?

[o-BacklasH-o]

You posted your standings a little early. The Hawks had fate in their hands. A win would have locked up the #1 seed (we hold the tiebreaker with the Sharks). Detroit beat us in OT though, so we have the #2 seed and the Preds in the 1st round. West Standings are now official:

 

1. San Jose

2. Chicago

3. Vancouver

4. Phoenix

5. Detroit

6. Los Angeles

7. Nashville

8. Colorado

 

The East still has the #2 and #3 seeds up for grabs. If the Sabres beat the Devils in regulation they take the #2 seed. If the game goes to OT or the Devils win, they clinch the #2 seed. The Pens are already cemented into the #4 seed.

 

1. Washington

2. NJ/Buffalo

3. Buffalo/NJ

4. Pittsburgh

5. Ottawa

6. Boston

7. Philly

8. Montreal

 

My prediction:

 

Hawks over Devils in 6. To be honest I think whichever team gets the #2 seed in the East will have their hands full with Philly.

[RNG187]

the top standings are update, below are the games.

 

 

NOT my bracket, so if it's wrong don't kill me. ;D

 

Back, you're definitely right about philly. 7th seeded, but still going to be very tough. The Philly v. NYR game was fucking INTENSE, came down to the very last shot in the SO.

 

Eastern Predictions

 

WAS > MTL in 5

OTT > PIT in 6

BUF > BOS in 4

NJ > PHI in 6

 

Western Predictions

 

SJS > COL in 4

DET > PHE in 7

VAN > LA in 6

CHI > NSH in 5

[Xx-CHURCHY-xX]

Devils > Blackhawks in 7.

 

(Coming from the biased Devils fan + MB30)

[o-BacklasH-o]

You have my overall pick of Hawks over Devils in 6 for the Cup. Here are my first round predictions:

 

East:

 

Caps over Habs in 4.

 

Devils over Flyers in 7.

 

Sabres over Bruins in 5.

 

Sens over Penguins in 7.

 

West:

 

Sharks over Avs in 7.

 

Hawks over Preds in 6.

 

Canucks over Kings in 5.

 

Wings over Coyotes in 6.

[o-BacklasH-o]

Crazy two days of playoffs so far!

 

The Sens, Flyers, Avs, and Habs all essentially took away home ice advantage by winning game 1 on the road.

 

I never imagined the Capitals would have trouble with the Habs, but I predicted that the other matchups that had road winners would all go to 7 games.

 

Oh yeah, Go Hawks tonight! For your viewing enjoyment, some of the Hawks Ice Crew:

 

[Xx-CHURCHY-xX]

That's the beauty of sports.

 

When it comes down to the playoffs, shit gets REAL. Should be a great race for the cup this year.

[UNCLE-SID25]

WHITE OUT BABY!

 

[o-BacklasH-o]

Hawks win!!!! Beautiful shutout performance by Niemi!

[Xx-CHURCHY-xX]

The Devils-Flyers game tonight was pure trash. The refs were calling absolutely trash penalties, one which ultimately cost the Devils the game in OT. Called for tripping meanwhile the two were tangled up, couldn't get their sticks out of the tangle, and the Flyer fell. Devils lost in the PP.

[RNG187]

Xx-CHURCHY-xX ]

The Devils-Flyers game tonight was pure trash. The refs were calling absolutely trash penalties, one which ultimately cost the Devils the game in OT. Called for tripping meanwhile the two were tangled up, couldn't get their sticks out of the tangle, and the Flyer fell. Devils lost in the PP.

 

brodeur had an amazing night, the fact that they lost it still pisses me off more than you'd believe.

[Prolog39]

Forget about Niemi and Brodeur. Let's talk Anderson, he's had the best performance of all thus far. CARRYING my avalanche on his back. Shots were 51-16 last night in the Avs 1-0 win over the Sharks. BOOYA!

[Xx-CHURCHY-xX]

But remember, it IS the Sharks.. they can't win a series if their lives counted on it.

[o-BacklasH-o]

Xx-CHURCHY-xX ]

But remember, it IS the Sharks.. they can't win a series if their lives counted on it.

 

So true Churchy. Because someone is going to make the comparison, I'll just get it out of the way now...They are the NHL's version of the Cubs. I'm going to cry myself to sleep now, until the Hawks cheer me up Tuesday. :'(

[Prolog39]

LOL how does that negate the fact that they have a massively talented team with arguably the best line in hockey? Curses aren't real, fellas. Colorado is doing a phenomenal job keeping up with them.

[o-BacklasH-o]

My Hawks need a win tonight, to take the series back to The Madhouse tied 2-2. Big momentum game tonight, hopefully they can solve Rinne. 4 goals in 3 games, for one of the NHL's most potent offensive units, is pathetic.

[[-Hz] oRenegade-]

i say San Jose vs. Philly for the cup. i know they seem like long shots but its completely possible. When Philly is on thier game, their an AMAZING team. Just their goalie is their weakness. They can beat Pittsburgh and Washington if they on their game. All it depends on is if Boucher can get Hot. If San Jose can win this first series, their going to the cup finals imo. Their team is stacked with offensive weapons and Nabokov is a great goalie.

[Prolog39]

BacklasH ]

My Hawks need a win tonight, to take the series back to The Madhouse tied 2-2. Big momentum game tonight, hopefully they can solve Rinne. 4 goals in 3 games, for one of the NHL's most potent offensive units, is pathetic.

 

Agreed. I really want to see the Hawks do well.

[o-BacklasH-o]

Big 3-0 win for the Hawks in a must win game tonight in Nashville. Great performance tonight, behind another NIEMI NO-NO! We're going back to the Madhouse tied 2-2 baby!

[o-BacklasH-o]

Man what a game tonight between the Hawks and Preds. The Preds laid some nice screens in front of Niemi leading to 4 goals, but 2 of those he should have stopped. The final minute of regulation and OT was insanity.

 

The Madhouse was dead silent in the 3rd after the Hawks squandered a 3-2 lead going into the period, and being down 4-3 late. The Hawks pulled Niemi for the extra attacker and with 1:03 left Hossa received a 5 minute - Major Boarding penalty. After the ensuing faceoff, the Hawks finally cleared the puck out of the zone and pulled Niemi again for an extra attacker (now really 5 on 5). With 13.7 seconds left Kane puts it in the net to tie the game and force OT. Still the Preds had a power play for nearly the first 4 minutes of OT, but the Hawks PK stepped up again and didn't allow a Power Play goal (Nashville is now 0-21 in the series on the PP).

 

The Hawks got it into the Nashville zone almost as soon as the PP ended and what's Hossa do right after he gets out of the box? Scores the game winner. You can't write this stuff. Man what a game. This makes a huge difference going to Nashville for Game 6, up 3-2 opposed to being down 2-3. If necessary Game 7 comes back to the Madhouse. I'd love to see the Hawks get the win Monday in Nashville. Hossa may face a suspension for the hit, especially since he didn't receive a game misconduct and was able to come back in and score the game winner.

 

It was similar to Ovechkin's hit on Campbell last month, but it wasn't as violent nor was there serious injury involved. Also Hossa is not a repeat offender like Ovechkin was when he was issued a 2 game suspension following the hit. Melrose and Barnaby both agreed that a 1 game suspension is likely. Anything more than that is a travesty imo.

 

Also the Pens and Sharks punched their ticket to their respective Conference Semi's both winning their series 4-2.

[o-BacklasH-o]

Hawks take Game 1 in the Shark Tank! Big Buff comes through with a big goal in the 3rd. Great game by both teams. Niemi looked rock solid today. I still can't believe that we didn't have a single PP to the Sharks 5, but we were able to come out on top despite that.

 

Go Hawks baby! Let's take it back to Chicago up 2-0!

[GeneralSarcasm]

flyers smack montreal 6-0. didn't see that coming...