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So the second season starts on Wednesday. Here's the matchups......

Eastern Conference
Boston Bruins vs Montreal Canadiens (5)
Ottawa Senators vs Pittsburgh Penguins (6)
Philadelphia Flyers vs Washington Capitals (5)
New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils (7)

Western Conference
Nashville Predators vs Detroit Red Wings (4)
Calgary Flames vs San Jose Sharks (6)
Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild (5)
Dallas Stars vs Anaheim Mighty Ducks (6)

My poor sens are hurtin' bad. I'm really hoping that Gerber can pull up his game, the defense tightens up and Malkin follows the trend of Russian players have of disappearing in the playoffs. I know Hossa will disappear again. If not I like the Pens coming out of the east. SanJose is going to beat out Anaheim for the west title. Then I call SanJose for the cup.

Eastern Conference
Boston Bruins vs Montreal Canadiens (4) (you kidding me? 4 20+ goal scorers and the #1 PP), get out the brooms.
Ottawa Senators vs Pittsburgh Penguins (5) No way the banged up sense can compete against a very potent PP and no Alfy?
Philadelphia Flyers vs Washington Capitals (5) My upset pick all post-season, though this isn't an upset.
New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils (5) Broduer is God but NJ's lack of offense (sorry gionta and parise, you ain't cuttin it) is going to hurt

Western Conference
Nashville Predators vs Detroit Red Wings (4) sweep sweep.
Calgary Flames vs San Jose Sharks (6) Should be a very hard hitting, physical series, looking forward to it.
Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild (6) Unless Pete and Joe can turn the clock back a few years, I see the very fast, hard hitting wild taking it
Dallas Stars vs Anaheim Mighty Ducks (5) An all around physical, hard team with good goal tending should beat out the stars.

MaxTheLimit wrote:

My poor sens are hurtin' bad. I'm really hoping that Gerber can pull up his game, the defense tightens up and Malkin follows the trend of Russian players have of disappearing in the playoffs. I know Hossa will disappear again. If not I like the Pens coming out of the east. SanJose is going to beat out Anaheim for the west title. Then I call SanJose for the cup.

Except last year, a very badly banged up Detroit team learned how to play rough and beat the sharks at the own game, what do you think a healthy wings team will do to em. OM NOM NOM NOM NOM.

EAST

I wouldn't bet too heavily on the Canadians they are led up front by scorers that have yet to perform in the playoffs. Without Koivu as their leader and Kovalev not really a proven playoff performer, and a lot of offense depending on the Kostisen brothers, there is a lot of if's on the team. Price will likely steal a couple games at least, but I don't forsee a sweep, so long a Thomas can notch his game up.

The pens will start quick, and the sens may not be able compose themselves going in on a slide and with players out. I'm guessing the Pens in 6. Unless you can neutralize Crosby, Malkin may not be as much a problem in the play-offs, but you have to give him due respect. After that the Pens are a bit thin. If the Sens can pull out some magical shut down defense they could have a chance...I'm not going to bet on that though.

The Flyers are weak and the Caps are surging like no other team in the east. Now that they have the best underrated goalie Huet who is looking for revenge on his former team later in the playoffs the Caps may surprize. I call caps in 5.

The Devils can't handle the blueshirts all that well and the playoffs will show off how poor NJ's offense is. New york has been winning with an under performing Jager all season so that won't change. Rangers in 6.

WEST

Wings are going to choke in the playoffs but they should still be able to beat the preds in 5, especially with the stars in nashville under performing so bad. The wings get older every year and the defense with Chelios still there is beginning to show just how slow they now are. By the second round they will run out of gas. (Pete how long you think they will stay healthy in the playoffs though?)

Flames will bang and crash the sharks but will lose every road game because of the crap ice in SanJose they are used to down there, and the sharks have more weaponry than the flames, combined with solid defense that the flames aren't able to match. SanJose in 6.

The wild are under the super defensive system of Lemare, I think the Avs can break through it, but it depends on the Avs shaky goalies, and the so far strong goaltending of the wild. I think the offence of the Avs will over run the wild in the playoffs, as all teams will become defense experts in the playoffs Avs in 7.

The ducks are a huge playoff team right now. The stars collapsed a lot near the end and are still goating their goalie about playoff performance though it's never been goaltending really in the past. Poor trade deadline value was no surprise to me. Ducks in 4.

MaxTheLimit wrote:

The wild are under the super defensive system of Lemare, I think the Avs can break through it, but it depends on the Avs shaky goalies, and the so far strong goaltending of the wild. I think the offence of the Avs will over run the wild in the playoffs, as all teams will become defense experts in the playoffs Avs in 7.

I assume you mean recently and not throughout the whole season. They've had some pretty rough patches, but have been strong lately.

Well the Avs offense has been a bit poor through the season because of Sakic being gone for so long and not having Forsberg for support. Now they are a bit more healthy they will be a force so long as neither get injured and Hejduk (sp?) is healthy. Though Theodore in net....that's cringe worthy.

Holy crap the Penguins power play is SCARY.

What a save by Gerber

I can't watch 2-0 right now

I'd like to see the Flyers go all the way. I don't follow hockey other than the Flyers, so I won't offer my opinions. It would be nice to win something in Philadelphia. The last "championship" of any kind was Villanova in 1985. It's been a while.

Pens beat the **** out of the Sens in every sense of the word. More physical, More goals, more CAPS LOCK. Hope they keep it up. I would LOVE to see a Pens Wings cup series, I'd be turning tricks for tickets.

Based on all the injuries I think we can stick a fork in the Sens.

Sad game

I have to admit it's a sad state of affairs. On that note I have serious doubts about the Wings coming out of the West. Despite tonights results I say SanJose out of the west. They got robbed tonight.

Okay Round 2:

Habs vs Flyers: I'll take the Habs in 5. They can score at will and the flyers have looked flat at times frustrated by an underestimated opponent in the Bruins. If the flyers want to win they will have to goon it up and intimidate the habs team - I don't see it happening.

Pens vs Rangers: I'm sticking with the Pens in 6. The Rangers have plenty of offense but the Pens defense has been awesome. Their PP is great too. Expect Avery to be on his ass courtesy of Laroque and Roberts frequently. Have you ever been to a pens game when Jagr touches the puck? It gets loud....

Wings vs Avs: The wings beat a physical, fast, talented albeit young predators team. The avs have a lot of "names" on their side, but are past their prime. I'm looking at you foote and foresberg. Theodore has been great for them, but the wings are firing on all cylinders with renewed faith in the wizard of Oz. Their powerplay needs to be better. Wings in 5

Stars vs Sharks: A heavily tested sharks team that dug deep to win out against Calgary, and a Stars team that seemingly comes from no where. Sharks in another long one, game 7.

PLEASE Let it be a wings pens cup. **DROOOOOOLS**

pete_roth wrote:

Okay Round 2:

Habs vs Flyers: I'll take the Habs in 5. They can score at will and the flyers have looked flat at times frustrated by an underestimated opponent in the Bruins. If the flyers want to win they will have to goon it up and intimidate the habs team - I don't see it happening.

I think you mean the Capitals, not the Bruins. I'll take the Habs in 5 as well. Carey Price is the next Patrick Roy.

Pens vs Rangers: I'm sticking with the Pens in 6. The Rangers have plenty of offense but the Pens defense has been awesome. Their PP is great too. Expect Avery to be on his ass courtesy of Laroque and Roberts frequently. Have you ever been to a pens game when Jagr touches the puck? It gets loud....

This one is tougher. Jagr has been his old self again lately and they have Drury and Gomez in the mix too now. Not to mention a top 5 goalie in Lundqvist. I'll still take the Pens in 7, (2nd fav team since the Mario cups) that power play is simply amazing - they just need to stay healthy. It'll be interesting to see how Malkin gets drafted in fantasy next year.

Wings vs Avs: The wings beat a physical, fast, talented albeit young predators team. The avs have a lot of "names" on their side, but are past their prime. I'm looking at you foote and foresberg. Theodore has been great for them, but the wings are firing on all cylinders with renewed faith in the wizard of Oz. Their powerplay needs to be better. Wings in 5

I'll take the Wings in 6 here. Just like the good 'ole days. The Avs bring back Foreskin and Footsie while we bring back Big Mac and Ozzie. (I have a huge poster in my garage of Claude Lemeuix doing the "turtle" with BigMac). I think this is going to be a great battle for sure. Thank god Babcock is going with Ozzie. I think Hasek is washed up and don't want to see him back next year. Time for Howard to back up Osgood or sign someone like Ellis.

Stars vs Sharks: A heavily tested sharks team that dug deep to win out against Calgary, and a Stars team that seemingly comes from no where. Sharks in another long one, game 7.

Man, the Sharks can really turn it on sometimes. I couldn't decide whom I wanted to the Wings to have to play more last night.
Calgary might have been scary with The Kipper. The Shark's 4 unanswered goals last night after being down was something to see. They (and Nabokov, my pick for the Vezina) scare the crap outta me. Hopefully Dallas grinds them down a bit before we have to face them in the conference final. Pick: Sharks in 6

PLEASE Let it be a wings pens cup. **DROOOOOOLS**

That's my first pick. 2nd pick for the east would be the Habs. The Canadians deserve another chance at the cup.
There will be NO 2nd PICK for the Western Conference from me

pete_roth wrote:

Okay Round 2:

Habs vs Flyers: I'll take the Habs in 5. They can score at will and the flyers have looked flat at times frustrated by an underestimated opponent in the Bruins. If the flyers want to win they will have to goon it up and intimidate the habs team - I don't see it happening.

Habs in 6. The Flyers might start trying to be physical, but I see them getting frustrated at the speed of the Habs and getting a lot of stupid penalties. At that point we can watch the Habs #1 rated PP go to work.

Pens vs Rangers: I'm sticking with the Pens in 6. The Rangers have plenty of offense but the Pens defense has been awesome. Their PP is great too. Expect Avery to be on his ass courtesy of Laroque and Roberts frequently. Have you ever been to a pens game when Jagr touches the puck? It gets loud....

Pens in 5. I expect to see Avery in the sin bin for a long time in this series. The refs aren't going to put up with his antics in this series. Jagr will be held to only a few points.

Wings vs Avs: The wings beat a physical, fast, talented albeit young predators team. The Avs have a lot of "names" on their side, but are past their prime. I'm looking at you foote and foresberg. Theodore has been great for them, but the wings are firing on all cylinders with renewed faith in the wizard of Oz. Their powerplay needs to be better. Wings in 5

Avs in 6. I think the Avs will meet the challenge of the Wings. This one will be a fast paced series with the Avs picking apart both Osgood and Hasek.

Stars vs Sharks: A heavily tested sharks team that dug deep to win out against Calgary, and a Stars team that seemingly comes from no where. Sharks in another long one, game 7.

Sharks in 7. This is going to be a hard fought series. I think both teams are very evenly matched.

PLEASE Let it be a wings pens cup. **DROOOOOOLS**

Not gonna happen. Habs are gonna beat out the Pens next round, and the Wings aren't gonna make it any further.

No chance the wings lose to the avs. Now I'm taking the wings in a sweep. First game 6-0.

pete_roth wrote:

No chance the wings lose to the avs. Now I'm taking the wings in a sweep. First game 6-0.

I don't think the Wings are that weak like the Russian U18 team. Now that's pure 0wnage.

Wings 4 Avs 3

What a timely save by Osgood right at the end... whew. 1 down, 3 to go.

Good game.

If the damn wings would press the issue instead of sitting on leads like they ALWAYS do! They always get complacent, did you see Kronwall lay ANYONE out after the start of the second period? The wings got slower, lazier, and stopped pressing the offensive zone. Their back check disappeared completely. We won, and rocked their Jose's confidence for sure (all those articles on ESPN about how great he is, lmao). They are playing a much slower, precise game than nashville.

The burgh will be jumping tonight, rest assured! Can't wait

Detroit sorta wrecked Col tonight


The Habs /Flyers game is gonna determine the pace of the series. Neither team played amazingly in game 1, maybe game 2 will show exactly how the teams plan on playing

Sorta wrecked them? Sheeeeet. They pwned them. Let's go sweep!

pete_roth wrote:

Sorta wrecked them? Sheeeeet. They pwned them. Let's go sweep!

Were you one of those ppl out on the lawn of Mellon Arena?
What a comeback down 0-3 against the Rangers the other day. Awesome game.

That save by Osgood right at the end of the Wings game was huge.

I wasn't there but I live about 15 minutes walk from there, I was considering watching it down there today, nice weather and all.

Flyers are surprising

Rangers Avery is done with a ruptured spleen, but their series was over a long time ago....

Wings are going to finish the sweep

The stars will finish their sweep as well.

pete_roth wrote:

Flyers are surprising

Rangers Avery is done with a ruptured spleen, but their series was over a long time ago....

Wings are going to finish the sweep

The stars will finish their sweep as well.

Well the Sharks won so no sweep for Dallas. I'm amazed at the Sharks fall from analyst's favorite to losers.
I still think the Habs can could come back (not sure about Halak though) - I'm very surprised at the Flyers too!!
I've never been a Flyers fan at all, and I'm not really sure why. Love the city itself though!
I never would have thought the Rangers would be winless at this point, no way. The Pens are downright Scary.
They have too many weapons to keep in check, like Detroit.
Looks like it'll be Detroit vs. Dallas in the west - Pittsburgh vs. Philly in the east <--- not what I would have thought at all.

Franzen <-- This guy is something isn't he? Gotta love the Wizard Of Oz too. So long Hasek, please go away next year, please.

I love Stanley Cup playoff time. The BEST hockey to watch every night for a few weeks! w00t.
These late games SUCK though! Maybe I'm just getting old...

I'm fairly certain Hasek will not be back, let Osgood bring Howard up. We'll see if the even more anemic rangers can bite back tonight, not likely. Sweep Sweep! There was a giant penguin with a broom on the highways today driving into work. Amusing. Like a guy in a costume, not a cut out.

Wings would do well to finish the beat up avs off as well. Sweep Sweep! THE FRANZEN, NO ONE CAN STOP IT. FRANZENSTEIN!

Flyers are looking good against the Canadians, although it gets tiring when game after game after game after game the Flyers are up 1-2 goals and the score gets tied with 4 minutes to play.

NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN NO ONE CAN STOP THE FRANZEN .

7-1 end of the second period. SUCK IT AV FANS WOOOOOO.

/stay classy pete.