Aristo wrote:Deadwings kicking it in Columbus tonight.
They got a gift last night, and are getting their tails kicked by a bad Blue Jackets team. I feel comfortable counting them out of the playoffs this year.
Normally, the Wings are the ones that get the bad calls against them.
I guess we'll see who's prediction is correct in about 3 months.
That's why they play the games.
Well, my prediction came true with the Wings 3-0 win over the Stars tonight: 22 consecutive years reaching the playoffs. That is the record for any North American sports franchise.
Thankfully, my team will be playing the Ducks instead of the Hawks in the first round.
pk500 wrote:Another late April, May and June without meaningful, passionate hockey for me. Seventh consecutive season with no postseason for the Oil.
I'm jealous of you f*ckers whose team made the playoffs.
oh s***, we get the Kings.. UGH...
To me that's one helluva series to follow. Kings owned them last year but the Blues are better than being swept again. The addition of J.BO has been great for their blue line. Was looking forward to a Hawks-Wings match up actually but the Wild came thru in the last game of the season to guarantee their spot.
pk500 wrote:Another late April, May and June without meaningful, passionate hockey for me. Seventh consecutive season with no postseason for the Oil.
I'm jealous of you f*ckers whose team made the playoffs.
oh s***, we get the Kings.. UGH...
To me that's one helluva series to follow. Kings owned them last year but the Blues are better than being swept again. The addition of J.BO has been great for their blue line. Was looking forward to a Hawks-Wings match up actually but the Wild came thru in the last game of the season to guarantee their spot.
San Jose and Vancouver should be an interesting series as well.
All match ups are set up, the best time of the year for puck lovers is about to start. Quick predictions:
Hawks-Wild: No contest, CHI has been so solid all year long while the Wild just inched themselves into the dance. Too much talent for coach Q's team, Hawks in 5.
Canucks-Sharks: Always a battle between these two teams, fast, physical hockey. Niemi has been strong finishing for SJ, and Schneider has carried VAN on his back with all the injuries during the regular season. Canucks should get a couple of bodies back for the playoffs and the key to this match up will be special teams. VAN in 7.
Kings-Blues: This one is going to be a war. Two big bruising teams with solid goaltending and defense. To me, the question is which B. Elliot is going to show up but at the same time J. Quick hasn't been as dominant as last year. Kings have the experience and can score with their grinding line giving them a slight edge. It certainly won't be a sweep. Kings in 6.
Ducks-Wings: When I saw the Wings outplay the 'Nucks last week while fighting for a playoff spot, I just knew that they would not miss this dance. Veteran team, shortened season, no one wants to face DET at this time of the year. Great job by Boudreau with ANA, but it's the Red Wings in 6.
Pens-NYI: Great season by J. Tavares but PIT is going all the way despite their recent injuries. Too deep, too good. It's a sweep for the Penguins.
Habs-Sens: This one will be fun to watch. OTT has overachieved this year with all their injuries, they got back two solid D-men, Anderson is back and they play a very patient game. Which C. Price will show up for the Habs? They've been struggling since they clinched the playoffs after a great start in the season. I am going with the Sens in 7.
Rangers-Caps: Another close series, I remember showing a video here of how disinterested Ovie was at playing D, but since that wake up call he's been their MVP for turning things around. NY has the advantage in goal so King Lundqvuist will shine for them again. Rangers in 7.
Bruins-Leafs: BOS hasn't been the same since their tough week, but they were already limping a bit before the tragic event. Still, they should pound the crap out of a Leaf nation, happy to be in the post season after who remembers when. Bruins in 5.
pk500 wrote:Another late April, May and June without meaningful, passionate hockey for me. Seventh consecutive season with no postseason for the Oil.
I'm jealous of you f*ckers whose team made the playoffs.
oh s***, we get the Kings.. UGH...
I'm hoping it's a repeat of last year but the Blues are definitely a better team since their trade deadline acquisitions. I don't feel confident about the Kings repeating if for no other reason than it's so damn hard to win it in the first place. It takes a ton of luck to win the cup. That being said, I didn't think the Kings would make it past the first round last year and we all saw how that turned out.
"Be tolerant of those who describe a sporting moment as their best ever. We do not lack imagination, nor have we had sad and barren lives; it is just that real life is paler, duller, and contains less potential for unexpected delirium." -Nick Hornby
LAking wrote:
I'm hoping it's a repeat of last year but the Blues are definitely a better team since their trade deadline acquisitions. I don't feel confident about the Kings repeating if for no other reason than it's so damn hard to win it in the first place. It takes a ton of luck to win the cup. That being said, I didn't think the Kings would make it past the first round last year and we all saw how that turned out.
I don't think we will get swept or anything.. but we just don't match up well against the Kings. I just hope Hitch keeps the 4th line in tact, Porter/Cracknell/Reaves have been fantastic these past 10 games.
Totally different Blues team this year versus last year. Petro was hurt in game one last year, missed game two and played at 50% in games 3 and 4 so now you have Petro along with Bouwmeester and Leopold to move that puck out of the zone quick. Kings have the size on us at foward but If the Blues decide to punch back we'll have a series, if not it will be over in 5 games. If we go down in the first round, you'll see plenty of changes. At least we will finally know this roster rebuild wasn't good enough to get it done
tjung0831 wrote:Totally different Blues team this year versus last year. Petro was hurt in game one last year, missed game two and played at 50% in games 3 and 4 so now you have Petro along with Bouwmeester and Leopold to move that puck out of the zone quick. Kings have the size on us at foward but If the Blues decide to punch back we'll have a series, if not it will be over in 5 games. If we go down in the first round, you'll see plenty of changes. At least we will finally know this roster rebuild wasn't good enough to get it done
I know there are pros and cons for the Wings moving to the East next year, but come playoff time, it will be welcomed by me. These west coast games are killers. 10:30 start time? Ugh.
I was leaning towards taking the Blues, but all you negative Blues fans have me thinking otherwise. My thought was that Elliot is 10-2. 3 SOs and ~947 sv pct with J-Bo in the lineup, and that Blues defense skates so well they can nullify some of the physicality of LA. On the other side, Quick is having the worst regular season of this career. I really haven't seen much western conference hockey recently though.
tjung0831 wrote:Totally different Blues team this year versus last year. Petro was hurt in game one last year, missed game two and played at 50% in games 3 and 4 so now you have Petro along with Bouwmeester and Leopold to move that puck out of the zone quick. Kings have the size on us at foward but If the Blues decide to punch back we'll have a series, if not it will be over in 5 games. If we go down in the first round, you'll see plenty of changes. At least we will finally know this roster rebuild wasn't good enough to get it done
Naples39 wrote:I was leaning towards taking the Blues, but all you negative Blues fans have me thinking otherwise. My thought was that Elliot is 10-2. 3 SOs and ~947 sv pct with J-Bo in the lineup, and that Blues defense skates so well they can nullify some of the physicality of LA. On the other side, Quick is having the worst regular season of this career. I really haven't seen much western conference hockey recently though.
No negativity...it's a much different Blues team then the Kings have seen recently and that probably bodes well in the Blues favor. First game will be very telling though. If the Kings take it too us again, then doubt will creep in for sure. A first round win against the Kings and we could go a long way.
Moving the puck up the ice quickly is what the Blues are built to do now...they were built this way because of that sweep by the Kings last year.
Naples39 wrote:I was leaning towards taking the Blues, but all you negative Blues fans have me thinking otherwise. My thought was that Elliot is 10-2. 3 SOs and ~947 sv pct with J-Bo in the lineup, and that Blues defense skates so well they can nullify some of the physicality of LA. On the other side, Quick is having the worst regular season of this career. I really haven't seen much western conference hockey recently though.
"My message to the players or to the referees?" Hitchcock said. "My message to the referees was stand in the third row... just get the hell out of the way and let us play. Because there's two teams that know what's at stake, two teams that play the game the right way and this is a series that deserves to be played 5 on 5. Both teams are great 5 on 5 teams, it deserves to be played that way and I think the referees will act accordingly."
It's also a big night for Bouwmeester, as laces up for his first playoff game.
Hope Regehr is OK. Scary stuff getting sliced by a skate and then having Brown land on his back leg. Expected more hits in the game but when they do, the Blues seem to hit harder than the Rams.
Minni is keeping things close in CHI despite losing Backstrom in the warmup.
