Friday, April 4, 2008
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Good:
West. Got 7 out of 8 playoff teams correct. (Picked Vancouver over Calgary.)
I whiffed on the East, only getting 5 out of 8, and picking Tampa and the Islanders to make the playoffs.
I still pick the Ducks to repeat, now that those two are back.
First Round:
Detroit vs. Nashville
Detroit in 5.
West. Got 7 out of 8 playoff teams correct. (Picked Vancouver over Calgary.)
The bad:
West:
In: San Jose, Detroit, Vancouver, Anaheim, Minnesota, Colorado, Dallas, Nashville.
Out: Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago, Edmonton, Calgary, St. Louis, Columbus.
I could see St. Louis making it this year, and I could also see Calgary replacing Dallas. I just don't think Nashville is going to fall that far. The rest of the teams are not even in the mix.
I whiffed on the East, only getting 5 out of 8, and picking Tampa and the Islanders to make the playoffs.
The ugly:
East:
In: Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, Rangers, Islanders, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay
Out: Carolina, Florida, Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto.
I like Vancouver for the Cup. I'm going with a semi-darkhorse. If Scott Niedermayer returns, and the Ducks replace Teemu Selanne's scoring either by his return or through a Bryzgalov trade, all bests are off, and I favor them to repeat.Vancouver didn't even make the playoffs and I was picking them for a Cup run on Luongo's back. Fortunately, I Teemu and Nieds activated by waffle.
I still pick the Ducks to repeat, now that those two are back.
First Round:
Detroit vs. Nashville
Detroit in 5.
I know that sports pundits suffer from acute amnesia every year, so I'll remind you: good regular season play means jack shit in the playoffs. Still, Nashville is just terrible. A short series here is only going to compound Detroit's problems by denying them a chance at getting into the playoff mood.
San Jose vs. Calgary
Calgary in 7.
San Jose vs. Calgary
Calgary in 7.
Softies versus toughies. San Jose has been playing well in the regular season—so what? Mikka Kiprusoff is no joke. San Jose has never shown that they are tough enough—especially for a team like Calgary. I don't deny San Jose has the talent to win, I'm just a skeptic. For now.
Minnesota vs. Colorado
Minnesota vs. Colorado
Minnesota in 6.
I don't buy the Theodore restoration. That's the end of the equation here.
Montreal vs. Boston
Montreal in 4.
Corey Price is untested, but compared to the Bruins tenders, who have been tested and failed, (See Turco, Marty or Vokoun, Thomas) I think he's the real deal. Does anyone else feel like Montreal winning an eastern conference regular season title mean that something must be going right with the game?
Corey Price is untested, but compared to the Bruins tenders, who have been tested and failed, (See Turco, Marty or Vokoun, Thomas) I think he's the real deal. Does anyone else feel like Montreal winning an eastern conference regular season title mean that something must be going right with the game?
Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa
Pittsburgh in 5.
Let the Crosby fellation continue. Ottawa never recovered mentally from the finals last year, where their delusions of grandeur based on their impressive run was doused with concussing effect. And they're missing too many people.
Washington vs. Philadelphia
Washington in 6.
Let the Ovechkin fellation continue. Give Philly credit for actually doing a decent rebuild, but they are missing people, and, as with Crosby, the zeitgeist seems to want Ovechkin.
New Jersey vs. NY Rangers
New Jersey in 6.
The Devils have been playing like shit lately, but they always find motivation against the Rangers--and the Rangers aren't capable of beating a motivated New Jersey team.
That sets up Detroit-Calgary (again) and Anaheim-Minnesota (again), as well as Montreal-New Jersey and Pittsburgh-Washington (fellation face-off!!!)
// posted by Rick @ 4:36 PM 
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