Nikilidstrom

I know someone did this last year, but after watching the close race for eighth in each conference the last couple days, I was too excited to wait. So, without further ado, what are your predictions for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (winning teams and number of games)?

here are the matchups:

Western Conference
Detroit (1) vs Calgary (8)
Anaheim (2) vs Minnesota (7)
Vancouver (3) vs Dallas (6)
Nahsville (4) vs San Jose (5)

Eastern Conference
Buffalo (1) vs New York Islanders (8)
New Jersey (2) vs Tampa Bay (7)
Atlanta (3) vs New York Rangers (6)
Ottawa (4) vs Pittsburgh (5)

My predictions:

WC
Detroit in 6
Anaheim in 7
Dallas in 6
San Jose in 6

EC
Buffalo in 5
New Jersey in 6
Rangers 7
Ottawa in 6

if you guys would like, we could do the points thing again where guessing the right team is one point, and guessing the right number of games is another point. We would do that for each round until the end of the playoffs and see who racked up the most accurate predictions.

HeyAgain

Western Conference

Detroit (4)
Minnesota (6)
Vancouver (5)
Nahsville (5)

Eastern Conference

Buffalo (4)
New Jersey (5)
Atlanta (6)
Ottawa (7)

streak_56

Western Conference

Detroit in 6
Calgary will give them a fight to the finish but the fire power and strength of the Wings will definately out do the Flames. The Flames are full of talent but it all needs to come together at the right time to beat the Flames.

Anaheim in 5
Minnesota has no strength, they were in a division where is was the old NHL still and they're all battered and broken. Anaheim will win decisively.

Vancouver in 7
Luongo needs to step up big time in this series in order for his team to be successful. Shot for shot, Dallas has more talent, more firepower but lacks overall defense.

Nashville in 4
San Jose will lose no matter what. Nashville is only 4th because a better team got more points than them. They're a powerhouse to be reckoned with and San Jose is just the first.

Eastern Conference

Buffalo in 5
Islanders made a huge move at the end of the trade deadline but Ryan Smyth will not carry them far at all. Buffalo is one of two teams, that I think is their year to win or to lose the cup (the other is blasphmy to me).

New Jersey in 6
One of the best offenses versus the best goalie. Brodeur is clutch and he'll be the star of this series if not, the playoffs for carrying the Devils.

Rangers in 7
Atlanta was in a weak division, to me, they have a ton to prove in the post season. The Rangers have playoff experience and I think if Jagr and Shanahan step up to the plate both leader and point wise, they're going to turn some heads.

Ottawa in 6
Ottawa has a ton of guns on their team but a shaky defense at best will not carry them far. Pittsburgh, though I would really like to see Crosby become a playoff MVP, they have very little experience and need all their youngsters to click at the right time. Fleury will be the determining factor for this series.



Thats it for the first round.

feelgood

DET vs CGY - Flames in 7
ANA vs MIN - Ducks in 5
VAN vs DAL - Canucks in 6
NAS vs SJ - Predators in 7

BUF vs NYI - Sabres in 5
NJ vs TB - Devils in 6
ATL vs NYR - Rangers in 7
OTT vs PIT - Senators in 6

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Nikilidstrom

91 views and only 3 participants? Was it something I said?

thanks to those of you who did make predictions.

streak_56

Maybe it was you Nikilidstrom... but in reality... no... I'm just sad that our wings didn't get the shut out.

Nikilidstrom

if they keep hitting like that all series, I can live without the shutouts. And now with Bertuzzi back in, it should only get better.

Leto

DET vs CGY - Flames in 7
ANA vs MIN - The Wild in 6
VAN vs DAL - Canucks in 7
NAS vs SJ - Predators in 7

BUF vs NYI - Sabres in 4
NJ vs TB - Devils in 5
ATL vs NYR - Rangers in 6
OTT vs PIT - Senators in 6

streak_56

AH!!! Wings pull out another win to a great sunday afternoon.

Nikilidstrom

Ok, for those of you still plaing along at home, here are the prediction standings for round 1:

Players Points
streak_56 12
Nikilidstrom 10
Feelgood 9
HeyAgain 6
Leto 6

sorry about the hard to read totals. I wanted to put more information here, but I can't get the formating correct

And now for the matchups for round 2, and my predictions:

Western Conference
Detroit(1) vs San Jose(5)
Anaheim (2) vs Vancouver(3)

Eastern Conference
Buffalo(1) vs New York Rangers(6)
New Jersey(2) vs Ottawa(4)

Detroit in 6
Anaheim in 6
Buffalo in 6
Ottawa in 7

hopefully all those involved in the first round will stick around and put in your 2 cents for round 2, and anyone who didn't make any predictions for round 1, feel free to join in. Better late then never, the more the marrier, and all that jazz.

oh yeah, GO WINGS!!!

Pogue Mahone

I'm gonna go with

West:
Detroit in 6
Vancouver in 7

East:
Buffalo in 5
Ottawa in 6

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streak_56

Detroit in 6
Anaheim in 5

Buffalo in 5
New Jersey in 7

HeyAgain

Western Conference

Detroit (6)
Vancouver (7)

Eastern Conference

Buffalo (6)
Ottawa (5)

Sorry for the late entry.

absorbentishe

I guess I was late for round one...

Detroit in 6
Anaheim in 5
Buffalo in 4
Ottawa in 6

Nikilidstrom

Alright, time for an update of point totals after round 2

Players Points:
streak_56 17
Nikilidstrom 16
HeyAgain 12
Feelgood 9
Leto 6
absorbentishe 6
Pogue Mahoney 4


Here are my Conference Finals predictions, which start on Thursday:

Detroit in 6
Buffalo 7

GO WINGS!!!

fightnight

I'm a huge sabres fan... missed this thread before.

I'm going to say (just for fun, points will do me no good at this point):

Buffalo in 6
Ducks in 6

absorbentishe

Here we go..

Detroit in 7 (Gonna be a tough series)
Buffalo in 6 (Gonna be a tougher series).

Pogue Mahone

Detroit in 6
Ottawa in 7

__________________
I still wave at the dots on the shore
And I still beat my head against the door
I still rage and wage my little war
I'm a shade and easy to ignore

k-pax

I might be to late into this post, so I will not make any predictions, only wishes. Sabres and Red Wings in the final.

I'm not a big fan of the Ducks or Senators.

Loup

Guess you won't be watching the SC Finals this year

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Nikilidstrom

Well, since not to many posted for the conference finals predictions, I guess we'll go ahead and forgo the points portion of this thread, and just make a prediction:

Ottawa in 6

feel free to place your final predictions, and enjoy the Stanley Cup Finals.

absorbentishe

this is tough, I like the Sens, but I'm going to pick the Ducks. I think the Western conference is better rounded. Ducks in 6.

Pogue Mahone

Sens in 7.

__________________
I still wave at the dots on the shore
And I still beat my head against the door
I still rage and wage my little war
I'm a shade and easy to ignore

Halx

I don't really care.. and probably wont watch.. and I think Hockey is boring.. but Ducks in 6

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HeyAgain

Ducks in 5.

fightnight

Being the huge Sabres fan I am, and not wanting them to have lost in vane, I will root for and expect ottawa to take this series in 6.

HeyAgain

Now that the Stanley Cup winner has been declared, anyone excited the upcoming free agency period.

As a Leafs fan, I hope JFJ signs more older players like Yashin, Bertuzzi, Lindros, Cujo, and Roberts to compliment the existing players. Finally, we will be able to challenge for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Go Leafs Go!

Nikilidstrom

Hey, back off, those are the Red Wings players!!!

I'm actually more excited about seeing some of the young prospects like Toews and Grigorenko than about who anyone signs. It's probably because I'm getting old, but I just don't get excited about names like Briere and Smith, when most of my hockey viewing life has been spent watching guys like Gretzky, Hull, Shanahan and the like being free agents.

rockzilla

Why would you want a cancer like Yahsin? The only noteworthy things he's ever done in his career are getting suspended for a season over a contract dispute, donating $1M to the National Arts Centre, only to have his mom convince him to pull out, and having his contract with the Islanders bought out. Even with a massive pay cut, he's still worthless.

Quadraton

Ha! I don't think that's going to happen. Right now, JFJ has 6 UFA's to deal with (currently totaling just over $5.5 million), 5 RFA's (currently totaling around $2.5 million), he's already dumped $5.5 million on Sundin, and he still has to eat $7.2 million on a panty-waist like Bryan McCabe. He spends way too much money on players who give very little in return (McCabe, Kubina, Peca, Kaberle).

No, the solution to Toronto's problems aren't going to be found in the UFA market, and they aren't going to be fixed in a year. This isn't the era where the Leafs can just spend $60+ million on their roster, and buy their way out of a problem. If the Leafs ever want to be competitive again, they're going to have to come up with a better plan to grow from within. In this day and age, the most competitive teams are the ones who have the best young talent, at the cheapest prices.

Look at the final four teams in this year's Stanley Cup playoff (Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit and Anaheim). All of them relied heavily on their own homegrown talent, with a light sprinkling of UFA's. And to go even further, neither team that made it into the Stanley Cup Finals made any huge deals on the trade deadline. Everyone else was willing to trade away their futures except those two teams, and look where it got them.

Toronto has a long way to go before they ever become a truly competitive team, but then again, they've had 40 years to do that. As long as the MSLE owns the Maple Leafs, it's going to be same old until the planet is too warm to support hockey arenas.

Edit: Made a mistake when I mentioned the cap hits. Took those parts out, because really, I was just talking out of my ass.

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HeyAgain

Hey Quadraton,

Where do you go to get your salary information for each team?

Personally, I hope MLSE fires JFJ this year and find someone more willing to think outside the box, perhaps Stevie Y. They could hire Scotty Bowman, John Muckler, and Pat Quinn as senior advisors to help him out.

Quadraton

http://www.nhlnumbers.com

The question is, could you get them all to sit down together in the same room?

__________________
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- Voltaire

HeyAgain

I'm disappointed with the Leafs free agency signing of Jason Blake. Signing a 33 year old to a 5-year contract is a big mistake. Missed out on Briere, Drury, Smyth, and Gomez.

They should've offered Thomas Vanek a long term contract that the Sabres wouldn't have been able to match even though this meant the Leafs would be giving up 4 first-round draft picks.

Time to fire JFJ.

silent_jay

That time was a couple of years ago.

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