Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eastern Confrence Quarter Finals (Post Mortem) and predictions for the Confrence Semi-Finals

Disclaimer:

These are not the views of anybody but my own, I am reporting on what I saw of the playoffs and did not see every tiny iota of what happened, also try listening to a game that Pierre Maguire is doing commentary on, it is impossible not to be annoyed by the guy.

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals

(1)Boston Bruins vs (8)Montreal Canadiens

My Prediction: Bruins in 5

Result: Bruins in 4

This series was completely owned by the Bruins over the Habs. Boston was too big, too tough, and too talented.

MVP of Series: Michael Ryder (RW) BOS

Had seven points in four games

Play of the Series: It's not so much a play as it was a gesture by Carey Price after making the same position like Patrick Roy did in his last game for the Canadiens.

Officiating: 4 out of 5

Only a couple of missed calls, other than that it was well officiated.

(2)Washington Capitals vs (7)New York Rangers

My Prediction: Capitals in 7

Result: Capitals in 7

I had figured this would be more of a homer series, boy was I wrong. The Rangers took the first two games in Washington and had a 3-1 series lead after playing four games in the series. However after that, the wheels came of the bus, Avery almost cost the Rangers Game 4 and was scratched for Game 5. Tortarella than got into it with some Capitals fans and was suspended by the NHL for Game 6. Game 7 was close but a late goal by Sergei Federov put the Caps up for good. The other note of intrest in this series is that after allowing 4 goals on 20 shots in Game 1, Jose Theodore, goaltender for the Capitals was benched and the Caps went to rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov. Varlamov was spectacular in this series and gave the Caps the ability to come back in this series.

MVP of Series: Simeon Varlamov (G) WAS

See above for reason.

Play of Series: Ovechkin's goal in game 5, like you even had to wonder.

Officiating: 3 out of 5

There were a few too many missed calls for this to be rated higher.

(3)New Jersey Devils vs (6)Carolina Hurricanes

My Prediction: Devils in 7

Result: Hurricanes in 7

I was right on my prediction for this series with only 100 seconds to go in the third period of Game 7, then Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal scored to give the Hurricanes the lead and the series. This series had some great goaltending and some great goals, probably the best match-up of the first round.

MVP of Series: Cam Ward (G) CAR

Was great in goal and had a highlight reel full of saves

Play of Series: Staal series winner looked like vintage Mark Messier on the off wing.

Officiating: 4 out of 5

Pretty good but not worthy of 5 out of 5. One or two questionable calls.

(4)Pittsburgh Penguins vs (5)Philadelphia Flyers

My Prediction: Penguins in 6

Result: Penguins in 6

The Pittsburgh Penguins came into this series having clinched home ice on the last day of the season and took advantage of it right away. The Pens were better everywhere and beat the Flyers and not allowing the Flyers to play their game.

MVP of Series: Evgeny Malkin (C) PIT

Had nine points in the series and looked to dominate at times

Play of Series: Pick one of Fluery's many leg stretch saves.

Officiating: 2 out of 5

The officiating seemed a little bias at times but mostly for the home teams.

Conference Semi Finals

Western Conference

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs (8)Anaheim Ducks

My Prediction: Wings in 6

The Wings are coming off a sweep of the Colombus Blue Jackets and the Ducks just finished off the President's Trophy winner's, San Jose Sharks in 6 games. The Sharks are nothing like the Blue Jackets as most of the Ducks have been to the promise land. However the Ducks lack of depth will cost them in this series although they will give a better fight than the Blue Jackets.

(3)Vancouver Canucks vs (4)Chicago Blackhawks

My Prediction: Canucks in 6

The Canucks are coming off what could be considered a hard fought sweep (If there is such a thing) of the St. Louis Blues and are going against a team that had bias officiating going for them in the first round. The Hawks were helped by severely poor officiating and capitalized on it. The difference is this round is that they are facing a goalie that has only giving up goals that seem impossible to stop. If the Canucks show no rust this series could be quicker than that.

Note: I am NOT a Calgary Flames fan, I dislike everything about Calgary from my visits to the city. For further inquiries, leave a message.

Eastern Conference

(1)Boston Bruins vs (6)Carolina Hurricanes

My Prediction: Bruins in 5

This is a series I expect that Zdeno Chara will dominate as he will lead his team to the Eastern Conference Finals.

(2)Washington Capitals vs (4)Pittsburgh Penguins

My Prediction: Penguins in 7

Get your recorders ready for this series as this will have the three biggest young players in the NHL as it has Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeny Malkin. This will be a highly offensive series and don't expect any shutouts in this series.

Stanley Cup Playoffs, Western Confrence Quarter Finals (Post Mortem)

Disclaimer:

These are my views of what happened, the views are my own and don not reflect anybody else. I watched what I could of the series. I couldn't watch much of the Hawks vs Flames because I can't stand that &*T!@#^&*^*!@#^$&*^&*!@#$ douche bag Pierre Maguire.

The NHL Western Conference Quarter Finals are over and I am here to give my view of the series.

(1)San Jose Sharks vs (8)Anaheim Ducks
My Prediction: Sharks in 6
Result: Ducks in 6

This was the classic choke job and my pick for the Stanley Cup champions at the beginning of the playoffs are now eliminated. The Ducks who are no spring chicken when it comes to the playoffs came out playing playoff hockey where the Sharks continued their downturn they had over the last 30 games of the regular season. Major questions will be raised in San Jose and expect a couple changes as the Sharks have choked in the last few years.

MVP of Series: Jonas Hiller (G) ANA
The guy had two shutouts that's hard to vote against.

My Play of the Series: Marleau's OT goal in Game 5

Officiating: 3 out of 5
The officiating wasn't the best I felt but was consistent to a respectable degree.

(2)Detroit Red Wings vs (7)Columbus Blue Jackets
My Prediction: Wings in 6
Result:Wings in 4

I went into this series determining the length of the series on Osgood's goaltending, against the Blue Jackets he gets an A. Osgood was spectacular in this series and was able to keep his team in it when he was needed. Detroit had a little bit of a scare in Game 4 giving up five goals but were able to pull it out with a last minute PP goal from Johan Franzen. These guys are now looking like the favorite to repeat since Osgood looks to be on his game.

MVP of Series: Chris Osgood (G) DET
The guy made saves that allowed his team to get a lead in all the games.

My Play of the Series: Osgood's dive across the crease early in Game 1 to keep Columbus off the board.

Officiating: 3 out of 5
The officiating was usually fair but there was a couple of plays the made me go hm.

(3)Vancouver Canucks vs (6) St. Louis Blues
My Prediction: Canucks in 5
Result: Canucks in 4

This was a series where I expected goaltending to take center stage, when it comes to that, I was dead on. Roberto Luongo destroyed the confidence of the Blues and literally won the series on his own. The Canucks PK was spectacular and were able to kill of all but one penalty in the series, and that goal was almost stopped as well. Blues goalie Chris Mason who is my choice for Calder and second in Vezina behind Tim Thomas was just not able to give the save the Blues needed even though most of the goals were very difficult to stop.

MVP of Series: Roberto Luongo
This guy is the sole reason why the Canucks swept the series. Andy McDonald will be having nightmares of the saves and posts hit in this series.

Play of the Series: Luongo's save in Game 1 on the 5 on 3 PP for the Blues where he slid across and stopped Andy McDonald.

Officiating: 4 out of 5
This series officiating was pretty good after Game 1. They called penalties that were penalties and allowed them to play after the tirade from the coaches after Game 1.

(4)Chicago Blackhawks vs (5)Calgary Flames
My Prediction: Flames in 7
Result: Blackhawks in 6

This series started off as a home series as both teams took advantage of home ice. This series however was marred with some controversial plays as many felt the Game 1 OT winner was interference with the goalie. The Flames were also hit with a nasty injury bug that had already sidelined Robyn Regehr before the playoffs had even started and got center's Craig Conroy and Daymond Langkow as well as defenceman Dion Phaneuf. Calgary also seemed uninspired in Game 5 and 6 but I think that had something to do with the officiating which even got criticized by Ron MacLean on CBC. The Hawks are in tough though in the next round as they face the Canucks and won't have home ice and will have to face a goalie who is looking to get his name on some hardware this season.

MVP of Series: Jonathan Toews
He led his team over a weakened Flames team

Play of the Series: Nothing spectacular in this series from what I saw except for the 2-0 goal for Chicago in game 6

Officiating: 0 out of 5
This series was horribly officiated from the hop. The Game 1 OT goal should have been disallowed (The same type of goal was allowed in the German League and the officials lost there jobs.) which was a poor call in my estimation and the officiating was extremely biased for what I've watched outdoing the Rangers vs Canucks back in '94.

2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, 1st Rd.

I'm giving a preview of the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Western Confrence

(1)San Jose Sharks vs (8)Anaheim Ducks
My Prediction: San Jose in 6
I take a look at these two teams and I see two teams heading in different directions. San Jose is looking to win their first Stanley Cup and are trying to exorcise demons of Stanley Cup Playoffs past. The major question that the San Jose Sharks will have to answer in order to win the cup is 'Is Joe Thorton going to produce in the playoffs or is he going to continue to underachieve?'. If Thorton performs in the playoffs, the only thing that can stop them is themselves.

Anaheim has had what seems to be tradition for all recent Stanley Cup winners (Detroit being the acception.) in what could simply be described as a Stanley Cup hangover. However, don't count out the Anaheim Ducks because they have a great defensive team in Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer and have a goalie who if he gets hot in J.S. Giguere. However they are in trouble because I feel that they have only one offensive line and San Jose will just crush the forwards.

(2)Detroit Red Wings vs (7)Columbus Blue Jackets
My Prediction: Detroit in 6
This is a simple series to call and doesn't need much more said than this series depends on the goaltending of Chris Osgood. If he isn't playing well, they still have enough octane to blast through Columbus. Expect lots of offence from the big names on Detroit to help win this series. The only way Columbus win this series is that Steve Mason goes on a huge hot streak and Osgood is shaky.

(3)Vancouver Canucks vs (6)St. Louis Blues
My Prediction: Vancouver in 5
This is a match up of the two hottest teams of the second half. I have already taken some heat for calling a quick series here but I see this season Blues as the '02 Canucks. The Canucks were on fire the second half and fell apart after the Lidstrom's center ice goal. The Canucks also have alot of free agents coming up who are also trying to overcome the playoff underachiever and that sets up a short series in my eyes as Roberto Luongo is also pretty much the hottest player in the last week of the season and has not given up a goal since the 2nd Period against the Calgary Flames.

(4)Chicago Blackhawks vs (5)Calgary Flames
My Prediction: Calgary in 7
This is going to be the nastiest series of the playoffs and is going to most likely look like a war more than a hockey game as I see two hungry teams go at it, the difference in this series will be the expierence of the Flames and the revenge they will want to take on Nikolai Khabibulin from when Khabibulin was on the Lightning in '04. I'm calling this to be the best series of the first round.


Eastern Confrence

(1)Boston Bruins vs (8)Montreal Canadiens
My Prediction: Boston in 5
This is going to be brutal to watch for Habs fans. The Bruins are better everywhere on the ice and are going to destroy Montreal and try to get a rest going into the second round. The only way Montreal wins this series is the plane carrying the Boston Bruins crashes and kills them.

(2)Washington Capitals vs (7)New York Rangers
My Prediction: Washington in 7
This is going to be the Alexander Ovechkin show and he is going to thrill all the fans who watch the series. The only reason I see this going seven is because of the Washington Capitals goalie Jose Theodore. The Rangers need to rattle Theodore early to be able to win this series or they could get washed away in a see of Capital red.

(3)New Jersey Devils vs (6)Carolina Hurricanes
My Prediction: New Jersey in 7
Carolina is coming in red hot and is looking to pull off an upset which I see is very likely. However, I can not bet against Martin Brodeur and I expect him to be the difference.

(4)Pittsburgh Penguins vs (5)Philadelphia Flyers
My Prediction: Pittsburgh in 6
This series is going to be either the Malkin or Crosby show. Mike Richards will most likely line up against Crosby but there is only one Mike Richards and that will leave Malkin very much unchallenged and he will end up being a headache for Philadelphia. Expect lots of goals in this series.

I will be back for my 2nd round preview and I will have other sporting events that I will be previewing and reviewing.